Project Uber

An engaging map.  Thoughtful traps reminiscent of Death Destiny left me with a sense of impending doom.  I knew I was going to die and die a lot but every fight left me with a sense of reward.  Give this a chance if you're not a fan of hard or challenge styled gameplay.    On UV, a blind playthrough shouldn't take more than an hour.  If you're unfamiliar with Paul977's maps I'd say start with this one then follow with Black Room.

well what can i say i played this in 3 ways (all on ultra violence)   1 in GZDOOM With Mouse Look crouch/jump disabled  and had a decent time the textures not Lined is pretty neat (except the hell textures) but it felt like a classic Map that might fit in DOOM 2    2 The 2nd way i played this was with Chocolate Doom with the keyboard controls and My Myyyy i had fun decent challenge!   3 the 3rd and final way was With Brutal DOOM V21 and this was probably the most fun i had on this level it was 10 mins of fun mowing down all the Demons   the only complaint i really have is the textures and for a 1994 WAD Its decent    and thats the thing this was made in 1994 when everyone was making WADS for the first time!    and from the Read Me claiming anyone can Use this WAD for additional levels   may even Remaster this WAD :D     3.5 Stars in my book!  

The Good: -  Nice, clean Maps. Nothing fancy. -  Not a slaughterfest, but loads of challenging dog fighting. -  Very little puzzles.   The Bad: - Too many small, nonlinear Maps. - WTF was with M1E8?!? - Wayyyy too many "poison ponds" for my taste. I don't think there was a single level that didn't have them. - Very few secrets - most of which were unrewarding. A Med Pack isn’t exactly what I call rewarding - unless you have less than 10 hit points. So if a reward for finding a secret is a Med Pack, what is that telling you?!?! - Wasn't into starting new chapters (with just a pistol) during the same episode. - Monsters that suddenly spawn from thin air just because you're walking towards a switch.   In Short: If you like dog fighting, then Base Ganymede Ep 1 is for you, so bring your itchy trigger finger. It’s was average as far as fun game play goes. I don’t think I ever saw more Specters and Lost Souls in any other non-slaughter game. The only things above average in this WAD was the amount of monsters, barrels and poison ponds you'll endure.   Not the best WAD I've ever played, but not the worst, either.   2 1/2 out of 5 Stars.

N.B. this is a review of GATHR2.WAD from Maximum Doom, which excludes the fifth and final map, and doesn't include the custom music   Classic minisode, map one is like a prelude to the main meat (a long road with trees and troopers either side, a tunnel, and then like a 'manhole' into the sewers) - nothing offensive, cool opener. Map two is a classic sewer map with cool switch tricks, tolerable slime tunnels, a barrel trap, cool looking marble zone and a cool final tech area. Map the third starts off the same way map two ended (always love that detail), a fight in a huge water basin, and then around the periphery of, very cool looking, with a semi-secret area that is simply iconic. (Curiously, these last two levels were merged together as GATHER2.WAD, also available on Maximum Doom.) And of course the forth map, a huge complex building surrounded by an outside courtyard guarded by plenty of beasts, nonlinear, varied, filled with memorable traps/scenarios/rooms (love that room with the bunch of thin pole crushers), loads of secrets (although only one 'official' secret), central hub room that transforms when you return to it, every enemy type except the ol' cyberdemon, there's even an outdoor 'balcony bar'.  Yeah, there's way too many megaspheres, whatever.  A classic '95 map pack. 

Ruma surprisingly landed as one of the Top 100 wads of all time, which, judging from just playing the wad itself, is quite surprising considering how short and actually uninteresting the whole wad is. compared to Espi's more notable wads, such as Back To Basics, Suspended in Dusk, and even Laitos, which was released in the exact same year, Ruma doesn't offer much. the combat is pretty tough overall as you might expect, and it's sort of a mini-challenge with what's given, a shell-centric level in other words. but it's full of brown especially in the open field which is easy to maneuver around in and the side areas don't offer a whole lot. all Ruma is remembered for is that one bridge and that's about it. it's an average level at the very worst and at the very best.