Worst Maps in Your Favourite Megawads?

Simple question really. Every megawad has its weakpoints - even the greats. So what are your least favourite maps in otherwise fantastic Megawads?

Oh boy where do i begin. For every megawad i love there is always a part that just exhausts me or gets me pissed, for example the first half of Schyte is just boring and dull.Honestly I wouldn't be suprised if most people didn't finish it just because of those first dull and boring levels. Plutonia just gets me really pissed off for some reason even if i have finished harder and more challeinging wads over the years for some reason after so much time playing doom i still struggle with Plutonia. Also for me to be able to finish BTSX1 I have to play it in small doses or else i get exhausted and quit the playthrough.Maybe it's the visuals or the techbase theme in general i can't really pinpoint it.

Keep in mind that i still love all of the wads mentioned.

Well, not naming any particular wads, but when you have a great 29 maps and then you just toss in a random ass uninspired IOS fight for map 30, it ruins my day.  Don't do this megawad aspiring mappers.  

EDIT: If you can't figure out a way to make an interesting IOS fight, don't put one in.  

The Plutonia Experiment

Map25 Temple of Darkness. Things I don't like about this map - the starting area with shotgunners, stairs that you cannot see while descending but you fall into lava if you miss your step, hitscanners behind you after teleporting,

Map 29 Odyssey of Noises. This map is too big for Plutonia. Navigating through this map is a nightmare. Getting 100% kills from a pistol start is a pain in the ass. This map would have been fine in Doom II. It sticks out as a sore thumb in Plutonia. 

E4M4: Unruly Evil is a pretty bland map compared to the rest of the episode. It isn't "bad" per se, just a bit dull and uninspired. It just kind of exists. Maybe the least memorable map in Ultimate Doom overall.

Going Down is probably the most briliantly designed megawad I've ever played, but it has a couple maps that I just straight up hate. The worst one is MAP19: 200 Mega Hurts. It's one of the easiest map in the set, but it's a slog to get through, and I don't know what mouldy was thinking when he made it. It's just you, your BFG and an endless supply of cells and invulnerability spheres against 100 arch-viles and 100 pain elementals in two deathmatch-styled arenas. And in a megawad where otherwise almost every encounter is so meticulously designed, this to me just comes off as lazy.
Another one I really don't like for a similar reason is MAP28: Necropolis. It's essentially just one room with over a 1000 enemies spawning in and nothing more interesting going on. The other ultra-high enemy density maps like Bridge of Blood or Hard Cover had clever enemy placement and a certain sense of progression, but Necropolis doesn't have either. On top of that it's by far the hardest map in the wad, where survival usually boils down to luck, so the whole thing just isn't at all a fun experience.

Alien Vendetta maps 5, 24 - I'd probably like 24 50% more if it had different music

Community Chest 4 maps 8, 32, 18

Japanese Community Project map 5, 10, 14, 29 - I don't know if I love or hate map 29, the first time I played it I hated it but it's aesthetics have grown on me since I've gotten to know it

All Ultimate Doom boss levels (whether IWAD maps or imitations thereof in PWADs) and almost any incarnation of the bloody Icon of Sin. That's not to say good boss levels are impossible to make, just that I, in my relative inexperience, have yet to encounter any.

17 hours ago, danidf96 said:

Oh boy where do i begin. For every megawad i love there is always a part that just exhausts me or gets me pissed, for example the first half of Schyte is just boring and dull.Honestly I wouldn't be suprised if most people didn't finish it just because of those first dull and boring levels. Plutonia just gets me really pissed off for some reason even if i have finished harder and more challeinging wads over the years for some reason after so much time playing doom i still struggle with Plutonia. Also for me to be able to finish BTSX1 I have to play it in small doses or else i get exhausted and quit the playthrough.Maybe it's the visuals or the techbase theme in general i can't really pinpoint it.

Keep in mind that i still love all of the wads mentioned.

I feel you on BTSX E1. It's fantastic, but it does start to blur together, since it's not just a visual cohesion, most levels play very similarly as well. They're a little too formulaic. I like E2 a bit more since it has more variety in both looks and gameplay - even if it might be a touch more inconsistent as a result.

 Plutonia feels harder than wads that are harder than it because it can be downright cheap and unfair. I'd say Valiant is more difficult than it, but it feels fairer so you're more likely to go "just one more round" rather than "fuck this shit I'm out."

MAP29: Sheer Poison from Three is a Crowd is the one map in the set where I disliked the gimmick strongly. What if you're in a maze and every sector inflicts damage and you have to race from stimpack to stimpack to the exit? Failure to path optimally results in death. Isn't that "fun"?

@whybmonotacrab @danidf96

I'm with ya'll on BTSX, honestly the unchanging aesthetic kinda kills it for me which is too bad because the gameplay is generally there. 2 Seems better though.

1 hour ago, Gez said:

MAP29: Sheer Poison from Three is a Crowd is the one map in the set where I disliked the gimmick strongly. What if you're in a maze and every sector inflicts damage and you have to race from stimpack to stimpack to the exit? Failure to path optimally results in death. Isn't that "fun"?

Eesh. I could see that being fun but you'd have to playtest the everloving crap out of it to make sure that it's not a case of "guess where the mapper wanted me to go". I'm guessing it wasn't as well thought through as it could have been though.

It's known that Epic 2 is my all-time favorite set but, many people (me included), would say that map 28 is their least favorite or worse map simply because of those eight switches scattered in the whole map and can be activated after pressing some switches previously.

The obvious outcome of that map is the time spent on it, easily one hour for casual players to stay thanks to that gimmick. The amount of monsters is pretty high too. Other maps that can have some mixed opinions are maps 26, 27 and 29, due of having some borderline slaughter-ish areas (and probably map 18 due of that stupid cheesy song lol).

I never really liked Map28 of Scythe, I just find the get to end fast before you die gimmick a bit frustrating

24 minutes ago, leodoom85 said:

It's known that Epic 2 is my all-time favorite set but, many people (me included), would say that map 28 is their least favorite or worse map simply because of those eight switches scattered in the whole map and can be activated after pressing some switches previously.

I love the song in that map so it makes getting hopelessly lost and confused bearable.

But yeah Epic 2 is a mapset that makes the GZDoom automap's capability to highlight lines that you can activate very, very useful.

5 hours ago, Gez said:

MAP29: Sheer Poison from Three is a Crowd is the one map in the set where I disliked the gimmick strongly. What if you're in a maze and every sector inflicts damage and you have to race from stimpack to stimpack to the exit? Failure to path optimally results in death. Isn't that "fun"?

Well... There's something to not look forward to in five days. Sounds even worse than the MAP27 in my megaWAD from this year!

5 hours ago, Gez said:

I love the song in that map so it makes getting hopelessly lost and confused bearable.

That's one of few positive points from that map. The other point is the monster placement. Action galore.

Fav WAD: Plutonia

Worse map of it: Map11 - Hunted

Ancient Aliens: Map 28. I just hate this map. This map left a really bad taste in my mouth tbh. 

Valiant: I'd say episode 2 as a whole. The maps are fine I guess but I dunno, I just don't like them as much as I like the rest. 

BTSX episode 1: Map 19. The rest of the wad is hella fun and all and then, you get to this map. Something about it just doesn't work for me and, it's not that great visually either. 

Doom 2: At the risk of stating the obvious (at least it comes out quite often in threads like these), map 24. I'm sorry, I just don't like walking on tightropes, that just doesn't really work for me. Then, there are room that look just BAD, like the labyrinth with the nukage fall textures as walls for example. 

I think MAP09 in Scythe 2 is quite widely disliked, and not without reason. It's pretty half-assed. Even Alm himself criticized it in the txt document.

Anyone who's played the first two Community Chests knows that they aren't short on filler maps, though I find that the good ones make up for it.

I don't like any of 7, 19, 21 and 27 in Alien Vendetta.

28 minutes ago, Yugiboy85 said:

BTSX episode 1: Map 19. The rest of the wad is hella fun and all and then, you get to this map. Something about it just doesn't work for me and, it's not that great visually either. 

Are you talking about Bingo Pool Hall of Blood? Because that level kicks ass and is one of my favourites of the set. 

 Or are you talking about U.S. Mustard Company, which was map 19 before it was updated. If so, I agree. It's kind of bland comparitively, even if it has a pretty striking opening room.

@whybmonotacrabIt is the bingo blood pool map indeed and I agree with him. That map was one of my least favorites of the set as well.

Honestly, I love the "every sector hurts" concept for a map, as long as there's a decent amount of forgiveness in how efficient your pathing has to be.  For instance I think that on HMP and lower it should be doable without significant amounts of strafe-running.

13 hours ago, Gez said:

MAP29: Sheer Poison from Three is a Crowd is the one map in the set where I disliked the gimmick strongly. What if you're in a maze and every sector inflicts damage and you have to race from stimpack to stimpack to the exit? Failure to path optimally results in death. Isn't that "fun"?

Its fun. :)
It puts you on the edge of the seat for sure.

Community Chest: Map21. Seriously. Map can go fuck itself. It's confusing and just so crappy. And to add insult to injury, it had to be a filler map didn't it.

CC2: Map16. Crappy filler map.

CC3: Atlantis Rising. Too narrow and some awkward jumps. Good music though.

CC4: Map04. Okay map. That's it.

Hell Revealed: Map08. Kinda dull really.

Alien Vendetta: Map11. I don't mind it but it's just not for me.

Deus Vult II: Map03. While I DO like it, trees do hamper navigation some.

Speed of Doom MAP23 - while I admire how it was possible to craft such a punishing level with so few enemies, I just had no fun with it.

17 hours ago, Gez said:

MAP29: Sheer Poison from Three is a Crowd is the one map in the set where I disliked the gimmick strongly. What if you're in a maze and every sector inflicts damage and you have to race from stimpack to stimpack to the exit? Failure to path optimally results in death. Isn't that "fun"?

I'm playing through Slaughtermax on UV Max and this map right there is the first time I have ever used IDDQD just to be done with it. Speaking of truly terrible IOS fights, boy oh boy, that is how to ruin the penultimate map and leave a bad taste.

Honestly, I strongly disliked the map but didn't despise it until the end.

While we're on the subject of bad ways to use the IOS: Avactor Map 11, 1994 Tune Up Project Map 30, and my personal choice for awful map in a great Wad- Ancient Aliens Map 18.

The best IOS fight I've seen? Memento Mori Map 30. I think the Wads are pretty average on the whole, with some good aesthetics (I do love you, Corporate Hell!), but credit where credit is due, that was an intensely satisfying IOS fight, and I can count those on one hand.

Eviternity is my favorite wad but Map 19 of the wad is one that I wish was shorter. When I played the wad for the first time, I enjoyed that map, but on repeat walkthroughs, that map is drag.

Scythe's Map 28 is another map I don't like mostly because I hate timed maps. I like to take my time on the maps

Ancient Aliens Map 18 (or whichever was that illuminati map). I did not like that map at all.

Alien Vendetta map 30, IOS maps are not fun.

2002ADO E3M3: Very unbalanced, teleporter closets are awfully made, a room with cacodemons near the end is bad for completionists, and there's the cramped cyberdemon encounter too.

D2INO MAP27: Quite of the few maps have the feel of never-ending but at least have some form of cool adventure-style gameplay. This is more or less a mishmash of styles that don't work well and the yellow key and some teleport landings are missing on the easy settings.

10 Sectors MAP21: Huge-as-shit scavenger hunt map looking for switches and the lifts are so slow

Plutonia Revisited MAP15: Bad encounters on spiral, bad overall placement, music deserves better than being in this map

UAC Ultra MAP11: What a disappointing follow up after Skagway