CROSSING ACHERON

Quite barren even on UV, and the bfg secret was a pain.

So this Wad was on one of the dutch Mega Doom CDs i came across yesterday and is the first i have played from them.

To my surprise, it is a pretty good and fun Level! (I mean, i expected the worst from such CDs)

It has a really nice Layout and Church like Design, compared to newer Wads it feels very much like on of the Temple Levels in Doom 64 (i mean that in a very good Way!).

There is some nice Teleporter Trickery, that gives you the feel to have been send to a small part of Hell.

kind of dissapointed, not much variety

Rating 3/5 stars.

Playtime: Average for a single map(around 10 minutes)

Completed to 100% in: 11 minutes

Difficulty: Easy 

I really love this map for the placement of its enemies and traps. The design is absolutely gorgeous and he did good to choose E1M3 because it's song fits perfectly.

Now, the biggest problem in this map are the freaking teleporters around everywhere. They are extremely confusing and if you go for a 100% they will give you a minor headache, especially because lost souls can teleport through and wander around the map aimlessly. Seriously, if it wasn't for the teleporters I would give it a 4/5.

Do I recommend it?

Yes, even for the teleporters, this map is a short but sweet one and I think you should play it!

One of Dr.Sleeps earliest works, Crossing Acheron is a simple but atmospheric map made in a time where mapping tools were both simpler and more user unfriendly than the Doombuilder of today.

Gameplay wise, it is quite subdued compared to his later maps in the Master Levels and Thy Flesh Consumed, with an enemy count and difficulty on par with most of Doom 1. The action is fairly brisk save for a few more intense areas, leaving the player a good bit of breathing room between fights to take in the sights and decide how to proceed. It is fairly nonlinear and doesn't give you a strong sense of direction other than searching around for more bad guys and bigger guns. It isn't enough to be completely lost, but you may want to keep an eye on the automap to figure out where to go next. You can get the entire arsenal in this map, but chances are you will probably kill most everything by the time you get it all. There is definitely enough ammo and health to take care of things with a good margin for mistakes anyways.

Layout wise, it looks its age but not necessarily in a bad way. There are some not so obvious lifts, a few spots where sectors are angled oddly, and the texture placement is a little rough, but otherwise it is pretty close to the standard of Id's own levels at the time, all with Dr.Sleeps signature emphasis on ambiance. His choice on E1M3 for the music fits well with the level, and combined with the sky and temple-like architecture it leaves a sort of eerie serenity as you wade through the chapel and surrounding open ceiling hallways. Compared to many WADs of later years it certainly pales in almost all aspects, but by even today's standards it is a fairly solid if simple level that can very well be a good standard to compare ones own early works.

Overall it is neither a spectacular experience or a particularly flawed one. You could probably skip it if you aren't attracted to its history or care much for shorter and simpler levels. But if you are interested in studying Doom history, making levels yourself, or even just want a fairly quick and laid back experience, I would recommend you check Crossing Acheron out at least once.