The DWmegawad Club plays: Doom II: Hell on Earth

[holaareola]

MAP03 - The Gantlet

K100% / I100% / S100% - 0 deaths - LZDoom, Unholy Nightmare, pistol start

 

Decided to give LZDoom's Unholy Nightmare difficulty another go -- it's the reverse of ITYTD: double damage, half ammo.

 

Ah, my suspicion was confirmed. Yep, three levels in a row kicking off with plentiful spot-jogging zombieman rump in view. This brownload starting area is so Doom2, it's decked out in another new Doom2 texture family, the METALxs.  I believe this texture is mostly grey, but the brown that I think is meant to be rust but I prefer to see as faeces smeared all over the place by demons in protest at these drab surroundings (why do the other lot get the cool gstone?) is what really sticks out.  Wearing the shit-tinted shades would not be a novel accusation against me, however.  

 

I'd never noticed, but @Pechudin is bang on I reckon: this little water pool keeping the blue armour moist does look like some deliberate continuity.  I think McGee is far too free with the blue armours, he's throwing them around like weekday breakfasts when they should be treats.

 

Through some fodder and up the lift to some obvious incitement to a riot. With half ammo, this is not an option to pass up. The imps win as always.  The lights on BK area look cool, but otherwise this is kind of drab. A mix of naturally brown outer walls and the new METALx set that was once grey before the demons furiously smeared every inch with their stinking brown excrement, with a bit of water to break it up.

 

And here's the chaingunner. The first time I came across these guys was as a kid travelling when I saw some older guys in the seats opposite playing Doom2 on a monochrome laptop. They let me have a go -- I thought I was well good at Doom, but I couldn't believe how quickly I was watching one dance on my face once I landed on the water.

 

The secret is far too generous, but then I do remember missing it initially and then struggling to jump in on the keyboard back in the day.  No such problems now, straight down I go... except I don't think I've pistol started this map before, because: this may not be deliberate, but I grab the invisibility and then teleport. Moving of course changes my weapon to the rocket launcher but I don't bloody notice because I'm partially invisible and in grainy software mode with big fat pixels everywhere.  I head to BK and almost kill myself when what I thought was my shotgun suddenly fires a rocket into a sargeant at point. blank. range. My dear American, thank god for your blue armour generosity, I take everything back!

 

This blue key area is a cool structure and feels very 3d. I like this bit.  Unfortunately it looks like this blew the inspiration (and non-right angle) budget because as others have mentioned all we get is a bunch of rectangles for the final area.  I actually quite like the fight down below, it teaches you fast that pinkie hordes are dangerous and that maintaining breathing room around the crowd is key.

 

It's OK overall. Mostly ugly, but not too unfun and quite instructive in a few ways. Also, the first music track that isn't totally shit. Sod that invisibility->rocket launcher teleport though!

Edited March 3, 2020 by holaareola
edit. can't get this @ thing working

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP03: another fun map, usually it's where I start to have trouble, despite some saying MAP02 is harder.

I always have trouble first approaching the main water-basin bridge room, this time I had the idea to back down to the lift and take out the imps from below, which helped a lot.

And of course the secret takes the edge off things once you grab everything.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Pechudin]

15 minutes ago, holaareola said:

I'd never noticed, but @Pechudin is bang on I reckon: this little water pool keeping the blue armour moist does look like some deliberate continuity.

    DooM II maps are mostly just a collection of maps with relatively weak narrative, but this time I told myself I would try to find some story, invent one if I need to. I do wonder if McGee was told he would have several maps in order and if yes, then if he intentionally had all of them have a similar theme? Anyhow, onto the next map.

 

MAP04: The Focus (Deaths: 0, Secrets: 3/3)

    Someone here mentioned goofy MIDI music, and I was immediately reminded of this map's track. Good lord, why is it so cheerful? Is this a Commander Keen reject Bobby had lying around? At any rate, it is a some kind of water/sewage processing facility (again), but it looks like we have broken trough into the facility proper. It really reminds me of early Scythe levels, not only in theme but also in production value. Aligned textures, neatly tucked in LITE panels and the DoomCute hallway with the light switch all make this map look way better than the standard level of the time. Lighting especially is top-notch.

    The combat though is ... forgettable at best. Only 55 monsters, mostly zombies, imps and a scant few pinkies populate this map. Ammo is ample, even SSG (absolute overkill for this map) is provided if you know where to look, and the health situation is not too bad either. If there are tricky parts to the map it would be the opening and the final room where an unaware DoomGuy could be caught off guard by the chaingunners released from their holding cells, but even those two situations are very easy.

    So yeah, visually very attractive (especially for the time) map with forgettable combat. One major detraction from the map is the final rising walkway which is lower-pegged. For shame, McGee! This ruins my immersion!

  

[Walter confetti]

MAP04: You want to know a thing? This is, overall, a really cool map!

Is a pretty thought little, compact map, sets in a green techbase like Entryway, but more "realistic" and dark than the petersen map, nothing new are presented here (at first, i thought this one was the one that shows for first time the Hell Knight, at least in UV. Ah, yes, this map in Ultra Violence is a nightmare. Imagine Ultimate Doom E4M1, always from McGee, on steroids. Or is just me that i don't play that good...) expect a toxic pit of SLIME-y shit where a demon passed out from the smell and become a spectre... ah, yes, a invisible monster in a toxic pit. How delightful. This map is that also well-know for the broken electric shutters (i always think of that crushers in this way) that  locks the view of shotgunners for a brief period, giving you a little advantage to proceed without been shooted and the dark corridor with a light at the start that inspired this comic panel from a infamous comic based upon a 1993 FPS that you've probably heard of. Maybe.

In short: Pretty neat short map, i like it!

[noisebloom]

MAP03: The Gantlet

GZDoom, UV, Pistol Start, 100% K/100% S

 

The Gantlet... ugh. Apparently it was Sandy Peterson's idea to spell "gauntlet" like this, and I'm not sure he achieved much by doing this besides massively confusing people.

 

This map is another McGee special, and it introduces a new foe to Doom II's arsenal: the chaingunner. Interestingly enough, if you're careful and observant enough, the first encounter with the chaingunner will start off with an infighting orgy - kudos to McGee for this lesson/joke, a portent that many more jokes are to come. Much like Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid, Doom II loves to present quirky, challenging situations to the player and teach them how to overcome them.

 

We soon learn the chaingunner is not an enemy you should mess around with: take him down quickly, or he will absolutely rip you a new one with no hesitation. The Gantlet ends up not being super challenging, however. There are so many zombie sergeants that you'll always have plenty of shotgun ammo, and the level of difficulty is not nearly as punishing as Underhalls (and... if you were for some reason desperate for health, the secret in this level contains a megasphere - jesus). I enjoy the architecture and flow of the map, in general. I do absolutely dislike the last major room of the level, which is a room with a bunch of demon/spectre traps which are essentially inconsequential: if you stand in the right place (which is fairly obvious), you can take almost all of them out from afar. 

 

Ultimately, The Gantlet is pretty good... I think it had more potential than was realized.

 

noise's map ranking:

Spoiler

 

MAP02: Underhalls

MAP01: Entryway
MAP03: The Gantlet

 

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by noisebloom

[Summer Deep]

MAP04

 

UV Pistol Start, GLBoom+, no saves

 

I'm in agreement with the previous reviewer about the modest level of challenge provided by this map. At the start you might get caught out by the couple of chaingunners in front of you, or the sergeants to your left, if you're not on your guard, but most players will get through this. Check out the room with the shuttered windows for a secret entrance, and your ammo issues are largely solved as well, though it should be noted that there doesn't appear to be any green or blue armour anywhere to be found in this level.

 

There's a fairly half-hearted ambush after the blue key, and the red key room isn't too difficult either, with a few imps hiding behind crates, but you'd be ready for them, wouldn't you? It's a bit dark in the corridor leading to this, but really the crate room would have been a lot more effective if the lights had been turned off in there as well. There's also a 'secret' teleporter in here that's not very secret at all...

 

The final room is a pretty schematic, somewhat symmetrical one (gasp), where a couple more chaingunners attempt a surprise attack soon after you enter, but the rest of it is a by-the-numbers switch and teleporter sequence by which a bridge to the exit is raised.

 

100% kills, 100% secrets.

[DuckReconMajor]

Quote

misspelling comments

 

I thought it was this?

[Horus]

The way this thread is going it might well be the most popular DWMC of all them! Which is pretty good for the club, but also kind of a shame that original community content doesn't generate the same interest (to be fair the fact the lengthening trend of megawads over time might also contribute to that).

 

MAP04 - “The Focus” by American McGee (0 saves, 0 deaths)

 

Well this is the first map where pistol starting makes a real difference. Attacking all the hitscanners in the distance and under darkness is a challenge. And like with Underhalls it is McGee’s combination of darkness and hitscanners that gives this map its tension. After the BK door it is almost like praying your shot finds its target. The YK trap was once a source of difficulty for me; now it’s too predictable. Still, overall the best of the four levels so far in my view.

[DJVCardMaster]

Gantlet (m. - noun - from the latin gantletum): 
A metal shaped structure with water at the sides, with demons and hitscanners shooting at you.

Example: "There is a Gantlet two blocks away from my house"

Edited March 4, 2020 by DJVCardMaster

[noisebloom]

27 minutes ago, DJVCardMaster said:

Example: "There is a Gantlet two blocks away from my house"

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh

[SiFi270]

I thought I'd skip this one at first, but then I remembered something I'd read about the PSX games and D64 having passwords that started you with 25 health and no ammo (maybe to make up for Nightmare's removal?), and because it was easy to recreate that with a DeHackEd patch, I figured I'd try Doom 2 that way for the club.

 

I did the first three (and Betray for the heck of it) that way yesterday, and it followed the same pattern of being pretty intense at first but naturally not feeling especially different once I'd acquired acceptable amounts of health and ammo. Then I remembered what I'd be playing the next day and how tough it already was from a normal pistol start, and I wondered if it would actually be possible.

 

Turns out it was, and I just had to get very lucky. I started some infighting, and once I'd gathered the courage to open the first door again, there was a load of clips, shotguns and chainguns waiting right there for me.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP04 - "The Focus" - American James McGee (100%K/I/S):

So, I see what they did there, "focus" meaning "spotlight" considering this level has severe light problems, it makes sense, so our mission here is to, change the broken bulb?
This map is, from what I remember, the best designed in terms of aesthetics, it's correctly mapped and looked like nothing compared to the rest of Doom 2, because it was well detailed for 1994/95 standards. It's also one of my favourite maps. The only problem is that, the music is way to cheesy, and even though I think it belongs to this level (Or in some level in Strife where the lights go off, since it has the rythm of a Strife song), it does not fit Doom at all. 
This is one of the first times we see a Doom 2 styled tech-base, and I love them, specially if they are with dim lights. It's probably one of the most overused styles in community mapping, TEK and LITE textures with low lights, heck, I even did some maps like that myself. It's just a good combination. I never noticed that hallway where you can turn on the lights, I just realized on today's playthrough, and I was mindblown, I loved  that effect.
This level has fun progression, good detailing and overall good design. The truth is, that is actually pretty easy compared to Underhalls, mostly because there are many low-tier enemies and hitscanners aren't too much of a threat here, since most of them are next to barrels which you can blow easily. I'm doing this continuously so it wasn't hard for me, as I have the SSG and the RL, but I guess this is harder with pistol start, although, not that much I feel.

Deaths: 0 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP04
MAP02
MAP01
MAP03

I don't get the progression anyways, no continuity here whatsoever, why do we suddenly jump into a tech-base? We were on some kind of sewer system, but well. I hope for the next map to respect continuity a little bit...
*The next map is also a sewer system*
...Oh boy.

[Spectre01]

MAP02 - “Underhalls” by American McGee

This is a cool map. There is plenty of moody contrast between the dark waterways and brightly lit tech areas. Despite the name Underhalls, McGee includes an outdoor-ish section with a brick building surrounded by grass; further reinforcing the fact that we are, in fact, on Earth. This map is likely most famous for introducing the now iconic SSG into your arsenal. From my point of view, it's a bit early; somewhere around map05/06 would be more reasonable, as that is when you start encountering mid-tier opposition like Cacos and Hell Knights. I found myself using the single shotty 90% of the time in Underhalls. The SSG is not necessary within the scope of this map due to facing fragile KDitD opposition. As for the gameplay - loads of Sergeants, especially occupying the brown brick building. Fine if you've got your armour from map01 and more prickly if you don't. The midi gets a dishonourable mention as being the least memorable Doom 2 track and not gelling with the atmosphere of the map.

 

MAP03 - “The Gantlet” by American McGee

The American train of maps continues with another solid entry(way). The Gantlet is best known for introducing everyone's favourite hitscanner and players getting the map name wrong. This map is heavy on the brown but doesn't look too bad. The area pictured above is the most memorable, featuring some solid Chaingunner action and a very lucrative secret to jump into. The finale with the Pinkies is less interesting, though still not too bad. Also, this map has one of the better Doom 2 midis with a more serious tone to it.

 

MAP04 - “The Focus” by American McGee

Best remembered for those perpetually opening/closing windows that are audible throughout the map and the Shotgunners behind 'em. Gloomy underground techbase is the strictly followed theme. Looks fine, plays fine, and doesn't introduce any new weapons or enemies. The hallway with the lights and storage area are nice. Midi is high energy, though the DoomMetalVol4/5 covers are significantly better. 

[universal-quantifier]

MAP04: The Focus

UV, pistol start, 100% K/S

 

First death, and right at the beginning of the map to boot: my urge to immediately replace the pistol with something better had fatal consequences as I got assaulted by whole bunch of hitscanners while trying to grab a weapon. On my second attempt I stayed in the safe start room slowly taking out enemies with the peashooter of a pistol and eventually made out almost unharmed. The secrets seem almost mandatory on pistol start, as the map is rather skimpy on ammo otherwise.

 

In usual American McGee fashion there's lots of attention to detail and the map makes good use of the new TEKGRN texture set. I don't think I've even noticed the dark corridor having a light switch before; seems like Duke3D devs were taking some notes here. The perpetually moving shutters are what most people probably remember this map for and they provide an interesting gimmick for the opening encounter.

 

The midi for this map definitely feels more Wolf3D than Doom. Kind of a shame that these dark, moody McGee maps were paired with rather unfitting, upbeat sounding tracks, I'd imagine they'd feel even more suspenseful with Doom 1-style music.

 

Ranking:

Spoiler

MAP02

MAP04

MAP03

MAP01

 

[Andromeda]

MAP04: The Focus (Doom II)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

Here we have a small, almost claustrophobic level (it's the smallest level by area in Doom II, in fact). Very fast paced, with a large amount of hitscanners and interestingly all the doors here are blazing. I think the MIDI fits the level to a T, but I also see why an atmospheric track would be a good choice as well. Of note is the dark corridor that you can light up using a switch, but for some reason it doesn't work properly and only a few sectors get brighter.

 

The mechanism to get the red key isn't immediately obvious and a less attentive player might think it's actually the switch that lowers the box, when in fact all it does is turn the lights off in the previous corridor. There's a really obvious secret that I doubt many people missed (even back in the day) that provides a shortcut to the second room. The yellow key room contains a trap that's dangerous if you don't know what's coming, but loses all its threat in subsequent plays since you can just drop down and kill the hitscanners one by one from below. Cool stuff, the quality of the levels has been gradually increasing so far, let's see if the next one continues this positive trend...

 

Video:

Spoiler

 

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP01: Entryway

MAP04: The Focus

MAP03: The Gantlet

MAP02: Underhalls

Edited March 4, 2020 by Andromeda

[noisebloom]

MAP04: The Focus

GZDoom, UV, Pistol Start, 100% K/100% S

 

I don't mind the track that plays during The Focus much. It's not edgy and dark like a lot of Doom MIDI, but it has a good energy to it and seems to fit the map well.

 

The Focus is a short and intense techbase map, and it's the first in Doom II that does not add a new gameplay mechanic. The starting area with the opening/closing shutters is enjoyable and executed well. A careful approach allows one to proceed through this map without much difficulty, but be vigilant about those chaingunners! The map progression is extremely straightforward and the secrets easy to find... though the teleporter secret in the red key room isn't really much of a secret - sorry, American.

 

The mini-crate switch is weird, especially as it's right next to a switch on the wall, which actually controls the corridor lights. I'm not really a fan of this design decision. McGee's maps for me tend to be very enjoyable, but it always seems like I have a nitpick about them... there's always something a little odd that sticks out to me.

 

At any rate, The Focus is a short, fun map that would not be out of place if it were in Ultimate Doom.

 

noise's map ranking:

Spoiler

 

MAP02: Underhalls

MAP01: Entryway

MAP04: The Focus
MAP03: The Gantlet

 

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by noisebloom

[Uncle 80]

Map 04: great usage of "mechanical" parts in the level, like those silent-crusher windows, the light switches, etc. Like others have pointed out already, it's a bit tough on pistol start due to all the shotgun/chaingun guys, but still manageable. Like in map03, the exit room felt a bit "undercooked" in comparison to the main areas, and the "step on a crate to lower another crate" thing is silly. And the music is an excellent immersion breaker. Overall, I'd rate this level "Ok".

[head_cannon]

MAP04 - The Focus (Crispy Doom, UV, Pistol Starts, No Saves)

 

So far, I've only been focusing (heh) on the ways that Doom 2 introduces concepts and teaches things, since the first three maps don't really play any differently between a Continuous vs a Pistol Start playthrough. That changes here. A Continuous player will secure their armor, raise their chaingun, mow down all the zombies in the opening hallway, and pass it by without giving it a second thought. Pistol Start players, however, are met with a wall of bullets and tasked to survive that opening crucible of gunfire; vexed by something that the Continuous player didn't even know was there. This is perhaps a hamfisted execution of the concept, but I think these "boss fight in order to even to start playing this map" moments are an interesting wrinkle added to the game. Specifically, I'm fascinated by that kind of lenticular design where the same architecture and thing-placement serve two different contexts.

Whether you use doomguy's blazing speed to barrel out of the entrance room right past the zombies and take out one of their commanders, or whether you hunker down, under siege and hoping that some of these shmucks will accidentally shoot each other as they converge on your position, it's a memorable encounter.

 

There's not quite enough ammo without finding one of the two major secrets, but that doesn't seem like a huge problem to me, since the player knows that all those sergeants behind the mechanical shutters have dropped their guns and is motivated to get all those shells that are just out of reach.

 

I like the vibe here. This underground bunker is dark, claustrophobic, and oppressive. There's even a pitch-black hallway leading to the red key room, which contains just enough danger to put you on edge without going too far into an unsporting sucker-punch.

 

Speaking of that key room: What an awkward puzzle. I've got nothing against having to stop and figure out how the room works in order to proceed; many maps benefit from that kind of variation in pacing. The way it is done here, however, leaves something to be desired.

While the key is clearly displayed and the implication is that something in the crate room must allow access to it, it was a mistake to put the floor button right next to the light switch. I think that players are likely to just keep hitting that repeatable switch and assuming that it must be doing something that they're missing.

 

The finale can create an excellent panic if a reckless player dives in and finds themselves under fire from every direction. It's a shame about those unpegged textures, though: seeing the bridge organically grow up out of the floor is bizarre.

[Arbys550]

Map04

I like this map. The stupid box thing got me good the first time I played this I remembered. The final section is probably the most memorable part in this map for me actually. I also remember really liking the secrets in this map when I was a young'un. also the raising and lowering ceiling things are cool in the beginning.

 

Spoiler

Best

Map04: The Focus

Map03: The Gantlet

Map02: Underhalls

Map01: Entryway

Worst

 

[Pechudin]

MAP05: The Waste Tunnels (Deaths: 0, Secrets: 3/3)

   Yet another McGee map with the theme of water/sewage. If you somehow missed the SSG on MAP02, here it is for you. Visually I would say it is weaker, mostly covered in gray and brown, although something has to be said about the drop-down door and the almost aircraft runway-like flashing lights. Why the arrows on the floor, though? Did McGee think we would get lost? At any rate, I am glad they are here, they certainly give something memorable to the map. Also, why are those zombies in a cage? What does this all mean, McGee?

 

    This map introduces quite a few "new" faces, Cacodemons, Lost Souls and the first occurence of the Hell Knight. Not that you will have much of a problem with any of them, although this was the first map where I was not always overflowing with ammo, especially at the beginning. Combat is generally fairly easy, but there are some potentially nasty traps, especially if one does not know about the Imp drop-down pits. The second potentially tricky bit is the beginning where one must exercise care not to get slowly chipped to death by many Zombies trough the windows. Oh, and if you drop into the spectre pit at the exit you could be in trouble due to the released Cacodemons. I know I was surprised when that happened, but luckily I found the Plasma Gun earlier in one of those patented McGee torch secrets. You really should not die though, there are in total two Soulspheres and one Berserk pack in the map, which should be more than enough.

 

    One personal anecdote, when I was first playing DooM II way back in 2016 this was the first map that made me feel on edge. I think it was the combination of the MIDI and the dark hallways, and the false doors.

[Summer Deep]

MAP05 (The Waste Tunnels)

 

UV Pistol Start, GLBoom+, no saves

 

This was the first map so far in which I felt there was a serious threat. This is particularly so at the start, where there's a very useful Soulsphere, but also the prospect of imminent death from chaingunners both within the opening room and in more distant windows, plus the danger of falling into one of those traps in the floor while still without armour. 

Moving away from that area, the issue for a UV pistol starter now becomes low ammo, and I momentarily ran out completely before grabbing chaingun and shotgun supplies from the top of the lift in the 'road' section. There is of course a secret Berserk pack not far away, but the annoying thing is that it's right behind another Soulsphere (which you can't avoid picking up), so you don't benefit from any of its additional 100% health.

Survive these first two sections, and things become reasonably straightforward. The underground dungeon-type area is tricky rather than lethal, and the final room isn't so bad if you know what to expect. I strafe jumped to the secret in this area and found some plasma ammo but nothing to fire it from. I'm guessing from the finishing statistics that the remaining undiscovered secret must have contained three more enemies plus a plasma rifle.

A larger and more complex map than we've seen so far, and it was only on this most recent acquaintance that I've really got to know my way around it.

97% kills, 66% secrets.

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Summer Deep

[Walter confetti]

MAP05: We return back to the brown theme of sewer (or waste tunnels) prison, like in Underhalls, including a torture room with hanged corpses, lots of lift descending to alcoves with imps ready to attack, tricky secrets (especially the plasma gun room) and a overall creepy vibe gave by dark lighting all around and the ominous music theme.

 

Layout-wise is pretty good and really interconnected to every part of the map, including windows and cliffs where you can easily jump around in other sections of the map (mostly on starting point), but difficulty talking is not that hard like The Focus was imo, at least in HMP (is the difficulty i use for playing maps). Sure, is kinda engaging, but nothing too serious.

 

A really good map, overall!

[AFallingObject]

MAP04: The Focus

YES!  I played this immediately after the last level on March 2nd because I thought I’d take my first death in the opening area.  I didn’t.  At the beginning, I camped the door, pistoled the chaingunners, then ran for the secret to kill the shotgunners.  My timing was off.  They got me down to 20% health before I got in and cleaned them out from the inside.  The rest of the level was easy.  It was nice to see the SSG again.  Too bad it came after the most difficult part of the level.

100% Kills

100% Secrets

0 Deaths

[Horus]

MAP05 - “The Waste Tunnels” by American McGee (0 saves, 0 deaths)

 

This one rivals The Gantlet in the drab looks department, with brown and grey dominating, but it at least offers more interesting secrets than that map. I had forgotten how to get the plasma gun secret and it took me a while to work it out. It is also the most non-linear of the maps so far, with a number of different potential paths and ordering. The soulsphere at the start removes the challenge, hence unlike maps 2 & 4, I never felt even close to dying.

[AFallingObject]

I just played MAP05 after posting my old MAP04 notes.  I guess Europeans are posting early, since it's still March 4th in the States.  I'll join in too.

 

MAP05: The Waste Tunnels

I was scared of this opening too on a pistol start.  It turned out to be easier than the last one.  I never went below 75 health in this level.  It was a good time, except at the end when I had 12 monsters unaccounted for with the exit open and all secrets cleared.  They were in that area with the black doors, which it turned out is completely optional.  The result was me getting a blue armor after every enemy in the level was dead.  What a disappointment.

100% Kills

100% Secrets

0 Deaths

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP04

First map where I need multiple attempts.

That hallway at the beginning is no joke, especially pistol start. First attempt I try to pick off the shotgunners and chaingunners wussily from afar,

second attempt I say screw it and plow through, and am ultimately successful.

 

I totally forget about the shotgunner alcove secret the first time and run low on ammo.

 

Both times I try to SR50 my way through the last room, both times am unsuccessful. First time I end up dying to all the chaingunner fire. Bastards.

 

I do love this map. I used to hate it but grew to love it over the years. Several times in the past I've spent minutes looking for a damn switch to lower the box for the red key.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Spectre01]

MAP05 - “The Waste Tunnels” by American McGee

(I can't see shit.)

 

With a name like Waste Tunnels you are likely to expect some kind of sewer/nukebase map. No such luck. The only liquid here is pristine blue water. More thematically linked to map03 rather than 04, Waste Tunnels is very heavy on the brown brick. In fact, I'd wager there are proportionately more walls covered in brown brick here than there are metal textures in TNT's Metal! The opening area is solid; two buildings full of windows, enemies, and a courtyard in the middle. The lifts dropping you down to 3 ambushing Imps are a cool trap, and likely to result in some scratching for the unaware. Ample amounts of hitscanners behind barriers carry over from map04. McGee remains careful in introducing new content, giving a Plasma Rifle for those keen enough to press a wall after jumping to the balcony. It's also the first level to feature mid-tier demons, including the introduction of the Hell Knight. He's like a Baron with only half the health. Nice! Midi is also good and fits the dark atmosphere perfectly.

[universal-quantifier]

MAP05: The Waste Tunnels

UV, pistol start, 100% K / 66% S

 

You know a map means business when you're handed a super shotgun and a soulsphere right at the start, and they really come in handy too: the entire starting area is full of trap floors that lower the unsuspecting player down to pits full of imps. The fights are a lot meaner this time around, now that the player has accustomed to the rules of the game it starts throwing some curveballs at you in the form of traps and monster closets. Some mid-tier monsters like Cacodemons and Lost Souls are introduced as well, adding some variety to the combat.

 

This is the first map in Doom 2 that can be considered somewhat mazelike; it's not too difficult to navigate in the end but I do sometimes tend to get lost in the dark tunnel areas. It stands out from the previous maps by having more focus on exploration and the secrets are a bit more well hidden on this one, I couldn't figure out how to get to the Plasma Gun but didn't bother to stick around to search for it as I had already managed to make it to the end room without it.

 

Not a huge fan of the BIGBRIK texture that's used for most of the walls on this map but it still manages to have menacing atmosphere. The jail/torture room in the tunnels sticks out particularly. Even the music is appropriate this time around, being easily one of my favorite tracks from the game.

 

I remember disliking this level back in the day on my very first playthrough for having unfair encounters but I've grown to like it quite a lot over the years. Very fun to play once you've prepared for what's coming, the enemy placement is very clever and it keeps you on your toes.

 

Ranking:

Spoiler

MAP02

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03

MAP01

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by universal-quantifier

[DynamiteKaitorn]

MAP 04 - The Focus

A nice, snappy little map. This map is definitely a pain to pistol start just due to all of the gunners that are around you. With that being said, this isn't that hard of a map if you can get past the first room, bonus if you can spare enough HP to take a quick zap from the slime pit to grab the super shotgun and box of shells to help aid you against the chaingunners in the later section of this map. Also, I believe this map introduces the first cymbal-slapping song of DooM II (AKA a song with a lot of cymbal crashes/hi-hat taps).

 

100% kills 100% secrets 1 save [4 total]

 

MAP 05 - The Waste Tunnels

Waste tunnels introduces the Hell Knight for people on UV (not for me since I prefer HMP), it also re-introduces Lost souls and Cacodemons. For a map themed around tunnels of $#!t it's surprisingly clean and slime-free, in fact compared to some later levels, this map is quite hygienic. O_o

That aside, this map is pretty fun with some nice twisty-turns... though like MAP03, it's a bit brown and dull in terms of colour scheming...

 

Also I need to mention one last, E P I C bonus about this map! This map holds the first PLASMA RIFLE !!! :D

 

100% Kills 100% secrets 1 save [5 Total]

 

 

[Pechudin]

2 hours ago, universal-quantifier said:

I remember disliking this level back in the day on my very first playthrough for having unfair encounters but I've grown to like it quite a lot over the years.

 

    "Unfair encounters", that was my sentiment towards it as well the first time around. What exactly made it seem "unfair" to you? To me it was the false door and the Imp drop-down pits. I remember feeling it was unfair since it trapped me without chance of retreat. Innocent days ...

Edited March 5, 2020 by Pechudin