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Oh, yes this is very pretty - very pretty indeed. Hello and welcome to my slightly gushy review of Morbid DM. Gushy because this is perhaps the best looking bit of Doom I’ve seen since the architectural wonder that is the Darkening Episode 2 graced our computers. Yes, it really does look that good.
And so it should… this isn’t just the work of your average Doomer, but this little piece of ZDooM deathmatching has been brought to you from none other than the combined talents of Afterglow and Nick Baker. Formidable company to be in at the best of times, but this time they really have excelled themselves. The architecture is great. The 3D bridges are the first I’ve seen to use a different texture (I was always wondering when someone was going to do that), which adds to their realism hugely. Both authors influence can be heavily felt throughout the design of the level – The stairs that bend in on themselves are reminiscent of some of Nick’s work on DE2, whilst the curving of the walls reminds me of Derek’s earlier Sacrifice DM series. The screenshots don’t really do it the justice that it deserves, you’ve got to get out there and see it for yourself. The ZDooM features are well used throughout the level, from identifying Spawn points with fountains (very handy if you want to avoid getting telefragged) to the cool 3D bridges and deep water. I was a bit thrown by the fact that they didn’t use Doom’s standard water flat, but you get used to it after a while. Unfortunately, the level falls down a bit in the playability stakes. This is mostly due to the fairly large size of the level and the high amount of detail. The large size means it’s best played with at least three or four other players, but the high detail factor, while it looks fantastic, can slow these sort of games down to a crawl. All in all, though, it’s worth downloading this level just to take it all in – it really is that good looking. |
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