The DWmegawad Club plays: Revolution!

[joe-ilya]

07 4/5
This one is more atmospheric and more challanging than the previous maps although it still suffers from some dull gameplay moments like the cave tunnel area and the finish area. Fine map nevertheless.

[antares031]

MAP08 - Rockit
ZDoom, Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/87/100

You may not figure out the concept of this level from the beginning, but it's a rocket silo. That's right, we're going into a space this time. Despite the fact that last exit door threatened us with vicious sign, this level is still easy to beat on UV. Although some traps may get you, such as a pit of chaingunners, or hell knight ambush. The only problem I had was to kill every chaingunners in the pit because of the height difference. But later I realized that there's an "alternative" way to deal with them.

[scifista42]

MAP06 - "Wasted!"

The forced-damage start was cheap, but I liked the rest of the map, appreciated the non-linearity, balance between variation and unification, and gameplay was fine (the walkway with Revenant/Mancubi cages was an engaging design). The exit Cacodemon relies on infinitely tall actors (which doesn't concern me as I'm playing in Zandronum), I'm OK with it out of principle.

[Naan]

MAP05 - "R 'n R" - UVMax on first try

A leisure resort, including swimming pool, beach, basketball, shooting range, rooms and... A waste plant? Not where I would go on vacation I guess. Anyway, pistol starts are beginning to be a bit harder now as we are facing higher tier weapons right off the bat, but it's nothing like the hectic starts most Plutonia 2 maps tends to have. Getting the spiderminds to fight each other while trying to balance their life was not that easy to execute, and it seems the author got away from grossly overpowering his secret bonuses. Good map.


MAP06 - "Wasted!" - UVMax on first try

Take the non-linear aspect of MAP03, add a mazey, radiating floor setting adding some stress of running out of suits and you get MAP06. My favorite map so far, only thing I didn't like was the caged mancubi/revenant part.


MAP07 - "The Valley of Death" - UVMax on first try

Now I can see some similarities with Half Life original campaign progression. After the waste plant Doomguy is heading on a rocky open landscape. It seems the author likes putting arachnotrons here and there in the maps, and I also liked how he manages to use pain elementals in a non obnoxious way. That red key trap managed to surprise me quite a bit. Solid stuff overall. Difficulty is ramping up quietly and slowly, and I wonder what's next in store. All dead here, huh?

[Magnusblitz]

MAP07: The Valley of Death
100% kills, 2/2 secrets

While there's a bit of a two-pronged approach possible at the start, this map dispenses with the open layouts and instead presents a very straightforward, linear path. Even the keys are laid out in such a way as to make backtracking minimal, as the red key is on the path to the door, and the blue key is on a lift that leads right back to the blue door as well. The titular valley is pretty tall (didn't vanilla use to crash if the rooms got too tall?) but horizontally small, and gameplay-wise is barely used at all. The level is even more easy than usual, with a blue armor being given for free at the start and another one socketed in an unguarded secret.

[Capellan]

map05
Ugh on that shoot to open switch. It doesn't take long to figure out, it's just ... pointless and arbitrary. Ugh also on the long hike back to get the blue key while absolutely nothing happens. Needed some monster closets to open at the very least.

The spider on spider bash at the beach was amusing though.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP08: Rockit

Some kind of fortress/bunker to be invaded here; the name suggests a level that will be heavy on rocket launcher action, but it turns out that it's actually a rocket launch facility, and I found myself getting more mileage out of the chaingun since a lot of the interior action seems to take place at ranges where a rocket will do you more harm than good. The central mechanism of elevating the rocket from its maintenance pit to a launch pad height is thematically cool if not entirely unique (it may have been more so at the time of the WAD's release in 2001) but I think I was mostly surprised by the lack of opposition on the return trip after the foray down into the slime tunnels and maintenance area to collect the blue key. I was expecting the outdoor area to fill up with a fresh wave of enemies or for the blue switch to be guarded by more than the solitary Hell Knight who can be easily enough gunned down from the other side of the bars much earlier in the level, and that anticipated ambush just never arrived.

[Capellan]

map06
Not a fan of the mandatory damage tax at the beginning, though I suppose the inclusion of the HK and medikits made it a bit more fun than it might otherwise have been. After that, it's a nukage maze, but one with plenty of radsuits and health dotted around so that it's not as irritating as it might be. The manc and rev room is a bit of a chore, but otherwise it's pretty good fun.

[scifista42]

MAP07 - "The Valley of Death"

Unlike the previous map(s), I'm OK with the introduction and usage of damaging floors here, they seem fair. As for level design, it was rather linear, but wrapped around itself in an interesting way. Gameplay was OK, good.

[joe-ilya]

08 4/5
Interesting map here, it's got a huge sector rocket, it's possible to beat this map in under 20 seconds if you squeeze past the exit bars and push the rocket button from below.
Great gameplay all around if you don't use the shortcut, the outdoor start was fun, the hitscanners in the rocket area was fun. What brings the score of this map to be 1 point less is because of these lengthy floor lowering sequences.
Nukage doesn't hurt here for some odd reason.

[scifista42]

MAP08 - "Rockit"

I really liked this map's sense of place, also admired the rocket since I've first seen it before grabbing the blue key, and the final raising sequence downright intrigued me. I've opened the map in an editor and yes, it's linedef action 140 : "S1 Floor Raise by 512 units", characteristic to MAP30 lifts and pretty much nothing else, so it's cool to see it used in a PWAD like this. Gameplay was once again OK up to good, the Chaingunner trap was kinda exciting, even. I thought it was odd (and didn't like) that the nukage was non-damaging in contrast to the previous levels, though.

[gaspe]

MAP08 - Rockit

Kills: 100% | Items: 100% | Secrets: 100%

A base with a rocket launchpad. The combats were ok and the trick of the rocket was good but I was a bit disappointed with this map at the end. I was expecting something more of what went on as the start looked rather promising.

[antares031]

MAP09 - Wrath of Man
ZDoom, Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

The theme of this level is...... I don't know, honestly. Even if it has an intentional concept, It's a typical doom-themed level to me. Since it doesn't have an unique theme like previous levels, I'm a little bit disappointed to this level. The difficulty is slightly increased, but it's still easy. The quantitiy of monsters is low, but you'll encounter some more mid-high tier monsters than before.

[Naan]

MAP08 - "Rockit" - UVMax on second try

The Half Life story arc continues with this rocket silo map. The chaingunner caught me dead with insufficent ammo to deal with them, outside of that there were a few glitches such as the RPG being nearly unusable in a indoor close fight setting, and that strange slowish switch going up and down right before the blue key room. I guess alien world map is next, huh?

[Magnusblitz]

MAP08: Rockit
100% kills, 2/2 secrets

Finally some combat which is actually a bit dangerous, though the level is still exceptionally short. I think I spent as much time hunting the two secrets as I did on the rest of the map. I agree with Joe that the sloow rising sectors were a drag, and having the nukeage being non-damaging after featured in the last two maps was a bit odd.

[Capellan]

map07
Well, at least it's not a Dead Simple re-mix.

The canyon is quite striking, though it would certainly have profited from a bit more textural diversity. It's a map that could have done with more cacodemons too (though when is that ever not the case?) as their flight ability would have made them good wandering nuisances.


map08
I quite liked this, except for the slow platform with all the chaingunners around it. It had a decently Phobos base feel to the textures, and the rocket was cute. Nice use of HKs. The double-switch doors were a bit pointless and slowed things down though.

[gaspe]

MAP09 - Wrath of Man

Kills: 100% | Items: 100% | Secrets: 100%

It reminds me of Doom 2 city levels for its theme of buildings with little bits of hell. There are the same good traits of exploration and distinct areas like other levels. It was really good and the fights start to have more substance.

[Surreily]

I keep forgetting to post these here... anyways, here's another 3 for now.

MAP04 (100% kills, 100% secrets)
Another city-like map, this time with a larger emphasis on vertical gameplay, and even some rooftop action. I'm not sure I like the big blue walls too much though. Anyways, we are beginning to see more of Doom II's higher tier monsters now, and the difficulty is rising slowly but surely.

MAP05 (100% kills, 75% secrets)
This map has lots of neat touches - the posters on the walls, the large pool (complete with a diving board), the basketball hoop (where the basketball is an invisibility sphere), and a little sandcastle on the beach. The difficulty is ramped up too, which is nice. At the end, we have to leap down into a nasty-looking pipe instead of just staying on the beach or relaxing in the pool.

MAP06 (100% kills, 100% secrets)
Now we're in the smelly, disgusting sewers. The map begins with an instant sense of urgency - I'm taking damage and have no radiation suit to shield myself! Thankfully, after the pool drains, we're given access to more than enough of them. It's a very well made map with careful considerations put into each of the big fights. The most challenging part for me was entering the room with the red key, as there are revenants and mancubi lining the walls. Well done for making a good sewer map! The exit is another leap down a hole - how far down are we going?

Overall (so far): A pretty solid collection of maps, where each one is its own thing. Difficulty is a bit below what I'd like, but I'm sure it'll get tougher soon...

[scifista42]

MAP09 - "Wrath of Man"

It's like there was less and less enemies in each next map... But with greater frequency of powerful ones to balance it out. Nice little "corrupted techbase" here, I've enjoyed it. The only nitpick: 2 secret-flagged sectors in 1 secret area.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP09: Wrath of Man
100% kills, 4/4 secrets

This seems to be a bit of a break from the last map, since I kinda figured we were getting on the rocket... instead just seem to be back in some sort of demonified city.

It's an okay map, like the rest it has a couple of angles to approach things but the small size means there isn't that variation in which way to explore. Monster placement is also a bit lackluster here with stuff like a lone mancubus behind a door, the gaggle of barons near the end, or the pack of demons inside the last room - all are basically just meat to carve through. I do like that marble staircase/archway though.

Scifista - considering those two secrets are separate (you can reach the secret area one way, but need to find another one to lower the other part) I'm not sure what's wrong about having two secret-flagged sectors in the same area.

[Naan]

MAP09 - "Wrath of Man" - UVMax on first try

I'd guess Doomguy flied to somewhere inside the rocket, but it seems the continuity between levels drops off here. Level progression is kinda interesting and the difficulty continues to ramp up smoothly as we are facing packs of barons now, making sure the rocket launcher and plasma gun found on the map are put to good use.

[dobu gabu maru]

I've been playing through the set but can't come up with a lot to say for each map, so I'll probably just be back on the 30th for my general opinion. It's definitely fun! The levels are just so short that it doesn't evoke a lot out of me sometimes.

[antares031]

MAP10 - Lab of the Lost
ZDoom, Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

Time for an action at laboratory...and storage, poison sewer, and air vents. This level introduces an arch-vile at the beginning so stay frosty. The balance of difficulty is identical to the previous level; the quantity of monsters is still low, but some more mid-high tier monsters than earlier levels. But I must say that I really hate the beginner's trap; there's a part that you could die within a second if you don't have any fore-knowledge. Before you step into the trap, make sure you obtained a blue armor at storage (it is possible to grab it with precise SR40, although I didn't try SR50 for that). One more thing, executing those prisoner zombies is still fun to do.

[gaspe]

MAP10 - Lab of the Lost

Kills: 100% | Items: 100% | Secrets: 100%

Best level so far. Before entering in the laboratory we have to make a visit to a little storage nearby. There are some vents that are connected with all the places. In the laboratory there are some of the prisoner zombies which can be killed with some "experiments" I guess, and there's a nice operating room.

[Naan]

MAP10 - "Lab of the Lost" - Completed in second try, UVMax in third try.

This map is quite strange. I met the first arch vile of the mapset with a mere chaingun, used all ammo to get quickly killed in next room. Alright, next try I strafejump to the plasma gun secret, then manage to skip 80% of the map though vents and slimes, grabbing the red key, hop back to the storage and exit. I believe this is an unintended flaw in the map. The "intended" path was quite harder than the rest, espiecally in the beggining, fighting higher tier monsters and having to walk through slime without radsuits available. Last secret (chainsaw and rocket box) was somewhat useless as there is one monster left at that point.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP10: Lab of the Lost
100% kills, 4/4 secrets

I like the first half of the map, despite the overall ease of the mapset so far, there's a few tricks that'll keep you on your toes. One of the secrets lets you defuse the barrel trap, as well, which is a nice bonus... but it's also good that the barrel trap is escapable with a bit of foreknowledge, though it'll likely kill you on the first attempt. Certainly better than the horrible barrel trap in Icarus.

Unfortunately the second half of the level bogs down a bit as travelling through the vent shafts for the secrets is a bit underwhelming (especially since the level is largely over at this point) and the mid-tier monsters like the mancubi in the experiment rooms and the hell knight at the exit are just meat to blast through.

[joe-ilya]

09 4/5
Another great map, more trap oriented than the others, The well and the start section was interesting, the revenant trap was boring, nothing much to say here, it's mostly engaging and short, so if there's something wrong then it's getting critical effect on the overall rating.

10 3/5
A medium sized map, this one breaks the easy flow and puts harsher/funner traps, the arch-vile, the zombiemen traps were the best. But there are mostly dull moments of killing groups of cacos and mancs with the regular shotgun, which isn't fun, this map needed way more rockets and barrels, could be better if more thought went into the gameplay.

[scifista42]

MAP10 - "Lab of the Lost"

Nice map, immersive and semirealistic, playable OK. I would prefer if the vent shaft sections were shorter and less frequent, though. The chained zombieman traps were fun, but I didn't like that some of them hid the chained zombieman without killing him, preventing 100% kills (or I think so).

[TheOrganGrinder]

Couple of days behind due to no internet, so let's get crackin'.

MAP09: Wrath of Man

This one's rather more intricate and folded in on itself than the previous setpiece-focused map; it's got a city/factory feel with a blending of stonework and technology, ancient and futuristic, with some fleshy innards on display too. It's kind of surprising to see all three keys put to good use within relatively limited real estate.

MAP10: Lab of the Lost

Ooh, this one's fun! A very self-contained setting (the only glimpse of the outside is through the big UAC logo in the start room, suggesting a literal glass ceiling) with laboratories full of gruesome experiments, lots of air vents to navigate, and tunnels bored through solid stone flooded with green slime. I'll probably want to replay this at some point since it feels like there are multiple paths through the level. Room full of radiation suits is a nice touch that makes sense in the context of the facility and what it's supposed to be without being obstructive to gameplay.

[antares031]

MAP11 - The Transporter
ZDoom, Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

So obviously they were working on a teleporter, interesting. Anyway, this level gets my thumbs up because it offered me a SSG in the very beginning. And sadly, this makes the difficulty way lower than previous level. This level even features less mid-high tier monsters, but more zombies and imps. And although I already mentioned it in MAP03, but I'm not a fan of circulation that includes a poison sewer without any radiation suits. And it was a little bit tricky to get blue armor secret, but I guess you cmay get it easily with SR50. (Yes, I rarely use SR50 during my gameplay)