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Lost Facility, by Robert "BJA" Hodri, is a multi-part single
player map for Doom 3. Despite its shortcomings, it's a fun
little romp stopped only by, well, the end of the map.
Difficulty: 5
I'll be honest, originally I was going to give this a lower
score in the difficulty department. For most of the map, I found
myself fighting cannon fodder and remaining relatively healthy.
Fight a few Z-Secs, imps, trites, and a few Revenants at sniper
range. Not so much a problem with your trusty sniper rifle--
err, I mean pistol. For a while, I didn't really find anything
new or noteworthy.
At around the second part of the map, though, there's a bit of a
difficulty spike. Not a huge one, but a noticeable one, for
sure. You go from fighting imps and trites to taking on multiple
revenants, cacodemons, and a mancubus in close quarters. Ammo is
kinda tight at this segment. There is a rocket launcher you can
pick up just prior to entering the area, but since it's close
quarters, you might end up blowing your face off. I found myself
relying on the shotgun at this segment, mostly, reserving the
rockets for that revenant on the balcony.
After that, the difficulty kinda drops again, pitting you
against Sabaoth and two revenants. Which actually isn't that
challenging - the Sabaoth's BFG actually targets the revenants
anyway, quickly nullifying any challenge having the extra
baddies there would have added. Sabaoth isn't that hard either,
as the plasma rifle you pick up just before you fight him is
more than enough.
Design: 8
While not stunningly beautiful, the architecture and planning is
definitely better than average as far as Doom 3 maps go. The
facility really does feel abandoned, and the author makes good
use of prefabs. It's a bit bright for Doom 3, so I found that a
little bit of a turn off, especially since the early part of the
map's battles would have been much more difficult had the
lighting been turned down. For an abandoned facility, someone
sure left a lot of lights on!
Either way, the map's layout is somewhat believable, as far as
abandoned research bases go.
Playability: 8
I had no real issues with playing this one, save for maybe the
difficulty spike in the second act. No real major bugs, so
that's good.
Overall (Not An Average): 7
Lost Facility may not be stellar, but it's definitely got some
charm to it. I only wish it were longer, and expanded its use of
the bestiary to generate more varied fights. Still, it's worth
checking out once or twice. |