The Case Against Midwich.
Look. I love this game. I really do. I was excited to see Pyramid Head join this cast. It's a beautiful addition to this universe. But Midwich Elementary is a bundle of mistakes wrapped up into a pile of garbage lit on fire. It's a beautiful map, don't get me wrong. But that's IT. It's not good or fun for survivors or killers, is buggy, and in my opinion, needs an incredible amount of redesigning.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen survivors get stuck in rooms with one vault or one door or one pallet and just call it a day. The map is a maze, but there's only dead ends. It doesn't matter how many times I look at the layout or memorize where rooms are, I don't have fun where I go, and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere when I move. That being said, the rooms are a much better alternative to the straight lines that connect them. Ah yes, right, how could I forget? In a game where killers are 15% faster than the survivors, we need to put a bunch of empty straight lines. If the survivors get stuck there, kudos to the killer for chasing the survivor long enough for them to go nowhere else! No skill needed here! I get hallways are in a school, I promise I've been to school a couple times before, but like, it doesn't matter if you can go in a room, there aren't enough pathways or vaults or doors or connections that make this layout fun or competitive. It's ridiculous. Everything feels stuffy, and not in the "this is a horror game" way. In a bad design way. There are also too many breakable walls. I love the mechanic of them existing, they're very cool, but putting them in all the places that would make traveling as a survivor easier doesn't exactly make killers want to hit them.
On the other hand, killers have a hard time traversing the map too. There are so many tiny hitboxes of desks or tables or the like, that hits are janky, and looping is jankier. I get unlucky hits in DBD sometimes when playing my killers, but Midwich makes you get UNLUCKY HITS. And again, navigating is difficult, dude. I know the map pretty well by this point, but getting anywhere is a chore. And again, ooh, survivor advantage kinda, even though they have trouble getting anywhere too but whatever, but like, if I don't have fun on the journey, the destination doesn't feel gratifying. My gameplay here doesn't feel rewarding.
Okay, so yeah, sure, whatever, so there's a high ceiling, stop being a baby, get over yourself, yeah, I will be devil's advocate here. There are drops to the first floor, and there are fun loops, and again, the map is gorgeous, I love the courtyard and classrooms and easter eggs so so much (I also love how there are just normal lockers right next to game lockers, that's beautiful to me). But there is still the inexcusable fact that the map is still a buggy mess. Smaller drops can screw you up, structures can just flat out not be structures, and there are spots that were obviously overlooked by the team. I was just in a game where a hatch spawned under one of the gelatinous blobs (forgive me, I don't know what they are, I've never played Silent Hill). Point is, the hatch was, like 70% under it, and the last survivor was given the hatch. But they couldn't. Go. In. They literally could not enter the hatch. The prompt was not being given. If something that basic isn't being checked, then I have to call out this map, regardless of my personal feelings towards its flaws.
I get it, DBD is famously messy, there are a lot of things that need fixing. But come on, man. This is hatch spawns. They don't spawn under walls in other maps. This thing was in the PTB for a long time, too. Like, this is basic. It's inexcusable. That's my basis for my entire thought process about this map. It isn't very well thought out.
I really want this map to work. I do. But like, rethink the layout. Or at least make it playable.
Comments
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I'm hating this map too. I had it 7 times in a row one day, the next day was 3 times with a 2 game break then 4 times.
It's super vexing. I'm trying to unhook someone and looking for a door or window to get into the room with them and I can't find one. Theres nothing really intrinsic about the map and the only thing I've been practicing is just not running away but stay put and hide and try and carefully not get seen by the killer. I keep finding dead ends that I'm like frack this sucks with the killer on me. And yup I've seen that hatch spawn under the dung heap and I'm like well I guess I get hooked again. Wee. The killer couldn't even close it after I fled which bought me seconds to escape.
As a killer I hate it more than the Gideon meat plant.
It's just not my type of a map.
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I wish I could play the new map but for some reason my pockets are filled with treatment theatre offerings. Guess ill get morried.
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I genuinely love this map regardless of which side im on. Its legit becoming my favorite map. Part of it might be that you have to play it a little different. As an example earlier i ran past a door then back teack walked into a room and crouched in a corner. Poor huntress got confused then just kept going.
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Lucky you. My mates always burn ornmond maps right now. I just want to go to midwich school pls. ;(
Solo q btw. Idk why everyone burns them today.
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