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Doomstein for Doom 2
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Summary |
Some thoughts on the map |
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Ok, I'd like to start off by stating that this is a well designed map and that it has a feature in it that I'm not really a big fan of, which we'll get to in a moment, but before we go there, let's get through the basics (as follows) Title : Doomstein Filename : Doomstein.wad ENGINE USED: ZDoom LEVELS: Doom II: map01
THE REVIEW: (By Sematary)
So, I decided to go to this format where I don't really give a map a rating of 1 to 10 or any of that jazz because, well, as I've discovered, it's a very subjective measure of a map or maps. What I consider to be a difficult or hard map might be relatively easy for someone else and vice versa. So rather than do that, I'll just tell you that on Ultra Violence this map presented a reasonable challenge for a mid level doomer, which is pretty much what I consider myself to be - maybe even a little lower than that since I don't play nearly as often as I should, or would like to. Based on that knowledge you can take what I have to say with a grain of salt but what makes this map more difficult than it would normally be is this little invisible monster trick that the author uses. You sort of get a glimpse/hint of the creatures as they attack (not all of them of course but a good number of them) so you're basically being shot b y invisible Former Humans and Sargeants. I'm not going to lie - I absolute LOATHE this trick. It seems extremely unfair to the player in general. It's one thing to have an invisible Imp (for instance) because you can see the direction of fire. With this, it's basically hit or miss as to whether or not you can actually discern where the fire is coming from (It's not like a new game, after all, where you get some sort of indication of the direction of fire). Perhaps, if the author was able to implement something of that sort into the hud, then I wouldn't have an issue with it, but he didn't and I do. Take it for what it's worth.
As far as actual gameplay goes, there are times when it is very interesting and other times (see the picture above) where it is sort of boring and essentially all you have to do is open those doors to pick off a badass and move on - possibly pick up some sort of bonus. I also found myself running out of enemies at a couple of points because the way the map is laid out you have to go from area to area to complete the map and at times I actually wasn't sure of what area I had previously been in and there was nothing left to fight when I returned to a previously cleared area. One of the things I attempt to do in my maps is to ensure that if a player HAS to return to an area, or might accidentally return to an area of the map previously cleared, that they are going to at least have one more shot at killing some stuff because you know, It's Doom. :-) and we all want to be entertained. Again, your experience may be different than my own and perhaps you appreciate a map where you have to hunt for ways to move along and you don't mind spending time alone with your thoughts while you do so. You may even like the inviscreature trick. it's all very personal. See why I don't do "ratings" any more? Finally, the design is pretty good, although I must admit that I don't think that Wolfenstein and Doom textures mix very well. If you're going to use Wolfenstein textures in a Doom map then you might as well just stick with those and leave the Doom textures out of the mix. There is alot of good detail in this map and plenty of things to look at in that design. As you can see from the screenshot below the entire thing revolves around this "hub" of rooms which will keep you busy for awhile. IF I were to give this map a score for design, it would be pretty high. I actually consider the design to be the crown jewel of the map. Overall, I think you'll enjoy it if you play it, regardless of how I or you feel about the unneeded invisicreature trick. It's a pain but can be overcome. I'd much rather have a straight up fight against creatures I can see or at least pinpoint location on. Again, that's just me. So enough about that. The screenshots should be enough to give you a relatively good idea of what to expect and hopefully my thoughts on the subject will also guide you in your decision to bother playing this or not. And, as a matter of full disclosure, I didn't finish the map. I lost interest to be perfectly honest. Maybe I just got sick of fighting shit I couldn't see......
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Click for larger image
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