Rush

Cool set of easy slaughtermaps, good fun.
Ammo is given out very generously and the fights themselves often pass on lock-ins, in addition to just not being particularly demanding / exacting in their design. I was surprised, however, how tight some of these maps were on health pickups, particularly armor, which does a good job of heightening the stakes in what would otherwise be trivial fights.

Not every map is a masterpiece, maps 06, 07 and 11 felt rather underwhelming to me. The midsection in general suffers a lot from repetitive combat setups and unclear progression, in my opinion. The maps that deviated from a strict, encounter-after-encounter kinda progression were the most enjoyable to me, benefiting from the less precise combat design by allowing you to trigger multiple fights at once and increasing the potential for chaos. Map02 was an early highlight, and I liked maps 04, 08 and 10 a lot as well.

Map12 was fucking great, the dread-soaked atmosphere, unsettling lack of health / plasma weapons at the start, as well as it's sheer length and scale compared to the relatively short maps that came before made it feel like a proper finale. I enjoyed it a lot, despite there never being "that one fight" that felt like a stand-out or a serious test, a great and memorable addition to the set.

Overall, I expected Rush to be harder and a little bit more interesting / unique, but it's perfectly good as it is. The relative lack of difficulty means it's easy to pick up and play without it feeling like much of a commitment, and that's a nice quality for a mapset to have.

Incredible set of maps by Archi.

I personally feel like this wad deserves more credit that it gets.

The first map really does set the tone for how rush plays out. The creativity doesn't necessarily come from the maps but more from the width of how the mapper lets you play. With the first map, you get a variety of the classic weapons to play around with on small hordes of monsters. And with the big open areas this map presents to the player, there's also countless of different ways to strategise. I feel like this is an intentional design choice, and a very good one. 

I also find that with a lot of fights, Rush teaches you about prioritisation. It throws quite a lot of arch-viles and cyberdemons at you, but if you know how to approach the fight and what monsters to chip away at first, then you will quickly get the grip of most maps. Just don't die lmao.

Personally, this is one of my all time favourite wads as the combat geometry sticks in my head along with the unique music choices. Personal recommendation for if you want to improve combat wise in doom, as it relies on you to play aggressively. It is simply that good! 

Rush does everything it can to put you into the mindset you need to be in for the wad in the first map: The sick elevator ride, the midi, the blood and enemy corpses everywhere... It's about raw energy and pure slaughter (lol), if you will. It carries that energy through most of its run, and that's why it gets my approval. It's not the most demanding slaughter set, but it's definitely one of the best paced: it knows when to throw you into a fucked up arena, and it knows when to chill out and give you room to breathe, or a little bit of a BFG spam break from dancing through revenant fireballs and dark mancubi spray patterns. It's very aesthetically sound too, and some of the architecture towards the end started to remind me of old Sunder.

Highlights for me, off the top of my head:

- All of the midis. :)
- Map01 as a whole, dude... that midi is unbelievably fitting.

- Map02's revenant + mancubi arena. You know the one.

- Map04 as a whole.

- Map09. My favorite map. Whole thing is a perfect slaughter experience, hasn't left my mind since I played it

- Map10's final fight.

- Map11's architecture and final fight.

- Map12's architecture.

Excellent.

My first slaughter mapset.

Slaughtermap for beginners. Simple but effective level design, impressive architecture, great lighting. Arch-viles are a bit overused.
Played with Meatgrinder mod.

Excellent beginner wad for those who want to get into slaughter maps, lovely level designs!

"Motto hayaku! "

And there goes Rush, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. So let's see what we have here, shall we? Of course we shall.

Rush is a 13-level (12 with actual gameplay, 1 bonus for end game) slaughter megawad, meaning that the enemy count is high, or in this case, relatively high, and the enemies typically assault the player in waves of varying sizes and from various positions. It comes with a new background menu, music, textures, and one new enemy, a black/dark gray version of the Mancubus, but more powerful. The action takes places on various locations on Earth, both indoor and outdoors, as well as more abstract dimensions.

The difficulty curve is traditional, starting relatively easy and getting gradually more difficult as you progress, with no spikes. Considering the category it fits under, this is probably one of the more interesting aspects of the wad, as it can be described as "entry-level slaughter".

Visually, the maps looks pretty good and are accompanied by fitting music, which is mostly more action oriented, and they get more impressive with their design as you advance through the wad. If the beginning may not have revealed anything particularly interesting, that's something that changes near the second half, with maps such as MAP06, and the final level MAP12, aptly named "The Destination".

This is actually where a mixture of good and bad can be found. MAP06 is basically a maze, without what could necessarily be classified as slaughter gameplay most of the time, but it has a few unintuitive puzzles where a way opens on the map, but perhaps it'll take a while to locate the place. There's also what appears a small spiral of torches placed in the distance which, while enhancing the feeling of mystery of the level, doesn't seem to serve any real purpose. MAP12 suffers from a similar problem, it's rather easy to get lost in the temple since you'll be revisiting the same areas a few times, but maybe not know where to go. But being the final map, it might be fitting, making things more difficult on multiple levels, not just through resource and enemy usage.

Either way, Rush might not be SF2, Sunlust, Sunder, or any other "triple-A" slaughter megawad, but it does its job well. It's fun, short, and has plenty of atmosphere if you appreciate it. Indeed, it might be the perfect introduction to the genre for a newcomer. So don't wait, but Rush.

Done with these settings:

- GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 9.

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

Ever wondered what is that "slaughter" thing that everyone talks about?... Here it is! Well, a part of it, and if you are totally new to this genre, you came to the right place. This is a very fun wad in many aspects, not just the slaughter component but also visually, almost every map is placed in a different theme: starting from ruined techs entering to snowland, then arriving to a gothic fortress and, well more gothic/hellish environments, culminating into a massive dark underground (gothic of course) citadel, which has top notch detailing (and no, details do not interfere with gameplay, I assure you). I quite appreciated this variation, and I have to admit that hordes + gothic textures are a great combination. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing, some strong and some smooth tracks depending on the case, I particularly loved maps 08 and 12 midis as they are more quiet yet fitting. 

The combat component is pretty consistent, usually offering hordes to slaughter in multiple ways, with a moderate demand of crowd control, trap-based or not. One of the most common ways to handle the situations Rush provide is via circlestrafing + infighting, periodically removing what gets in the way. I preferred the occasions in which you must shape the scenario to be able to control the herd, which required some quick reactions and movement skills. In terms of progression, save for maps 06 and 12 that are more complex, the maps are fairly linear and easy to understand. As far as monster placement goes, revenants can be nasty in this wad, in companion to hell knights for your typical infighting shows. Yeah, mid and high-tiers in the majority, and rare presence of former humans, leaving the hitscan action into your hands, and a few spiders scattered in the set. Plus, there's a new mancubus a bit tougher and creepier than the ordinary, not an outstanding addition but something to be alert of. Archi made good use of the areas to put pressure not only from the monsters on the ground but from a considerate number of turrets. He also didn't abuse of lock-ins, so don't be surprised if you can leave and camp behind a hole, but expect to find more stuff ready to punish you for cheesing. When it comes to my personal highlights, I share some of Alfonzo's ones, particularly his last point, that was hilarious as one second I was exploring all cool all relaxed and the next one I was running in panic on lava like oh shit!. I'll also add that part in map 10 where I was pushed against my will into a room with monsters on grandstands, it was so funny. 

Secret-wise, they are the usual different/misaligned-texture with a power-up or weapon inside, but there are also secret telefrag chains to save ammo, and secret fights!. The most complex map (12) has the hardest-to-find ones, so pay attention. 

For favourite maps I'll pick 01, 06, 10 and 12. Unfortunately the last one has a bug that prevented me from exiting, otherwise a gorgeous map. No disliked maps. 

Overall, I found it pretty accessible to anyone with enough experience in the game, so give it a try, at least on HMP, it's fun and worth of replay. Of course, avoid it if you hate hordes, after all, it's not the author's fault if you don't take a second to read the description ("boom-compatible slaughterish maps", yeah it's pretty clear to me), or play something else... My rate is 8/10.

Well, here's one I wish I'd come across sooner: An accessible, hard-hitting episode that works as a great introduction to prospective players of the genre. Rush demonstrates the visceral nature of slaughter maps in relatively bite-sized levels and in a variety of themes — an important quality for a style that has such strong demands for colour (thanks, Danne and Ribbiks). Indeed, there are no behemoth undertakings here, excepting the final level in the line-up; or, at least none of the sort that many of slaughter's detractors are wont to decry when the topic is brought up in Doom General. Instead, it's a deliberately paced set that eases the player into a kind of slaughter showcase, where you have an opportunity to sample some of the more popular incarnations of horde-based combat. Mmmmm... delicious!

At its best, Rush tastefully employs its battalions of revenants and hell knights so that you must use all of your skill set but without being seriously challenged. For this reason, it's often cited as one of the best sets to play when you want to develop an understanding of what's required of a player's movement and skill in this domain. Map05: Vile House and Map11: Emission of Hate are perhaps the most tightly strung levels of the bunch with their small size and ferocity, each taking no longer than a few minutes to complete. Together with Map12: The Destination they are the best-directed levels and the ones least likely to devolve into idly blasting away at harmless shelves of meat... which does happen elsewhere in the set, albeit not so badly that it can't be rescued by Archi's code of brevity.

A mix of styles such as the one on display here can be difficult to tie in with a forgiving trend in difficulty, sometimes, and particularly around the middle (save for in Vile House and Map06: Delusions, an interesting if flawed departure because of its peculiar and underutilized layout), the upward swing in monster count is not quite matched with the necessary refinement of design for monster herding. In the blink of a caco's eye I found myself tending toward basic circle-strafe and bottle-necking maneuvers to fend off the cattle. Equilibrium is restored soon enough, however, and the tail end of the episode makes for a very engaging hour; so much so that it almost stands at odds with the first half of the set.

I recommend Rush to anyone who is really interested in getting a handle on what it is that slaughter players find so tasty about their Choice Cuts, or any established purveyor who has somehow manged to pass up this cool set of maps. There's probably zero people in that last category, of course; it's a darn good set. Easy-going and she's a looker, too.

Personal highlights:

• Being made to sit up in the Royal Box for a prized viewing of a monster infighting performance.
• Fast-scrolling ASHWALL used for static on a television monitor.
• Triggering a spiderdemon + arch-vile fight earlier than I was supposed to... and then not dying!
• Swimming out too far and then melting as the tide turned red...
• Crispy mancubi mancubodes.

Did play this via ZDaemon with a bunch of other people. Most had quite the fun.