obake

E1M3 Toxin Refinery
Deaths: Demon bite, a few other monsters during the first room/Kills 91% Items 80% Secrets 100%

Surprisingly, this one was not as much of a headache to pistol-start as I remembered it to be. The beginning area as you open the starting door is really the most challenging part of the whole experience, as monsters of various types gather into the small starting room. But if you're careful to lead the sergeants into the room and get the shotgun early, taking on the rest of the monsters isn't too bad. Just take your time with this level.

Even getting to the secret exit isn't too hard. What you really have to watch out for in this level is windows looking down to rooms with hitscanners in them (there are a lot of imps, too, but they aren't so bad as you can stand far away enough from the windows that they can't hit you.) Also, be careful not to fall into the open nukage pit in the main hub. Other than that, Toxin Refinery was not too hard.

Still, it was more of a challenge than its predecessors, only due to a tougher arrangement of monsters.

E1M3 Toxin Refinery difficulty rating:3/10 (unbelievably, the difficulty ratings have thus far corresponded with the level numbers. That's definitely not going to be the case for long.)

E1M9 (secret level) Military Base
Deaths: not many/ Kills 99% Items 82% Secrets 100%

As the first secret map within the game, I used to think this one was really difficult.

And in a way, it is. But not as much as I used to remember.

E1M9 Military Base difficulty rating:4/10

Overall, despite the sheer number of sergeants mulling about this map, I actually had a much easier time getting through it than I anticipated.

Still, it's definitely not to be underestimated. There's few ammo for your Rocket Launcher once you receive it, and the multiple staircases all leading to conjoining areas can sometimes make for a surprise attack by a wandering enemy, especially when the enemy happens to be a hitscanner.

Rest assured, the rest of the map is pretty simple, very simple once you find the berserk pack. It makes fighting the crowds of demons even easier (the demons can't reach into most of the lower rooms, and thus you can punch them out on the stairs. Quite entertaining, actually.)

E1M4 Command Control
Deaths: A few from various monsters, until I figured out what to do in the beginning/Kills 108% Items 88% Secrets 100%

I'm surprised by this one's score. It became spectacularly easier once I found out the correct strategy. That is: don't shoot or attack until you make it to the upper floors of the map.

Yes, this map starts out with ledges overlooking the room you're in. I used to shoot the barrels next to the Sergeants in order to kill them first. Protip: Don't bother shooting them from here; you'll wake up all the monsters in the two, small conjoining hallways, and this is usually where my deaths came from. Getting past the flurry of Demons and hitscanners is very difficult without getting cornered or shot at from multiple directions. If you simply run past the monsters in these rooms without waking them up beforehand, you have a lot more time to escape and safely make it up to the upper floors.

From then on, it's surprisingly simple. Even the dark maze section (with Pain Elementals, no less) is easier to deal with than the one in E1M2. You can lead the monsters to easier places to shoot them down at, there are no hitscanners this time, and there are far less barrels which you or an enemy can cause a accidental explosion closeby.

E1M4 Command Control difficulty rating: 2/10

Yesiree, this turned out easier than the last level, which I'm kind of glad about.