Waterworks

Waterworks excels at the all-important Start To Boat metric, which is how you know you are playing a good map. Flip around at the beginning and a snazzy motorboat is right there, with a comfy red chair. In its simplicity, it's a clever boat, a bit more creative than the simple wooden canoes that dominate in modern times. Marc Fontaine's telling us to step our game up.

 

That sort of creativity is Waterwork's MO. Just about every major room has some kind of creative trigger use that goes beyond "hit switch, remove simple abstract barrier in that room," such as a later part where you empty a drum of water to progress. And I don't know what the first map was to use a pair of screenshots as a camera display, but this 1996 map does it, aiding conveyance for a distant switch. The texturing is kind of janky but overall there is a colorful, varied look that keeps this 10-minute map from getting visually stale. Modern combat is of course nowhere to be found, but are you really looking for that here. 

 

Ignore Memfis and find the megasphere secret, but use it to AFK against a zombieman. 

Played and completed on ultra violence skill. Does what it sets out to do. You're in a water processing plant although it seems to be underground and the visuals reflect this. In general this map appears to be built with spaciousness in mind so most of the rooms with monsters in them are spacious (but not every single room). I wasn't able to figure out how to release the large grates to get the secret where the imps are but then again the switch or trigger is probably well hidden. A good map. A map that's more easy than hard if it had to be called one or the other. A mediumish sized map that takes a reasonably long time to complete. It feels substantial. 

I think, for 1996 this map is very stunning... Moment with camera monitor been much memorable. In overall sence, design is simple, but in some places author give more advance to details. I like gameplay without big difficulties, and secrets, that's easy to find. For me is strongest standalone map of 1996 that i know.

Fantastic design with great architecture and very inventive usage of iwad textures. Try not to find the megasphere secret to avoid making it too easy.

Don't listen to the player down. The detail is great.

Wow this Wad is brand new and very Good.

This was pretty fun.

Nice map. Looks good, though the gameplay is a little disjointed; I felt like I had reached the exit in rather haphazard fashion, rather than by a logical process.

This is dated February 1996. It's a solid entry in the subaquatic techbase genre. The architecture is simple but clever in places, and there are enough baddies to keep it amusing. It's easy, with lots of health, and baddies you can just run past. Like most of its ilk, the map feels like a sewer processing plant with blue water instead of slime, but that's by-the-by. The ending seems odd - it's very abrupt. Overall the level's not bad though.

For its time, this WAD is probably one of the great one hit wonders... Fun, nonlinear, and actually quite challenging. ~Hank

low detail and I got stuck.