The DWmegawad Club plays: Zone 400

[Thrustpeak]

UV | Pistol Start | Crispy Doom 

 

MAP16-MAP18

 

I'm back again with another batch of 3. I guess I'm not alone in digging the heretic/hexen gothic style as I believe this is the most maps pcorf has done in one theme yet. Oddly, this time around, ammo was never really much of an issue. It was especially surprising since Map 18 was the only one where I really made excessive use of the berserk pack, and I never went out of my way to instigate infighting. All 3 felt like they had much more wide open areas to maneuver, and—coupled with the surprising surplus of ammo—it made them feel easier than a lot of what has come before. So much so that I actually double checked to make sure I was playing on UV. My continual failure to find most secrets hasn't proven to be much of a hindrance to progression from a pistol start yet, and so I'll keep pushing on without switching over to continuous.  

[Biodegradable]

MAP18 - Halla

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

This was a trick one thanks to its tight, square layout that only really relents and opens up a smidge towards then end, but combat is spicy and I constantly found myself darting about the place (more than usual) trying to figure out both priority targets and maintaining some distance. Had to even plunder my beloved plasma stock and get the bastards to chew on my BFG a bit as well even. Probably the toughest map I had to deal with in a while, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The challenge and relentless energy, combined with the ambushes/closets and teleport shenanigans made it a memorable experience to be sure. 

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP17 - “Ugarit”

This one is much more set piece heavy and a bit more rudimentary than map16, so alas this doesn't reach the height of fun shown there. However this was still a good map to play and the fights are mostly fun and engaging. Just the mancubi in the blue key were a little bit of a drag. The soulsphere secret ended up being a double edged sword as I had left the first fight to the demons earlier and of course they began to trickle down into the following areas, which I guess is a neat little addition (Even if unintended by both PCorf of myself).

 

MAP18 - “Halla”

That first revenant on the upper ledge proved to be an absolute git and ended my life a couple of times managing to land a lucky hit on me. Oddly the start is probably the hardest part of this one. I must admit the consistent use of traps over the past few maps coupled with the layout meant I decided to make some extra fun for myself by ignoring the blue key horde and went straight for the red key. Double the fun, but oddly even with two waves at once the mob was easy to put down.

Another solid entry here.

[LadyMistDragon]

UV, Pistol-start

 

Map 18 - Halla

 

So...this map would probably have been considerably easier if I had realized shotgun ammo would be so plentiful, as the small amounts scattered throughout the starting courtyard don't necessarily indicate that. Point is, I camped at the entrance and punched out the pinkies. After that, I never really came close to death. The marching music was pretty cool and became much more fitting as it continued. The delayed teleporting of the monsters when you grab the yellow and red keys almost lulled me into complacency, but constant movement kept me being caught off guard. A chaingunner did get me at one point after the yellow key trap. After that, it's just more of the same trick of the map opening up more and more as you collect the keys. I couldn't really use the rocket launcher effectively in the blue key trap because everyone closes in rather quickly. The secret with the megasphere was easy to get when you realize that there's a wall behind it. The BFG secret is located directly across the hallway you access the megasphere secret, but I had no clue until I had finished the map and pushed on it essentially because there almost nothing else distinct that made sense. It would have certainly helped against the Arch-vile in the last trap that hurt me pretty bad. It didn't make much difference however because there was far more than enough ammo to take care of everyone and then some. I was finally able to shout "I ain't no hollaback girl!" at the idiot Revenants that tormented me thoughout this map. If it was Paul's intention for this map to turn into a power fantasy despite not having tons of room to move, he certainly succeeded@

[Pseudonaut]

Map18: FDA in 8:51 (1 death)

z418FDA.zip

 

I was pretty reckless at the end of that first attempt, just standing and dodging those rev missiles when I could've taken cover. I liked how clearly telegraphed the blue key ambush is. Without even knowing what would happen, I felt comfortable pulling out the rocket launcher to prepare for it, and that paid off very well. I guess it could've been bad if any monsters teleported close to me right away.

[dei_eldren]

MAP19 - Viriato (HNTR, continuous, blind w/ saves): K 100% (176/176), I 100% (79/79), S 100% (2/2), T 29:30, D 2

 

Spoiler

The beginning of this map along with the monster count does in hindsight give a good indication of what's to come.  Revenant, Chaingunner and Hell Knight are among the first monsters to kill, and the hordes met later on will be relentless and seemingly endless.  First chaotic scene came to pass when i tested the strength of one of the three glass windows in hope of finding a secret.  Behind it were first some Imps, but soon chaos ensued, as monsters of many kinds started teleporting around.  Lots of hitscanners and Pinkies, and some mid-tiers, too.  i have to admit, not my favourite scene in the WAD.  And it goes on and on, as the area behind the three glass windows is quite a large one, and opened up in stages by switches.

 

After this is the task of obtaining the BSK and YSK.  My favourite part of the map is the upper hallway-section inhabited by Mancubi, Revenants and a Baron, with several challenging encounters but no slaughter-traps.  However, intermittently one comes down from there, and there are always a new horde of demons roaming the large main hallway, and teleporting around.  After finally obtaining the YSK comes the penultimate fight, as a large room holding the RSK for the exit is opened.  It's drudgery, as everyone but the bosses are present, in copious numbers, but after a long while this fight too, has passed.  Also, after the YSK, the secret BFG visible in the beginning was also obtained, by pressing a switch on the wall!  Truly one of the most disappointing secrets in this WAD.  Maybe if it was considered so necessary it should've not been a secret at all?

 

Anyway, after the room is cleared the first time, when grabbing the RSK there is yet another combat, with some 20+ monsters, including Revenants and Barons and a Pain Elemental.  But here i take out my plasma gun (why not the BFG i should ask myself, again!), and manage to subdue them relativelly quickly.  For this fight there is also a Soul Sphere in the middle of the room.

After the fight there are still three monsters left, inside the exit room in form of three Demons, to make sure no one will easily escape the fight.

 

The last secret...i saw a glimpse of it, naturally, but totally forgot about it while playing (the map took quite a while to clear.)  And it took me quite a long time to find the last (easy) secret.  Because i simply didn't look there.  i was really looking for something much more obscure, by trying to find hints from the map, testing walls, etc.  But after almost ten minutes (yes, ten!), i noticed in the map an area in which it could've been.  Well, after that it wasn't difficult.  Thing is, i was not going to leave the level without finding it, as i wanted to find something to improve my situation of health and armor, and glad i was determined, as the resultant Megasphere made my day.

 

For fuck's sake, i did not like this map.  Didn't like the combat, nor was the layout very inspired in my opinion.  My favourite part was the idea of the area behind the stained glass windows, but not with the hordes of teleporting monsters.  i'm pretty sure i died twice, first by a hidden Chaingunner, and then in one of the major combat-scenes.  By far my least favourite map of the set so far, and one i definitely am happy not to play on HMP or UV.  i didn't really find it difficult, just jarring and largely based on luck, what with those hitscanners, and also invisible Spectres.  Makes me dread what the final level of this episode will be like.

 

 

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 17 - Ugarit

100% kills and secrets

Time: 8:43

 

Going back to a more linear level design for this one. There's 4 main rooms in this map, each with different designs to change things up slightly. 1st room is a big outdoor area with lots of imps on giant columns and pinkies on the ground with hitscan ledge snipers. Second is a pair of stairs that open up a little. Third is a big room with some enemies on the ground and on some ledges. Finally, the fourth houses the blue key and a standard closet teleport trap that adds in the wrinkle of making the room dark, but also opening back up to the third room. None of these room are really tough on continuous, as you'll have ample weaponry for it. Even on pistol start though, by the time you get to the third room, you'll have a rocket launcher and the BFG if you can figure out the secret (shoot the switch behind the BFG, grab the soul sphere, leave via new opening, head back to beginning and jump in now accessible teleporter), and this third room nets you the plasma rifle, so the final ambush is a breeze. I kinda wish there was an archvile in this last ambush. Still pretty solid, but one of the weaker maps in this ep. MIDI worked well with the level too.

[Capellan]

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 19 – Viriato

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Viriato, a.k.a. the hitscanner hell of Zone 400. This would be a good definition for the first part of the level, which began in a large hallway with two locked doors and the skull keys in plain sight. Breaking the three Hexen windows was mandatory to find three switches that raised a stairway to the BSK. Unfortunately, the cramped corridors behind the stained glasses were designed to open themselves and reveal plenty of ambushers, which invariably poured into the hallway to pursue me, with the help of teleport lines. I found that retreating to the starting area was the safest approach, to rinse and repeat until they kept coming.

Spoiler

The BSK was guarded by a heftier version of the 2 Caco/1 PE arrangement that recurred in previous maps. The linear path made a long detour around the hallway just to drop me by the YSK, which would have been all right if there was not a Baron of Hell bellowing at my face. I evaded him swiftly, then made short work of him and of the substantial hitscanner & Imp closet that opened by the starting point. The BFG became suddenly available, and this did not bode well for the room after the yellow door.

 

A very large chamber with icy floor appeared before my eyes, but as soon as I saw another crowd of hitscanners I retreated to my trusted starting area, from which I eliminated all attackers except Mancubi, Arachnotrons and Hell Nobles, which I tricked into infighting. It was not so easy though, since the area had teleporting lines which sent the enemies directly behind me. This surprised me a couple of times. Picking up the RSK demanded for the exit triggered a mix of 50 monsters, but I was in the right mindset for the crazy final showdown. Thanks to the automap I anticipated a big closet behind the painting, therefore I rushed forward with my BFG shooting in bursts. I recklessly cleaved through the demon ranks until the Arch-Vile was disintegrated and most of his companions with him. Only then I realised that the hits I was getting came from enemies in the other closet, which I did not notice before. I was lucky not to be killed, as I rapidly recovered my wits and eliminated the rest, including the second obnoxious Pain Elemental. I spared the easy Megasphere secret for this moment and I gladly left Viriato with full stats.

Spoiler

After a linear although engaging first half, this level really shined for the brutal ambushes taking place in the huge frozen chamber. It relied mostly on hitscanners for attrition and pressure, but surprisingly I did not find this annoying like in other WADs. A tough, dynamic, and valuable map, carrying the second episode towards a glorious ending.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Book Lord

[Book Lord]

1 hour ago, Capellan said:

 

We are still missing your MAP18 report, Capellan.

[DuckReconMajor]

Map 18 - Halla - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start with rewinds

 

oof harsh. Hitscanner heavy start with no armor left me splattered, I had to rewind again.

The middle building was really cool. Reminded me of the E1M7 platform, and the outer edges and the dying a lot kind of reminded me of speed of doom map05.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Capellan]

36 minutes ago, Book Lord said:

We are still missing your MAP18 report, Capellan.

 

That's odd.  I definitely posted it - it was right at the top of page 10.  And it has as many views as these usually do ... but it's not here anymore.  Oh well, here it is again!

 

 

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP16: Hypatia

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

We start in another area with book shelves (plus some bottle shelves), and exit to another cityscape much like the one we see in MAP31, only much easier to see, and a landscape that is a nice looking mixture of stone and some partially frozen patches of water. And more unlike MAP31, the area is heavily populated from the start, leaving you to grab the SSG and try your damnedest to carve out a foothold. 

 

I thought this level was very fun. The progression has you grabbing keys inside the level's buildings, and as you progress monster closets open up that scatter more demons about with teleporters, repopulating the city streets again. It's tough to point to any particular fight as being especially difficult, but really any given fight has a potential to go south in this map, as it's not an easy map to find safety in and there are a fair few hitscanners and hard-hitting demons that can sneak in a few hits on you. Just have to take everything out quickly and not be afraid to pull out the plasma or rockets if the situation calls for it. The last fight also contains an archvile, which didn't give my trouble due to a fortunate pain chance with the plasma, but I can see him getting a zap in on most runs due to the haphazard nature of the monsters in the outdoor area.

 

Very strong level, definitely one of the highlights of the wad so far for me.

 

MAP17: Ugarit

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

 

An icy castle with some very meaty fights, this one was another big winner in my opinion. I enjoyed the introductory area, where you can either slowly take the threats down for progressing or just charge forward, trigger the cacos and pain elemental, hit the switch to lower the imps, and watch the monsters go ballistic. Although for the latter route you may want to quickly take down the pain elemental first, but this route is a lot of fun and can save a ton of ammo, so I quite like it that way.

 

The remaining fights don't get less hectic. Later on you trigger a brush with a mancubus, pain elemental, and a bunch of imps in quite a claustrophobic space. If you saved rockets though, the imps can be dispersed of very quickly which makes this one a lot easier. The final fight is one of my favourites in the wad so far, you grab the blue key to have the entire room turn black as monsters both fill the arena, while some hit teleporters and go outside. This fight is a hell of a spectacle, and a really fun fight too. Be careful with the rockets though, as there are spectres roaming the darkness, so you can face a very unfortunate death that way.

 

Very enjoyable and hectic map, another big highlight.

 

[Biodegradable]

MAP19 - Viriato

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

Pcorf took the previous map's teleporting gag and cranked that shit up to 11! Things get pretty hairy rather quickly and stay that way for the most part in between very brief intervals. I think my favourite part was the descending sections of wall revealing a heap of monsters several times. It reminded me of the Revenant-flavoured merry-go-round of pain from Doom 2's Monster Condo. The big arena fight at the end was also a blast and nailed me a couple of times.

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP19 - “Viriato”

The first half of the map really rubbed me up the wrong way. Stringent on ammo, those narrow corridors with the obvious gotcha moment when the walls collapse. I had to punch out a revenant with a non-zerk fist at one point. Beyond the blue key and the now berserk loaded fist was put to a light boxing match, the mancubi and Hellknights I simply provoked into infighting as I couldn't be bothered to rush into the room. The baron at the end of this path is damn cheap too.

The map improves once the yellow key is grabbed, though this is another map where we have an obvious secret to an item that you clearly need to beat the rest of the map as the very open final room requires the BFG to diffuse the archvile roaming in the pack.

Worst map of the episode for me, and unfortunately borrows tropes that marred several of the first 11 maps. 

 

 

[pcorf]

2 hours ago, cannonball said:

MAP19 - “Viriato”

The first half of the map really rubbed me up the wrong way. Stringent on ammo, those narrow corridors with the obvious gotcha moment when the walls collapse. I had to punch out a revenant with a non-zerk fist at one point. Beyond the blue key and the now berserk loaded fist was put to a light boxing match, the mancubi and Hellknights I simply provoked into infighting as I couldn't be bothered to rush into the room. The baron at the end of this path is damn cheap too.

The map improves once the yellow key is grabbed, though this is another map where we have an obvious secret to an item that you clearly need to beat the rest of the map as the very open final room requires the BFG to diffuse the archvile roaming in the pack.

Worst map of the episode for me, and unfortunately borrows tropes that marred several of the first 11 maps. 

 

 

 

I didn't really like it either. I was a bit bored plus it was a difficult map to design to say the least and sometimes I wished I had spare room for another 100 linedefs. But I am also a very cautious player who regularly loads and saves and I wanted to make sure this map was as hard as possible to my abilities. Infighting is absolutely crucial, as well as conserving ammo and regular weapon switching, shotgun, SSG, chaingun, RL, Plasma and BFG. Grabbing that BFG is crucial if you are pistol starting, it will make life much more easy. Who said Zone 400 was going to be a walk in the park. But I know you will win this battle.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP18 - "Halla" (100%K/96%I/100%S):

Another map where you start on an area, you proceed, map opens itself, proceed, the map opens itself even more, and finally you grab a last key where the map opens once more, and you have a big fight, also, key grab with enemy spam at the walls. Formula we have seen a lot so far, and was missing for the last maps, yet, it returns once more. Harsh hitscanner placement, but you can always wait for them with the berserk punch outside.
 

Deaths: 97 (UV Continuous/Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP14
MAP31

MAP10
MAP15
MAP16
MAP11
MAP09

MAP08
MAP04

MAP17

MAP02
MAP18
MAP13
MAP07
MAP06
MAP05

MAP12
MAP03
MAP01

MAP32**

 

I got a little bit bored, I'll wait some time before playing more.

[Pseudonaut]

Map19: FDA in 13:56 (1 death)

z419FDA1356.zip

 

Yeah I didn't like the first half of this one either. Not enough health for the amount of hitscan exposure, not enough ammo for the number of enemies. Ammo only gets replenished from the corpses of all the zombies that will inevitably get hits on you because you have to spend so much time moving around out in the open while not shooting.

 

The map improves a lot from there partly because of the "secret" megasphere and "secret" BFG. The big final fight stands out, I wouldn't actually say the BFG is strictly necessary since the vile and PEs will die from random projectiles eventually, but it's more fun with the BFG, and I certainly prefer this situation over having the BFG in some arbitrarily obscure secret that I wouldn't have found.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 18 - Halla

100% kills and secrets

Time: 9:08

 

This was a pretty fun one. This map is basically one room that opens up more and more as you collect keys and hit switches. I decided to play this one a little more risky, by immediately charging in with the plasma rifle once I noticed a pain elemental and rev. I've been too safe with my ammo. I brought out the BFG a few times too, since a lot of monsters show up each time a new area lowers. The biggest annoyance is the archvile in the last wave, but that's why there's a hidden BFG if you're not like me and doing pistol start (though I didn't find it until the end. I found the secret on the literal opposite wall easily though). There's not a lot to say about this one other than it's pretty action packed and doesn't really let up. 

[dei_eldren]

MAP20 - Janssen (HNTR, continuous, blind w/ saves): K 110%, I 84%, S 100% (2/2), T 17:43, D 2

 

Spoiler

The level takes place in what i think is a fortress, and as we emerge from the entrance to an architecturally impressive inner courtyard with a frozen pool of water in the middle, there is at first a row of Chaingunners upon a wall.  After that it's eerily quiet, as only two Barons are guarding a switch that appears the only way to proceed.  It lowers the bars in front of another switch, at the very beginning of the level.  At this point, the way to access the Soul Sphere close to it also becomes clear, but i don't need it at this point, and am determined to leave it for the end if possible.

 

Thus i get to the wall upon which the Chaingunners were, to grab the BSK, which triggers a swarm of Cacodemons, as well as opens a monster closet of Imps, escalating the combat, as it gradually does on this level until the RSK room.  The whole courtyard turns into a zone of flying balls of fire and plasma, but only extreme carelessness or low health to begin with would really cause threat to life.  Incidentally, this turned out to be my favourite encounter in this map.  Behind the BSK door, the main ambush comes from about a hundred Imps from behind an opening wall, as one approaches the next switch.  i lost my sense of direction, turning too fast and ran first towards the other end of the room and not back as intended, causing unnecessary loss of health.  These Imps also teleport around, but this time it's not irritating as it's not a cheap trick to confound the player but to populate areas.

The switch raises the floor of a lower body of water in the middle to the allow access to the RSK key, in which the final battle of the episode takes place.  Not before, however, a new little repopulation, that includes an Arch-Vile.  And my first death of the level came here, as i was unable to kill him before he killed me.

The second secret of the map also is revealed here, and i had no idea it was a secret as i ran through it, but just a stash of ammo and health that had been opened up.

 

At first glance the main battle arena behind the RSK door looked absolutely confusing, caged Revenants, Pinkies and Imps running around.  So i run into the room to have a look, to find the Spider Mastermind in the middle structure.  And then i soon die.  Another attempt, i have my plasma ready, and decide to leave the caged Revenants alone, hoping not to catch too many of their missiles, and go for the horde of Imps, also grabing the available Megasphere which helps me to finish the room.  Turns out the exit door is at the back, and readily available two switches on opposite sides of the room, which do not yet open it.  And i guess correctly, that there is a third one, in the central pavillion of the Spiderdemon, who thus needs to be killed after all.  Am sort of lucky, because running in she's not targeting me, and i get a nice BFG shot from right next to her, but she still refuses to die.  Second shot kills her, from farther away, enabling me to press the switch and open the exit door.  But before that i'll go back to collect what was left behind, especially the secret Soul Sphere, and also a green Armor left behind, allowing me to exit the level in acceptable health.  Except, the exit does look like a death exit, but luckily isn't one.

 

As far as end of episode boss-maps go, i liked this one.  Difficult, but in the right way.  And i even enjoyed the boss-fight.  Secrets were both a bit disappointing in design, but at least not in substance.  So after the last level a very pleasant surprise.  Interesting to see what the next episode will be like, but i must say, Heretic-style did not outstay its welcome at all.

 

 

[Capellan]

 

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP19: Viriato- dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start - infinity rewinds, at one point gave up and just restarted

 

The pain has been brought. Hitscanner pain, said hitscanners' drops required for ammo, and armor I didn't see until late in the game.

Of all the maps to end with a 'live' meat tube lol

Aesthetically, this one seemed much more Heretic-focused than before, which I don't dig quite as much, but still much better than the usual techbrown (sorry base fans)

This aside from the beautiful stained glass we must once again brutalize (I didn't know how that trick worked until this wad made me curious enough to check)

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 20 – Janssen

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Eventually we have reached the end of the second episode, set in a dark fantasy world borrowed from my favourite Raven Software FPSs. There was another boss battle in store, this time against a Spiderdemon, but this was only the last course of the short and exquisite banquet the map had to offer.

 

Once I strode into the outdoor area with the water pool, I was startled by the sudden appearance of a ludicrous number of chaingunners. 29 they were, all in line, so I pressed the backpedal and listened to the savage sounds of infighting. There was a loud explosion, then silence. Looks like there was an oversized row of barrels behind them and some stray bullets started the self-destruction sequence. The encounter offered a comical relief that defused the tension and made me enjoy the level a lot more.

Spoiler

Reaching the BSK on the chaingunner terrace was easy, dealing with the relative ambush not so much. The Pain Elemental was distant and for some absurd reason he started infighting with other creatures, while the Cacodemons pinned me down in the starting hallway. When I emerged, there was a cloud of Lost Souls by the pool that gave me some trouble. I entered the blue door and was met by an assorted resistance, including a trio of Cacodemons who appeared without warning when everybody else was already dead.

 

The RSK was protected by two different traps. The switch activated a crowd of Imps that behaved like the one in MAP07: Tricks and Traps. Some were teleported in the water pit, others kept shooting from afar. The second trap was nastier, consisting of a complex arrangement of teleport lines (both single- and multiuse) that sent Cacodemons, another Pain Elemental and an Arch-Vile in different places. I died on the spot because the invisible Arch-Vile blasted me twice before I realised what was going on. Random monster behaviour allowed for different deployments at every attempt, so there is excellent replayability for this encounter. I fled behind the cage and sprayed the flying balls with plasma, then I found the AV on the ledge in the previous courtyard, along with several raised Commandos.

Spoiler

The red door dropped me immediately in the final arena, dominated by the Spider Mastermind on a central perch, surrounded by Revenants in cages, roaming Demons and a large group of Imps. Invisible teleporting lines sent the Imps to block the way back and moved around the Demons to create more confusion. I was destroyed twice by Revenant rockets, then I figured out a plan and instigated a lot of hate towards the Spiderdemon. When all the minions had fallen to the ground, I relaxedly brought their leader down.

Spoiler

This was an appropriate conclusion for the second episode and an entertaining level under every aspect, except maybe the last group of Revenants which was anticlimactic. The secrets were found automatically, so my focus was purely on combat. The boss fight was crazy and funny, though I loved the preamble even more. Please more of the same!

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP18: Halla

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

The action takes place in a square arena, with a stone structure at the start of it. It's definitely one of the smallest seeming maps so far when it comes to area, but it has 155 monsters to slay so action is plentiful. I felt like the most difficult part of the map was getting started, the confined space and awkwardly placed monsters on the ledges can make for an experience that's deadlier than it looks on the surface. Taking a few imp fireballs is nearly inevitable unless you're a great dodger or very efficient at carving out space for yourself to move around. 

 

As the level goes on though, you do become better armed, the arena opens up a bit to give you more room to move around, and you don't have pesky ledge monsters to deal with. So despite beefier forces being present, it's not quite as hard. The secret BFG and megasphere becoming available also makes things quite a lot easier if you find them. Save a BFG blast to quickly take down the archvile at the end before he causes too much ruckus, and everything should be a-ok.

 

This one was fine. There was nothing really "wrong" with it, the layout is nice and creative, but I didn't feel the combat as much as some previous entries. 

 

MAP19: Viriato

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

Oh boy, the hostility of this one really caught me off-guard. This one wants you dead more than any map in the wad so far, and is if to just double down on my comments on the first one, the beginning of this map is the peak of difficulty of the wad up to this point on pistol start. The map throws a slightly tricky to access SSG at you right away, and then lets all hell break loose. Breaking the stained glass on the sides of the hall reveals nooks full of health/armor bonuses, a berserk pack, and some switches you press to progress forward. However, venturing into these nooks unleashes even more demons, mostly hitscanners, which eventually start teleporting out into the main area to create even more chaos. The hitscanners in this area are the deadliest enemies, with the revenants and mancubus posing ample problems as well. You have no choice to cause as much infighting as possible, and perhaps mix in some berserk punches too, because you are going to have a hell of a time taking the enemies down with just your guns.

 

The middle portion of this map isn't anything too crazy, mostly simple fights, but the level ends with another tough fight once you hit the switch past the yellow key door, where you are up against quite a few tough demons that frequently teleport around the room erratically, making them trickier to deal with. After grabbing the red key from this room, even more demons join the fray including an archvile. I actually had to SSG this guy as I used the BFG on some other demons before noticing his presence, but I managed to take him out by waiting for him to come near the yellow/blue doors and peekaboo shooting him from there.

 

Probably the nastiest map so far, but definitely one of my favourites. Figuring out how to survive the beginning was quite fun, and I was really fond of the teleporter fight.

[cannonball]

MAP20 - “Janssen”

 

That start, well the wall of chaingunners is certainly an event you don't see coming. The barrels are a real treat to blow up here. The cacos in this map actually are approaching swarm level now, with always a pain elemental embedded in the flock. The one in the red key got stuck for quite a while, which allowed an archvile to revive the entire chaingunner horde at the start. At least I have a rocket launcher to deal with them. :)

The final room is certainly better than the end game of the first episode, though it is a relative pushover thanks to the megasphere. The revenants in front of the exit are a joke though.... four archviles and we might be talking here.

A solid closer to the Hexen styled episode.

[Biodegradable]

MAP20 - Janssen

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

I think this one was my favourite of the Heretic/Hexen-flavoured episode, my friends. The penultimate map to close things off before we plunge into Hell with thrilling combat, a few funky and memorable set pieces and a couple of sneaky surprises here and there to keep you on your toes and your heart racing. I had a ball with this one. That sneaky Archvile trick was especially good. The layout and texture work was especially good and felt the most like I was storming a castle which perfectly complemented the Hexen visuals on full display. Love those textures hehe.

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 20: Janssen (UV, Pistol-start)

 

I like the Heretic theming, but I also don't. It's very gloomy and depressing, but seems slightly abstract at the same time. And this is some cool music too. The bells used here make me think of something I heard in 'Jill of the Jungle' before, maybe sort of like the bells in "Blood Jungle" to name something Doom-related.

 

I skipped Map 19 because it just seemed like a more difficult version of what had come before with more monsters.

 

This is a good one though. I nearly died from the chaingunners in the outside courtyard, but I was able to land a shot or two in the barrel line they were located in and they subsequently all went boom! The blue key ambush did nearly have me wish I was playing continuous, due to the six or so Cacodemons that attack you. Shotgun ammo is definitely tighter than in previous maps. Anyways, behind the blue key door, there are Arachnotrons and Manicubi on either side, with possibly not enough rockets for them. That's ok, though. Just take out one pair, head to the other end of the courtyard, deal with some hitscanners, and end up being murdered in spectres in my case, and opening up a massive monster closet with Imps. You can throw a rocket or two their way but they slowly start teleporting out, and in any case, Cacodemons will start to pour in. Hit the switch to the lower the red key, flee back to the first courtyard while picking up a plasma rifle that counts as a secret for some reason and prepare to face a nasty surprise. The Arch-vile was actually fairly easy to dispatch, but they were still able to resurrect a few Chaingunners.

 

When everything's dead, just head behind the yellow key door, and try getting the Revenants in the cages to all infight the Spider Mastermind in the middle. The Mastermind might win, but she'll be greatly weakened. You do have enough plasma ammo around to spare if you decide to go that way, though you'll want to kill at least a few of the Revenants anyway. After pressing all the switches in the room, a wall opens with the portal to hell and five Revenants that I all easily rocketed to death.

 

This was a solid end to the episode with moments of genuine tension, fun, and some cleverly nasty monster placment. I only hope that I'll be able to play through to Map 30 at least (Icon of Sin maps are basically eh for me) but the gameplay can border on exhaustively repetitive at times.

[FistMarine]

MAP18: Halla
Now this looks like a short map and yet seems packed with enemies. Also the exit is located at beginning, though obviously you need the red key to open it.
First, you have to take out all the enemies that are surrounding the area, on a continuous run I would suggest camping at beginning and waiting for monsters to come and pick them off slowly one by one.
After clearing the area, you must enter the central building but I would suggest trying to make the hell knights infight with the mancubi. It is a bit tricky to do but it's worth it in the end. Once you are done, press the switch to make the bridge accessible.
This will now make the yellow skull key accessible, though before grabbing it, I would suggest to look around for the monsters getting revealed, so make sure to take them out. Funnily enough, I missed the yellow key until I cleared the ambush first and thought for a second I can no longer reach it (since some platforms seemed to lower) but there is a lift you can still activate and reach the key, so it's all fine.
Now comes the fun part. When you grab the blue skull key, there will be ambushes at various points, I suggest to use the stronger weapons to quickly get rid of the monsters and just try running from one place to another if you are getting surrounded.
The map isn't over yet. There is one more big obstacle you have to pass but before that, kill the baron behind blue door and prepare yourself. I managed to take damage even upon grabbing the blue key since I got stopped by a revenant's infinite height that he punched me in the air and then I was trying to also kill the archvile as soon as I could. I definitely took some damage and even managed to fire a rocket in front of spectre that I didn't see, though thankfully wasn't in my face, just a meter away which did 80 damage (as much as a revenant's missile). I was at 60% health at that time and decided to quickly rush to grab some medkits and finish my job. I eventually manage to kill all the monsters and of course the blue armor was already in need of a replacement, thankfully there was a much needed megasphere.
There are two easy secrets to find indicated by Korax's face. Press on the walls and you will get a BFG and the megasphere you have seen earlier (recommended to grab the megasphere at end, for the continuous players). Somehow I didn't think to press on that wall of BFG secret first time and before going to check it, I decided to watch an YouTube video to see where the second secret was. I couldn't feel any more disappointed than that because I could have easily found it myself by pressing SPACE in front of it but I guess I was bored just looking around the map or something or maybe didn't think that BOTH faces would contain a secret area, so close to each other. Either way it's cool stuff and the BFG is much needed for some of the later fights in the map, well unless you bring your own BFG from previous maps. :P

MAP19: Viriato
Things are continuing to heat up and I will say that this map is a bit inconsistent at times and also a bit cramped, though I didn't have much of a problem with dealing with the encounters, of course on a continuous run, as I need to mention because watching others playing from a pistol start definitely looks much tougher, especially with the lack of armor until halfway. And the encounters can also be a bit tricky to deal with.
At beginning, after you are done securing the starting area, you have to progress by smashing the stained glasses, as you may remember from MAP15, though this time there are THREE glasses you have to break, each glass being represented by each class from Hexen. You will mostly fight imps in the corridors but there are also other nasties hidden around the corner. There are many health/armor bonuses located in those corridors as well. But you must also pay attention when slowly approaching those rooms, you will see the walls lowering and revealing a bunch of zombies, demons and other nasties.
If desired, you can choose to run to the starting point. Some monsters may try to teleport but you should be easily able to deal with them if you pay attention to your surroundings. Once you are done, you have to make your way into the room you noticed earlier but couldn't reach up there. Once you are done dealing with traps and grabbing blue key, then opening the door and making your way through the level. There is a room that contains two mancubi and two hell knights, though I only made one mancubus infight with the two hell knights. Forgot who won but I know I had to kill the second mancubus myself.
At some point you will reach an elevator with a switch that will take you down with a baron in your face! Since I didn't have BFG selected, I just ran past him, grabbed the yellow key which made more monsters spawn and then stand in the starting room trying to kill them as fast as I could. The BFG is now available (and even counts as one of the secrets, the other secret containing a much needed megasphere and other goodies, that you have to strafe into to reach it) and it will help you clear the hordes. The baron was still up there waiting for me by the time I backtracked to kill him, so I don't have any surprises and after all, I need to get all kills, as well as secrets and items!
Once ready, open the yellow door and prepare for the second biggest battle! Once done, collect the goodies around the arena (I chose to save the soulsphere, for better or worse, since my health was at 150% and didn't feel the need to grab it now, not knowing that was the last fight of the level), grab the red skull key and prepare yourself for the biggest battle of the level!
You need to get rid of the archvile first which is easier said than done and it even managed to blast me (since I couldn't easily BFG it with all the monsters on my way) while I was running towards start, my health and armor dropped to around 70%. I grabbed a medkit and decided to spam rockets (must have used like 50 rockets) until I got rid of the archvile. Although a spectre tried to get in my face, I only took a few points damage from the rocket, probably because I stepped back when I fired just to avoid unpleasant situations like this.
Once I was done with killing all monsters, I grabbed the soulsphere and the rest goodies, including the megasphere, which was especially useful for restoring the blue armor to maximum.

 

MAP20: Janssen
A rather interesting boss level (the conclusion of the Heretic/Hexen styled episode, also forgot to mention so far that some levels reminded me of Herian 2 megawad, which was a very old Heretic/Hexen influenced megawad for ZDoom) which starts innocent enough with some zombies but when you get in the main area, you will see a lot of chaingunners with the barrels that get revealed! Don't worry, this part isn't too bad, all you have to do is blow up the barrels and all that should take care of them, if not, you can finish them off with the chaingun. I must say this part made me laugh for a bit, reminding me a bit of MAP23: Barrels of Fun from Doom 2, although not the same way, I guess it was done for a quick laugh.
The soulsphere secret at beginning is easy to find and reach, although since my health was 200% or close enough, I decided to save it later, for the better.
At some point, two barons will teleport (one at starting room and one at the room with the switch you may have seen). Take them out, press the switch, go back to beginning, press the revealed switch that lowers the nearby elevator and before grabbing the blue key, look for the swarm of cacos (plus one PE). Once done, grab the key and then proceed. You will reach a room with some hitscanners, two mancubi in left and two arachnotrons on ledge. I took the slower approach and shotgunned them to death (with the single shotgun) since it seemed to work well, at least in case of arachnotrons, may have used RL to deal with the mancubi in left. There are also a bunch of spectres in the water, I suggest to try to take them out as soon as possible, to not have any surprises, should you fall into water by accident, though it was very dark and they were hard to see. Firing from above seemed to work half of time, so I eventually went down and killed them at a cost of a bit of damage.
Thankfully there's teleporters you can get out. Continuing walking across the room, some cacodemons may get revealed behind you. Take them out, then before pressing the switch, I would suggest running because a wall reveals a bunch of imps, some of which will teleport to the water pit earlier. Taking the slower approach meant doing this section without any damage or with minor damage. After pressing the switch and grabbing the red skull key, you will notice an archvile has teleported on the ledge where the chaingunners used to be. You are also given green armor, plasma and cell pack (this sector actually counts as a secret, this being the second secret).
I recommend getting closer to take down the archie and get cover in the left, after a few rockets it went down. Now comes the important part. You will notice a SPIDER MASTERMIND far away waiting for you but it won't be that easy to reach her. You will have to take down those demons, imps and the revenants in cages. I first decided to try to lure the imps and demons to the lift and take them down safely but sometimes I took damage when I tried to go down (thanks infinite height). I knew that camping at the door doesn't do me any favor, so I had to be fast and run in circles and try to take down those monsters as quickly as I could (while also watching to not run into a blowing barrel) before killing the spider.
When my health got to 100% or less and blue armor was running out, I went back to beginning, grabbed the soulsphere from earlier as well as a fresh green armor. I also tried my best to run around and take the revenants in cages, then take down the spider! I was preparing for whatever was behind that big wall, turns out there were just FOUR revenants! After taking them down with the BFG, I grabbed everything (including the much needed megasphere, funny how the last 3 levels each had a megasphere in them) and exited! Another level nicely completed!

 

Deaths (so far): 1 (MAP31)

 

I have to say I ended up going a bit ahead (to prevent getting left behind) and reached MAP29. I stopped there for now and won't spoil anything other than the difficulty seems mostly the same, so I will come back in 10 days to finish the two remaining maps (including the secret/bonus MAP33) and write my final conclusions of the wad! Take care everyone!

 

Spoiler

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP19 - "Viriato" (100%K/I/S):

Uh, a long corridor, like a museum, connected to other corridors with glass walls, lots of monster teleporting linedefs. It's an uglier map than the previous one, even with Heretic textures, I'm sure it would look awful with vanilla textures, in fact, it would look like a "this is my first map" kind of thing, still, not a bad map to play, but, I did not like it, also, I'm getting a little bit tired of this "episode". Yes, I feel I'm not the only one thinking the first half of this map was bad. I feel if you don't get the secret megasphere, you wouldn't make it to the end, and that's bad.
 

MAP20 - "Janssen" (100%K/92%I/100%S):

This is better, possibly because you have some lights here and there, the overly gloomy areas in this episode can get a little bit old. I love the chaingunner wall, good to make them suffer with barrels, something that's always pleasing to do, throw a rocket to a chain of barrels and kill every single hitscanner. Cacodemons here may feel a bit all over the place. I liked the last area with the mastermind, although I thought  there was a cyberdemon or some archviles behind that last wall, so I got a little bit dissapointed. Anyways, a good map, and luckly, a good closer for this episode. (Finally the last Heretic/Hexen one)

 

Deaths: 101 (UV Continuous/Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP14
MAP31

MAP10
MAP15
MAP16
MAP11

MAP20

MAP09

MAP08
MAP04

MAP17

MAP02
MAP18
MAP13
MAP07
MAP06
MAP05

MAP12
MAP03
MAP01
MAP19

MAP32**

 

The only exo-planet name I can think of is "Fomalhault" yet, not a single map of this episode was named after said planet, a little bit dissapointing, since it is a badass name.

[pcorf]

Exoplanet names

 

Fomalhaut b = Dagon

55 Cancri d = Lipperhey

Mu Arae c = Dulcinea

Upsilon Andromedae d = Majriiti

Iota Draconis b = Hypatia

HD 218566 b = Ugarit

HD 45652 b = Viriato

8 Ursae Minoris b = Halla

55 Cancri e = Janssen