Deimos Abandoned Base #79

The passage of this map was for me a real test of strength. 2.5 hours of continuous gameplay - not a joke. Although if I so often did not stray because of inattention, it would be possible to drop 40 minutes, probably. In general, the impression is good. There are no details in architecture, but the very monumentality of the locations, the complexity of the level structure and the total amount of work (4 years, wow!) instills respect for the author. Locations are large and harmoniously pass into each other, forming one of the most intricate labyrinths in my memory. It was very difficult for me to understand how to take the blue key. I remember ... no I do not remember how I took it ... it's just something ... :D The problem is that the map locations are rather empty, and the gameplay is monotonous and not difficult (which did not stop me a couple of times to be killed ...) . I remember that I got into a few classic traps, but that's all. Visual techniques that the author uses are well known and time-tested. Standard textures are applied competently, the samples from the first part of Doom complement them well. The battles are pretty straightforward. In researching a huge (incredibly huge) base, we most often encounter groups of zombies, and they are often scattered over long distances and cause a lot of problems in the open area. While the player did not find the chaingun, you have to hide and shoot with a pistol. The author did not confine himself to the "technobase" theme alone. We have to go to hell again, and then come back. The map's locations do not resemble each other, so the map does not get bored to the very end. The number of secrets is amazing. At the first passage I found quite a bit, but really ... I'm not going to soon return to this base ...

I recommend to everyone who likes long research expeditions to the abandoned UAC bases.

  First Demo Attempt GZDoom 2.4.0, 02:25 h

In my collection:

- Visuals (3 / 5)
- Detailing (3 / 5)
- Gameplay (3 / 5)
- Atmosphere (3 / 5)
- Difficulty (3 / 5)

- Overall Rating (3 / 5)

Four years to build this WAD and fourever bind it to idgames/ archive.

Fourteen hundred enemies to kill, out of which I did only 700 before giving up.

Four weapons - chainsaw, pistol, shotgun, chaingun - these many you will use to kill these 700 enemies unless you're lucky and stumble upon that rocket launcher and that switch that gives you access to it.

Four ways (or more) to enter each area.

Forty times four combinations of getting lost in these halls of Doom.

Four laughs at the description's quote "The layout is not too confusing": ha, ha, ha, ha.

Four-walled room which hosts the forlorn blue keycard, sitting there at the pillar, taunting you eternally with its blue presence. (seriously, I noclipped my way through the way that leads up to it and I still don't know how to get it.) (also: "blue" has four letters)

I haven't been such confused ever since fourth grade. No rating for this one - only contemplation.

In gameplay and effect of awe this is similar to the Dawn of Reality, however whereas Dawn of Reality uses highly realistic environments with lots of attention to detail, here the biggest focus is interconnectivity. The rooms seem to be built around functional purposes in a "realistic" setting, but the detail inside serves only either combat purposes or pure visual clutter to make the rooms "less empty". Despite the huge size of everything, you can get around very quickly. The only long-wided pathway that I found was connected with teleporters that allowed you to skip all the unnecessary running. That said, there are also other one-way teleporters that will move you far away from the area which you were just exploring - so you either need to backtrack, do F3 or do "warp x y" if you're using a ZDoom port. The combat focuses on large amounts of low-health enemies with some stronger ones thrown in to the mix. There isn't a big amount of the latter, given your weak weapon set. 700 enemies in and still I didn't find a super shotgun. This map also uses lots of time-based switches where you need to lower a lift and then jump into a pit to get onto it. If you fail - F3 or backtrack. If you succeed you will most likely only discover that you reached an area that you've already been in before.

If I could I wouldn't give this a star rating, so have 5 stars instead.