Memento Mori II

Definitely shows its age. It was a real grind to play through, mostly due to the levels being boring, but also from a remarkable over-reliance on hitscan, especially shotgunners. For some reason. The third episode does indeed pick up much of the slack, but with the really fun levels being shining exceptions rather than rule for two thirds of the WAD it still left me annoyed and exasperated in the end. The maps look fine most of the time and the music is good to really good, which is something to hold on to. I would still advice my past self to skip most of this one.

 

 

Going through these lovely maps again. What an amazing soundtrack.

If I enjoyed MM I, I totally loved #2. Out of all the levels there are just a handful that are mediocre (and still very decent and fun to play, it's just this wad is PACKED with great maps). MM 2 will provide you with MANY hours of gameplay, this one took me probably longest to complete out of last ~10 wads I went through. Only criticism is that the highest difficulty could be more difficult - i never had trouble with ammo nor I had to reload same save multiple times, but given it's age that's pretty standard. What are you waiting for? Load up your shotgun and go do some cleaning!

A big improvement from the first mission. There are a lot of new textures and the maps are better designed for single play. I really have a blast playing this! There are some maps with neat details like ''Sabbath Sewer'' by Mark Klem and a few others that i not rememeber right now. The maps are all somewhat abstract until map 20, after that maps, i don't know what happened to the team, but throw the abstractness away and started mapping with much more realistic style. The last four maps before the end map are really really big in comparison to what was made before, they are soo different that they seems to be made from another team. They are not bad at all, i loved them, but that catch me of guard as they resemble more maps that would make TNT famous, with a lot of realistic architectures and really moody maps.
Aside from that, i made a dehcked patch with maps names and intermission text for my own amusement and i'm quite fond of the story that i interpreted from the maps and the story in the .txt.

 

All in all, this mapset shows how the community started to go their own path. Memento Mori I was really similar in design to Doom 2 maps, but better. And Memento Mori II really take that to a higher ground and even goes further.
And i didn't mentioned anything about the spectacular job that Mark Klem & Devid Shaw made with the music of this megawad. Without this outstanding music, surely the experience will be a lot different.
I really liked this megawad and i'm really looking forward to play the final chapter of this trilogy: Requiem.

An improvement in every aspect that made Memento Mori an unique classic. A great example of a truly creative, fun and mindblowing abstract level design (learn from 'em, Sandy). I don't think there was a single bad level in all 32 of these, just some that are worse than others. Its mid and late levels take the spotlight.

 

It's clear how well this project was handled and organized: each map feels like a Memento Mori II map, although MM2 contains various contributors. I'm sure the textures and original soundtrack helped out a lot in this. And about music, this wad has some of the coolest original midis ever present in a megawad -- an aspect which was also part of the original Memento Mori, and that does not disappoint.

 

Memento Mori II has aged well, although it's clear it is a project bound to its time, for its unique style and avant-garde design decisions. Good art does not age.

 

The amount of love put into this project is phenomenal, and that's clear from the point of view of someone with knowledge of Doom modding history.

 

5/5, some of the best the 90s has to offer. Most of all, it's fun.

MM2 is much better than MM1 in terms of layout. I also hate less maps from it - only 13, Devil's Paradise and 22, RRF Refinery. And to some extent 24, Io Lab, but from all the maps 24 this is the one I hate least. (If we don't count the rare exceptions when I like the maps.) 

 

The music kills on all levels. My favorite is the one on map 21. Still not as favorite as a few of the tracks on MM1 though. 

 

The window between maps 23 and 30 is full of amazing levels, including my 5 favourites in this order: 29 (strangely), 26, 27, 28 and 25. 21 also is high up and surprizingly 19 is trying to get into the top 5 as well. The levels require a lot of tactical thinking even if you don't play them from pistol start. There is danger everywhere and you never know if there is one chaingunner or mancubus ready to make you smash your mouse into the desk. Or if you'll want to kill monsters from beforehand so that you can avoid getting killed by them later. Or if you'll want to lure monsters in different parts of the map. Or if you'll need to use speedrunning tricks. 

 

Definite 5 stars for a wad I can never stop playing over and over again. Of course, I'm kinda weird and some maps like 7 (too much backtracking) and 16 (lots of spinning in circles) don't bother me at all. What's missing to me is that you don't really fight the second cyberdemon in map 20. And this isn't justified, because you don't really duel the first one and for the second one you have more than enough health and square yards to work with. Is it really necessary to make him get crushed outside of the map? And on map 25 is the only cyberdemon fight in the world that I utterly despise. First of all, the maps has almost no health, you get to the only soul sphere in a secret behind the exit. Second, you fight that cyberdemon on a series of ledges forming a pentagram. Thirdly, there is not enough room for you to dash. So all you have to rely on is the BFG RNG. If you know of a better way to fight him, send it to me via a PM. Yes, I prefer duelling cybers with the SSG than purging through them with the BFG. 

 

But overall, 5/5 is completely justified. But if we work with 10s, it's not 10/10. There is only one wad ever that can have this rating. 

I fail to see why people praise this megawad. A lot of maps are cramped and confused and also the authors (in almost all maps) restrict the player with low ammo for rocket and plasma making you rely on SSG to kill barons, that's just boring. One of few good maps is 32 and the worst maps are: 22, 27 and 29 but there're more.

Played this through DWmegawad Club. This is impressive megawad. The new statusbar and textures are pretty cool. There is also fine midi tunes.
The favorite maps are 12, 21, 26 and 28.
What I dislike is the MAP29 (silly layout and monster placement) and some maps which lacks of medikits.

The best thing to come out of 90s mapping by a long shot, in fact Memento Mori II is probably among the top 10 megawads ever even now, and certainly the only release from the pre-Alien Vendetta era about which I would dare to make such a claim.

 

The level design here is far tighter and far more professional than that of the first Memento Mori, the only potential exception to this rule being the somewhat strange "Base Exposure". You can trust that there are no baffling offerings in the vein of "Kinetics" or "Cesspool" to be found here. Superior level design aside, visual and thematic progression throughout the Megawad is also far better organized.

 

As a matter of fact, aside from the comparatively lower difficulty and pervasive presence of puzzle-like level progression, Memento Mori II often feels just as well-conceived and dynamic as a modern PWAD would, making it far, far ahead of its time is that sense.

 

It is quite unfortunate then, that among the three Megawads released by the Memento Mori crew, those being Memento Mori, Memento Mori II and Requiem, this second installment is by far the least frequently praised and certainly the least frequently played. As it turns out, it is by far the most challenging, but also, more importantly, the most consistently GOOD of the three.

Alright, so, what can I say about Memento Mori 2 after finishing it and the first one?

 

Well, first of all, the levels are more beautiful, visually it aged noticeably better than the original and uses more custom textures, some already seen in the original. The music is on par with the original.

 

The levels themselves are overall better designed for the most part, but here is where the problems make themselves known. MM2 is clearly designed more for co-op than single player. This starts getting very noticeable after MAP24. Whereas the original had a few maps that dragged on, particularly at the beginning of the wad, this one drags on extremely bad after MAP24. Not just that the maps are starting to become huge and with hundreds of enemies and very annoying traps, it also starts becoming more confusing and tiring, MAP27 being the worst offender. The main tower in MAP28, or rather the overall level, is unfun as well, doing a poor job at keeping you entertained for the most part, save for a few areas where you also get an Invulnerability, but not on the edge of your nerves like MAP27 does. Eh, the traps don't go crazy at least.

 

Post MAP24 levels simply become tiresome and no longer bring much pleasure. The war of attrition also gets real in some maps, MAP27 still being the best example, giving you lots of rockets and some health to recover from the orgy, if you manage to find the secrets, but not much else. Without locating the secrets it can be extremely infuriating and especially difficult to finish, hence me actually forcing myself to finish the wad, it was very tempting to just can the whole thing after reaching MAP24 because it ceases to be fun at that point, turning instead in a struggle for survival. Like I said, MM2 makes it very clear that it's more co-op/multiplayer oriented and not very suitable for solo, or not on UV anyway.

 

Unlike the first MM, I managed to locate both secret exits and I must say that for secret levels, they're pretty easy, which is very surprising. I can't compare them to the ones from the original MM because I failed to locate any of them there.

 

I also don't have any favorite maps to my surprise, I like most of them, and even the maps that drag on like hell are not bad themselves, just not suitable for playing solo, but can't exactly pick any, whereas City of the Unavenged from the original was easily my favorite, here? I'm not sure...

 

Either way, all things considered, it's a solid wad and a great sequel to the original. Worse? No, but then why the lower rating? Well, simply for not providing a solid experience in SP towards the end, so if you want to play it solo like I did, it doesn't really work anymore when you're about to finish it. It drags on and the difficulty also spikes nastily.

It's alright.

Absolutely fantastic in almost every regard. The map design is excellent, the music is excellent, the combat is excellent, etc. etc. Compared to its predecessor, I'd say that the overall quality and polish of the maps are higher this second time around. That's not to say there aren't a few down points. Map26 in particular was rather irritating and there was one too many sewer maps early on. However, the positives in this WAD vastly outweigh the negatives. Memento Mori II is simply a dose of quality which improves basically any WAD collection.

Call me crazy if you want, but I like MM1 better. This is still okay in co-op, though.

Still holds up even to this day. Truly a classic.

A 90's masterpiece and still great today! Beautiful and creative.

it really isn't as great as everyone makes it out to be. what the FUCK was 2015 me thinking, YES IT IS

 

this is a fantastic megawad. the maps are beautiful, the combat is great, and while there's some low points (especially towards the end) the majority is quality through and through. i can't recommend this wad enough.

OMG Map29 . . . KINGS OF METAL . . . holla sheet . . . the combination of wood structuring and the layout, one of the best maps ive ever played in any FPS even including modern ones.

great man

Legend, no doubts

consistency is a key factor when it comes to which wads are fantastic and which ones are less than fantastic. for its time, MM2 was the bees knees, made for Compet-N and cooperative play. the experience of playing MM2 basically involves some pretty good level layouts that improved heavily on the quality that MM's maps actually lacked, and the combat that goes with it is appropriately harder than its predecessor. it is just a fresh full megawad for Doom 2 at the surface with gameplay and design being consistent throughout. many of the levels are medium-sized, and will usually take around eight minutes to beat, four if you're pretty fast. it is surprisingly balanced well, especially in single-player despite being geared for cooperative. and even those of you who usually play hard slaughter maps may actually find a few of the maps somewhat worthwhile, as monster counts are generally high and there's quite a few tough ones here and there.

 

while there's some outlier maps that generally feel either silly (MAP32) or rather odd and not too fun (MAP20), the majority of the maps are fun. they don't need to be truly memorable, but are fun nonetheless. it's still likely to get lost in some of these maps, starting with MAP09, and also including some of the bigger ones like MAP22 and MAP27, which I think of as one of the actual better maps in the set. MAP28 is a nice corporate tower that certainly seems geared for coop-play, but seems to do well otherwise. some of the maps have tidbits that are kinda bland, like 30-second doors in some maps, that one lift in MAP22, and a few hard-to-reach secret areas, but they don't detract the overall experience that much. what compounds the MM2 experience is a wonderful soundtrack, alternating between two authors so you can see some signature styles of music. these tunes prove memorable as they are reused in many wads to come, while many of the wad author design styles are imitated in other wads to come. these are the reasons why MM2 has been a memorable wad for a lot of people. that, and it's fun to play and replay.

Now this is what I'd call great. Unlike it's predecessor, this mapset mostly exceeds the iwads in regards to gameplay and aesthetics. I'd argue its the first truly great megawad. Only bad map is Map20, with its boring, linear gameplay.

Excellent mapset. The levels are generally good, and some are plain excellent. Well-balanced gameplay, interesting fights. It's not as graphically spectacular as many modern mapsets but it's still a great way to pass the time.

It has it's ups and downs,but it's a lot better than the original MM ,It has a plenty of good maps except map29 and it was designed by the same guy who designed this garbage map28 from the original MM,yeah, Jens Nielsen tries to suck the life out of my enjoyment of any doom game I play.

One of the reasons I believe 1996 yielded some of the best wads in the /idgames directory. MM2 has nice layouts with interesting new textures and Mark Klem's awesome music. The gameplay of course, is the best part about the wad. While the designers did put some thought into the project's looks, it is obvious they thought about the gameplay itself (which should be priority in a wad anyway.) 5/5. -Vavacious

Pure Awesome 5/5