Vrack

I played vrack2 for ages before playing this one. That unfortunately biased my view of it... Vrack 1 is certainly epic and big and superbly designed and when I did eventually get round to playing it I really enjoyed it. It is an excellent hours worth of epic gameplay that is challenging but never unfair. I would recommend playing this before number 2 though...

The peak of challenging map design. Vrack works in every way, from its elegant and technological design, the fantastic texture work, the unique and well done theme, the magnificent difficulty developed through fantastic enemy placement as well as items and secrets and a theme as unique as it is subtle.

 

Many maps developed with the idea of being ''challenging'' followed in Vrack's footsteps, seeking to offer a quality as sublime in its creation as an equally challenging but still enjoyable without crossing into ''unfair'' zone.

 

It's just a classic that, surprisingly, holds up extremely well today.

cool

liked

It'd be even better if it didn't get 14FPS at 1024x768.... -GeeDougg

It's clearly not as good as its sequels, but 5/5 for a solid map and a classic.

SUCH a cool map, can't believe I waited this long to play it. Clever level design and tricks with incredible architecture and detailing. 5/5

Perfect gameplay, difficulty and design. 5/5 - Belial

The same author went on to do two more Vrack maps, which are near the pinnacle of Doom level design, and "Castle of Eternal Carrot in the Sky", which is odd. This is relatively normal, but still very good. The detail was splended for 2000 and is still fine today. It's basically a techbase writ large; not a great paradigm shift, it's just taken to the extreme. It makes you fight your arse off for clips and stimpacks, like some kind of polygonal dominatrix.

It's so great and challenging and fun gameplay! 5/5 - Optimus

Given the hype associated with this map, I was expecting something at least enjoyable. Instead, I got a nicely made techbase with annoyingly misaligned textures, ridiculous traps which require prior knowledge to survive and ammo/health placed so illogically that backtracking the whole level multiple times is almost guaranteed. Couple that with an amazingly nerfed endgame and I can't rate this higher than 2/5. j

Loved it. The gameplay was smooth and fast, the design was great, I like the symmetry in some areas. 5 stars and recommended. -TRRobin.

Amazing in 2000, amazing now. Finest work from Fredrik. 5/5 - Netherstorm

Awesome Stuff!

The prequel to the justly celebrated Vrack2b, and like that map it's large and detailed (and marred slightly by an irritating end battle). I found one Hissy, and I killed him.

so far its the best i've found

This is a medium-sized spacestation, stuffed with lots of monsters. The challenge is increasing during the game, though it's never really hard. But I liked how I got the heavier weapons only some time after I could have needed them for the first time. The map is looking good, too. A nice map, but maybe some more difficult battles would have been well here. 4/5 -Milian.

impressive - 4/5 Daimon

Looks fairly good given it's age, with a reasonable soundtrack and a nice enough aesthetic. Orthogonal map design that's prettied up a bit with lighting and repeating motifs is used to present us with a quickly thickening wall of resistance. Progression is linear and some non-secret power-ups are probably more well-hidden than the actual secrets are. The battle in the exit room is tiresome if you've already used your heavier weapons up. 4* -Phobus

Good looking map and a good way to spend 20-25 minutes. Not too difficult but it kept me engaged. 4/5