Chaingun Deviant

I first played this level in 2015. It is so memorable that I searched for it in 2022 just to play it again.

 

What I like about this map is subtlety. Subtlety in both gameplay and in design.

 

I'll start with gameplay. It is really well thought through. The commenters that complain about not having enough ammo for Barons either did not understand the premise of the level and did not conserve their ammo or else did not find every bit of bullet packs. Normally, there's quite enough to kill every monster without going into a punching match.

 

But that's the thing. This level is like a puzzle. It requires care and also exploration. Where is everything? When will what kind of monster arrive and what's the best way to handle them? There's a box of ammo on that pillar, when should I go for it?

 

The design really stands out to me. It's simple, but very distinct. Cement walls embedded into rock create a very distinct "mountain village" look, with just few textures. Very good use of space and height.

 

Coming back to this map again and again and even made my own map, inspired by it. Highly recommended!

I love chaingun, too.

Looks fine for a speedmap/1024 style level, but does not play very well. Even if you find all of the hidden bullets and use the chaingun two bullets at a time for the whole level, you will still have to punch one Baron to death. Could have been amusing as a statement against the excess of rockets and cells in slaughtermaps and excess of shells in most other levels if it had been implemented better.

Fun, but could've been longer. A cyberdemon fight would be a great way to test the player to see if he has enough bullets to finish the level.

2- or maybe 3-minutes level. Basically a small open area with a few even smaller rooms. Little layout, little architecture. As there is @ UV not even remotely enough ammo, gameplay is like slaughtermaps: create infights between the snipers, and keep on running. Overall I didn't like it, especially the crampiness and the plain boring gameplay, so 2* meh. BTW I've checked the map with GZDB2, and this map does NOT have a rocket launcher... Thus the 4* review below is on points bullshit.

Damn, that was fucking cool. It was like a hard core mother! At the end, there were two frenzied barons going at me, flinging their boogers at me! I had to go with rockets. Best ultimate map I seen this year! Custom combo required. ~4/5