Tunnel Run

Screenshots

Upon reading the text file for tunnel run you will find out it's actually a level from an 'in progress' (i.e. unlikely to be finished ;-) ) TC named Doom Town 3. It's also by a guy named Russel Pearson, and was apparently designed back in '95. That's a whole 5 years ago (when my computer was state of the art...).

Tunnel run is not a misnomer, as there are plenty of tunnels to run your way through. Luckily it's not an annoying maze and the tunnel layout is nicely done so you briefly return to areas you've covered as you progress.

I'd reccomend going straight to Ultra Violence when you play this level. It's definitely not too hard until the end, and the ammo/health placement somehow works perfectly. Just when you're pretty much ammo-less and one imp's claw from death, you'll be guaranteed to find what you need in a well-timed health and/or ammo area. You'll pick them by the switches and metal doors.

Early on don't run too fast into the action as the shotgun guys tend to wear you down when you have no ammo. So instead of running, try creeping... Once you get going you can pretty much breeze your way to the final area, which depending on if you can actually finish it, is damn annoying or very well done. I found it annoying.

Texture use is somewhat repetitive as mentioned, but that just helps split the level into distinct areas I guess. The dark cave area with tonnes of imps hurling fireballs at you is particularly atmospheric. The rest is more of a base theme though. One annoyance was that key doors weren't marked - no need to confuse the player is there? Lighting is pretty much standard, which is to say there is nothing to blow your socks off. Architecture is pretty much straight forward, with detail apparently being removed to prevent vis-plane overflows. With limitless source ports that is somewhat depressing.

By far and away the best part of Tunnel Run is that it plays extremely nicely. But I still would have liked to see more monsters inhabiting the levels, as at times it feels a little empty. For a start, you can never have enough imps can you? Make sure you give this level a try if you're looking for classic doom gameplay with no cheap tricks.

Rating 7.5/10

Reviewed by Chief