What is wrong with which Doom or Doom 2 level and why?

[ChicagoTrash]

Tell me what pisses you off the most about a certain level in the classic Doom series.

[SirJuicyLemon]

It's quite interesting topic to be honest. Even being a long time Doom fan I can never quite remember the maps for some reason (obviously I have a big picture of each map but when I try to remember more in detail I can't find much unless I've played that map many many times.

 

For what I could remember in a fast traveling through each map in Doom:

E1M9: Military base - For some reason I've never liked the map that much. At first I thought the cage at the middle was cool and all that but nowadays I just think it's a boring and tedious map. Usually secret maps are long and stuff (except E2M9) but this one is plain boring.

 

E2M9: Fortress of Mystery - There's just one bad thing about this level. It's too short. For me it's fun just to play with some bunch of Barons and Cacodemons but the fun is over quite quickly and there's no challenge in a map so easy to be honest. They were just lazy to make some more part of the maps and no wonder they left it as the secret level. That way their lazyness rests hidden instead.

 

E4M3: Sever the wicked - This map is really bad for me. Bad and boring aesthetic and design, the whole level is at a depressing brightness level, like 20 secrets but only on stairs? And two secrets impossible to reach without noclip cheating? The distribution of the level and sectors may potentially be interesting but the rest of the elements make the map feel boring to be honest.

 

E4M9: Fear - Again, other secret map on the list. Seems like Warrens is the only one which is actually good. I kinda feel a similar feeling with E4M3, just more boring and less depressive.

 

There are many (or at least a couple) of levels in between that I may consider bad or dislike but those were the ones which came to my mind at first.

I should replay Doom and Doom 2 analyzing every level to give a more in depth review.

[Maser]

I play Doom 2 the most of any Doom game.  For me the worst level is Industrial Zone.  I'm just not a fan of the wide open area with hitscans all around you.  The only redeeming quality that map has is that once it's over, my favorite level of Doom 2 comes next. 

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Doom 2 - MAP05: The map layouts felt bland and complex for me. My first time playthrough of this map took me around 20 mins to complete. (not counting saves/loads.)

Doom 2 - MAP13: Now this map is easy to argue with. It's a mixed bag. The map has a hell of a lot enemy projectiles, and that bugged me out. It's also blocky.
Doom 2 - MAP24: The reasons are pretty obvious. The only interesting thing that I found in this map is that it gave me an waste/industrial-ish feel.
Doom 1 - E3M5: This map has too much puzzles. Especially the center area with 4-ish teleporters.
 

[Hellbent]

The secret levels in Doom are a bit underwhelming. E1M9 is my least favorite level by far in Episode 1, which is ironic because the secrets in episode 1 are the best thing about the episode; yet the secret level is the worst thing about the episode? What a disappointment! I was expecting the secret level to be chock full of secrets and just be super cool and super. Instead, the repetitive corridory layout just isn't very interesting.  I agree about E2M9 secret being too short; at least it feels like a secret level, though.

 

E1M4 feels too much like a PWAD to me. It's a small, short level that doesn't really feel like it fits in the map4 mapslot. I'd probably like it a lot more if it was swapped with e4m2. In fact, I might try playing through E4 with these two maps swapped. I think it will be more fun (guess I'll have to engineer a secret exit into e4m2, then). Good! I don't even remember how to get the secret level exit on e4m2, but I remember being a bit disappointed that the secret exit was so underwhelming compared to some of Romero's other secret exits (e1m3 is the best secret exit ever!) 

 

The symmetry in E4M9 is disappointing to me. I don't like it. The map does not make me happy. :(

 

Map 21 of Doom 2 seemed the most PWADish of Doom 2, which was a bit annoying. I found Map04's music to be kind of annoying, and I find map04 also kind of annoying in that the layout isn't very interesting. The whole hyper-active vibe is kind of annoying, too, with the fast door sounds and the fast music and the fast gunners. 

 

I found the square layout of map12 kind of disappointing. I mean, it's just kinda boring and lame. 

 

Map23 was kinda gimmicky; it was sort of a 'break the third wall' kind of map, which is sort of annoying when you are trying to have an immersion experience towards the end of what you are always hoping will be a great game but never quite manages to be. Although to be fair, the map itself is actually a good map. Maybe the name more than the barrels is what annoys me about it. "barrels o' fun" is just a little bit too jokey and casual. Map25 was kind of annoying for feeling slightly PWADish coming late in the game; it was a bit small and a bit bland compared to the levels around it (24, 26, 27 are all good levels). 

 

map30 was kind of annoying for having the final boss be a wall texture. Like, really? Aww, c'mon.... 

 

The secret in Map31 was kind of annoying for being a "doomy" secret instead of a Wolfy secret. I think they could have done something interesting with the secret on that level. It's a cool secret, but it would have been cooler as a normal secret on a normal level.