The DWmegawad Club plays: Uprising

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Map02: Swamped

Played continuous with saves on Ultra Violence through PrBoom+\UMAPINFO

 

I rather enjoyed this little map as well. If this is the worst of the wad, count me in for the rest. Just like Map01, the visuals are quality and  the combat is engaging. Not much to write home about yet, but certainly a solid level.

 

Map03: House of Hate

 

I really enjoyed this one. The architecture was excellent, I see how your style comes through for these maps Cheesewheel, there's similar vibes in your excellent CTrunk map.

This is full of fun little ambushes and incidental encounters. The secret chaingun is welcome, as is the soulsphere. The revenant surprise got me first time around. Good stuff. 

 

Side notes:

 

1. The hallway that leads to the outdoor area where you get the blue key gets completely knackered by the blockmap. I had a hard time hitting anything. Obviously this isn't Cheesewheel's fault - it's just the nature of complevel 2 wads. I'm not  as smart as Linguica, so I'm not opening the BLOCKMAP lump up in a hex editor lol.

 

2. I skipped the last two keys. The switch that (presumably) lowers the blue key can be skipped by performing a jump. I tried it just to see if it would work and it did first try lol. I'm not complaining, I love this stuff. Also the wad's already on idgames, so me complaining does nothing.

 

Great stuff so far, excited to play the rest!

[NiGHTS108]

MAP02: Swamped

Kills: 86%

Items: 83%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 2:49

 

Another basic and straightforward map very similar to MAP01, Swamped doesn't do much to reinvent the wheel, but it is still a nice introduction to the world of Uprising. The monster balance here is also not unlike Emergence. High level of non-chaingunner zombies, Imps and Revenants here with little variety. The key fights are pretty okay, the first distracting you with a Revenant while fodder pile up just outside, and this neat ending fight jumping into a pit for the blue key and being treated to yet more Revenants and fodder on the way out. Cool.

 

Grade: C+
Difficulty: D-

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[Gibbon]

Uprising - MAP03 - House of Hate

Port: Sprinkled Doom

 

This one kinda got me.  I was walking around for minutes on the upper level because after I got it, I forgot I had the red key and since the STATBAR is red, it kinda blended in.  5 minutes wasted being a headless chicken :)

 

After that was sorted, it is overall a nice little level.  Nice detailing, good roster of lower-tier monsters and of course, cheesewheel loves Revenants..

 

I enjoyed it.  Another good one.

 

Video:

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Razza]

Map 3 (House of Hate): Not gonna lie, taking on revenants and mancubi with just the shotgun and chaingun is starting to get boring, especially when they're hardly a threat. In fact, the singular mancubus in this level is just kinda dumb being placed right behind the blue key door in a hallway barely wide enough for it to fit, meaning you can't just run past him if you wanted to. He basically just acts as a living door. At least the lesser enemies put up a decent fight in this map right from the start, with constant ambushes throughout the mapping keeping one from just mindlessly running around. I forgot to mention in my last post that the new shotgun sound is very satisfying, it's got a nice heavy booming sound to it.

[Doomy__Doom]

Playstyle: dsda-doom (-cl2), UV (generally max but occasionally might skip secret hunt), pistol start, sparse saves/rewinds (no mid-combat)

 

Map 3 - House Of Hate

 

Continuing from the previous map's gory ending, we're now in some wooden/hellish structure. Greeted by a mildly warm start, there's an immediate chaingun across a pit of blood, with an obvious switch to shoot for a bridge. Why does it count as secret? The berserk pack you can spot through some bars when grabbing it sure seems more secrety, but isn't.

Either way, miraculously not taking any damage from multiple hitscanners and fire/plasma projectiles, a courtyard-ish space with a shotgun awaits. There is not much choice where to go - a red door vs usable door. A lift produces plasmarine mbush from the back, eventually leading to aforementioned berserk pack, green armor and secret soul sphere for the observant.

After some Rev boxing for fun and profit (monster count is still small, bullets are in short supply due to ample fodder and to be blunt - shotgunning revs is getting ever so slightly old), one can attain RSK and move onto the BSK area. Now, one thing I've remembered from old playthrough, and it still rings true - you don't actually need BSK. You can jump over right onto the platforms leading to the exit with a trivial SR40, bypassing more revs (BSK switch triggers a teleport fight). I went back and put them down for 100%, but I really question area design here. It's kind of a "oh this seems like a gap I'm supposed to jump" situation.

 

To end on a positive note, I'll praise the theming - it's clear that the corruption is already set in. We're not fighting an invasion - we ARE the invasion.

[Cheesewheel]

Map03 - House of Hate

 

A hellish installation in the wasteland, meant to show again the impact made on the landscape by the invaders. I enjoy the cacodemon lift ambush with plasmaguys behind you. Beserk should be used to punch out revenants. I've never known about the BSK skip until it's been pointed out to me now - sometimes when you test a map you play the same intended way again and again rather than look for different approaches. Oh well, I quite like leaving tricks like that in maps.

[Monsieur E]

Map03- House of Hate 
100% kills; pistol start; 

I enjoyed the atmosphere here than the previous levels and I liked the design of the house itself, felt pretty consumed by hell without being too on the nose elevated by its MIDI selection. Other than that, the level was a bit more difficult and challenging than the previous levels. Ammo was much more tight but I think the addition of berserk helped even the odds. The plasma marines are establishing themselves pretty well into the og roster and I'm enjoying the challenge they bring to the table. My favorite encounter was definitely the red key one and I also enjoyed the cacodemon + plasma marine trap. However, that mancubi bothers me, like why was he even there lol.
I also liked the use of revenants here, regardless of their limited usage and unlike Map 02 were they just seemed to be there to be a mild incidental annoyance to shotgun through. Nothing has blown me away or anything but I've had fun with it thus far :)

 

[RHhe82]

MAP03: House of Hate. 84/84 K, 2/2 S. Completion time 8:45.

 

The streak of decent levels continue, although I think this one is the best so far. I wish that we'd be given SSG for the revenants and a handful of mancubi, but I think we're still on the good side of border where it's not a chore.

 

The level design is a bit more complex this time around, I like it how the level makes good use of its space.
 

[finnks13]

MAP03 - House of Hate:
The start of this map is pretty brutal on a pistol start, I died twice here before managing to get to the berserk pack. There's a lot of zombies and imps around you and only one medikit easily accessible, and while you can get a chaingun very early by shooting the demon face on the wall behind it, there's not many bullets in this map so you'll have to rely on the shotgun. I like the aesthetics, we're in some sort of corrupted building, and the large presence of blood and gore this early really sells the "Earth completely destroyed by a demonic threat" theme that this first episode is going for while sticking to mostly vanilla textures.

 

I like the red key ambush, it's not too punishing but you've not got much space to run away from the revenants and will be confronted by a wall of imps if you try to. The mancubi in the outside area are well placed and the sped up shotgun makes fairly quick work of them. The brevity of these first few maps is very nice, and not something that will last too much longer so I'm appreciating the short stuff while I've got it.

 

Overall, this is a gory map that provides a spirited challenge from a pistol start.

[tonytheparrot]

(Played continuously on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 3: House of Hate

100% kills, 100% items and 50% secrets

Time: 4:01

 

Another one of the same kind of fortresses we've seen so far, House of Hate doesn't stick out much visually, but benefits from great combat. Dial-Up For Murder's midi sets the tone for some simple, but satisfying action with groups of imps, zombies and mid-tier foes. The best fights are the red key one with revs, shotgunners and pinkies and the entire path for the blue key that contains some deadly encounters with low tier enemies and revs. The rest of the combat is still really enjoyable, despite not being very memorable. House of Hate is another really solid entry for Uprising.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Really Like:

Map 1

Map 3

Map 2

 

[cannonball]

Rather late to the party, better late than never I guess...

 

MAP01 - “Emergence”

I am thankful for the slightly beefed up early weapons as this makes the difference between it being a rather chewy experience and something more palatable. Now don't get me wrong the map is very brown and all you get are weapons 2 and 3, but there is some reasonable level of substance to this. The plasma marines clearly make sufficient sacrifices to the RNG gods because they nailed me a couple of times here. Not too bad a map to start.

 

MAP02 - “Swamped”

A reasonable layout to this one, again had you been facing all the monsters in a linear fashion with just the shotgun, then this would have been a rather dull experience. Instead this is another solid map, though the single shotgun vs revenant combo might get old very fast if we don't get any heavier munitions. The red key trap is a rather rude awakening, this could go sideways if you are low on health when jumping head first into it.

 

MAP03 - “House of Hate”

Probably the weakest map visually (Though Inferno-esque isn't considered to be that bad), this actually felt like an easier map to play compared to the first two. The berserk is a real help (I may have used this on most of the revenants in this one). This was also the quickest in terms of playtime for me. One mark is docked for the mancubus at the end... tut tut...

Overall another solid map.

[Alaxzandarz]

I play on ultra-violence with pistol starts on DSDA-Doom

 

Map 03: House of Hate

 

More of the same, this time wood themed. There are some nice ambushes in this map, like the lift one with three Plasma dudes and a Caco. You can skip the blue key by straferunning across the gap by the key lowering switch. The secrets continue being obvious, it makes me feel more intelligent than I actually am (I like this). It's nice that the visuals of the maps don't stay the same, visual homogeneity between maps is my biggest poison. Fine map, not really anything else to say.

 

Screenies:

Spoiler

Really nice opening shot, I did wish that the entire map would have taken place in the wooden structure

Again some nice geometry

You can run across this gap

 

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Pistol Start/Saves

Map 02: Swamped

100% kills and secrets

Time: 5:16

 

This is another short and simple map. It's aesthetic kinda reminds me of Thy Flesh Consumed for some reason. Most of the 70ish monsters here are small fries, but there's a couple of revs and a mancubi to spice things up. Plasma troopers prove to be effective snipers in the area by the mancubus, as one hit me from a good distance. The biggest threat here is lack of health pickups before the 2 key traps. I got hit by some high damage rolls about a minute in, leaving me with <40% health for a bit, and could only find a few stimpacks. Thankfully, there are medikits in the general area of each key fight. Check out the structures in the blue and red door area to find a switch opening up the chaingun. It's useful to stunlock the rev when you grab the blue key, then switch to the shotgun to deal with the teleporting monsters from the wings. The red key fight is similar. Jump into the pit to grab the key, then chaingun the biggest threats until the pit raises up to let you out, then switch back to the shotgun. This ambush is hitscan, plasma, and imps, so it isn't too bad, and the 2 medikits in the pit help out. Take out the rev and shotgunner on the path to the exit, and you're golden. Overall, a pretty fun map. Nice and simple!

 

Map 03: House of Hate

100% kills and secrets

Time: 5:23

 

Another short and simple one, this map does throw you to the wolves a little bit at the beginning. A few enemies see you as soon as the level starts, and even more spot you as soon as you move forward. There's enemies in your path, and enemies that can take pot shots at you from some windows. The shotgun is a straight shot from the start, and once again, the chaingun is a secret, but it's a very obvious secret to figure out. Again, there's some health issues at the beginning, especially if you're like me and kept getting high damage rolls when hit. Ammo is initially scarce too, but once you can get to the hitscan that are shooting at you, you'll be fine for the rest of the map. Plus, you can get a berserk pretty easily. I tried punching out the dark imps that appears when you open up access to the berserk, and it melee'd me for 50 damage. I didn't expect that! I'm not entirely sure, but it does feel like your punches are faster in this WAD, which helps take out revs quickly, since that's the preferred way Cheeswheel says to take them out with in this map. Getting outside lets you deal with a plethora of low-tier enemies, and when you lower the key here, 2 revs and a pinky pop up, challenging you to some Punch-Out. Shotgun the mancubus behind the final key door, and you're done. Another solid level. So far, all 3 of these maps have been pretty fun, with a decent amount of challenge for their placement, and with the low amount of enemies. This is nothing compared to some of the bigger maps in this set though! 

[Thelokk]

MAP04- Remnants

UV - 100% kills - 50% secrets

 

At this point I'm starting to wonder whether I'll stick around for the rest of the megawad, 'cause honestly I didn't really feel this map at all. The graveyard / church / techbase (?) setting is nice, doomcute aside, and the MIDI kicks ass, but the map also solidifies what I fear are becoming Uprising's staple shortcomings. The map is yet another linear key hunt, with heavy gameplay reliance on shotgunning down hordes of hitscanners and midtiers in a health starvation scenario - not the best combination, by a long shot. We are finally given a SSG, but ammo is way too scarce to make effective use of it and, coming well after a third of the map is done, it feels too little too late. The plasma guy is still a throwaway, and there is once again a puzzlingly useless mancubus hidden in the hedge maze. One of the secrets was painfully obvious, the other I didn't find. Two archies: one is the highlight of the map, with its bony bodyguards and whatnot; the other went down like a sack of potatoes with all the cover provided.

My comments from MAP03 still stand, as this map is fundamentally more of the same - a gimmicky formula that needs to be shaken up asap.

[Doomy__Doom]

Playstyle: dsda-doom (-cl2), UV (generally max but occasionally might skip secret hunt), pistol start, sparse saves/rewinds (no mid-combat)

 

Map 04 - Remnants

 

Last map ended with us going down into a blood-filled hole, and that can't be good news. Fleshscape quickly changes to some sort of marble castle-like structure littered with massive wooden boxes. Sounds from inside those boxes leave no doubt as to the contents of the packages.

 

After some mucking about with the usual - shotgun/chaingun, homing revenants and fodder spiced up by a couple cacos (I've spent some time running around in circles just to see a tomato gobble up a skelly boi) I eventually grab BSK and venture into the basement. A quick dive into the fire reveals a secret supercharge plus early access window to some sort of library.

 

Just as my patience is wearing thin from shotgunning stuff inside, finally the eye spies an upgrade. SSG comes with immediate Vile/Revs, and moments later introduces an all-new enemy - a big red imp Chaos Knight with triple green fireball attack pattern. More infighting power? More infighting power! Too bad he is accompanied only by tightly placed fodder which is too juicy to not SSG into oblivion. Oh yea, RSK obtained.

 

With RSK access opens up to what I guess is a garden of sorts? Green natural wall-themed maze hides a lot of ambush-flagged enemies and a spare supercharge secret, which I lowered but didn't take. Skipping some enemies, I decide to go for the ominuous switch... aaand hear a Vile right as I flip it. The switch lowers almost every wall in the garden, and rng decides to mercilessly generate a near-instant zap for me in utter absense of reachable cover. Bolted straight into 2 shooting plasmarines, 166/75 quickly becomes 73/xx in a certified Red Screen Gaming(tm) moment. Fully blind, I get out through the entrance to the maze by instinct.

 

Cut off from ammo pickups and the spare supercharge, I end up emptying SSG into what funnels into the entrance along the wall with no decent infighting to be seen, and the Vile is still alive in the garden somewhere. No choice but to go in with just ~110 bullets and hope for some mancubian help. I made that setpiece a lot more stressful than it would have been had I cleared the maze properly, but all well that ends well. With YK the exit is available, and it sure looks like we're going down again.

[Gibbon]

Uprising - MAP04 - Remnants

Port: Sprinkled Doom

 

I really liked this one.  From what remains of some kind of techbase to a hellish wasteland of a courtyard.  It was nearly all action, downright fun!

 

What I like about cheesewheel is the placement of health, ammo, armour etc..  it is all fair and forces you to run around knowing that there is at least something around to help you out.  Keeps the battles fun and the action going.

 

The little key and switch hunting was fun.  Probably the best map yet.

 

Video:

Spoiler

 

 

[Razza]

Map 4 (Remnants):

For the first half, I was worried this would be another map of slow-rolling revenants and mancubi with the shotgun. Thankfully I was wrong. The SSG finally makes its appearance in this map, and I've never been happier to see it, and I'm glad to hear it's firing sound is unchanged. Of course, the map doesn't give it up without a fight. Along with the SSG, a fair few monsters also make their first appearance; chaingunners, arachnotrons, cacodemons (I think), arch-viles, and the Chaos Knight, who is another new addition to the roster. Oddly enough, this is also the first map to have a non-secret chaingun (though it's not like the previous maps hid it all that much.)

 

SSG in hand, the combat flows much more smoothly, and grabbing the yellow key brings the first big fight of the wad. The walls of the hedge maze lower, and an assortment of baddies teleport in: revenants, chaingunners, plasma zombies, and a chaos knight, plus whatever you happened to leave alive within the maze (which was nothing in my case, lol.

 

This is probably the best time to mention that I am doing this as a continuous play-through, so I've been starting each map with a nice supply of health and ammo. Despite that, I left this map with only 5 shells and around 150 bullets. Pistol-starters will have to exercise some infighting and patience if they want to get through this comfortably.

 

All in all, this map has flipped my thoughts about where this wad is headed, and I'm excited to see what's coming up in the rest of the maps.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Razza

[Cheesewheel]

Map04 - Remnants

 

It's meant to be the remains of an old manor house occupied by demons, hence the chapel outside and kitchens in the basement. Original plans included a shootout in a painting gallery and a much more developed manor layout - again ambition higher than skill in this instance. It's nice to get the SSG here but with big guns come big enemies. The hedge maze fight is really fun, chaos knights are montrous infighters.

[Monsieur E]

Map04 - Remnants
100% kills; pistol start

I started off feeling rather disappointed in this level. Most of the fights felt timid and trivial for the larger map size and higher enemy count.  Minus the chill music and doomcute-ish design of the map, the level felt more of the same. However, the level picks up pace after you get the super shotgun mainly because of the Chaos Knight and the swarm of low tier foes make for an excellent infight couple. Both the fight after the introduction of the chaos knight and the final one in the hedge maze are pretty fun fights. Actually the hedge maze coming down initiating the combat was probably the best part of the level. The level also benefitted from an early chain gun and the introduction of the supershotgun making the other casual combat much more enjoyable to chip through. The supercharge secret was also pretty lighthearted with you walking through fire on a damaging floor. Overall, the level started off pretty basic and felt disappointing but ended on a much more enjoyable note :)

[Azure_Horror]

Here is the thing: I already completed every map from a pistol start on UV a while ago...

And lower difficulties do not get enough love...

Thus, for the June DW Megawad Club I decided to pistol start every map on HNTR, and after that replay the same map on UV.

 

Playstyle:

Pistol start, DSDA-doom complevel 2, playing for fun so saves and time-rewinds allowed

Difficulty: each level played on HNTR, then replayed on UV.

 

Map 01 – Emergence

HNTR

Emergence felt like a small IWAD map, reminiscent of maps like Doom 1 Hangar and Evilution System Control. This map helps to establish the plot and the mood of Uprising, and also introduces some of the gameplay tweaks, like weapon changes and new enemies.

 

After emerging (heh!) from RebelGuys's hideout, we fight a bunch of zombiemen and imps. This first fight showcases the new pistol. Uprising pistol upgrade follows the Eviternity blueprint: it fires twice as fast and has no spread. It is not as satisfying as the Struggle pistol, for example, but it does its gob pretty well. Fighting an imp or two no longer feels like a chore!

 

Grab the blue key, find a switch for a secret Supercharge, clear few enemies in the blue building – traditional Doom map 01 stuff. Pretty engaging, but so far low-intensity.

 

After clearing the blue building, the action rises in intensity a little bit. Here we meet the first new monster – a plasma soldier. Unlike the plasma zombies from Roudy Rudy, 3k lines community project 3, or Judgment, Uprising's plasma guys do not fire continuous volleys of plasma. They prefer to reposition after every two shots. In many ways, those Plasma guys work as a projectile version of shotgunners - they can snipe, they can ambush from close quartets, their damage is respectable, but they do not infight among each other. Oh, and each trooper has as much hp as an imp. Pretty effective new low-tiers!

 

The same area also introduces the shotgun. Like the pistol, shotgun in Uprising also fires faster. The shotgun gets deployed against imps, different types of zombies, and some pinkies. It feels notably less grindy than OG Doom shotgun. And unlike many other deHacked shotgun variants, the Uprising shotgun is not a stunlock machine. Cheesewheel managed to strike a perfect balance between fun and fairness.

 

Right before the exit, Map 01 introduces yet another new enemy – the dark imp. Dark imps always need two shotgun blasts to put down and also use mighty Hell Knight attack instead of puny imp one. Still an imp, but this imp can hurt you quite a lot!

 

Emergence - UV changes.

The first half of the map is almost the same as on HNTR. There are more enemies, and even one pinky inside of the blue building, but overall gameplay stays the same.

 

But the second half... First, there are more plasma troopers, and killing all of them quickly is harder. But that's not all. There is a goddamned Revenant right near the yellow door! The bony bastard has a perfect line of fire to ruin your day. And running for the shotgun is likely to expose your back to plasma troopers. It is best to pay close attention to your surroundings and dismantle this area carefully. The storehouse battle and the exit ambush also became dealier on UV. They involve  more shotgunners, more plasma troopers and even some revenants. At least the new shotgun is much more satisfying to use against revs. Perfectly balanced shotty, a true little brother of SSG!

 

Overall impression - this map is a very good starter for the Uprising. Right at the start we understand quite a number of things:

- the Uprising takes quite a lot of inspiration from OG doom games.

- at the same time, Uprising does not shy away from making things more crazy. The plasma troopers and dark imps alone are quite a surprise compared to classical monsters. Not as deadly as revs or chaingunners, but pretty scary nontheless.

- When designing Uprising, @Cheesewheel put a lot of effort into smoothing the rough edges of OG Doom games. The modified pistol and shotgun do not depart from original weapons too much, but they make the fights less grindy. And the additional low tier monsters promise to make small-scale scrimishes much more interesting.

 

The map also helps to establish the overall atmosphere of the Uprising. There is a notable amount of engaging action, and a lot place for heroic combat, but the ambience is quite somber. Demons have already won. Defeating them will be hard. And even your triumph would not undo the Hell's victory, as the humanity is already gone... Level-end screen, with the huge pile of sculls and even more imposing music, helps to drive this point home.

 

 

Map 02 - Swamped

HNTR

Another nice IWAD-resembling map, completely with shotgunners before the pre-placed shotgun pick up. This one reminds me of Ultimate Doom Episode 4 the most. Swamped further developes the gameplay from map 01. It has a more complex geometry, with some notable verticality. The monsters get quite a lot of angles of attack, especially the plasma troopers. The same two plasama snipers can harass you in the three different locations! And those two bastards hide on the shadowed ledge, so it is not that easy to spot them.

 

Apart from ledge snipers, this map also loves teleporter ambushes. And let me tell you, it is not pleasant to find yourself face to face with a plasma trooper! At least the red key setpiece does not use plasma guys, only shotgunners (spoiler for UV, BTW).

 

The last thing of note is the secret chaingun. It is revealed early, and can be unlocked after a careful examination of the props nearby. Unlike pistol or shotgun, the chaingun has no deHacked changes, but it is still a very serviceable weapon against diverse set of low-tiers.

 

Swamped - UV changes.

UV version is notable for the following differences compared to HNTR:

- Even more small snipers are spread around the cliffs.

- There are a sniping revenant and a sniping mancubus near the start. They are likely to infight, but they are still more than happy to clip you with a beefy projectile or two.

- Picking blue key teleports a revenant behind your back. Hello, Final Doom!

- The red key ambush is pretty deadly. It involves quite a number of imps and shotgunners, and also adds two plasma troopers to spice things up further. This is an Uprisng Special – a deadly and diverse fight, which takes a full advantage of expanded low-tier roster.

 

Swamped is a very nice small map. Personally, I always like IWAD-inspired maps. Overall, while Swamped may appear a bit unremarkable, it plays a very important role. It takes the gameplay elements from map 01 and remixes them in less straightforward ways. Combat tropes introduced on Swamped will be further developed on later maps of Uprising.

 

 

Map 03 - House of Hate

HNTR

This is the best-looking IWAD-like map so far. The name seems to reference the House of Pain from Doom 1. But for me, House of Hate is more reminiscent of hellified Deimos bases from Doom 1 E2 maps, with additional fleshy rooms inserted here and there.

 

House of Hate is notable for my first death on HNTR. My completely brainless gameplay was punished quite quickly. The starting area has a lot of shotgunners and plasma troopers and a pair of well-placed pinkies. The map also loves its ambushes. I even has an ambush-after-an-ambush: some imps try to catch you in melee after the red key ambush. But the most memorable ambush is the decoy caco: while the big tomato occupies your attention, a plasma trooper shoots yous in the back. Fun map!

 

And a bit of useless trivia - on HNTR the first revenant in Uprising appears on House of Hate.

 

House of Hate - UV changes.

On UV the map is deadlier and meaner. The numbers of shotgunners and plasma guys is increased, and revenants continue their UV tradition of appearing often and being pests. The decoy caco ambush involves three plasma troopers instead of one, and there is an additional ambush prsent: Unlocking berserk pack unleashes a Dark Imp right behind your back. Hearing imp warcry only to be hit for 40+ hp baron attack is priceless!

 

Overall impression

While the second half of the map is notably less busy than the first, House of Hate presents a notable but fair increase in difficulty compared to the previous two maps. It also quite neatly mixes far-away snipers, close-quarter incidental encounters and some minor setpieces. A very fun modern take on IWAD-inspired gameplay.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Azure_Horror

[finnks13]

MAP04 - Remnants:
Cheesewheel starts to turn up the heat, with this map set in the grounds of a ruined manor house - I really like the aesthetics of the little crypt where you pick up the backpack, there's a cross in the back, some coffins and an adorable sector book on a table. This map is definitely the hardest so far, but we're handed a non-secret chaingun very early, which hasn't received any changes apart from being a bit darker visually, but has been indirectly buffed due to the monster changes as there are now a lot more low-HP enemies which the chaingun is the most useful weapon for. After climbing a ladder in the crypt, the yellow key is revealed which grants access to the manor itself. Inside the manor is a small library and the SSG, which I was surprised to see in this map, since it had already introduced the chaingun to the roster.

 

Behind the SSG is the red key ambush which is suprisingly challenging for this point in the wad, two revenants and an archvile with little cover. Picking up the red key itself, which is quite easy to do when trying to dodge the archvile's flames, triggers a large piece of cover to drop along with revealing a large group of zombies and imps as well as the wad's first Chaos Knight, a very red hell knight that fires three baron projectiles at once in rapid succession. Getting hit by one of these guys is going to destroy your health and while they're very good infighters, their high damage output makes them top priority to dispatch at this point in the wad.

 

The final part of the map is set in a small hedge maze, we run into a few monsters and a Chaos Knight up close near a secret soulsphere. Picking up the yellow key triggers a very large ambush as the hedges lower to reveal a plethora of monsters contained within. You'll want to run away from the little field that the yellow key is contained within as ammo is pretty tight and getting cornered here by the revenants and Chaos Knights will spell your doom. I really like this fight, it's entertaining to tackle and provides a healthy challenge while not being overly harsh for a Map04. Great stuff!

 

Overall, this is a great map set in a gorgeous courtyard, with entertaining ambushes and fast-paced combat.

[tonytheparrot]

(Played continuously on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 4: Remnants

100% kills, 84% items and 100% secrets

Time: 7:20

 

A manor built in the middle of nature, Remnants is probably the best map yet thanks to it's great action, pretty visuals and fitting midi. It starts off slowly, but Cheesewheel pushes on the gas when you open the entrance to the courtyard as low-tier enemies await you and the some of the ambushes like the revenant and hitscanner surprise after getting the chaingun can be pretty dangerous. However, to get inside, you need the blue key, which is obtained after going up a lift and killing a pair of cacos and a big group of low tiers. After that, entering inside will allow you to admire some great details like the roasting corpses, an effect created with the flaming black barrels. The manor contains the red key but grabbing it triggers an ambush with a chaos knight, imps, zombies and an arch-vile that you need to dispatch with the SSG that Cheesewheel mercifully gives you. The chaos knight I metioned is a new enemy, a recolouring of the baron with the health of a hell knight and who shoots 3 baron fireballs in a quick succession. After that, you need to get to a hedge maze which leads to the yellow key, but grabbing it lowers the hedges, revealing enemies you may have not killed yet and even adding more foes including an arch-vile to this mess. This maze is my favorite part of Uprising so far and ends the first highlight of the wad on the best note possible.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Love:

Map 4

Really Like:

Map 1

Map 3

Map 2

 

 

[NiGHTS108]

MAP03: House Of Hate

Kills: 85%

Items: 50%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 2:37

 

Another simple scourge from Uprising, House Of Hate does minimally turn up the heat, but I wouldn't describe the name as accurate. If you let your guard down in this mansion a Doomguy sandwich on Caco and Plasma bread may catch you by surprise early on, and if you don't feel like shotgunning Revenants for a third time in this wad, keep an eye out for a healthy dose of Berserk near the start of the map before plunging into the blue key pit. I didn't abuse it in this recording, but you actually can skip getting the blue key by jumping to the ledge behind the blue door. 

 

Grade: B-

Difficulty: D+

 

 

[RHhe82]

MAP04: Remnants. 140/140 K, 2/2 S. Completion time 20:27.

 

These maps indeed do get better. Stylistically Remnants seems to follow the suite of maps that came before, perhaps slightly simpler than MAP03. My only complaint is that I ran out of ammo (indeed pistol starting here) - something I tend to hate in maps even when I'm partly to blame myself - and had to do away with the final baron with non-berserk fists. At least we got the SSG this time to counter the archies!

[Anarkzie]

Map 4 Remnants

The level starts off and goes through 3 different identies in the first corridor alone, tenticle blood pool, basic brick corridor and some kind of tech base before arriving at the final setting which seems to be the remnants of some kind of medieval castle courtyard. 

 

A lot of open space and more developed interiors than previous levels. I did not enjoy the combat as much as the last level but it's still quite intense. I like the new Baron, the colour swap looks menacing and his beefed up projectiles are more of threat. I'm getting bored of dealing with revenants with such meagre resources.

 

I think the highlight of the level was the maze section at the end. Yet another great track.
.

[cannonball]

MAP04 - “Remnants”

 

A rather mixed level overall, a few rather questionable decisions made here. The first being the blue key that you are allowed to grab by picking up a backpack, luckily you shouldn't be too hampered by this given the lack of other choices. The double revenant lift was an eye-roll moment (Just backtrack and use your single-shotty... again...). The red key ambush is a nice turn up of the heat, though the biggest threats can be diffused before triggered the bulk of the monsters. 

The hedge maze is something that has been tried before but often doesn't stick the landing, the build up is fairly tense with a couple of nasty surprises, however the big reveal is a bit of the joke considering the best way of beating the fight is to do absolutely nothing. Most of the monsters will infight almost immediately once the hedges lower. 

Overall this is a more ambitious effort, however it is brought down by a few design choices here and there and as such is probably my least favourite map so far.

As a note - the baron replacement (Despite its rather ugly look) is a good decision (dropping the health but increasing the threat).  

[Doomy__Doom]

Map 05 - Trainyard

Trainyard features a start with hitscan and more in close quarters but no health whatsoever sans a suit of green armor. Quickly reduced to about 38/75, the map turns into a slog of shot/chaingunning stuff across the train track, through some windows, on some perches... you get the drift.

 

Of two lifts choosing left one reveals... a carefully placed shotgun + shells. The wrong kind of shotgun. The one I already have due to shotgunner presence in starting area. Like, come on, this has to be a mistake. A secret backpack is not particularly exciting either, as I'm still in the "one-shot by X" territory all this time, where X could be a dark imp, a manc, a rev, a caco - you name it, it can probably kill me with a high-end damage roll.

 

The other lift grants a medkit - one of the two available in the first half of the map - which is quickly plinked away at by a couple of really aggressive pistol zombies. Approaching BK gives me a box of rockets. "Did I miss RL, or does this fight provide me with one?" - a thought crosses my mind, but the trap springs before lowering BK. Rev sounds leave no choice but to leg it beyond the door, since an 80 damage present would spell my doom. At least there are cacos and windows, so infighting trims down the need for shotgun action.

 

BK and a secret supercharge obtained, onward. Past the BK door, as if to rub it in, I counted 3 medkits and 7 stimpacks (or 145 HP). This map is really irritating me. After some cleanup, it turns out I have 37 rockets. I missed the damned tube, didn't I. Yup, sure did. With this arsenal in hand, the final encounter is mercilessly blown away to bits, providing cathartic relief.

 

I'll take full blame for missing RL, but health situation in the first half of the map is quite unpleasant, things can go horribly wrong.

 

Bonus content: a UV-plus (in BTSX sense, not Unity port sense) demo for map 5 - recorded with -coop_spawns parameter in dsda-doom.
It will contain spoilers for future custom enemies, so watch at your own risk. I found it quite ridiculous that there's a freaking cyber roaming the train tracks in coop on top of how much more busy the starting area is, but no additional healing items whatsoever are given out, so I felt like demoing the level. No, there's no SSG/plasma in coop here, why are you asking?

dd_uprising_m05_uvplus.zip

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Map04: Remnants

Played continuous with saves on Ultra Violence through PrBoom+\UMAPINFO

 

This is the first true standout so far. The already excellent atmosphere has been dialed up to 11. There's a gorgeously creepy hedge maze (recommend me more hedge mazes in wads please, I love this.) with amazing lighting and some mobs hidden around the corners. The hedge is a truly suspenseful moment and the atmosphere it creates is fantastic. I love the traps in this level as well; they aren't so difficult as to stop you in your tracks but they have enough bite behind their bark to keep you on your toes. All in all, excellent level. I would have more to say but I'm too tired. Definitely looking forward to the rest of the wad!

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Pistol Start/Saves

Map 04: Remnants

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:54

 

Looks like we're on the outskirts of an old castle of sorts, complete with a hedge maze. First order of business is getting in. Exploring the grounds will get you the shotgun and the chaingun (finally not a secret one), while a lift to a guard tower gets you a backpack, and also reveals the blue key in the center of the grounds, along with a lot of enemies. Get them to infight, then shotgun them. I'm not having any issues with the way this WAD was making you use the shotgun to take out enemies like revs and mancubi, mainly since the rate of fire has increased. Honestly, kind of surprised people have an issue with this, since I figured the reason we had to do that was because of the shotgun's buff. Well, for the people concerned about this, the SSG is inside the castle. After taking out a bunch of baddies, including a rev and the first arachnotron of the WAD, you'll find it in a library. Behind the row of books, is 2 revs and the first archie of the WAD to test it out on. No changes have been made to it. Grabbing the red key lowers a book case revealing the first chaos knight of the WAD. These may replace barons, but they're as tough as a hell knight thankfully. To make up for that, they fire 3 projectiles in close succession. Run away and get him to infight the wave of fodder enemies that have just appeared outside. Grab the soul sphere secret if you haven't already, then head to the hedge maze. Lower the secret soul sphere in here, even if you don't need it, cause once the final fight starts you can make a mad dash to it if you need it. The hedge maze has a variety of baddies in it, including a chaos knight, a mancubi, and another archie. Hitting the switch to lower the yellow key also lowers the hedges and starts one final wave of demons, including 2 revs and a knight. Nothing infighting can't help with. One final knight behind the exit door is all that's left. Pretty fun map! Nice to have the SSG, and the chaos knight is a pretty cool addition to the WAD.

 

Map 05: Trainyard

100% kills and secrets

Time: 7:42

 

A tight and concise map, this map finally introduces the rocket launcher, which is nice since there's no SSG to be found here, so you'll need something for the final fight. Only have to get 2 keys in this map. First off, getting out of the opening area sends in a sorta hot start once you hit the switch opening the doors. A few pinkies, plasma troops, dark imps, and cacos will make their way over to you, and some hitscan and imps are outside ready to snipe you. The switch just outside by the red column will lower it revealing a caco and the RL, which you should save for the blue key fight. You can find a hidden backpack if you notice a darker wall up the lift that doesn't really take you anywhere. Setting foot into the blue key room will lower 3 revs, and some plasma troopers + cacos in the other room. Try to get some rev/caco infighting going on, and try not to be me and miss 4 rockets in a row. Check the closet directly behind the blue key to find a secret soul sphere, then head into the trainyard behind the blue doors. Take out everything before hitting the switch guarded by a dark imp. This will reveal even more enemies, including some chaos knights and revs, plus the yellow key. Since I'm pistol-starting this WAD, I'm learning to not be so stingy with rockets since I'm not keeping my ammo stash between levels, so I just laid out a bevy of rockets towards them all. Just don't get cornered, and you're good to go! Another nice and short map with a fun fight in the trainyard.

[RHhe82]

MAP05: Trainyard. 103/103 K, 2/2 S. Completion time 10:52.

 

I get to maintain that the maps get gradually better! Stylistically something happens here; Trainyard retains that vanillaish feel to it, but it's somehow different than the first four maps. The milieu is "realistic", as it indeed depicts a small train yard fallen into disrepair. Structurally it's a linear "key hunt" just like the ones that came before, but it somehow feels a bit different, I don't know why. I enjoyed it. The map isn't impossibly hard, but I don't mind that either, and I'm especially happy to not have starved for ammo (although one imp or someone I had to punch out in the early parts of the map).

 

Although regarding difficulty: there was a hard part, in the beginning when you first open the doors and gain access to the train yard, there I was panicking a bit. Not a major trouble, but something, I was left with little health for the first part of the map.