Lilium

Don't mistake this 3 star rating for "average", because this wad absolutely is not. It's more of a "conflicted" rating. First off, the aesthetics / atmosphere of this map are fantastic. It's a single huge map set in a snowy Russian city. It uses many custom textures (including graffiti and posters) to help give the map a semi-realistic style. And the choice of music fits perfectly - very melancholy. The problem arises in the gameplay. The most noticeable issue is that all the monsters are silent. I thought this was an engine problem at first, but nope, this wad replaces all the monsters' wake-up and roaming sound effects with blank files. This is really annoying. It just makes the map more hard than it should be. And it exacerbates the other issue I had - constant teleporting monsters. Almost every fight on this map involves monsters teleporting in, typically in front and behind you. One can imagine how these two things combined lead to fights that feel unfair and trial & error. But still, I would recommend playing this wad. The level design is good, and as I said the atmosphere is great. But perhaps remove the blank sound files so you can enjoy it like a more normal wad.

 

Also, I noticed some commenters complaining about lag. This is true for GZDoom, but in PrBoom+/GLBoom+ lag is not an issue at all.

Lags, boring, hard

This map is something I could aspire to be. Good both in terms of artistry and craftsmanship.

Lilium apparently is the latest release Lainos had created, and while it's not as memorable as Comatose or the others, it's still got the hallmarks, very large-scale adventure with several memorable areas. the whole maze in the north end where the chaingun is, plus all the imps from the snow, afterwards a trench area with several big enemies, look out for the teleporting enemies there. going through the marketplace was also quite fun, and the crusher stairs while not a favorite weren't as bad as they seemed. amazing atmosphere, lovely scenarios as expected from Lainos. traps and overall gameplay were well-balanced so this map is definitely worth the play.

Amazing map, very balanced and challenging. The atmosphere and the music are great, the gameplay is not bad at all. More linear than you might expect, the lag (which should be expected from a map this big) is the only problem. Maybe the traps are a little bit repetitive and predictable and killing the Imps in the park was a little bit tedious. Overall worth playing!