Mapgame

Nice E1 replacement for Doom 1. Good level design with some nice references to the original. Definitely better than DTWID.

Done with these settings:

- PRBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 9.

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

My curiosity started when the DWLeague or something chose this wad and I, checked what was its deal. I liked what I saw. Now it's done, a pretty nice and short episode replacement. Gameplay in general is the same throughout the wad, it's actually quite easy, reason why I regret not picking UV, and I'm sure on pistol starts would be easy too.

Monster placement is ok, it keeps the classic feeling but doesn't go far beyond simple: open a door, some monsters, flip this switch, go look for what it did, fight these monsters, get the key, etc. Not complaining, it's actually a style I enjoy for a few maps. There's a new enemy, a turret, I liked it but it has it's disadvantages. On one side, it keeps you alert when you hear one, that's a good point. On the other side, since it doesn't walk or fly, you have to kill it slowly by wall-covering, but the actual problem is, its target or hitbox (or whatever) is too thin, autoaim fails a lot, bullets or shells generally don't touch it unless you're close and that can cost your life. Luckily no one could kill me but the are health drainers for sure. They replace the Spiderdemon so that's why their bullets are highly painful.

Visuals are really cool, some nice architecture like the "lampposts" in map 06. I liked the fire animation in some levels, as well as the blue lights on teleporters. Also I saw a gif of a swivel chair in the same map which was funny. Secrets are cool, all of them are easy to find. I missed a secret though in map 04, no idea where could it be. My favourite map is 08, was actually odd to see cacodemons only at the end of the wad, they should have appeared much earlier. 

So yeah, nice episode, not the most exciting but good for visuals and easy stuff. My rate is 7.5/10

An okay little episode for some casual demon shooting fun, but not much more.

Playability notes: PrBoom+ with -complevel 9 had no problems. Pistol start and continuous both play well enough, take your pick.

Mapgame has a fun time integrating a new aesthetic into Knee Deep in the Dead, but lacks appropriate combat to make the set compelling. Many of the minor alterations don't feel forced and I quite like them, especially the visceral design of the new enemy: they breathe life into the old hat that is E1. Unfortunately, the choices made when it comes to encounters are what pervade each map, and as a whole it carries on very similarly to the point of tedium (with the exception of the finale).

E1 replacements can mean a lot of things to a lot of mappers. This mapset limits the following, roughly:

• No plasma weapons
• Using only textures from the original IWAD as the basis of visual design
• No use of enemy teleportation except when involving pentagram-shaped floor
• Enemies are only Former Humans, Sergeants, Imps, and Demon/Spectre, until the final map

The final limitation has a notable exception in an entirely new enemy, which I will name Sentry Turret (lacking an official name in the text file). It fills a familiar niche, unlike what might be expected when adding monsters outside of E1, so I don't consider it a massive departure from the limitation.

My chief complaint with Mapgame is that it so very often avoids gameplay beyond the simplistic cases of either: blankly shooting into a room until it's safe to move through, or keeping to a cover point and patiently knocking out one enemy at a time. There are very few enemies that will roam outside of your purview unless you ignore them on purpose, and virtually no ambushes unless you run haphazardly through the maps. Even from the first map, it's easy to end up in a situation of unloading each shotgun shell without so much as strafing, and although the occasional big group will require some tactical cover it's rarely a necessity to backpedal. The primary difficulty has to do with lack of available health and armor, meaning that the player has to focus down hitscanners, and this is where the strategy tends to end.

The sentry turret, as much as I love its design, is ultimately disappointing in practice. Visually it's somewhat camouflaged, whereas aurally it's incredibly loud and alerts you: this produces a similar quality in the spectre, in that you hear it and panic, searching for its location before feeling safe. Of course, being a turret it can't move, and with the combination of hitscan and demon-level HP it typically becomes a chore once you find the right position from which to attack. Even more baffling is its continuous usage at the rear of larger groups, almost always causing each fight half-won before firing a single bullet. In short, it's a static, durable chaingunner, with all the potential (or lack thereof) that carries.

Some highlights:

• There are some excellent visual pieces throughout the set: the corpse pile in M2, the teleportation reveal in M5, the void segments in M7. Unfortunately, these come at the juxtaposition of completely unappealing combat that takes place within them.
• I don't at all mind the chain gun replacement... except for the lack of hitscan. To be fair, this gives you more incentive to use the shotgun as the single practical hitscan weapon, but more often than not I was simply wishing for the chain gun instead.
• A fair portion of the progression is awkward, with a number of switches providing no sense of what they do. In some cases there are subtle clues, such as matching the texturing around the switch to the texturing around the corresponding door, though it is not used consistently.
• In general, the gameplay gradually gets better over the course of the set. M4 and M6 are my favorite "normal" levels, partly because they're on the shorter side, partly because the types of combat available are handled better.
• The M8 "boss" map has the most interesting fights, probably because the arenas involved help to change up the pace. The Baron fight in particular manages to be quite amusing, although once the first two are gone it's just a matter of cleaning up.

My recommendation: if you're searching for gameplay that can be squeezed out of E1-like limitations, there's nothing here for you. However, if you don't mind patiently wading through enemies while admiring the layouts, it's a pretty good exhibition.