Before I begin:

Full disclosure: I played this on my DOS machine (yes, they still exist). I didn't play it in Dosbox. I didn't use any ports so I was stuck with the controls provided when Doom was just Doom and not ported to newer operating systems. Also, I am "ok" on UV (which is where this map puts you with the batch file) because strafing in original DOOM is nigh impossible as far as I'm concerned. I'm used to a mouse and being able to se my controls to the way I like them and trying to place this with just keyboard controls was driving me nutty. So... if you have better keyboard skills than I do, or if you want to play in a port rather than playing it the way it was "meant" to be played - that's up do you. I went old school.

 

WHY a map from 1997?

To be honest, I find the maps from the 1990's to be infinitely more interesting for a variety of reasons.

First - there are the tools that were available back then. He used: WADED 1.83, WARM 1.6, DETH 3.92

Secondly, even in 1997, mapping for Doom was still a relatively new thing to do and many of these older maps are (like this one) seriously good and deserve to see the light of day (again, in some cases - like this one)

 

My Review

 

GAMEPLAY: 10

 

 

           

           You may wonder at first - "HEY - where the hell is everybody?" Don't worry - pretty soon you are going to have more company than you'll have room to host them all. The gameplay in this is actually REALLY good. Lots of badasses in lots of well designed fighting areas. There are several Barons who show up in this map as well as Pinky's and a plethora of Imps along with all the usual gang. I guarantee that you won't be bored by this map whatsoever. I'm certainly not a Doom GOD by any means but I'm not bad and this one gave me a run for my money. Also - Try as you might, the chances that you will be able to kill ALL the badasses in this map are pretty slim. I hit 86% and I thought that was pretty good. It said I hit 100% of the secrets so I'm not sure where he was hiding the Rocket Launcher and the Plasma rifle or if he just put ammo in there to raise your hopes - I don't think you will have enough ammo to kill everything. And, to top it all off, you are going to get your ass kicked pretty solidly and just when you think that there is no way you can continue on against the onslaught, the author provides just enough hope to allow you to continue on in the form of (usually barely enough) health and ammo. There are a couple of spots where you can go on a rampage but basically, there is so much coming at you that you really shouldn't go too deep into the fray or you'll find yourself demon fodder before you know.

This map requires you to think about your next move and to plan ahead (probably because you just got your ass kicked somewhere in the map). Enjoy!! (Seriously good). Also, seriously, if you are good on the keyboard controls, the ability to STRAFE will be a life saver in this map. You WILL be faced with Barons on several occasions (and Cacodemons) and the ability to strafe will help you.

 

 

 

 

DESIGN: 9

 

 

        It's really difficult (in my opinion) to judge design from 20 years ago based on todays standards, but I must say - (slow clap). This is really well done. What starts out looking like it will be a somewhat simple map turns into a labyrinth of key hunting and monster killing (lots of monster killing). I really enjoyed what the author did here, using the tools at his disposal to create a well designed, aesthetically pleasing piece of Doom art (yes, I'm calling it Doom art). Also, This may (I say "may" because I don't know 100% for certain) be the first instance where an author created a room over room map. One of the reasons I can't be 100% certain is because I was playing vanilla Doom, so I couldn't look down, but the appearance in one room where you will see some grates in the middle of the room is that it is a room over room setup. Even if it isn't - it gives that appearance and that is awesome.

As for "bugs" I did note that one of the Barons gets stuck at the top of a lift at one point (sometimes) and can thus become easy pickings. The other "bug" I noticed (during multiple replays after getting killed) was that the Demons didn't always materialize when they were supposed to. Have no fear - they WILL find you. :-)

 

 

 

           

REPLAYABILITY: 8

 

           

       I think this is one where you might want to go back to (it's that much fun) not only for the pure enjoyment of playing through this map but also this seems like a really good map to try and challenge your own best time (and how frequently you get your ass handed to you). I highly recommend this 20 year old beauty and submit this review for your perusal and encourage you to play this map!

 

 

 

 

OVERALL: 9

 

Really - there isn't much left I can say. Let my previously verbose verbiage (and the screenshots) guide you in your decision on whether to download and play this map but from my perspective, you will be doing yourself a disservice if you don't.

To keep it "real" I highly recommend either using Chocolate Doom (unless you actually DO have a DOS machine like me. :-)  ) or using it in DOSBOX with Vanilla Doom - no ports.

For those who may be interested, I am rocking an old Packard Bell with DOS 6.22 and Windows For Workgroups 3.11. It has a "massive" Pentium 166 (no, I don't have a 486 motherboard any more) and 64 megabytes of ram. It plays Dos games great. :-)

Also, I have to transfer the files (because I don't have a network card in it) via 1.44 mb floppy disks (yes, FUN!). So there you have it. It's quite doubtful the email address provided by the author is valid since Geocities has gone the way of the dinosaur but if you can track the guy down - give him a thankyou for serving this up to the community and look for other maps by the same author (which I intend to do).