The DWmegawad Club plays: 2002: A Doom Odyssey (My God... it's full of imps!)

Playing catch-up...

E2M1 -- Station Alpha
Like for E1, a really good start to the episode. I really dig how this one looks, it just looks like something out of E2 (but doesn't at all play copycat). It plays all right, and although the traps could have been made slightly more dangerous, I found them to be slightly less anticipated than usual for Paul's designs. Loads of secrets for such a small map, they're good except for the wallhumpy light amp one, and I didn't really understand the purpose of giving the player a computer map with one room left to play (unless it's for hunting down missed secrets). Apparently, it's a good thing I usually play without music (or listening to other music)... haven't heard the track but given people's comments it's bound to be special. :-) --4/5

E2M2 -- Station Beta
Difficulty ramps up a notch here, mostly because of a lack of medikits and stimpacks, which means you can't mess around (or, like me, waste health trying to get the blue armour in the slime section) or you'll be forced to play veeery carefully once you get short on health. Action is pretty good, medium difficulty for map 2, but bogs down with several very slow and/or annoying monster teleporters. Also, the map is very linear and does little to hide that fact. Texturing is all over the place, it's marble, techlab, stone theme, brownish, ... but at least it doesn't all look the same. :-) I finally found the blue armour, by complete accident. The invisiblity secret is so obvious and easy to get I don't understand why even bother marking it secret. The monster teleporter at the end in the lift was fun, and the ending room was strange -- just an empty courtyard with a needless switch puzzle. Oh, well, overall I had a good time and that's what counts. --4/5

E2M3 -- The Lost Labs
Third map in a row which is good, but not great. Whereas E2M2 didn't particularly look (nor play) like anything from E2, this one... well, neither does this one, actually. In fact, it looks like something *really* competent put together in late 1994, early 1995, or thereabouts. It features several nice fights and trap sequences. The best one, the fight inside the reactor of the titular labs, was great but unfortunately I ran out of the reactor before I had killed everything and couldn't get back in, so had to play the map all over. I wonder if this is co-op safe... what happens if you die in there? Is it at all possible to get back in from the outside?

Anyway, this really does look like a lab, and the theme is very consistent throughout. Difficulty leans towards easy, especially the last half, since you get a ridiculous amount of ammo, as well as the plasma rifle, and even the BFG(!) if the wall humping gods are on your side. Progression was done well, I think -- it's fairly easy to figure out where to go (except maybe when you're meant to go off and collect the red key) but it's not extremely linear. The author makes you go back and forth a bit, and makes sure you're kept busy with monster closets (I especially liked the way Lost Souls were used in these throughout). The secrets all come in the second half of the map, and make what could have been some interesting fights towards the end much too easy. All in all, pretty darn good. --4/5

E2M4 -- Shotgun Blues
A medium-sized map with tons of traps, switch hunting, monsters and secrets. It's pretty difficult from a pistol start; I was quite low on ammo for almost all of regular play, and by the end I had hoarded so much ammo (mostly by punching out Barons and Cacos) that when everything was dead I had about 70 shells, 100 bullets and 100 cells! There's enough health to go around, so unless you get unlucky you're still liable to survive the map as long as you watch your arse. The many teleporter traps become tiresome really fast, and after a while I instinctively spun around every time I opened a door, pretty much. More tedious than fun. Speaking of tedious, I spent almost 20 minutes after everything was dead hunting down the last secrets which lead the way to a ZDoom only map (bah, humbug... that was time well spent. Oh well, that's what one gets for being a completionist). The solution is obscure beyond belief: finding a secret switch in an area you'll normally probably never access, which leads to a secret room within a secret room with a switch which opens up another secret room with a strange picture of someone in their bathtub (WTF!!??) and wherein you find a switch which opens up another secret room with a soulsphere and a switch which opens up another secret room (the exit).

Most of the other secrets are fine, I found the blue armour right away and was happy I did, as the fights are pretty mean straight away and throughout, especially with all the teleporting monsters. Some nice sequences (the red key access) are found alongside some not-so-good sequences. The cavern section, although a welcomed change of setting, had some boring fights with imps placed far away, some of which basically cannot hit you, and all of which are stupidly difficult to hit.

All in all, a decent outing, although some annoyances, mainly the endless teleport traps, drag it down a bit. --3/5

E2M5 -- Fortress of Fatalities
This one was apparently misplaced as it is clearly an E3 map in almost all aspects: it's set in and around a somewhat large, tough, hellish brick fortress. Design is delightfully retro. Just like E2M1, several parts of this map look like they could appear in an original id map, but nothing is copy/pasted. I don't know how this was pulled off, but pulled off it was. You start outside and work your way into the fortress, and eventually end on the other side. Fights are mostly nothing to write home about, and the ammo supply being very ungenerous until after you get the blue key doesn't really help -- I was forced to non-berserk punch a number of demons and spectres to death. Other fights are just pointless, like the Caco hallway near the double-teleporter. I ran past several times, assuming some crusher would kill those monsters, but no. Even worse, they pose almost no threat to you. The spectre trap was very obvious and more tedious than fun. Again, it was easy to fight the monsters without any of them posing any threat at all.

Most of the ending felt rather out of place compared to the very hellishly themed start, it was nukeage base and E2 textures in a haphazard mix. The secrets are weird: I don't understand the T-rex joke(?) by the RL secret, the first blue armour secret requires a run through very hurtful lava (ouch!) at a time when you have no armour and may be very short on health, the second blue armour secret is in wallhump country, and two secrets (the one at the central lava pit and the BFG secret) I have no idea how I opened, I just ran into them. The secret exit is accessed by going back to the start, and this is quite clever, as players playing a pistol start on UV will probably have left the imps in those towers alive to preserve ammo and therefore will have a reason to go back there if playing 100/100. This one, after the -- due to the ammo shortage rather exciting and difficult -- initial scramble for survival, loses its momentum somewhere close to the Caco corridor and is eventually lost in the sea of mediocrity. --3/5

E2M9 -- Dungeon of Hate
An action-packed castle level, using Heretic/Hexen textures. The theme and texturing of the map, as well as the overall layout, really makes it stand out from what I've played in E2 so far, and certainly makes it feel like a secret map. The start is fantastic, with several shotgunner traps followed by a Caco/Cyber showdown, which cowardly types like myself (who teleport back) face well-stocked. After this the map doesn't deliver quite the same intensity, although you're still supplied an ample amount of monsters (mostly shotgunners) to waste, while progressing through a number of courtyards. In the latter part of the map there's another Cyber showdown but this one is a bit toothless, as it is teleported to a side chamber wherein you can easily avoid fighting it, or take pot shots at it. You can also release a Mastermind into this chamber and let the two duke it out (lo and behold: yet again, the MM showed its superiority!). The difficulty is rather easy aside from the start -- once you kill the first Cyberdemon there's not much to threaten you in the rest of the map, especially not if you don't rush things. The fights are overall rather fun, not spectacular but fun, but again I feel that the map loses its momentum somewhere along the way. I had to go hunt for the BFG secret after having killed everything, so it's definitely not needed (which is fortunate as it is rather hard to find). --4/5

Wohoo, I caught up! :-)

E2M6 -- Between Demons and Insects
I rather liked this one. It's a red/green marble map, again looks more like E3 than E2. It starts off innocently enough, pick off a few monsters, collect the blue key, then work your way deeper inside the marble structure, and this is where things get interesting. The central soulsphere chamber here has quite a few monsters (enough to make you think twice about jumping down into it in a flash) and houses the teleport to the yellow key section, which is the highlight of the map with a four-part teleport trap bound to make any player sweat. I ran out of ammo the first time around and died, so decided to leave many of the monsters at the start behind on my second run-through and this worked like a charm. Sadly, access to the soulshere chamber was cut off when I came back so I had to take pot shots at the monsters from the windows, which was less than fun. After that, the map ended rather abruptly after you open access to an exit located in some hurtful blood (completely random, since blood throughout the map does not hurt you otherwise, and not a good design idea). I remember thinking to myself "Oh? Is this the end? Already?", and when a map feels shorter than it is, that's a good sign. One easy-to-find-secret with nothing of real use. Challenge is medium, with one difficult spot (if you haven't made sure to save enough ammo for the teleporter trap sequence). Ammo is tight when pistol starting so save as much as you can and leave monsters in the start for later. Very fine map, almost a five from me, the best so far in E2. --4/5

E2M7 -- Puzzles to Solve
Aha, we finally get a decent-sized E2 complex in episode 2! :-) And I'm glad to say it's a great one: it's fairly large, it's intricate, rich in interesting layouts and texturing, and up until you get the red key it's also challenging when starting from scratch. The whole first part of the map, up to and including the red key, is utterly brilliant and probably the best mapping I've seen so far in this WAD. Several great fights, unique situations and fun traps. The red key trap was especially fun as you're surrounded by monsters being released almost everywhere you can possibly flee to. There are two very helpful secrets at or near the start: a soulsphere secret (which I did not find until much later, after having grabbed the red key and killed all the monsters in that area) and the plasma rifle/berserk secret. Both are just difficult enough to find to not be obvious but at the same time, not frustratingly obscure. The third secret is wallhumpy but it's close to the end and doesn't contain anything helpful, so it's no biggie. There was one room just past the RK door with plasma and rockets which seemed hidden to me and maybe should've been marked secret. *shrug*

After you get the red key, the map supplies you with an absurd amount of health, armour and ammo, so the tension of the first bits soon disappeared as I worked my way further into the map, but goddamn it I really enjoyed myself! The map ends outside the main complex in a cavern section, which is an okay finale although perhaps the weakest part of the map. I enjoyed the various tributes to parts of classic maps, such as Plutonia map 8 and Doom 2 map 13 among others, included seamlessly in the overall design. The progression is very straightforward and although there is a ton of stuff to do, you never find yourself lost or not knowing what to do next. Sensational stuff. --5/5

E2M8 -- Total Disturbance
A plain and simple Cyberdemon showdown, set in a large cave area. You start in a small stone base, get juiced up with more rockets and cells you'll ever need as well as 200/200, then fight a handful of shotgunners, and end up in an outside arena where you're greeted by a handful of Cacos and a Cyberdemon. It feels a bit formulaic and is not challenging in the slightest. I blasted through in less than 1½ minutes, less time than it took me to write this review. It's not a bad map, per se, but it's just not at all interesting, is executed without much finesse and feels like a bit of a letdown, especially after the build-up from E2M6 and E2M7. No secrets. --2/5


...

So, guys, what episode did you like best so far? E1 or E2? My average grade for E1 was a little bit higher, but my favourite map so far is probably E2M7.

For my part, I definitely preferred E2. I think this is mainly because I found it to be quite a bit more varied and simultaneously less predictable (it also helps that I didn't remember a lot of it as well as I did E1). E1 was all about the one-two-one-two-one-two alternating rhythm of Corfiatis' and Aro's maps. Now, this in itself isn't necessarily an issue, as other mapsets have followed this same pattern and managed to be very strong; it's more like the style contrast between these two in this episode kept making me think of how much better each individual map could've been--e.g. "I sure wish Paul would create an engaging atmosphere like Kristian often does" alternating with "man, I sure wish Kristian would show a little imagination in the combat department, like Paul sometimes does", and so on and so forth. Because they both produced essentially the same kind of map 3-4 times in a row, with things like the repeated appearance of the central key-door hub driving this point home, this yin-yang dichotomy becomes the most dominating impression the episode leaves--so there's no real climax, and only one map (the secret map, at that) that feels significantly different from the rest. Now, given the maps did have some real virtues, and none was egregiously irritating to play, all of the above may seem a bit stuffy and nitpicky.....and that's because it is! And that is the real problem with E1: the action in it is generally so tame and static and unvarying that I found myself thinking more about the kinds of things I've written about above than I did being absorbed by the maps. It's not just a question of being easy--there are many different varieties of easy, and some can be quite enjoyable. I think Mouldy touched on this issue when he mentioned earlier how the action in Knee Deep in the Dead, while just as easy as the action in Deep into the Code, feels a lot more organic and dynamic due to the way it is presented/designed....the problem is, the action in Deep into the Code is all very basic room-clearing with toothless traps and little variety. Heh, persistently insulting demon/specter placement is sort of the icing on the cake, you know....

Road to Eternity, by contrast, introduces Habich and Hansen to vary up the pacing and visual styles within the episode a bit more, and Corfiatis' own designs also start to grow a few teeth and begin to feel like they have more coherent map-wide themes. For example, the ammo-miser gameplay in E2M5 really surprised me. I mean, I've played that sort of map many times before, but given what E1 had shown me, I didn't expect to see it here. Sort of jarred me out of my rut, so to speak. Fittingly, E2 also culminates in the resolution of the aforementioned Aro/Corfiatis dichotomy, via their collaborative map, which has the virtues of both authors and therefore feels like one of the most 'complete' maps in the set.

Hmm, well episode 1 despite the design in 2002ado being completely different to the original designs of John Romero still feels classic and fun to blast through. More like a merging of the fun I had with kditd and the linear styles of the two authors involved. I love the difference in style and to speedrun is a joy.
Episode 2 is where things start to take off. By 2002 the way we designed maps had changed somewhat and to that the ability to mix techbase and hell had increased somewhat so visually these map are superior to the ultimate doom counterparts. Also having different authors adds variety to the table. Gameplay wise it's pretty tricky from pistol start and present a decent challenge. I had a few deaths. The only death in the first episode was because of the crusher in E1M9 which was my fault anyway.
Best map by far is E2M7 but I enjoy E2M3, E2M6 and E2M9 for their own merits. I like the chaos Rory Habich brought to his maps either by excessive amounts of firepower or excessive amounts of monsters :P

Overall, I'd rate E2 above E1, though the very limp ending of the former definirely taints my final opinion of it. On the whole, however, it has more varied gameplay and design.

Boy, I fell behind quick this week. Got busy with Starcraft 2... time to catch up!

E2M1: STATION ALPHA

LOL @ that music. Another solid level, not much to write home on the battles. Really like the secret design, though.

E2M2: STATION BETA

Whereas Shores of Hell seemed to just be a mix of techbase and hell textures, here they tend to have the “hell” pieces encroaching halfway into the areas, with intestines and fleshy parts mixing. Interesting touch.

Really wish I had a berserk or chainsaw at this point, lots of demons. Seems to be an extreme lack of health on this level too… I only counted two medkits and 3-4 stimpacks. There were a couple times when I suddenly realized I was at sub-30 health and had to play careful.

Also, what's up with that empty last room having a double switch trick? Just weird.

E2M3: THE LOST LABS

This one foregoes any hell theme and goes straight back to techbase. Not even any Cacodemons until the last room (though there is a baron). I didn’t really like the baron room at first since I took it too slowly and ran out of rad suit before I could escape, heh. I think the level could’ve improved from some darker lighting and different light throughout, overall it seemed boringly bright through the whole map.

E2M4: SHOTGUN BLUES

Oh god it’s the same “shotgunner teleports right behind you” trap from the first map of Interception that everyone disliked. At least there’s a blue armor nearby to absorb some of the shock, but still. I really like the design of the starting area, nice techbase look into some more E2-style brown and marble. And then there’s another shotgunner teleporting behind you. And a horribly painful barrel trap if, for some reason, your first response to “Baron!” is to run forward into him instead of back up (or not shoot barrels when you see them). And… another shotgunner trap! And another. Okay, I know the name of the map is “Shotgun Blues” but this getting a little old. I did enjoy the chain of secrets though (not sure about the one off the exit room...). The barons after the plasma/blue armor one are pretty rough, but for a good secret I can see why.

E2 > E1, hands down. I remember almost every map from E2, while E1 all blurs together except for M8 and that map where guys teleport in at a snail's pace. I feel like the atmosphere and difficulty helped add to it, as I stated in my post. Shame it had to end on that tepid cyber fight though.

I'm actually a bit surprised that nearly everyone agrees on E2M7 being one of the best, if not the best, map so far. Some of us don't quite see eye to eye on various maps but with that one, we all definitely enjoyed our time with it. And I know we can all agree on what maps are generally stinkers, but to find a map everyone praises is... uncanny. Maybe I'm just too used to dissenting opinions here :P

@Magnusblitz I hope you're watching the MLG tourney, there's been some sick plays in it so far (mostly from Koreans). Makes me wish I was better at SC2...

Ah, so it seems I am alone (so far) in thinking E1 > E2. In fairness, I think it's a very close race. The consistency of mapping in E1 makes it consistently more (or less) enjoyable, perhaps: either you grow tired of the design, or you want more. :-) Maybe that makes it easier to like E2 better: there's certainly a more varied design and so no matter your taste in maps you'll find something you like a lot.

E2M7 being universally praised is interesting, but I guess it contains several elements appealing to most player types and when you get it right, you get it right. It would be interesting to try and dissect what those elements are exactly.

E2M8 – Paul Corfiatis – Kills – 100, Items – 33, Secrets – 0. Time 3:58. End Health 180, Armor 180. Death Count – Zero

This is called “Total Disturbance,” and I was totally disturbed by how lame it was. Hah, couldn’t resist!;D After the excellence of E2M7, this is a real letdown, but credit is given for the degree to which it tries to emulate the original boss fight. Other than that, not much to say. On to E3!

As far as the E1 vs E2 question goes, it should be obvious that I go with E2. I've already described the main problems I had with E1 -- deaf monsters that always appear in front of you, stiff flow completely unlike Knee Deep, lousy traps, boring fights, etc. etc.

In fairness, E1 is a tough row to hoe for anyone who sticks to the original E1 menagerie. I can't think of anyone who has succeeded in equaling Romero on this score. Maybe the DTWID team came close, but somehow, even with all the monsters in their maps, it seemed easier than Knee Deep.

Secrets are a big part of what made Knee Deep fun for me, with E1M3 standing as the coolest use of secret areas I've ever seen. There's almost as much gameplay in them as in the main map. But pcorf doesn't do secrets that way, he constructs intricate and often aggravating switch hunts and obtuse actions that open small areas. The bottom line is that pcorf and Aro are not Romero.

pcorf seems much more attuned to the E3/E4 style, and as we all saw, he and Habich dragged that style into E2. They were also willing to be nasty to us. I'm not sure the maps in E2 were necessarily that much more attractive than those of E1 overall, but for me, E2M5 and E2M7 were the standout maps in terms of appearance, though E1M9 was impressive, too.

My playstyle is pretty basic. I don't speedrun, co-op or deathmatch. As a general rule, I will only play a map once, thus, it only gets one chance to make a first impression. And why should I play it more than once? There's a gajillion maps out there. With that in mind, the decision to make E1 so easy is hard to understand, and I personally don't agree with what seems the general consensus, that E1 should be easy and that it is to be expected. Sorry, but I think every episode should be challenging. None of us are noobs, after all. Why coddle us?

Thus, the main reason I prefer E2 to E1 is that it offers me more of what I expect from Doom -- grim, grisly and sometimes panicky combat.

E2M9:
The 'Heretic'/'Hexen' themed map; almost every texture/flat here is from those games, and as a result the general atmosphere is quite different to the rest of E2. Thankfully it doesn't include some sort of piss-poor dehacked attempt at recreating some of the enemies!

Immediately, there's a trap. See that Soulsphere? This is the worst sort of baiting, and I imagine that it could be pretty painful for any Pistol Starters. Before you can even get within reach of the item (you don't even finish taking a step), there are suddenly four Shotgun Guys ahead. Still want that Soulsphere? Six more appear behind you. Have fun!

If you're expecting a free prize from this, you're in for a very rude shock.

The author at least had the grace to provide you with a Chaingun for dealing with them, which is probably a good thing as you have to approach the Soulsphere anyway -- the only door at the start is locked. Where's the key? It's contained in what may well be this WAD's most infamous surprise, and certainly this map's trickiest moment.

I knew he was there, I knew when to fire, I even expected an immediate volley in return, and the cunt still hit me in the face.

Not pleasant. Bizarrely, this sort of cheap nastiness is almost welcome though by now; the difficulty has been so mind-numbingly low as a consecutive run that seeing a bright red flash was like waking up after two weeks. Alright so that's a pretty shit way to describe things but you can probably make some guess what I'm getting at. It was invigorating to actually find myself in some sort of trouble and have to do something about it. Haven't had that since... well, some point during the last WAD. But at least now I also have a use for that Soulsphere, so it's not all bad.

Ah, hold on, there's another minor irritation that's adding to the increasingly big ball of minor irritations. Stop putting items in unavoidable positions. It may not be any real issue in this particular instance, but it's bad practice and leads to stupid fucking nonsense like unavoidable Soulspheres and Mega-Armour. Oh Christ I really hope there's none of that shit coming up.

And fuck that useless Horizontal Autoaim too while I'm here; the biggest crock of shit since an actual big crock of shit.

Things calm down from here on out (somewhat unfortunately); there are a few surprises here and there (and a dumb use of a Baron Of Hell behind some bars), but compared to getting that Blue Skullkey there's nothing that is likely to cause any major harm. Not even the combination of a Spider Mastermind and a Cyberdemon! Why? Because it's a ludicrously shit use of them that seems to just be shoved in for no reason. Initially you think you're in for another clobbering from this second Cyberdemon, but he's whisked away through a teleport into a nearby chamber with the Spider Mastermind. They shout, have a fight to the death, and you mop up the severely weakened victor. I just cannot understand the point of this section at all. To go from a legitimately threatening surprise to... this? What the fuck, did you fall asleep while dreaming up a decent use for these things?

What..? Why?

All in all, it's a fun map that starts really well, but slowly descends back to the tired old style of exterminating everything without really trying to; the 'boss duel' really left a bad impression too. Oh, and so did this shit. Get your best wall-humping gear on, it's time to start hitting your dick against the brickwork again.

Yep, this looks like the one. What, you can't tell the difference? NOR CAN I FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

Well that's that. I'm really getting sick of these shitty, lazy secrets - if you don't want them to be easily accessed, make the method of opening them relatively puzzle-like. At least let us know that there may be something behind the wall that may well be worth the effort of uncovering!

It's these fucking secrets! I'd have been finished much earlier if not for them!

Episode 3 time! (in Australia, anyway)


E3M1
A red fortress style level. Uses the see-through doors trick, which cost me a couple of rounds of shotgun ammo. Not that that mattered, because my god there's a lot of the stuff on this level. You can barely move for tripping over boxes of shells.

Gameplay-wise, it features a wholly unnecessary double-key exit. Just replace one of the keys (I'd choose the blue one) with a juicy power-up, and there would be an actual optional area to the map. Just a couple of rooms, but you probably want to go down there anyway, since it also gives you access to the RL secret. Not that I found said secret during my playthrough, but I saw it in DB2 after I finished the level :)

Difficulty is low, as expected for the first map of an episode. I did get knocked down to 46% health due to bad luck at the red key trap, but there was plenty of health around to get it back up to full.

Looks of the level are OK. I'm not a fan of the very steep stairs up to the chainsaw and backpack; would have preferred those to be lifts; but otherwise it uses height variation reasonably well, and the texture-use is solid.



E3M2
This is a mostly a hellish caverns level, though it does include one wood and marble subsection. It also represents quite a step up in difficulty from the previous map. This rise in difficulty comes from two factors: the first is more use of multiple teleport destinations on ambushes, so that the player can actually get flanked or even – gasp! – surrounded. The second is the less welcome development of hitscanners in wide open areas. I lost count of the number of times I got some health plinked off by a sergeant that I couldn't actually shoot back at until I'd sprinted closer.

Overall, however, the notch up in danger is welcome, as it makes the still linear gameplay a little more involving. It still works on the principle of 'find key, find key, find key', with no side trips or other excursions allowed, but at least now the train tracks are throwing some curves at you :)

Of course, I can throw some curves at the map, too. I figured there'd be a trap when I grabbed the yellow key, so when I did, I bolted for the exit. Left those cacos and imps in my dust. Looking in DB2, I missed out on a blue armor by doing it, but I can cope with that trade-off.

Stand out section is probably the yellow key room and the area to the south of it. You have plenty going on in front of you, and a baron taking potshots from the north. Then when you head down the stairs into the caverns, you run into the level's nastiest ambush. Nice to see the claws come out, now we're actually in Hell itself.

Squeezing in the deadline for E2...

E2M5: FORTRESS OF FATALITIES

Yeah, this definitely feels like a misplaced E3 map rather than an E2 one. Like most of Paul’s maps, it’s very pretty and the layout is nice, but the monsters are very boringly placed. I think I took more damage from the lava getting to the secret exit than anything else... speaking of that secret exit, ugh. Couldn’t find out how to open the wooden door in the lava and had to resort to looking it up… no wonder, it’s freaking obscure! As far as I can tell, the secret wall you need to find is basically indistinguishable except that its texture is offset by one pixel. One pixel! Bah.

E2M9: DUNGEON OF HATE

Well, seen Wolfenstein levels a plenty, so a Heretic one shouldn’t be surprising I suppose. Aside from the cyberdemon near the start, wasn’t too hard except for all the hitscanner bullshit. This level is replete with them, which doesn’t seem fair since Heretic doesn’t have any hitscanners… but I digress. Some more boring enemy placement (especially the Barons), and not really sure what the point of the Cyberdemon/Spider room was (they started fighting on their own before I even noticed where they were).

E2M6: BETWEEN DEMONS AND INSECTS

Okay, back to the E3 theme, so maybe E2M5 wasn’t misplaced after all. Not much to say about this one, except that goddamn teleporter room lasted forever and felt like it was never going to end. And I hope you really like the shotgun, because that’s pretty much the only weapon you’ll get to use. There’s one room with chaingun ammo and a few rockets scattered about, and some cells near the end, but beyond that it’s just shells shells shells.

E2M7: PUZZLES TO SOLVE

Back to a more E2 feel. Despite the name, not really any puzzles. Just lots of “hit switch A, open door B, go inside and hit switch C, open door D, go inside…” repeat over and over. Only part that even gave me pause was needing to drop in the slime to open the elevators in the blue key area. Still, it’s a decent romp with nothing frustrating.

E2M8: TOTAL DISTURBANCE

Yawnfully easy Cyberdemon battle – the size of the room just makes it far too easy to avoid his rockets. There’s also a good chance the player has a BFG from one of the previous levels, too.

Not sure if I would say E2 is better than E1. E1 does a very good job of recreating the techbase feel of KTITD, but it's also painfully easy. E2 is a bit more challenging, though some of it is in an annoying fashion (overly-long monster teleporter rooms, the almost unfair Cyberdemon in the secret level, etc.)

E3M1: The first "Inferno" episode in Doom was quite a memorable experience as it had the player scurrying around for more weapons and ammunition in order to level the playing field, giving off quite an oppressive, hellish vibe. It's my favorite episode for both difficulty and aesthetics, and has quite a few memorable maps personally. So how does "The Evil Unleashed" fare?

Not well. While Sam Woodman does nail the hell aesthetic (which isn't that hard since it's mostly a lot of red and gray), the gameplay absolutely sets the wrong tone for the start to Hell. Free shotgun, chaingun, chainsaw and backpack? Superfluous ammo and health? Easy, unthreatening monsters that can be sniped from a distance in both the red key and blue key area? I was shaking my head throughout this romp, waiting for a baron to teleport in somewhere and trap me, but found myself shortly at the exit with 100 shells and 75 armor.

I don't usually like to complain about a map not being difficult enough (while I thought E1 was a bit stale, I didn't find the difficulty pathetic or even unfitting), but as a big fan of the original E3, this sets the absolute wrong tone going into the next map. I feel safe, secure, well armed and confident. I admit there is nothing specifically egregious about this map (it is a decent starter map after all), but I don't feel comfortable continuing on like this. As such, I'll be doing E3M2 from pistol start.

E3M2: And already I'm reaping the benefit of starting fresh. Corfiatis delivers a map that features more open areas filled to the brim with baddies, and while there's enough ammo not to starve, health is on the short side (until the end at least). It was fun trying to determine who I could shoot and who I could punch, and a handful of traps actually killed me (although admittedly, they do feel a touch cheap, like the pinkies near the end pushing you into the Lost Soul cave where it's easy to fall off and die in the dark blood down below). Visually it's a pretty tame/boring level, instead focusing on an interesting layout with many changes in lighting. The new textures did look nice though, and the detail in the library was neat.

This map more than the last struck that itch I was looking to scratch, and I hope some more follow in suit.

E2M4:
The "Teleport monster behind player" starts to get old and annoying. One's a cool surprise, two plain bullshit. Also, what's with my Doom boxer skills when my hits don't land today? Ammo was rather scarce for start.

Kills 100%, items 99% and secrets 60%. Fffuuuu-

E2M5
There's not much ammo. So much that I had to resort to (non-berserk) fists at the blue key bridge, wasted shells on those sergeants, fighting for my life in that ledge while spectres and demons are eating you. Don't ask how I survived. I don't know either.
But goddamn this level is hard. The architecture gives more E3 feeling, feels rather misplaced in E2 episode.

Stats... Well, probably worst so far. Kills 88%, items 89% and secrets 66%.

E2M6
Nothing much to say about architechture, except it looks more E3 than E2. As for the challenges, there is quite lot of barons. And probably worst gauntlet ever. Four teleporters, four switches beyond them. In theory, should be quite neat. But with 32 health, topped with low ammo... Just No. However, being quick, having good luck and saying "Fuck 100%", I decided just run for it. After like 8 deaths. There goes my lucky streak...

66% kills, 100% items and secrets.
DEATHS: 8 (fuck that gauntlet.)
TOTAL DEATHS IN THIS DWMWC: 19

E2M6:
Oh dear, I remember this one all too well for the difficulties that four players can unintentionally create for each other during the 'gauntlet'. A surprisingly 'E3'-styled map, it seems to have been built by someone who really dislikes the game's AI. What is this?

The Baron of Hell: Big, Bad, and... completely ineffective on occasion.

I clearly don't remember everything about this map though, because I charged up the BFG while grabbing the Blue Skullkey, expecting a pack of things to try and rush me (from the obvious door), but instead blew another Baron Of Hell into bits of meat paste and bone fragments. A bit on the 'overkill' side, but I'll take that over trying to use the Chainsaw when there's an actual risk of being hit. Through the Blue Door is a bunch of stuff that can be thinned out by standing around and waiting for them to get into a scrap... or you can just run right in and blast everything away to save time.

Oh, and that Soulsphere is a one-time pickup -- take it now or it's inaccessible.

Everyone seems to have some gripe or complaint with the 'gauntlet' run involving the four teleporters; I can understand why. It's pretty tedious to go through this section on a one-by-one basis, hitting one switch then killing everything, hitting the next, etc., not to mention that you can really drain your resources by doing it this way. So what's a better idea? Getting your running boots ready and hitting all four ASAP, then sprinting like fuck to get out of there.

Madness?

Suicide?

Nope, a master plan. But you're still likely to take some considerable damage, so don't fuck around. Oh, and there's only one secret on this map; it's reasonably easy to notice. In fact it's unmissable if you check the map.

The most pointless inclusion of a Computer Area Map I can think of.

Not really an issue, but these are... yeah.

Lost Souls that are a lost cause. HAHAHA.

Going back to that clusterfuck of nonsense, opening/closing the door (they can't open or pass through) repeatedly will cause absolute chaos among the hordes. A few minutes later, and with minimal effort, everything's dead and I can fool around picking up the few Shotgun Shells I need.

I haven't fired a shot. The Barons will usually manage to crush everything before you're required to do any work.

From this bit until the end, it's just a small clean-up operation. A stupid use of a 2/5% damagesector (is this really necessary?) to house a switch with some Imps, and an exit guarded by a Barbershop Quartet. I mean Baron quartet. You can just avoid them and leave -- they're not even close to being able to block a direct run to the exit, which is pretty dumb placement. Unfortunately, I didn't grab either the Soulsphere or Mega-Armour on sight because I'm not a greedy motherfucker that takes items the moment I locate them. Especially when I have no immediate need for such items. But in his infinite wisdom, the author decided that an area with a bunch of good stuff is no longer possible to go back through on a post-slaughter supply run. Personally I think that's a shitty design choice, almost as though we're being punished for having some level of sense to not get slapped around, or because we're capable of saving items for later.

I'm going to be bitter about that for a while.

E2M7:
Back to the regular E2 texture theme. Complete with crates.

The map is titled 'Puzzles To Solve', but really, the only puzzle present is along the lines of "why is this WAD loaded with so many harmless monster placements?" More completely needless Demons. I would have left them but fuck it. I have way too much ammo now.

Huuuurrrrrrr...

Time to complain about something, because the ball of minor irritations has grown to the point where it could easily eclipse the fucking Sun. What the FUCK is the point in this shit? I was backing up the stairs, only for this stupid fucking 'detail' to stop me dead in my tracks and lead to a bunch of Imp fireballs to the face! THIS shouldn't even be here! THIS is the absolute fucking epitome of pointless and obstructive detailing! AAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!

FUCK YOU.

Moving on after that stupid fucking thing, it's another one for the Harmless Hellspawn Club.

There really are no words to describe this waste.

Oh, maybe this was the 'puzzle'? Not really much of a puzzle, just an awkward design decision. I don't make a habit of diving into green shit when there are a bunch of POISON signs everywhere, and I don't see why this should force me to start said habit. This sort of thing would be fine for hiding a secret area, but when you have to go that way..? Eh, I'm not so keen on the idea.

At least you can avoid taking damage. No, really; it's possible to avoid losing a shoe for once.

A couple more silly encounters with stuff that can't hit me, and I have the Blue Skullkey. I expected some nonsense and bollocks to suddenly attack me (it's a perfect opportunity to send me for a swim), but nothing happens. What gives? This is E2M7, you're supposed to be making life a tad difficult by now. Ah well. Not long before this episode's over, because we all know that E2M8 is going to be a breeze.

Wait, have I even seen any door that requires this thing yet? Oh no, I hope it's not more unintuitive shit like doors behind walls.

Not really, that door's easy to find. The end of this map takes on something of an early E3 theme, but is sadly pretty toothless; just a bunch of Baldymen toting Shotguns. With it the last few spots of demonic resistance here fold without even trying (the final attempt at a real threat is immediately after leaving the base), which is a bit of a let-down. There could have been one last shock before that exit... but no. Just a lone Baron Of Hell to melt.

Then I had to run around like a dumbass trying to uncover the remaining secrets. After that Soulsphere/Mega-Armour fiasco on E2M6, I'm not leaving until I get everything... EVERYah fuck it that's all the Soulspheres, let's just go. Sod the Berserk.

And what do you know? It still slowed me down considerably.

E2M8:
Let's wrap this episode up. The obligatory munitions stash...

Ammo!

I think this is too generous. Far too generous...

Other stuff!

Do I have enough to make it this time?

Erm.

Yes.

Largely unremarkable, as basic E2M8 recreations tend to be. This end text is just... me oh my.

Now I have a headache.

Reasonable replacement endpic for E2 though... even if the Doomguy sprite is really obviously pasted-on and looks like some sort of 8ft superman.

He's also at an awkward angle. What's he actually looking at? For bonus points, tell me how fucked that sky is!


And that's that. A reasonably fun episode overall, but much like like E1 it suffers from too many linear fights, ridiculous non-threats and secrets that are just inexcusably bad/lazy. It's got some good moments scattered around and the claws do occasionally come out, but those remotely difficult moments are few and far between. Better -- or should I say more entertaining -- than E1? I suppose so, although the ending map was incredibly weak. We'd already endured a lone Cyberdemon encounter (the useless second one doesn't count), so there could have at least been two of them to fight during E2M8, especially given the vast space to run around in (and more so with all that ammunition we were given). After all, E1M8 gave us a Baron overload; E2M8 should have tried something similar.

E3M3
This marble and stone-themed map throws a little wrinkle into the standard '4 consecutive subsections, separated by keys' approach so prevalent to this wad. There seem to actually be a couple of routes to get you to the first key, for a start. For a second thing, the sections behind each door are actually very short: each is just one or two rooms with the next key, but then you get bushwhacked in some way as you head toward the next door. At least it’s a variation on the theme.

The map looks pretty good, and it mostly plays quite well, with several pretty fun fights as monsters teleport in. They're not all that hard, but there's a decent early flow of monsters in them, and a long trickle of stragglers to keep you on your toes.

However, the level also has two highly suspect design decisions for my tastes: the first is the surprise cyberdemon which feels like a 'screw you' gimmick, as it really isn't a location where you can engage the cyberdemon in an efficient manner. I'm sure the fight's beatable (if you find the secret there), but I doubt it's much fun. The second is the massive swarm of cacos in the sealed exit room. I'd be fine with this fight if the room wasn't sealed, and the player could run all over the level grabbing ammo for the fight. As is, it seems like a colossal waste of time and effort to do anything but run for the exit line (which is what I did, after I realised just how many cacos were coming through the teleporters).

So I'd call this a mostly solid level, marred by those two dubious decisions. It also looks like a complete pain to UV-MAX from a pistol start, if that's your thing, due to the scarcity of ammunition in comparison to monster count.



E3M4
Oh look, a central chamber with multiple doors, and you have to collect a bunch of keys to exit. What a revolutionary concept!

Bonus points for at least having two unkeyed doors through which you can explore; though one of them very quickly dead ends for now, so we're not talking about a lot of points.

Design-wise, the map looks okay, with the flesh bridge being a nice location. The progression is kinda dull, though, especially as it comes with several encounters that it seems far more practical to simply ignore. I'm firmly of the opinion that levels should always give players a good reason to fight monsters. Encounters where the best strategy seems to be simply leaving the area are, IMO, badly designed encounters. This level has several such moments: the cacos after the yellow key being one, and the flood of monster after the blue key being another.

I'm also less than thrilled about the decent weapons being all tucked away in secrets. The level can be finished without them, but it does make some of the encounters a bit tiresome. Killing stuff with the single shotgun takes a long time.

Capellan said:

E3M3
So I'd call this a mostly solid level, marred by those two dubious decisions. It also looks like a complete pain to UV-MAX from a pistol start, if that's your thing, due to the scarcity of ammunition in comparison to monster count.

One TAS UV Max exists, other UV Maxes have a limit on the number of kills. This map is impossible to max non-tas just because punching cacos is a real pain

cannonball said:
[One TAS UV Max exists, other UV Maxes have a limit on the number of kills. This map is impossible to max non-tas just because punching cacos is a real pain

So yes, it is a complete pain :)

E3M1 Gatehouse by Sam Woodman
Easy map to play casually though a troublesome spectre almost got me killed. Playing this map fast is very violent and results in a lot of deaths due to high monster density and sergeants. It looks really nice though, loving the red vibe and the music rocks too.
E3M2 - Caves Of Bosnia by PCorf
Wow I always thought this map was pretty ugly. But the gameplay is tough and challenging. I always enjoyed the frustrating struggles on this map. I miss having the record for this map (damn you vdgg avenging the E2M6 record I took from you :P)
The level is linear but connects well and hey no central hub yippee.

So from checking the Doom wiki, it seems that the levels I will be playing for E3M5 and E4M1 are totally different maps to those of the 10th year anniversary edition.

FYI and such. I'll try to remember to include a note to that effect when I post about those levels.

cannonball said:

One TAS UV Max exists, other UV Maxes have a limit on the number of kills. This map is impossible to max non-tas just because punching cacos is a real pain

What's the limit on a good attempt considered to be? I went into the final area with 50 shells, 200 bullets, 45 rockets, and 300 cells (I fought the cyberdemon with the shotgun and chaingun and then found the plasma rifle after he was dead...), fired every single round of ammo I had at the cacoswarm, and then punched a wounded one to death before hauling ass out of there....topped out at 94% kills.

The map doesn't actually need more ammo or fewer cacos in the last swarm--what it needs is a backpack! If I'd have been able to go in there with that other bulk cell from the plasma rifle secret I had to leave behind, and more shells from the many dead zombies littering the ground near the end, I reckon I could have finished the swarm off. I also vaguely wonder if it's feasible to leave the two outside barons alive for the whole map, and lure them in there with you as extra muscle.


E3M1 -- Gatehouse - 100% kills / 100% secrets
Ah, yes, a Metabolist map. Been a while since I've played one of those, although I found myself remembering this map pretty clearly. The classic "intro to Hell" theme is in full effect here--it's a glowering stone keep built primarily of crimson masonry (although it's a bit less open to the sky than is tradition). I thought it looked rather good (apart from another one of those video game arrows on the ground at one point), with an attention to lighting reminiscent of Aro's E1 maps and simple but tasteful detailing, like the inverse chaos-star motif that appears in the ceiling at a couple of points, or the cage of twitching, roasting corpses in the room with the berserk secret. Speaking of which, as I was moving through this room I heard the sounds of an infight in progress in another part of the keep--judging by a pile of corpses I found a few minutes later, turns out it was in the little cave with the blue skull, long before I'd ever been in there. This happened again on a replay, too....was this designed this way, I wonder, or an anomaly related to compat settings? Anyway, as Dobugabumaru points out, it's an easy map that doesn't put any munitions-related pressure on you like Hell Keep and any number of other E3M1 replacements do, which does hurt the "Hell is going to try to break your spirit" impression somewhat, but on the other hand, it's a lot bloodier over its short duration than either The Entry or Station Alpha were, which gains it some points in my book--I like chaingunning the imp cluster near the red skull key, and using the hidden rocket launcher to devastate the groups of sergeants that warp in to try to stop you from taking said key. Another good tune here (this one less outré than Station Alpha's BGM, certainly), although I might say it sounds a bit dramatic for a first map, if I wanted to split hairs. The best opening map in the megaWAD so far, certainly.

Edit: Capellan, your E3M5 will be the map that many of us using the 10th anniversary edition will play as E4M9 (it was probably moved out of its old slot for difficulty curve/stylistic progression reasons, what with being a Virgil map), but I guess your E4M1 is just plain gone in this version (and I have no recollection of it from my past playthrough), so it'll be interesting to see what you make of it, and if we can surmise why it might've been dropped.

E3M3: Habich's third map is probably my least liked one of his, seeing as it's resoundingly anti-classic Doom. There's big boxy arenas, ammo everywhere, nearly all weapons handed to you, hordes of enemies (over 300) and a surprise cyberdemon fight midway through. Definitely felt more like a random wad that was shoe-horned in here.

Gameplay wise... I dunno, I don't have much to say. Ammo was never an issue as I avoided most of the skippable hordes (whittled down the cybie with my SG though, something I haven't done in a long time--thanks impaled stranger for protecting me!), and plenty of health is generously plopped down before you at the starting area. I liked the small detail of falling into the red key cavern, but besides that I didn't notice architecture/design that much. Odd how this felt more bland to me than E2M3 did. The caco trap at the end is too slow to do any real damage to a player, unless he's trying to max it (I offer my condolences to those poor fools...)

E3M4: Habich offers a second map this episode, this time a big monster hallway shooter still featuring his trademark slow teleport traps. While I enjoyed this one more than the last, it was primarily due to the fact that enemies would hound the player through the hallways, making it a bad choice to skip many of the battles. However, since the count is so high and the most abundant ammo is shotgun ammo, many of the fights involve opening a door, firing 4-5 shots off, and then moving forward to open the door again. This map doesn't really get the blood pumping, and the only exciting parts are right when the tele traps are activated and the player must run to a safe spot. Visuals were nice and serviceable, with some neat lighting being cast from the open sky above... but overall, this map also failed to considerably impress me.

Capellan said:

So from checking the Doom wiki, it seems that the levels I will be playing for E3M5 and E4M1 are totally different maps to those of the 10th year anniversary edition.

FYI and such. I'll try to remember to include a note to that effect when I post about those levels.

I am doing the same thing. I shall pistol start the new E3M5 tomorrow and leave the original E3M5 until when it's played in it's new slot along with the original E4M9.
Likewise i will play both E4M1 maps at the same time etc etc.
Oh yeah from now on I think I might enter rant mode because my thoughts about the new version I have made public before.... I'm not happy with it :P

E3M1: GATEHOUSE

Nice little map, solidly in the E3 aesthetic. Yeah, it's not as hard as the original E3M1, which definitely pulled no punches, with it's Cacodemons against a pistol start, disappearing bridges, etc. Still, fun little level.

E3M2: CAVES OF BOSNIA

This one, on the other hand, frustrated me to no end. It's an ugly level (cave after cave), and somewhat sticks out like a sore thumb because of it due to the nice detailing in the rest of the levels. But what really got me was the gameplay. Maybe I was just in a bad mood when I played it, since I usually like levels that provide a challenge, but this one seemed to just be unfairly hard due to a paucity of health/armor and tons of shotgunner bullshit. Near the end of the map, there's a rather fun imp/caco room with lots of health and armor to fix you up, but until then it's just a long hard slog hoping that the RNG on the unavoidable shotgun blasts doesn't chip away at your health too much, because god knows there won't be any to replace it.

E3M3: STRONGHOLD OF DAMNATION

I really like the layout of this one - three keys needed, but the layout turns back in on itself, so it doesn't really feel linear. Despite the high monster count, it's not really challenging, since most of the fights are relatively easy, or you can run away from them. I ran from the Cyberdemon because I didn't have a plasma gun or BFG to kill him with, and damned if I was gonna play rocket tag in that room with all the obstacles in the way. Ran from the red key ambush because... well the map design practically begged me to with the one-way door leading out of there. And ran from the Cacos at the end too because screw Caco swarms. Heh.

E3M5
(This level will be E4M9 for those of you playing the 10 year anniversary version. I'm guessing it was moved because it looks like a Heretic map, not a Doom map.)
This Heretic-style map looks good and plays ... well, bad.

The opening firefight is actually good fun, but it's all downhill from there. We start with the "flick a switch, run across the level, flick a switch, run across the level, flick a switch, run across the level, flick a switch, run across the level" nonsense, and then we move on to pointless remote-operated doors and unmarked exit rooms. Oh, and that exit room? The only way out of it – other than ending the level – is a one use secret. Fffffuuuuuu ... ahem.


E3M6
Masses of unavoidable damaging sectors. No rad suits. Nuff said.

Getting Episode 2 outta from this week.

E2M7
Level gives good E2 feel, right mixture of tech and hell. The level name doesn't seems to match well. Just same linearity, hit that switch or fetch that from there.
Ammo in the map... feels scarce at start, and next thing, you notice you're full on ammo. Not particularly interesting fights, except red key one. Most of time, enemies were rather easy to take out safely, or didn't pose credible threat.
100% kills, items and secrets.

E2M8
IN THIS EPISODE, CYBERDEMON WON'T GET HIS REVENGE.
'nuff said.
100% kills and secrets, 66% items. Forgot that damn soul sphere.

Final thoughts of Episode Two?
Visually, it is more interesting than Episode One was. But some maps were like right out of Episode Three. The challenges... Well. Seems I've grown very careless player. But it is not reason for some bullshitting. Like those fuckers in Shotgun Blues. Let's hope Episode Three knocks out the consciousness. Episode Two was fine to play overall.

As a bonus, how about getting started with E3?
E3M1
Bit of brown and red. How charming. Layout itself feels, how should it be said? Less monotonous?
Not exactly shocking start, like in Doom. Just sergeants. Lots of them, actually. And damn how big amount of shells they offer at you. More than enough to handle whole level.
Not really exciting start, but quite nice look anyho.

E3M3 Stronghold of Damnation by Rory Habich
Lets start with the good. The map looks nice and the music is good.
Right here we go. There are a load of cacos outside of the fortress approaching the cyber area which can't get into the building and can't really trouble you, so are a timesink to dispose of.
The Cyber is poorly place though you can cautiously kill him it's not the best of battles with cowardice being the way forward.
The teleport trap after grabbing the blue keep is semi-broken with some monsters taking an age to teleport in (on the other hand the red key trap works fine)
Also on the blue key, it's badly placed with guarding baron, you cant see it until the baron is sticking it's claws up your arse.
Then the final area, my god, closing you off battling 80 cacos which teleport slowly doue to their large size and small space to teleport into, add to that the fact the cacos have to fly up about 100 feet to escape the well. Oh and as the area is closed off you can't possibly kill all the cacos.
Screw you E3M3 and for the fact that the updated version didn't even touch this map
http://www.dmfiat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/picard-facepalm.jpg