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Why is E2M2 considered "the best"? What makes maps good?

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title is question

 

bc llike i AGREE that e2m2 is great but i cant really figure out why that is, which is why im asking the smart people wtf it is

 

for me i think things that just sorta flow good or nice, or really big maps with a sense of progression maybe? e2m2 is neither yet i still like it so much,, (at least not flowing in the way i envision)

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I enjoy the sandbox approach the map uses. The combat is pretty dynamic. I also enjoy the weird mishmash of themes. And also there is a berserk pack close to the start. Rip and tear.

 

Oh yeah. Crates.

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E2M2 is a CRATE map which allows the player to BOX demons into mush for the first time, it's honestly aMAZEing

 

*Places super shotgun to temple*

 

 

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Boxes. Lots of boxes. I assume that's why the level is so mind blowing.

 

Crates make levels Great.

Crates make levels Great.
Crates make levels Great.
Crates make levels Great.
 

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E2M2 won't even make the finals next year. If you think back to when the AA fixture was released in 2014, you'll remember everyone complaining about how it received one of the most fortunate draws in the competition (Hangar and Refueling Base? Really? Those maps were unseeded going into the 2010 season and both have been under massive injury clouds). No surprises, there; the equalization measures that the April Agitation Association introduced are all about trying and get minnow maps like this one into contention, leaving the rusted-on supporter bases for the historically better levels in the lurch.

 

Let's see how Containment Area fares once the Living End and Mt. Erebus have had a proper pre-season and are match fit. I don't think we'll see a dynasty emerge like some people have been claiming.

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1 hour ago, Cipher said:

E2M2 is more than good. It's crate.

AHAH, good stuff man.

 

I took the old level for a spin again last night, and you know, it is crate!

It almost seems is if Imps work better around crates.. like their AI is like ooh home sweet static defs.. yesh!

 

Good level though, reason? - aside from the "first ever level" to use creates like it did?

There's just something eerie about it.. and I like it. :)

 

 

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28 minutes ago, geo said:

Boxes. Lots of boxes. I assume that's why the level is so mind blowing

Yeah, you really have to think outside the box, and the mind is very fragile, even this way up ↑↑

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9 minutes ago, Alfonzo said:

Let's see how Containment Area fares once the Living End and Mt. Erebus have had a proper pre-season and are match fit.

 

I'd vote for it over either of them.  Mind you, I'd vote for Hangar and Refueling Base over Mt Erebus.

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2 minutes ago, Eris Falling said:

How about we consider Final Doom too, then the best map is blatantly Crater.

Actually I like that map quite a lot, despite having some flaws.

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7 minutes ago, Eris Falling said:

How about we consider Final Doom too, then the best map is blatantly Crater.

It might be one of the crater maps in the Doom franchise, but I believe true crateness lies in simplicity.

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It's considered great because many people like it, partly because it has a wide appeal due to the fact that it contains (heh) a little bit of everything. It's not only the crates! Almost all of the different areas of the map feature creative mapping solutions and gameplay design. 

 

Also, it's the best music track.

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I like E2M2 for its:

On 30. 3. 2015 at 10:16 PM, scifista42 said:

Exploratory nature, abstract semi-realism, little gimmicks and varied environments to keep the journey interesting, lots of free roaming enemies while the overall difficulty stays low, and you can choose whether to fight the monsters with conventional weapons or a berserk fist.

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To respond more seriously, E2M2 is far from my favorite map—it isn't even my favorite map in the original Doom—but I do think it does the best job of selling all of Doom's unique aesthetic and gameplay components in one package. It's exploratory, it's tense, the combat is fun and provides multiple options, there's a dungeon-crawling element while still remaining compact, it shows off the chaotic transition from a "grounded" base environment into Doom's unique interpretation of Hell, enemy placement is well-considered, etc. It's got it all, and yet it surprisingly coheres.

 

If I had to pick one level to give someone to say, "Here. This is Doom. This is why it's fun," it'd be E2M2. Even over any of the episode 1 levels.

 

Well, that or "Congo."

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from my post on the other thread about E2M2:

 

Quote

E2M2 is abstract in the way the best Doom levels are, but it has a fully realized sense of place. it actually feels like a functioning base of some kind of while also being an engaging experience that introduce strange elements into the mix - no small feat. the whole idea of a base overtaken by otherworldly and hellish elements is felt strongly the map - no ingame storytelling is needed. so many ideas are contained in what might initially seem to be a flat and boxy layout. it's like the level tells an entire story as you go through it (another thing you can feel very much in particular with episode 2 map 4 of Doom 1). it also feels labyrinthine but in a way that is exciting and interesting to unpack, and not as complicated as it might look. the fact that the crate maze is a central feature of the level but you can largely bypass it because the map points you to the critical path by the berserk pak is also really brilliant. i'm glad this map, and Tom Hall as a designer, is finally getting the love it deserves from the Doom community. i think E3M7 is almost as brilliant of a moody puzzle-style map with its own very distinct sense of place that i've still seen very few maps ever touch, though it may not wow like E2M2 does.

 

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