First thing that greets your eyes is the medium-sized structure that makes up your base. It's constructed like a roman temple (not sure on that architecture style: seems to be Greco-roman, as opposed to Corinthian, but then again.. I'm no specialist of the Ages) A short walk away from your base brings you to the flag, which is hidden away in the fallen ruins of a few pillars, guarded by two base turrets. There's a river seperating you and your enemy, and off up a hill between the two teams is a waterfall.
This waterfall is nearly worth the entire map.. it's great to watch, and even more fun to play around with. For example, go to the top of the falls, to the little pool.. and the "current" will drag you, faster and faster towards the waterfall.. down you plunge, into the river, and you drift a ways downstream.
Then again, keep walking uphill, past the pond.. and you'll find a volcano. I can always tell when someone in the match decided to go exploring.. "BinderAJ looks surprised by the lava.. but only briefly" is a dead giveaway that their curiosity got the better of them.
Playability suffers in one (and only one) area. The base is so extremely rapable. If the inventory station at the front of your base is destroyed (one shot with a mortar) and the generators are exposed (two solar panels taken down), then your main gen can go down easily. Then, with even two heavies.. all they have to do is set up an inventory station in the huge, spacious underground room, and no one could get in.. who would be able to take them out? Not lights in spawn armors.. even lights armed up with a remote inventory would die quickly.
Attention to detail is about as high as I've seen in any map recently. From the building to the terrain, to (of course!) the waterfall.. everything falls into place neatly, cleanly, and purposfully.
The balance is slanted just a bit in the defense's favor. For one, the flag is, tho' in the open, really very defendable. There is precious little "capping routes", since every capper trying to make a flyby gets hung up on the pillars.. so you really do need an assault force to take a flag consistently.
Item Placement is overall very good. The one point in defiance of that is the inventory/generator location, as I was saying, but that can't hardly be helped. It's more of a nature of the base that lends it to such easy attack.
The Mechanics of this map are excellent. The waterfall execution is a charm, and there are various return routes for cappers: 1) through the water: straightline, but in danger of a mortar, 2) over some platforms: slower, in range of duelists, 3) over the hills by the pond: very slow, but fairly safe from snipers
This is a very, very good map, which will steal your admiration once you play it. Commendations go to the mapper, and my playing time goes to the map. Well done!