Mephitic Purity

seems pretty nice, has plenty of badass combat moments in many places plus ZDoom features are used rather well. too bad I couldn't kill everything due to some monsters being deaf in teleport closets and/or stuff not working properly. final fight was really annoying too.

The project for which this level was initially slated, Community Chest 3, was founded in what is now considered to be "The Dark Era" of Doom level design; a period that gave rise to all sorts of tricks and trends in detailing and which was borne largely off the back of hot new editing powers. This is the same period that also considered ZDoom to be a cutting-edge port for map-making before it was a flagship for gameplay mods and other mutations. A very strange time, indeed.

In some ways, the then-celebrated archetype appears more dated today than a lot of the works from the mid-to-late nineties, just as video games sporting early 3D modelling embarrass us with their hard-edged polygons for facial expressions. Yet, if it can fail to do nothing but bring up bad memories and the customary pangs of nostalgia (part of it for forum drama, probably), it's worth remembering that there were a lot of lessons learned from that time and a great many figures who earned their stripes, as well. DooMAD is one such figure, and his Mephitic Purity sports most of the best of what's true of that period of level design, even if the eleven years between drinks might have allowed for a bit of.... correction, in hindsight.

From the very first room it feels like a Simplicity tribute. It's just missing the snarky blurb beneath the title and the washed-out blues to boot (there's lots of brown, though!). After a bumpy and tepid couple of opening rooms you step into a winding aqueduct/tunnel that's braced with cool architecture, and the first segment of what turns out to be a pretty interesting layout. It's attractive in that austere and streamlined sort of way, if a little flat and awkward to fight in; a lot of repeated, chunky details along otherwise straight surfaces; a very minimalist application of textures. This facet only strengthens as the map unravels, hitting its absolute peak around the middle after the player bears witness to some neat scripting and layout transformation effects, and gradually an impression of how well-realized and put-together everything is begins to emerge. Even the mostly decorative monster usage that at first had seemed like it could be the level's undoing appears satisfactorily part of the equation, now. Although, still, it does feel a little systematic...

Purity is a charming caper that captures the better parts of the era that inspired it; or, at least, enough of it to form a picture that can block out the bad reminders in tow. The painstaking work that has obviously gone into its creation is on display in the form of cool-looking details and a coherent vision for overall design. Clean fun. Very brown.

Bullet-points of Interest

• It's the noughties!
• Has a very strong identity. Coherent and satisfying.
• Clean and highly stylized visuals, even if the height variation is lacking.
• Tasteful use of ZDoom features, slopes in hallways notwithstanding.
• Combat is a little too simple and dragging, at times.
• A resourceful agent for the country strikes again!

I discovered this map randomly, not knowing what to expect... So as author stated, map uses various shades of brown. Details are well made, they don't distract player or block him. Gameplay progression flows well, just only negative thing is running out of ammo in some places. Some scripts made this wad more enjoyable. I recommend to try this map and check for yourself.