I have a few choice words, I'd like to say to zorah right now
after getting my ass repeatedly kicked in level 4 but he did
warn me in the text file so i have nobody to blame but myself.
so, i'll go with one choice word for the entire four map set
-----
brilliant!
Actually, I'll add a few more it was
maniacal
in every sense of the word - absolute
genius
- from the design, to the way he continuosly made sure that you
were not going to be lacking for badasses to tangle with -
unbelievably awesome set of maps to play - maybe some of the
best i've ever played. this was zorah at his absolute
masochistic
best! on to the review!
Difficulty: 10
zorah gives a heads up in the text file that comes with this set
- "normal" is the equivalent of Uv in Doom 2 and the difficulty
setting i chose -
hardcore
was absolutely that and more. i was actually lulled into a sense
of security in map one - ya, it was hard but i managed to get
through it pretty much ok and in fair shape. level 2 featured a
real need for a chainsaw which never materialized unfortunately.
level 3 is where it really started to get interesting. titled
"the wasted dump, i started to get nervous when i ran across
some ammo for the plasma gun. the way these maps were
playing out i just knew that it was going to be necessary at
some point (boy, was i right). i'll tell you this - do not
waste your good ammo on creatures you can kill with a
lesser weapon - you are going to need that ammo. one thing i
learned very quickly was that if you were going for something
big - a key, a switch to move the map along, whatever - you are
going to get attacked - and attacked again just when you thought
it was going to be all quiet on the western front - then
you'll probably get hit again - there are no easy outs in these
maps. map 4 was where it all came together though - all the
training in the first 3 levels was all for this - trapped in an
arena with you the main course for an ever increasingly
difficult set of battles that pits you against increasingly
difficulty competition with apparently little or no place to
hide. you've been warned. i actually cheered when i finally took
out the annihilator at the end of the map - it was that
difficult and that satisfying!
Design: 10
honestly, you're going to have to put up a really good argument
for why this isn't in consideration as one of the best maps of
all time in the doom community. zorah, who has always been a
really good mapper anyway, brought it to an entirely new level
with doom gaiden. he used the zdoom engine but didn't go for all
those funky things that it can do - he did it in an understated
way that took advantage of some of it's features that can really
bring a map orset of maps alive. map3 was a bit long for
my taste but there was absolutely nothing wrong in the
design - gorgeous and deadly. and cruel - if that word can
be used to describe the design of a map - it fits here. the
arena of map 4 was amazing in it's simplicity and it's sheer
masochistic intensity. loved it - every intense, swear inducing
moment of it!
Playability: 10
I don't often find myself in the position of giving someone a
set of scores like this but zorah deserves them all - these maps
were absolutely amazing to play - addictive if you will.
as frustrated as i got at times, i wanted to press on - and
press on some more. i had to force myself to shut the game down
at midnight last night - thanks goodness i did, considering i
had no idea there would still be that much to level 3 at the
time. this is a set of maps you are going to want to return to -
why? because they are that good! take notes - this is
how doom is done in 2014!
Overall (Not an Average): 10
really - what more can i say - i could gush over this set of
maps all night but i'm sure what you really want to do is
get down to some gameplay of your own. if you're still on the
fence - hardto imagine - check out the in game video from
each of the maps below!
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