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Reception
Meta article
The following is a meta-article, which explains a concept which usually falls out of one of the wiki's categorizations, yet it's still important to explain something.

CTF-Face/Facing Worlds is, arguably, the most well-known map in the Unreal franchise, let alone Unreal Tournament. Liked by many for its simple, symmetric design, and similarly reviled by some for its exploitative design that appeals to snipers and campers. Its popularity was such that hordes of people would buy the game just to play this particular map in Capture the Flag mode. Being highly popular among critics and fans, not only it's one of the very few videogame maps ever relevant enough to have its own page on Wikipedia, but also has various remakes as bonus pack maps of UT and official maps in Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004, Unreal Tournament 3, and Unreal Tournament 4, and games with third-party content support can be expected to have at least one fan remake/demake. With such level of popularity, it has gathered quite a lot of mentions in different media:

References in other games[]

Main article: References to the Unreal series in other games
Splitgate_new_maps_dev_showcase_-_Foregone_Destruction,_Crag,_Impact

Splitgate new maps dev showcase - Foregone Destruction, Crag, Impact

Accolades[]

Chaos (YT)[]

  • The channel named the map as the eighth best multiplayer shooter map.
10_Best_MULTIPLAYER_SHOOTER_Maps_in_Gaming_History

10 Best MULTIPLAYER SHOOTER Maps in Gaming History

Dorkly[]

  • It was mentioned as the second best multiplayer map in FPS history:
"Sometimes the simplest maps make for the best maps. And it doesn't get a great deal simpler than Facing Worlds, a map – like Team Fortress 2's 2 Fort and Halo's Blood Gulch – that could be boiled down to two bases and not much in-between (except some bitchin' theme music). Two bases, one victor, no pussyfootin'.

And best of all, everyone seems to have their own personal memories of this level that defined some of their earliest gaming days. Most of the time, we would play it on low-grav servers so you could leap off the huge tower and headshot the unfortunate in mid-air. You could snipe someone during a slow fall, bunny hop to the other base and be back to yours before your Bagel Bites were finished nuking in the microwave. The very essence of multiplayer productivity."
Dorkly[2]


G4TV[]

  • It was mentioned as one of the most influential levels of FPS history:
"The striking visuals may have helped make the map popular, but it is commonly cited for being extremely balanced, for having respawn points that funnel players back into the action quickly, and for also having plenty of positions for snipers.

Facing Worlds had a lasting affect on Capture the Flag map design to the present day, and was popular enough to be remade in Unreal Tournament 3. Fan versions of Facing Worlds can often be found where modders and first person shooters intersect."
G4TV[3]


Gamebyte[]

  • It was mentioned as the sixth best multiplayer FPS map ever made in "The 11 Best FPS Multiplayer Maps That We All Spent Hours Playing":
"Unreal Tournament was one of the founding fathers of the first person shooter genre, so we have a lot of respect to pay when it comes to the franchise’s incredible map design.

One of the best maps to come out of Unreal Tournament is Facing Worlds. This map was incredibly simple and quite small, but this made it perfect. Like some of the other maps in this list so far, sometimes simplicity is key to making a good map.

Facing Worlds was often played as a Capture the Flag map.

Trying to capture the enemy flag and take it back to your base always proved difficult because you’d constantly have players overlooking the entire map. Players had to kill enough of the enemy team so that there was enough time during their respawn to get the flag across. There is something very exhilarating about this that has made Facing Worlds one of the best FPS multiplayer maps of all time."
Gamebyte[4]


Gameskinny[]

  • It was mentioned as the craziest FPS Maps in competitive history:
"Considered one of the best FPS maps of all time, Facing Worlds is also one of the most creative. Taking a two tower capture the flag approach, Facing Worlds provides a sense of adrenaline as you speed through the huge towers in hopes of victory. Connecting these grand towers is two paths set in the grand nothing of space. With the UT beta available to download, you can once again experience this great map in all it's Unreal Engine 4 glory."
Gameskinny[5]


Gamespy[]

  • It was mentioned as the fifth best Capture the Flag level of FPS history:
"If you like to snipe, Facing Worlds must be a lot like dying and going to heaven. Two tall towers float lonely in space, separated by a very long, open crossroads. Trying to cross between bases is difficult, at best, and nearly impossible if the other team has even one good sniper.

Snipers… beware the Redeemer!"
GameSpy[6]


Gaming Boulevard[]

  • It was mentioned as the fifth best FPS map ever.
"Perhaps the most popular map in the history of any map ever. This was Beaver Creek before Beaver Creek, and way more imposing too. Just two gigantic towers staring down each other in space with just above Zanzibar. There are just two slim pathways connecting the two towers which mean that if you advance to the enemy base(which is literally your only option) you WILL have to engage with at least one opponent. All the while snipers try to take you out from their tower. If you were in the tower with a sniper and an opponent was doing the same thing shit got super real. It turned into intense sniper vs sniper battles. The map is simple but elegant and unlike most maps on this list doesn’t provide the player with any alternate routes. But in this case, it’s what made this map so special. It’s just your team against the enemy team going at each other head on. It was a mad dash to get in, grab the flag and get the hell out. Teamwork was always an important factor on this map and what I liked to do is get into the enemy base and snipe from their tower hoping no one would find me. Truly a map of legends and one I will never get bored with."
Gaming Boulevard[7]


Gaming Top Tens[]

  • It was mentioned as the third best FPS multiplayer map.
"Facing Worlds takes the tried and true formula of two bases with a hazardous middle ground and launches it past the atmosphere into space on a monolithic orbital arena. I’ve never felt so small and vulnerable running into battle between a titanic, screen engulfing view of Earth and the Moon, but those swept up in the background are surefire sniper fodder.

The best view in the house is offered to those defending their respective tower, way up high amongst the stars picking off the offense below. However, each sniper’s nest is quite exposed to the other team’s tower so even defense must keep their wits about them. On the base level, prospective flag stealers engage in a constant uphill tug of war, hoping their surrounding comrades and sniper support can mow down enough of the enemy to break on through and capture the goods successfully. This map is a well-executed, finely tuned example of the two base formula done masterfully."
Gaming Top Tens[8]


Jackfrags (YT)[]

  • The channel mentioned the map as one of the greatest FPS multiplayer maps ever.
The_Greatest_FPS_Multiplayer_Maps

The Greatest FPS Multiplayer Maps

Kotaku[]

  • The site dedicated an entire article to explain why the map was so popular.[9]
  • The Australian version of the site named it the best FPS mumtiplayer map:
"You know, I tried to think of other maps. I actively avoided writing about Facing Worlds for as long as possible. What Call of Duty 2 maps stood the test of time. Carentan (or Chinatown, as it was remade) was pretty good — how about that? I had a little debate in my head about the merits of picking Anzio over Avalanche for Day of Defeat — both excellent, excellent maps, although Day of Defeat wasn't held in quite as high a regard.

I even had a discussion with others in the office about picking Morpheus, another Unreal Tournament map that plays a lot better than Facing Worlds. Campgrounds 2 from Quake 3 certainly is worthy of a mention, as is Q3DM17, the classic space level that shipped with the test version of Quake 3.

But there isn't anything quite as memorable, a map so synonymous with a game as Facing Worlds. I still don't think it plays that well — good snipers can absolutely dominate, and when they don't it's generally because everyone is translocating every two seconds to dodge enemy fire.

When you think of Unreal Tournament, or the Unreal series in general, the first image that comes to mind is the shot of those two towers with the planet in the background. It might even be the most iconic image any map has ever created — and for that alone, despite all its other flaws, Facing Worlds has to be mentioned."
Kotaku Australia[10]


MUO Gaming[]

  • The map is mentioned as one of the six unforgettable multiplayer maps from shooters gone by.
"Back in November 1999 developers Epic Games and Digital Extremes delivered one of the finest multiplayer experiences ever seen to apprehensive PC gamers. The original Unreal Tournament remains to this day an incredibly playable, addictive and accessible first person shooter, and while there are countless series-defining maps (Deck16, Phobos and Morpheus to name but a few), Facing Worlds was (and still is) the perfect capture the flag experience.

The map has been re-imagined and used multiple times in just about every release since the original UT, but to this day nothing quite compares to the original. Little else beats the feeling of teleporting to the roof, grabbing a sniper rifle and demolishing the flag carrier’s face before watching the rest of his body fly off into the depths of space."
MUO Gaming[11]


NoClip Crew[]

  • The channel dedicated an entire video to the map, its significance and the legacy it left, alongside how well it stacks with modern day trends.
Why_does_everyone_love_Unreal_Tournament's_weirdest_map?

Why does everyone love Unreal Tournament's weirdest map?

PCGamer[]

  • Much like Kotaku did, the map was the subject of two entire articles dedicated to its influence and ever lasting appeal.[12][13]
  • It also received a video conmemorating it.[14]
Why_UT's_Facing_Worlds_is_one_of_the_best_multiplayer_maps_ever

Why UT's Facing Worlds is one of the best multiplayer maps ever

Quantum Rarity[]

  • The map was mentioned as the fourth greatest multiplayer map of all time.
"As discussed earlier, Unreal Tournament featured some extremely well made maps. Deck 16 and Morpheus were both some of the best level designs ever made, but they weren’t the only great maps to be featured in this classic FPS. Facing Worlds was the level that defined CTF maps and certainly inspired many to come. At the time, the map was visually stunning. Looking down to see Earth below was incredible, and was something Epic Games continues to use in their level designs until this day. The map’s small bases made it so that after spawning, players would be out in the action within seconds. This made for action packed matches. There also were excellent sniper positions at the top of the bases, which mixed things up a bit. These two design elements combined to create excellent map, and you won’t find a more action packed CTF map out there."
Quantum Rarity[15]


Red Bull Games[]

  • It was named the best FPS multiplayer map ever:
"Saving the best for last, when we think of stellar multiplayer FPS maps, we immediately think of Unreal Tournament’s classic Capture The Flag staple, Facing Worlds. No other map showed off the game’s intense capture the flag mode better than Facing Worlds: an epic outer-space battle arena set on an orbiting asteroid with two Egyptian-themed towers leering at each other. Everything about this map has a purpose, from the slight slope that crests in the middle of the map, preventing you from seeing what’s over the other side when teleporting, to the juicy, ripe Redeemers sitting on top of both towers. There’s simply nowhere to camp – you can run behind the towers, but if you do you’ll be completely out of the action.

Fine-tuned for CTF, you had to hop and frag your way to the enemy tower to steal their flag, and of course, with huge towers propped up on either side, you’d have to ninja your way past enemy sniper fire to actually be in with a chance of getting that flag back to your base – and epic encounters like this helped solidify Facing Worlds as one of the game’s most groundbreaking maps. With the Earth shining brightly in the background, CTF-Face is easily cemented in gaming history as one of the greatest FPS maps ever."
Red Bull Games[16]


Rock Paper Shotgun[]

  • The site dedicated a whole article to the map, including an interview with Cedric 'Inoxx' Fiorentino where he says that he wasn't aware of how popular the map was until Epic set up the telemetry system.[17]

The Gamer[]

  • The site named the map as the third most memorable FPS map of all time:
"Perhaps due to its aesthetics or its simplicity, Facing Worlds has cemented itself as one of the most memorable pieces of scenery to come out of Unreal Tournament and perhaps one of the most memorable maps of all time. Set high above the Earth, one wouldn't be far off in calling Facing Worlds the "Final Destination" of first-person shooters.

Facing Worlds is another exercise in minimalism: the two towering ziggurat-like structures and the narrow paths that connect them break the capture-the-flag game mode down to its purest essentials."
The Gamer[18]


WatchMojo[]

  • WatchMojo.com gave it a honorable mention on their list, with the Unreal map spot in the list proper taken by, of all maps, DM-Morpheus.[19]
  • On their "Top 10 Most Memorable Multiplayer Maps!" list, they named the map as the tenth most memorable multiplayer map.
"When Unreal Tournament came on to the scene in 1999, FPS online multiplayer was very much in its infancy. The maps were nothing great, and the gameplay was relatively simplistic. That is, until we all feasted our eyes on Facing Worlds, a massive map (for the time) with a unique and gorgeous setting. Two towers face each other with a neutral area in the middle, and while that sounds basic, it was the sense of fun, scope, and beauty of the map which elevated it far above its peers. While it may not be much today, Facing Worlds was out-of-this-world in 1999."
WatchMojo[20]
Top_10_Multiplayer_Maps!

Top 10 Multiplayer Maps!

WhatCulture[]

  • It was named as the best multiplayer FPS map of all time in their "12 Best FPS Multiplayer Maps Of All Time" of 2015:
"First playing this map back in 1999 was literally an out-of-this-world experience. Online multiplayer was just getting started, and maps until that point were mostly confined to claustrophobic little arenas. ...And then Facing Worlds came along. The map was a carved meteor with two formidable towers facing each other. The Earth, moon, and void of deep dark space made up the background, giving it a sense of grandiosity like no map before it (and frankly, few maps to this day). The music too was mesmerising - a spacey, drum n' bass-filled tone that gave the level an almost tranquil quality; a strange way to feel after you've just blasted five peoples' heads apart with a sniper rifle from the top of one of the towers. A truly beautiful Capture The Flag map, and landmark piece of online shooter design."
WhatCulture[21]
  • Their 2020 "15 Best Multiplayer Maps in Gaming History Ranked" list, once again, places the map as the best FPS map ever:
"This map is perfectly balanced as all things should be.

The signature map of Unreal Tournament is a striking beauty, with two idnetical monoliths facing each other across a desolate hill of no-man's land. All the blood and destruction that shall commence on this asteroid is presided by an ominously peaceful looking planet earth and its silent moon.

The hill geography in this case is just as much a helper as it is a hindrance to players trying to get a hold of the other team's flag. It providing cover as players make their way up the hill, but then exposint them as they rush down. The straightforward path also makes them easy pickings for snipers eager to hear the iconic "Headshot!" from the game's announcer. They'll have to contend with some sniper fire and Redeemer missiles from the opposite fortress though.

This is also another map that features vibrant background music. While many maps just let the bullets be the soundtrack, Facing Worlds has an oddly soothing synth track that locks players into a hypnotized trance that compels them think of three things, breathing, killing, and capturing the flag. It'd fit right in on a Pure Moods collection.

Any map can be functional, but Facing Worlds attains its mythical status because unlike most maps, it's actually beautiful."
WhatCulture[22]


ZoominGames[]

  • It was named the map the fifth greatest FPS multiplayer map ever:
"Unreal Tournament took competitive shooting out of claustrophobic corridors with Facing Worlds. The Earth and moon gave this map an epic feel and it was damn fun to play too. It was great to snipe people from the top of one of the towers and we loved getting the Redeemer and blowing everybody to bits. A truly beautiful Capture The Flag map, and landmark moment for online shooters."
ZoominGames[23]


External links and references[]

  1. Park, Morgan (Jul 8, 2021). "Splitgate's newest map is an homage to the Unreal Tournament classic Facing Worlds". PC Gamer. Retrieved Jan 9, 2025.
  2. Hoang, Brandon (August 16, 2012). "The Dorklyst: The 10 Best Multiplayer Maps In Videogame History". Dorkly. Retrieved May 1st., 2019.
  3. Scimeca, Dennis (December 19, 2011). "10 Of The Most Influential FPS Multiplayer Maps Ever". G4TV. Archived from the original on March 10, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  4. Green, Oliver (June 4, 2018). "The 11 Best FPS Multiplayer Maps That We All Spent Hours Playing". Gamebyte. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  5. Dowell, Will (January 11, 2017). "Top 5 Craziest FPS Maps in Competitive History". Gameskinny. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  6. Northcutt, Todd (January 28, 2001). "Top 10 CTF Maps". Gamespy. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  7. Verhoene, Yordi (February 29, 2016). "Top tens: Best FPS map". Gaming Boulevard. Retrieved May 1st., 2019.
  8. Wood, George (January 2, 2020). "Top 10 Best FPS Multiplayer Maps". Gaming Top Tens. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  9. Wong, Kevin (November 24, 2014). "Unreal Tournament’s 'Facing Worlds' Is Still The Best Multiplayer Map". Kotaku. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  10. Walker, Alex (January 17, 2017). "7 Of The Best FPS Multiplayer Maps". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  11. Brookes, Tim (July 20, 2012). "6 Unforgettable Multiplayer Maps From Shooters Gone By". MUO gaming. Retrieved May 1st., 2019.
  12. Kelly, Andy (May 20, 2014). "On The Level: Facing Worlds, Unreal Tournament". PCGamer. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  13. Kelly, Andy (May 7, 2020). "The simple genius of Unreal Tournament map Facing Worlds". PC Gamer. Retrieved Jan 9, 2025.
  14. Petitte, Omri (March 1, 2013). "Why UT's Facing Worlds is one of the best multiplayer maps ever". PCGamer. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  15. Cook, Aaron (March 1, 2010). "The Top 10 Greatest Multiplayer Maps". Quantum Rarity. Retrieved May 1st., 2019.
  16. Partridge, Jon (January 14, 2016). "The 10 greatest FPS multiplayer levels of all time". Red Bull Games. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  17. Hoekstra, Kyle (November 28, 2019). "The making of Facing Worlds, Unreal Tournament's most popular map". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  18. Kaempf, Matthew (September 2, 2023). "Most Iconic Multiplayer Maps In First Person Shooters". The Gamer. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  19. "Top 10 First Person Shooter Multiplayer Maps". WatchMojo (January 31, 2015). Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  20. "Top 10 Most Memorable Multiplayer Maps! (Transcript)". WatchMojo (October 22, 2017). Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  21. Zak, Robert (November 26, 2015). "12 Best FPS Multiplayer Maps Of All Time". WhatCulture. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  22. Robbins, Phil (May 16, 2020). "15 Best Multiplayer Maps In Gaming History Ranked". WhatCulture. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  23. "8 greatest FPS multiplayer maps of all time!". ZoominGames (August 18, 2016). Retrieved April 17, 2019.
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