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The Far Side of Phobos

   (18 reviews)
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This is a full 8 level Episode For DOOM. It takes place after "everything else" and there are reports of areas never cleared on Phobos, and once again, you must venture in by yourself.

I made my best efforts to try and bring back the "Knee Deep in the Dead" style.


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Maya

  

2/5

 

Continous play.

This mapset is shotgun spamming for 45 minutes except when you are fighting the bosses or when you run out of shotgun shells.

95% of this mapset consists of orthogonal walls, and annoying blinking lights which is pain for the eye, the latter especially applies to E1M7 with that maze. Thank god the maps are short, you can complete them in 2-5 minutes.

 

Don't bother searching secrets until E1M6 because there are none. After that there are 4, but they're not really worth it.

In E1M6, you can go the outside area where the imps tried to shoot you by pressing a switch, which is hidden the same way as in Nuclear Plant. You can find a shotgun, a rocket launcher and a soulsphere. 

In E1M7 you can find a visor in the maze (if you manage to find it in the darkness), but you probably already killed every demon before you find it, making it useless.

The secret in E1M8 is even more pointless, you can access the area where the imps shooted at you by opening the wall next to the blue switch, but there are nothing other than their dead bodies.

The BFG in E1M7. I thought it was a secret, but that's just decoration, because if you try to pick up casually, it takes back you to the spawn, but if you try the same thing on the other 3 sides, it's a bullshit suicide trap.

 

 

I won't continue this "review", because Spawn already said everything, and he or she did a better job than me.

 

 

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Doomkid

·

  

Highly enjoyable classic-style hidden gem. Took me almost exactly 1 hour to beat. Played continuous, died about 4 times, all of them in the first half of the set before I collected a nice number of weapons and supplies.

 

The gameplay was solid, very punchy, action-packed maps that never overstay their welcome. You won't be wandering around wondering where to go while playing this, the progression is made very clear, sometimes in clever ways such as using sound cues to let you know that locked door across the hall has opened up.

 

Visually it's much like Doom 1, but refined, in a good way. I didn't find any flat out ugly areas and was impressed by some large outdoor structures in e1m6 and e1m7. It's nice to play something clean but still classic. Certainly above par in comparison to many 90's wads and still plenty adequate today.

 

I'm taking off 1 star because 1) The ending of e1m5 is a bit stacked against you even on continuous, there's really not enough cell ammo to take it on so you might need to leave a couple enemies alive 2) There's one, lone extremely dickish crusher on e1m8 3) There's a small handful of stuck/helpless enemies and 4) e1m1 and e1m2 in particular are probably too hitscan heavy and could maybe use a couple more stimpacks - but it was by no means poorly balanced.

 

Overall this is a very enjoyable classic Doomy experience, I'm glad to have a new wad to add to the pile of recommendations whenever someone wants some fast, relatively easy OS Doomin.

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Spawn

· Edited by Spawn

  

Eeehhh, no. Not "Knee-Deep in the Dead". Not even close.Your classical - in a bad sense - 90s megaWAD. Strait corridors, rectangular rooms, abundance of rooms that are either very dark or have blinking light (sometimes both), most levels don't have secrets (i.e. official), all enemies (and hilariously almost all pickups and decorations) have Ambush tag.

However, credit is where credit is due: geometry of the levels and architecture is not that bad - there are enough of purely decorative pieces (player corpses, your good old computer terminals and racks, little tech alcoves that not every time have a shotgunner waiting in ambush, tech lamps or barrels in the corners of rooms or on the sides of the doors... wait, I think latter is here mostly for gameplay reasons), height differences (read: lifts instead of stairs), windows to the neighbor areas, outdoor spaces and sectors imitating light from a lamps to not feel like you're in a Slige level. But it feels like author decided to use every non-straight piece of architecture or decorative walls only once. Semi-circular gallery circling a nukage pool? Jagged outer walls imitating a cliff? Yeah, you've seen it. Now you don't see it ever again in the next levels. Granted, it removes feelings of Deja Vu - but what prevented author from using just slightly angular corridors or room walls? On the other hand, round green marble columns with Baron faces are present in almost every level. They look nice, but it feels more like a harsh reminder than an attempt in unique style... (see below)

On the other hand, there is one huge outdoor space in one of the middle levels - and it's completely devoid of any decorations, safe for a couple of player corpses.

Difficulty settings are present only for 1st and 3rd levels, and even there is barely any difference, which, considering ridiculous amount of enemies (in such cramped space), feels like a bad attempt to emulate Plutonia. Open the door from a side, shoot those that you can, move to the other side, repeat, all the while trying to not get hit by hitscan attacks (protip: you can't) or imps' fireballs (protip: you can unless it's your first Doom WAD). There is not a single place to use your good old favorite dogfight - er, I mean strafe-circling, to provoke infighting (well, technically there is one, but a) you need to know the specific trick ahead, which you can't unless you already played the level, and b) it barely helps in that situation).

Monster variety is outright wrong - even though most of enemies are indeed E1 low tier monsters (i.e. zombies, imps and shotgunners) sprinkled with occasional Pinkies and rare Cacos - which are mostly appears in groups (again, in such cramped space), but the sheer amount of Barons is ridiculous (yes, I'm using this word again) - not even E4, Doom II and any of Final Doom duo have this many. Even when you finally get RPG - it's not very useful in those cramped corridors and small rooms - especially when rocket ammo is this limited. Of course, when you later get Plasma Rifle, it helps, but it feels a little too late, and you eat through it very quickly (don't even think about using plasma on low-level hordes). And that is not mentioning Cyberdemon in one of the middle levels - whom you fight before you get the plasma, which is in line with E2 (but not E1), but the room is barely enough (this is where you technically can provoke infighting - if you'll figure out how to release Cybie from his invisible cage before you die from imps' horde and Barons squad attacks, even though this time the author has been kind enough to provide several trees as some sort of possible cover), and Mastermind (again, it's E3, not E1), which you do fight with plasma. Which brings us to a straight dick move on that map - there is BFG. In the middle of a big teleporter situated in the middle of inescapable pit of nukage, so don't even think about grabbing it from the side of using that old moving-so-fast-that-teleport-line-is-not-reacting trick. Just a joke? Bad joke. Especially considering that only one line just teleport you back to the start (i.e. in the middle of the next room). Other three sides teleport you in one of the two out-of-the-map closets. With lava floor. With an exploding barrel. Boom! You're dead. Start again or use a save. No, none of the teleporter sides or flats are somewhat marked. It's just a dickish "joke". Compared to it medkit in an inescapable nukage pit (yes, there is one piece like this) looks like a decent attempt at joke.

But wait, since there is a chaingun earlier, it can ease your troubles with low-tier hordes? Ha-ha, nope. Just like with rockets and plasma, there are enough bullets only for crowd-control in several trap rooms (and there is at least one in almost every level).

Another thing is - looks like author hate all health items except for medkits, and even them he don't like very much (3rd level don't have a single health item). I don't remember seeing a single stimpack. I've seen only one berserk pack. Health bonuses distributed very unevenly, most of the time there are either none or just a couple, but some rooms have one or two long rows. Soulspheres are present, but very rare, and also distributed unevenly, some levels don't have a single one where it definitely would help, and 6th level had two where you could manage with just medkits (even though one Sphere is in a secret), while 5th level has only one Soulsphere in the exit room and no other health items.

Giving all of the above, having original E1 secret level (see old comments below) feels like a bonus - you can stock your ammo before diving back into madness.

Is it bad to unplayable levels? Certainly no. It doesn't deserve a one star. Would I recommend it to anyone? Only to beginner players that already beaten E4 and Plutonia and want to test their skills in Doom 1 environment. But it doesn't deserve a three stars, more like two and a third, so rounding out - two stars.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
This is a nice old-school style map-set with decent game-play. For some reason the secret level was omitted even though there is a switch to access it - you end up playing the original secret. There were also a couple of minor bugs, but did not affect game-play. A nice effort by what looks like the captain of the original star ship Enterprise :-) 4/5

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Outstanding.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
The gameplay is boring and the levels are ugly ---2 stars.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Pretty good 90's mappack!

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Guest

Unknown date

  
I dont like it to primitive

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Awsome.

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M4rk3dF0rD347h

Unknown date

  
Not too bad of a level set. There are better level sets out there, but there are far, far worse, too.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Simple, but the gameplay is good. 3.5/5

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Great KDitD style episode, but in some places you can get stuck in nukage so watch out.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
The guy above me has it about right. Somewhere between three and four stars, but a little closer to 4.

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  • File Reviews

    • By Mizuki_Jun10 · Posted
      It turned out to be a surprise for me because I didn't expect it to be such a fun level, when he said he wanted a lot of monsters in his level I didn't imagine that amount of monsters, but it was definitely fun.   I consider it a very good map, for its time, for a first map made by him, for a very humble map.   But overall I don't consider it a great or extraordinary experience, I don't see myself revisiting Crusher, but I can't call it Average because what he did is super interesting.   And it's a long level, which I also didn't expect, but to be more precise, the exploration is interesting, the layout was a little diverse, and the action on the map kept me focused and entertained, some rooms had poorly aligned textures and didn't seem to have been looked at at the last minute, which is a bit strange because he said he spent a lot of time developing the map, but I imagine why since at that time there wasn't an "Ultimate DOOM Builder" with automatic texture alignment, or maybe there was one automatic alignment?   And the maze everyone mentioned was annoying, yes I admit it lasted a lot longer than it should have, and I feel like it could have been shortened in Wad's release, it made the level feel longer than it is too, but I don't feel so much that the level it got worse because of it.   The positioning of enemies isn't that great, but they make you take cautious measures at times, but at times I was like... "It could be better..."   But that's it, it's a good level, it hasn't aged well, it could be better, but I feel like it would be unfair to call this level average, it's a level that I enjoyed, did things that weren't that common at the time, and seemed to use of resources that at the time many used wrongly, I don't feel like I wasted my time. I deserve to see more from the mapper.... (If he released something after that of course...)
    • By Mizuki_Jun10 · Posted
      Surprising even, one of the newest community maps out there, 1994, wow, but it's still a bad map, the encounters are interesting, the layout is the most superior aspect here, but it still doesn't support the technical errors that even for 1994 were already guaranteed by the original DOOM maps. Weird textures, lack of variety, lack of a more interesting design than platforms going down or going up in the dark, some moments were really fun like the dark cave itself, but the fun lasts very little, with spaces that are too tight, and a shallow exploration.
    • By Mizuki_Jun10 · Posted
      I love Quake, it's my favorite Shooter, and I totally forgive the lack of detail and technical refinement that Mapper concluded here, but I have to say that even though the map is still recognizable compared to the classic E1M1 from Quake... The map just doesn't have such a refined texturing, a good light variation, and many of the areas don't even carry the classic Quake identity, as the best example: The part where we get the Nailgun, there aren't even monsters and an encounter with Zombiemans in that room , there is very little positive to consider here unfortunately, but it was a bit fun in some parts. Either way, there are a lot of negative things that make it impossible to ignore while playing the level, a horrible map, how sad.
    • By Mizuki_Jun10 · Posted
      Normally I would define these two maps as maps with interesting premises whose execution does not positively complement the result, Chicken.wad has such a simple layout that it is disappointing at first sight, which keeps you at a higher height than Cyberdemons that you They wait in sectors that flash between dark and very light, I can only be direct in saying that although the battle between the Cyberdemons is fun, the map doesn't present you with anything other than that, and it is even impossible to cross the other side of the bridge endless to eliminate the rest of Cyberdemons. Completing Chicken (Even though Chicken doesn't have an exit on his map.).   Let's go to Gangstar.wad, you can see a somewhat open space, different from the previous experience, but with the classic theme of a UAC warehouse style E2M2 from DOOM, but the boxes here are a little distorted? (Perhaps spacetime begged the mappers not to finish the maps so it distorted the map space causing this visual curse.) As much as the open spaces of the map are fun to navigate, the fun is short-lived with several of the structures being distorted. carrying with them ill-adjusted texturing. Clearly a superior map to the previous one, but unfortunately still poor, the repetitiveness of the texturing, plus a bland design and several other missing details, make this map yet another disappointment unfortunately.   The verdict is that both maps are completely disposable, I would love for the mappers to continue with their work after such complicated work, so they would at least be able to build more and improve the quality of their design work.
    • By Devalaous · Posted
      One of the classic megawads, and the successor to TNT Evilution. I've played this several times over the years, and its grown on me more with each play as my tastes mature.   Still has a bunch of maps that got me killed in 2024, after ive finished stuff like HR and AV, and plenty of maps are memorable. Only real downsides is some of the levels have little content, showing its age.
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