Hexen: Dreadnaught & Knockabout TOGETHER map pack

I just did a run through Scott McNutt's "Dreadnaught and Knockabout TOGETHER" for Hexen. It's largely a collection of previously released maps for other first person shooters. "The Swamps of Thark" saw release for at least three games: Heretic, Hexen, Quake, and probably Doom 2 also. As such the storyline for this release suffers since it essentially unrelated maps loosely tied together thanks to the central maps. There are no objectives required to advance in other maps other than slaughtering every bad guy in sight. This is a nice retreat from most Hexen hubs where you might have to grab an item in one level and backtrack across two other maps to complete a puzzle to open a portal elsewhere on the main hub, but it can be a disappointment if you've come to expect that style of gameplay.

Texture alignment appeared well done although slight errors were detectable from time to time. Monster placement is paced well but you should expect massive fights in the more central areas of maps. In no time you will come to predict exactly where these confrontations will occur. A couple of times I had to sacrifice an Icon of the Defender just to overcome a swarm that spawned in all of a sudden but most areas have just enough health around so that Icons can be saved for more challenging foes.

I was unable to find the third weapon in anywhere despite an abundance of green mana found throughout all of the maps. This made combating the Heresiarch at the end of Knockabout especially challenging but thanks to an Icon of the Defender hidden nearby it was manageable. Although once the big, bad boss was defeated there seemed to be no absolute end to be found anywhere. Rather, you are allowed to wander the maps aimlessly fighting the random monsters that spawn in occasionally.

Another problem with this release stems from the fact that some of the maps are made optional by careless item placement. During my first time through I was able to bypass two of the maps completely. Due to a Wings of Wrath, with which I used to cross a large chasm, I was able to finish the first hub much more quickly than the map author had likely intended. Despite these flaws a good couple of hours worth of gameplay can be derived out this release if you don't expect too much from it. As it is, "Dreadnaught and Knockabout TOGETHER" is a collection of well designed maps with minimal puzzles and plenty of action.


6/10

http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=7131

I moved this to Classic Doom - WADs & Mods since it involves maps for a Doom engine game.

The classic Doom forums are the place to discuss all games based upon the venerable Doom engine.

Thanks Little Faith! I wasn't too sure where Heretic, Hexen, and Strife content was intended to be discussed originally.

Funny coincidence.

I recently blew the dust off my copy of "Hexen : Deathkings of the dark citadel", and after completing it (again) i started wondering if there were any decent user-made addons in existence.

Think I'll start by checking out this mapset.

Good Initiative!

Yay, someone else discovers the wonders of custom Hexen hubs :)

(hint: play it with the Korax mod, it works well ;))

Yeah Korax mod pwns