Is TNT: Evilution severely underrated, or does it just get significantly worse?

39 minutes ago, P41R47 said:

Oh, pal! i think i found a soul brother in you :D
I feel the same way. I like Plutonia, but the less than zero story details is very awful to me. I not play Doom to test my capabilities, i play it to have a good time, look at exotic locations, amaze myself with brilliant design and great encounters, and feel a sense of progression or achievement when i reach a text screen. And Plutonia, as much i enjoyed it, it only turns into an interesting place too look at after map12: Speed, before that... its like you say, separate combat arenas, like a Roman colliseum.
One might say that Hell Revealed, Kama Sutra or Scythe suffer from this, but i might say no. I don't know why, but i found an implicit narrative throught those wads. A masterfull sense of place, a lot of atmosphere through lighting details, and contextual details that tells a story without words.
Specially Kama Sutra, as i found marvelous in that department. Gusta and Method might just come lazy about writing a story, so i write one, tongue in cheek, story for when i play with myself.
About the textures, TNT made a few replacement, but they... i want to think it this way because i can't find an explaination to it, well, team TNT ''forgot'' to remade the TNT Box texture... and it just look horrible in game.

Oh god, I forgot about the box texture. That one is pretty bad. Others are fine though, especially the computer textures.

It may seem like I dislike Plutonia, but I actually really like it. It just lacks many things that make a truly great WAD. Still, the gameplay is fantastic, there are a few (6) levels that do have good atmosphere and the others still have the gameplay to elevate them. In context of IWADs, I'd give Plutonia 7/10, Doom 2 and Ultimate Doom 8/10 and Evilution 9/10 (Would be 10/10 if it weren't for Habitat and finale of Last Call).  

I couldn't finish it. I got to administration (?) and then gave up out of boredom. I think the maps aren't engaging at all; too big and spacious.

19 minutes ago, Sankhatayan said:

 

Oh god, I forgot about the box texture. That one is pretty bad. Others are fine though, especially the computer textures.

 

It may seem like I dislike Plutonia, but I actually really like it. It just lacks many things that make a truly great WAD. Still, the gameplay is fantastic, there are a few (6) levels that do have good atmosphere and the others still have the gameplay to elevate them. In context of IWADs, I'd give Plutonia 7/10, Doom 2 and Ultimate Doom 8/10 and Evilution 9/10 (Would be 10/10 if it weren't for Habitat and finale of Last Call).  

Yeah thats kinda my rating, too. But i put Plutonia over Doom 2, as i feel that Plutonia, when it does things right, it really make it right. An Doom 2, well i understand what Sandy Petersen wanted to say about the demons corrupting the reality, but it is too much abstract for me to really like it more. Memento Mori 1 & 2 have something of this abstracness, too. But those maps are a lot more beautiful than Doom 2 maps. And Plutonia maps, even in their abstract spectrum, are far better than Doom 2. Plutonia maps, usually are made around a concept, like Well of Souls and Haunted. And the Casali could have opted for a little amount of eye candy (look at Mill and Heck in Evilution, thats are nice and challenging maps), but no, they just wanted to make good use of their idea of gameplay stripped down completely to challenging functionality and just a barebones atmosphere.

The only maps from this wad I really liked were the ones by Tom Mustaine. The other levels in the first episode were okay, but they just got worse from there, and things got really bad by episode 3. Administration was way too big and tedious, Habitat had one of the worst sewer sections I had ever seen in a Doom wad, and Mount Pain was actual pain. The experience overall was dull and boring and not fun.

My major gripe with TNT in all fairness is that it's too damn long. I can beat Doom II in 3 hours and Plutonia in 4. But TNT is as long as Hexen is for me at 7 hours. I'd say three of those hours are spent wishing the WAD was almost over. It always feels so exhausting to play through now.

TNT: Evilution is great!

I like TNT a bit better than Doom 2 with my favorite levels being the space sky levels in the middle

though i would say Map 22 - Map26 is the low point of TNT for me, the levels here get a bit dull and samey

On 4/22/2020 at 3:07 AM, seed said:

Basically, "TNT's highs are higher and its lows are lower than Doom 2" - © @Spectre01.

I agree with this 100% but on the whole Evilution is better than Doom 2.

Evilution's second half is weaker than the first half but contains my personal favorite IWAD levels: Mill (map 18) and Administration Center (map 21). It disheartens me to see others in the thread run these levels down but what can I say? I like big levels and I can not lie.

@LucidLocomotive

So, it's been quite some time since this thread started. Did you finish Evilution? How did you feel about the rest of the levels? 

50 minutes ago, Sankhatayan said:

@LucidLocomotive

So, it's been quite some time since this thread started. Did you finish Evilution? How did you feel about the rest of the levels? 

Yeah I finished it and I actually loved it. I would say I like it better than Doom II. I like how the environmental progression/storytelling is back again from Ultimate Doom. After I beat it, I also beat Plutonia, which I like even better. But yeah, final Doom is my favorite of the 3 so far. I just started Doom 64 though so we will see if that one is even better!