Summary

REVIEW

Screenshots

Author(s):

Grimm

SP doom2 (map 1)

Also plays with original Doom

requires: No Specific Port

Reviewer: Sematary

Download the Doom2 version

Download the Doom version  

DIFFICULTY RATING  - rating: 7

    The difficulty in this level isn't so much with the bestiary (mostly former humans, shotgun guys and chaingunners) but more from the level itself. The author uses switches (especially near the beginning) that don't have switch textures so you need to discover them on your own. I found that rather frustrating to be perfectly honest which will reflect in playability. There is a switch near the beginning which require you to shoot them in order to set them off. I'll warn you now - find the shotgun first or you won't set it off. It is the spread from the shotgun blast that activates the switch while killing the bad guy at the same time. If you kill him with the pistol then you'll miss the switch and you'll never get past the beginning of the level. There were several spots in the map where he used darkness and sudden openings of walls and such to trap the player, which, of course was the intent so well done. If you're going just on the bestiary, this wasn't very hard - even on UV. If you take into account surprises then it was a little harder but for the most part there was more than enough ammo and health throughout and once again, the map was the true enemy.
 

Playability -  rating: 5   

    I'll be honest - this map really pissed me off while I was playing it. The beginning especially was particularly frustrating as there is no clue whatsoever as to what you're supposed to do. Thats why I warn you about that switch you need the shotgun to hit because this is a non-port release and you can't simply aim at it. It is clever actually and not something most people would expect but a little too obscure as are a couple of other switches as I mentioned earlier. You will find yourself travelling through portions of the map many, many times after having killed everything and may find yourself wandering around trying to figure out what the switch you hit just did and in some cases more walls open up to give you new enemies to battle so different moments will bring different results. There was one portion of the map I never figured out how to get to and there was another portion of the map that held some ammo in a lava area that I was able to get into but couldn't figure out how to get out of. If you don't mind spending some time searching around to figure out what happened after you hit a switch or in some cases trying to figure out what the switch is then you probably will enjoy this map and might enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out what this authors warped little mind concocted for you. Otherwise, you might just get pissed off. Once you figure him out tho the map does get easier to navigate and can actually become a little addictive.
 

Level Design -  rating: 7

     This is the hardest one to call. There is not alot of detail in this map which will bring you into the wayback machine in a big way as far as that goes. There are a few cool textures like the glass one which were pretty nice. The new sky texture was ok too. Level design also includes things making sense and having switches that don't look like switches and give you no clue that they are even there is a negative thing. Some of his other switch use was quite good and clever. I think overall, once you get passed the early portion of the map and get used to the design that you'll find the design to be if not inspired, at least creative.

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