Back to Basics

Cleverly designed in a lot of subtle ways.

Going into this episode off the back of playing lots of 'fast paced modern' wads can be quite jarring at first as E2M1 (incidentally the weakest map in the episode by some margin) quickly slams the brakes on through oppressive shotgunner usage and resource limitation. At this juncture you either continue to try and play at high speed and probably grow frustrated, or you slow things down a bit and take your time, accepting that the combat is not at the forefront of this set. It is at this slower pace where i started to appreciate the mapping a lot more as the environmental design and detail gets more time to breathe - drawing you in even further - and as a result i found this episode to be an incredibly engrossing experience overall.

The classic Shores of Hell formula of tech meeting hell (a thematic clash that is easily misjudged) is embraced here and employed with exemplary restraint, which adds to the overall impact of the thematic change through the course of the episode - descending into the fleshy bowels of E2M7 comes with a heavy sense of place, something that is reinforced throughout the episode via sprawling maps that can create a feeling of being lost and insignificant in the scope of the environment. Espi's signature texturing style adds a lot of depth to architecture and environment.

"Back to Basics" feels apt given that this wad is a standout example of simplicity executed brilliantly.

When it comes to doom 1 wads, this must be one of the all-time top-tier episodes.

Masterful map design, precision-placed monsters, ammunition, and item decoration.

A ton of variety in the maps steepness, with a great use of depth, and creative use of the limited texture resource.

The gameplay difficulty gradually progresses and arches nicely towards the end climax which left me both satisfied but also sad that it was over.

Five stars well-deserved.

This was an odd mapset to play. I'm a big fan of Espi's work and I can see the amount of effort that went in, but even in saying that I have to admit that this isn't the greatest of mapsets. Good, certainly, but not great.

First off, the positives. You can tell that these are Espi maps right off the bat: the architecture is twisty and masterful, with neat tricks that you can miss easily if you aren't looking. That's one of the things I've always loved about Espi maps: they're always so damn clever. I especially loved some of the secrets, including the method of getting to the secret exit. Espi's also quite handy with the detailing, doing his best with the resources on hand to make some lovely looking locations.

Here's the odd thing though: most of these qualities are actually what drags this mapset down. I'm of the opinion that if Espi wasn't limiting himself to Doom I's resources, this would've been a greatly improved mapset.

Yes, the architecture's lovely and the detailing is well done, but it has to make do with Doom I's smaller texture set and it doesn't take long for things to start feeling bland, something that the later maps' shift to more flesh textures can't salvage. This also extends to the gameplay: Doom II's extended bestiary could've done wonders, but as it stands you're not gonna be seeing an awful lot of variety monster-wise. That isn't to say that the gameplay's terrible, but the lack of specialist and in-betweeny monsters means that encounters just don't have the fine-tuning they need to be the best. At best I can say that the gameplay was moderately fun.

Also the E2M7 death exit was bullshit. ALL OF MY CELLS.

At the end of the day though, it's a good mapset: it has the technical genius that I know and love when it comes to Espi maps and were it not for the (frankly arbitrary) limitations I'd be giving this a lot more praise. As it stands, it's good. Not great, but good.