22/09/2007 @06:51:41 ^07:48:59
Special Squad Cobra 11 Four tiny Boom maps that have apparently all* been released before:
- Techbase, caves, teleporter to hell... Very weird. Strange design, too. Why teleport an archvile into the start of the hell area just as the player was about to leave and never come back? I only noticed it when I couldn't work out where the missing monster was.
- This one at least stays within the same techbase theme all the way through, but continues to have really odd design decisions, why do I have to find a secret area and shoot an invisible door to get to the exit?
- Shades of Grey. Still has the flaws I mentioned before. I despair of people who can't design a bug-free monster teleporter.
- Showdown with a cyberdemon. Not bad but has the same problem with monster teleporters, you can quite easily prevent the cyberdemon from teleporting in, making the entire level, and especially all that plasma it gives you, rather pointless. (and even if it does teleport in, it separates you from most of the plasma so you can't use it anyway...)
* Update, 23/09/2007 Sorry, not all - the first one is new.
Fray 9 deathmatch maps with monsters. Not bad. Map08 was the best one, running round a city chased by a crowd of every monster in the game, who of course all happily mauled each other. Map07 theoretically gives you enough ammo to kill the one cyberdemon, but I didn't quite manage it.
Doom Incarnate: E1M1 and E1M2 A mix of E1M1 and E1M2 in the same map. Doesn't really live up to the originals. You can see features of them there but mostly it's just more overdetailed rooms and halls. Still, I enjoyed it, it's worth playing once.
The Imp's Keep If nothing else this year has had more than its fair share of E3M1 remakes. This is another one. It's pretty good, has a different look (more castle-like) but not particularly different gameplay from the original. As such it seems rather low on ammunition.
Hangar 2001 - Ultimate E1M1 remix Remake of E1M1 that's very similar to the original. Completely retextured (uses Quake textures, I believe, although having hardly played Quake I'm not really sure...) There are a few new secrets, but they don't add much to the gameplay because the monster distribution is pretty much the same as it ever was. Ignore the part about requiring the latest ZDoom, PrBoom can cope with it. In 2001 ZDoom wasn't so different from everything else.
Tenacity Unfortunately the first part of this level, consisting of some "rounded" silver tunnels and a large, dark, 64-wide maze full of spectres, is likely to put anyone off playing it. The author's penchant for hidden teleporters that unceremoniously dump you back at the start doesn't help. If you manage to play past all this there is an enormous cavern at the top of the map which is criss-crossed by moving walkways, which is a lot more interesting.
The Wicked City Oh dear. Starts off promisingly, in the alleyways behind some town, at night. Quite atmospheric, nice height variation. However in these cramped surroundings the cyberdemon was extremely annoying. Unfortunately the rest of the map is just dark tunnels and caves; cramped is the order of the day here.
Worse, in the caves the sprite replacements are introduced. Various poorly-drawn nudes being raped by imps reinforces the stereotype that anime fans are perverts. Finally, the caves lead into an apartment block - don't see how that was supposed to work, but okay - and having cleared out the monsters you find some girl tied up in a bathroom and "rescue" her (seen on the intermission screen)
