The DWheretic Club plays: Heretic

[Zedonk]

E2M3 The River of Fire

Secrets: 0/0

This level has one of my favourite music tracks, it's so rhythmic.

Like ReaperAA, I only found the Hellstaff, Phoenix Rod and the Firemace after I killed all the enemies.  I did this despite knowing where the hellstaff was - I just couldn't be bothered to get them earlier :P

The Phoenix Rod is the most powerful standard weapon in heretic acting a bit similar to the Rocket Launcher.  The Firemace uses weapon slot 7 and it can seem a bit weak when compared to the Hellstaff and Phoenix Rod which is partly due to it's large ammo consumption and very limited range.  It's also not guaranteed to appear in any given map and it won't always appear the same place.  However, it can deal a decent amount if used in close proximity.

 

This map have a few tomes of powers and shooting enemies with a powered version of the ethereal crossbow is always a blast. Badum-tsh :P

 

The only part of this map which I feel is subpar is the very final section where the fights feel a bit one-directional but overall I like this map.

9/10

 

 

Edited April 13, 2021 by Zedonk

[Doritos420]

E2M3 - The River of Fire

The first area is my favorite part of this level. If you get the crossbow fast it’s good, otherwise its going to be grindy. Luckily you have lots of room to run around the lava river. We also get a sneak peak at the ice floor in this level (I think it’s a little silly to have it in the same area as the lava river but ok!). After grabbing the green key and hitting that switch I was a bit put off because I didn’t know where to go next. When I found the blue key and entered the last area (rectangular lava hot tub rooms) I was thinking “Sheesh, enough with the lava already”. If you’re unlucky like me you’ll find the staff after killing the last enemy. Also I was surprised that there were no secrets, although the phoenix rod could potentially count as one.

[LadyMistDragon]

River of Fire

 

This is where Heretic really starts to show its potential. The upbeat, not quite Heretic-esque music track that sounds like a certain Wilson Pickett song kind of has that "I Sawed the Demons" vibe, but....this map is quite a bit harder than that one.

 

For instance, step on a linedef maybe a step or two from your starting location and open up a monster closet with either 3 or 4 weredragons. Well, pistol starters don't have a crossbow, so run all the way to the other end of the level to find the crossbow. Try to pick up the Crystal Vials and other items in the lava, but keep in mind that you'll likely lose health if you don't understand the tic-counting trick (I was never that good with counting very quickly. That's too bad because among other items is a Ring of Invunerbility, several Time bombs, and the Phoenix Rod and the Mace Staff. I didn't really bother with them, and that might have been a mistake because of one particular area, which we'll get to.

 

Don't overthink the reality of this being a circle instead of a river of fire. Realism has no place here, unlike probably my favorite map of the episode coming up shortly. It'll drive you batshit, and possibly into the path of fireballs spitting from the mini-volcanoes located throughout that pack a serious wallop. Behind the green door, pick up the blue key in the middle of a lava pit sitting inside the temple and get ready for an ambush of Were-dragons from the outside of the temple. Shooting these guys is annoying beyond belief, especially since one or two of them hide in the outside corners, and that the surface outside is that slippery-ass ice. The time bomb and other items are quite nice though. The blue door was where I used the Invincibility Ring because of the close quarters combat with Weredragons and Wizards resulting from the cell-like structure of rooms leading to the exit. Find the Hellstaff in here, use a Tome of Power and some time bombs and prepare to completely annhilate your opposition. Somewhat difficult, but finishing it is oh-so-satisfying.

[Capellan]

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

E2M4: The Ice Grotto

 

Hell, it seems, is a place of ice as much as fire in the Heretic universe; it's not the player's first brush with it, but it's used more extensively here than in the preceding map, a great slippery sheet of it offering some fresh difficulties when dodging incoming fire, with the adjacent river of lava providing an enviromental hazard to players whose momentum gets way from them.  This is the first map of the episode that I find truly interesting, the grey caves of the earlier map finally opening up here to an ice-and-fire-themed outdoor area, separated from the titular grotto by a towering castle wall.  Beyond, there's a small cluster of buildings that put me in mind of a monastery or hermitage, isolated from the rest of the world by their curtain wall and the surrounding hostile terrain, though quite what sort of hermit or ascetic Hell might give rise to I can't fathom.  Progress requires a little bit of backtracking across the ice sheet and then a leap of faith from the castle wall down into the secluded grotto proper, at which point the game changes from open-air battle against swarming monsters to urban combat, house by house and room by room, that'll be very familiar to anyone who's played the first episode; indeed, there's almost a sense here that part of a mortal city has been drawn into Hell, swallowed up and enclosed.  I missed the phoenix rod on the preceding level and so picked it up here; it's a helpful addition to the player's arsenal, filling the same role as Doom's rocket launched, though its somewhat muted sound effects make it feel less impactful and effective than it is (an inversion of the noisy and flashy but underwhelming Hellstaff).  From here, the player has the option of continuing with the ice theme by visiting the secret level, or moving away from lustrous blue colours and slippery surfaces underfoot by choosing the regular exit.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Heretic

 

Russian Heretic emulated through WINE, bringest them oneth, wand starts.

 

E2M4: The Ice Grotto

 

Lava next to ice? Wha...

It's not that bad on a wand start, the slippery ice can be really annoying, so pay attention to the attack frames of the monsters, just like the last level, once you get weapons it isn't that bad, the other half of the level is a city inside a cavern I guess. This level features the phoenix road, and the first Iron Litch of Episode 2. The secret exit is in this level too (And I took it), you can use a chaos device and backtrack to the phoenix road area. The music is good, reminds me of a gothic castle. Not a bad level, the first part is a pain, but the rest ain't that bad.

 

[Zedonk]

E2M4 The Ice Grotto

Secrets: 2/2

The first thing you may notice about this map is that ice is immediately placed next to boiling lava.  How can this happen you may ask?  I don't know it's Heretic :P.

 

I quite like this level, I felt like I was under enough pressure near the beginning of the level that I had to use a morph ovum which is a rare occurrence for me in Heretic.  I also felt the map was also quite generous with the weapons which helped with the tedium factor.  However, the crossbow (which is the only decent weapon at the beginning) is hidden in a very dark place and I can very easily imagine people missing it if they haven't played it before.  I also felt that the later parts of the level are quite one-directional which isn't necessarily bad because they are relatively quick.

 

7/10

 

 

[Gez]

1 hour ago, Lol 6 said:

Lava next to ice? Wha... 

 

30 minutes ago, Zedonk said:

The first thing you may notice about this map is that ice is immediately placed next to boiling lava.  How can this happen you may ask?  I don't know it's Heretic :P.

 

As strange as it may seem, it's not actually that unrealistic. Happens all the time in Iceland. Who said volcanoes have to be in tropical lands only?

 

[Walter confetti]

E2M4: Finally we've get out to the cavernous areas of the previous map for seeing a semi-outdoor canyon surrounded by ice and crossed by a river of fire that, as Gez wrote and shown above, fire and ice is a rare but common thing. Also in fictional stories this is a possible thing, actually in Divine Comedy hell the last circle of hell and where Lucifer lies is a place surrounded by eternal ices, so it could be that a place like this exist...

 

Anyway is a cool map with a nice and moody musical track, a little village beyond the walls with a sense of semi-realism like the E1 city maps, this illuminati confirmed room with the return of the giant tornado-shooter skull, a strong challenging gameplay with a good usage of ammo and health sprawling around the town and the only negative thing of that boring, boring slippery ice that make me hate all. Overall, a cool map, especially the village section.

 

[Alper002]

Been not playing for a few days, here's me catching up!

 

E2M2:the lava pits
Key count:2
Another instance of normally dangerous exploration turning out safe(to some degree), dropping down to the lower fall of a lava river leads to a somewhat helpful secret. This level also contains the first non-boss iron lich, tucked away in a secret area where engaging with it isn't too dangerous. Not to mention the possibility of surplus items up to that point!
Might just be black plague making them faster, but I felt like the sabreclaws were pretty dangeous at the start, kinda mean way to introduce them, but this is the hardest difficulty so it's fine!

 

E2M3:the river of fire
Key count:3
The music here is also one that sees use in some old-school pwads, I'm mostly aware of it's presence in a DWANGO wad, but it's similar enough to Doom 1's E1M6 that it fits in with Doom more than the other tracks in the soundtrack. Personally I think this track beats the hell out of that one though.
The titular river can be (un)imaginatively described as a long lava road with rocky sidewalks. The river isn't really the most interesting part of the level, but it does contain the hint of a fun choice of crossing the road or not!
Behind the yellow key door is an area featuring ice, and that means ice physics!! I am not against the idea in the slightest, Heretic's implementation just makes the acceleration really sluggish on it. Normally that wouldn't be too bad, but with the fast projectiles in black plague... it can be annoying, to say the least.
The phoenix rod is also here, but it's off to the side and only available late in the map. It's also another instance of dangerous exploration being encouraged, as you have to go into some damaging floors to actually grab it.

 

^{Firemace..? What firemace?? There wasn't one when I was playing the map!!}

 

E2M4:ice grotto
Key count:3
This level's music is among my favorites from this game! <3
There's some ice, next to some lava. Like Gez mentioned, the concept isn't entirely unrealistic, but this ice just isn't reacting to the lava's presence. It seems incredibly resilient to heat, and might even lead to hell freezing over if left to grow :P
Who knows, maybe hell is in the process of freezing over? There's more ice to come this episode!

 

Don't have much more to say on the level other than the fact that I'm finding dealing with Heretic's ice physics much more reasonable on difficulties that aren't black plague possesses thee. I tend to either enjoy or not mind ice physics rather than despise them, but in Heretic's case it's actually annoying me on the highest difficulty a little bit...

Fast projectiles + lots of projectiles + slowed down movement speed = ugh

 

Still playing on that highest skill but I'm considering switching down if I actually stop having a fun time with it.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Alper002

[LadyMistDragon]

Ice Grotto

 

I'm not sure why the name is "Ice Grotto" when the ice and the grotto are in two separate locations, but I guess a concise name was needed. Anyways, there's some nicely and strangely rhythm-laden atmospheric music here. There are, as it turns out, two areas. The first is a large outdoor area with an surface covered entirely with that slippy, slidy ice that'll often send you right into the fireballs of Were dragons if you're not careful. The first step out is quite rough, and you should probably expect your health to be quite low for most of it. There's also a Morph Ovum hanging out near the lava, but I didn't find it practical to use anywhere. The Crossbow, however is another story. Now you can't really do that much about the Weredragons hanging around every corner, but just Don't. Stop. Moving. The yellow key is in one of these corners, which you can use to access the southern castle, which contains a Phoenix Rod and a Green Key. Now pick up the large Flame Orbs sitting next to the windows on the sides of the castle and you can kick some serious ass! Those idiot Disciples will give no more trouble!

 

The green key door leads to a teleporter that takes you behind the castle wall you can see from the side your starting location is on, and now you get into my favorite part of the level. An underground town that's presumably located in a treeless grotto, there are all sorts of little rooms (one containing a switch which opens up the other buildings) containing enemies and items like an Enchanted Shield.  When you enter one of the other buildings, you'll find a blue key and a Dragon's Claw. Do you think Dragon's Claw ammo was perhaps too prolific throughout the map? Well, I agree with you! Through a process I don't quite understand, you unlock a hidden door containing a teleporter to the the top of the castle wall from whence you came, as well as the door to the secret exit in the southern temple (I will not be playing it because it was tedious enough as it was playing continously). At this point, the combat starts feeling like small potatoes because of how overpowered you likely are. Iron Lich in the red-rimmed room near the regular exit? Use a Tome of Power and use a Hellstaff/Crossbow combo to dispatch him in probably 20 seconds.

 

I really liked this level. The slide effects were definitely stronger than they needed to be, but the music was cool, and I had a decent time exploring, which is more than you could say for other maps. But the Were-Dragons in the starting area were seriously annoying and I feel like there's some RNG involved because even a skilled player might die here on occasion because of the stupid physics.

Edited April 13, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[Walter confetti]

E2M9: Ah yes, the famous secret level so secret that it's showed in the first demo play of the game (at least in Shadow of Serpent Riders, not sure how the demos are organized in the first release or 3 episodes Heretic)!

 

However this is a pretty cool (if not one of the best on Episode 2) map sets in this mysterious underground castle / worship place with no sky, pretty stingy of ammo at the start and pretty reminiscent of E1M9 somehow, maybe it's for the double stained glass windows (that lowers to reveal some monster closets)... thinking about it now, it even recalls some layout choices of Hexen, especially MAP01 with it's brown wall design and the stained glasses where monsters or goodies hides.

The progression is kinda linear, where you have to get the key, reach the door, rinse and repeat. But there's also lots of "secret" alcoves with many goodies (with 3 / 4 actual secret rooms) and a pretty good layout with some great sections like the stairs room with the lava pit that have the blue key. Also the glass stained decoration are cool.

Music is cool but pretty weird, sounds like a weird 80s pop that mix a fantasy setting instrumentation and atmosphere... again, is a weird tune but catchy somehow.

[ReaperAA]

E2M4: The Ice Grotto

Kills = 111/111

Secrets = 2/2

Deaths = 0

Secret exit found = yes

 

First of all, I really like this map. In fact, this map is my favorite map in Episode 2. Some people hate this map because the the first half of this map is basically traversing through the slippery icy while having to deal with weredragon and gargoyles with disciples acting as turrets firing from the top of the fortress. But I like it for this reason. It makes things much more fun and challenging.

 

One you get the yellow key and enter the tower, you are rewarded with a phoenix rod. Teleporters also open in that room which will lead you to the top sides of the tower, leading to the green key.

 

Once you have the green key, head back to the starting area and you will find a teleporter behind the green door. The teleporter leads to the inside of the fortress that houses a medieval town of sorts. You will find a blue key in one of those buildings. Once you are done with searching all the buildings, you can head towards the blue door and deal with the Iron Lich and the few gargoyles.

 

The secret level of this episode can be reached by making sure that you clear the entire blue key cave and then backtracking to the yellow key door, where the iron face door has opened, leading to the secret exit.

[antares031]

E2M9 - “The Glacier”
BP-WS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

Right at the beginning, you'll probably think about Barrels o' Fun from Doom 2, with all of those explosive pods, blocking your only way to proceed. One different thing about pods, compare to barrels, is that they're lightweight, allowing you to push those obstacles, rather than just shoot them. Use as many pods as you can, to blow those sabreclaws and gargoyles for your own good. If you're curious about the level's name, jump down to the dark hall on the north to figure out. The giant glacier has a yellow key on top of it, but make sure to grab a dragon claw behind the stained glass, if you're playing wand start.

 

The yellow key room has a long, cross-shaped ice ditch, with several rooms to explore for each side. One of them has a green key, while the others have some items to pickup, and some monsters to kill. The green key room has an underground hall with a lava pool, where you can grab a blue key. The optional area on the south of green key room has even more useful items, such as enchanted shield and a mystic urn, as well as some nitrogolems(it's kinda rare to meet golems in this episode, now that I think about it) and an iron lich.

 

The blue key room near the starting point has lots of disciples, as well as two teleports for secret hunters. One of them has a map scroll, which is really useful to find more optional areas. But be careful, since one of them has an another iron lich. In overall, the level is not bad, but it feels less "special", compare to the secret level of first episode. And I think it would be much better to use more various textures and themes, rather than pouring those brown brick textures all over the level. But don't get me wrong. The level is still enjoyable, if you don't mind the pod farm at the beginning, and climbing course of the giant slippery glacier.

[ReaperAA]

E2M9: The Glacier

Kills = 111/111

Secrets = 9/9

Deaths = 1 (Total death in the wad = 1)

 

Yay, my first death..... and it came in a similar manner to the 1st demo of the demo loop of Heretic.

 

The start of this map is really nasty, with tons of sabreclaws and gargoyles. Your only way to deal with them is using  explosive pods to kill as many as you can and then dash towards the crossbow to deal with the rest of them

 

Once that is done, the rest of the map isn't so bad. The name of this map comes from the fact that once you jump down from the starting area to the north, you will come across a big glacier. At the top is the yellow key and a teleporter to take you back to starting area. There are tons of secrets near the glacier, one of which is behind the stained glass that has good amount of ammo and the dragon claw.

 

The yellow key room has a long ice ditch in the center and several rooms on each side filled with weredragons and some pickup items. With slow and methodical approach, the weredragons can be dealt with without too much trouble.

 

The green key room has gargoyles neat a lava pool, behind which is the blue key. The area on the south of green key room has many useful items, such as the enchanted shield and mystic urn, as well as having ring of invincibility and the hellstaff behind secret walls. This area is also where the nitrogolems return for the first time since E1M8.

 

The blue key door is at the start of the map and is filled with disciples, but thankfully, they aren't a big issue if keep your distance.

 

Overall a pretty good map.

[Capellan]

 

[Zedonk]

15 hours ago, Gez said:

 

 

As strange as it may seem, it's not actually that unrealistic. Happens all the time in Iceland. Who said volcanoes have to be in tropical lands only?

 

Technically, in that gif, the ice isn't located immediately adjacent to the lava unlike in the ice grotto level ;)

Edited April 14, 2021 by Zedonk
Making my post a bit clearer

[Gez]

Yes, and there's no vapor smog, and the floor isn't sloped, and there isn't any snow, and there's obvious tiling patterns, and also the lava doesn't hurt as much as IRL.

[Zedonk]

Ok  : D

[Zedonk]

E2M9 The Glacier

Secrets: 9/9

At the beginning you have to fight your way through sabre claws and explosive pods which very almost got me this time (but they didn't, how do you like being turned into chickens, sabre claws? :P)

 

I really like this map, you get given a decent weapon (the ethereal crossbow) early on and there's enough pressure that encourages the use of artifacts which are liberally scattered throughout the level.  The only drawback I can think of is that some of the weredragons behind the yellow door can simply be neutralized by using shoot and take cover strategies which can feel a bit boring.

10/10

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Zedonk

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Heretic

 

Russian Heretic emulated through WINE, bringest them oneth, wand starts.

 

E2M9: The glacier (first death of the episode)

Deaths: e1m8, e2m9

(Thank you shadowsphere :), the best item)

 

Blow up the pods while you still have ammo, and don't get cornered by the sabreclaws, I like the esthetics of the map, the secrets are well hidden, the map has many Disciples of D'sparil, so keep that in mind, we get the hellstaff again here. It's not a bad map, but, I feel that the start isn't balanced. The music is rather interesting. So yeah, not much to say, I found two iron litches.

[TheOrganGrinder]

E2M9: The Glacier

 

I feel as though one of the potential issues facing a level designer when building a map around a single physical, architectural, or geographic feature is that sometimes the chosen feature doesn't support the scale and variety that a substantial level can call for.  That's somewhat the case here, with the titular glacier occupying and defining the gameplay of all of one room; the rest of the map is a more-or-less anonymous collection of rooms and passages that doesn't really have a lot to do with the title and declared theme of the map.  Which isn't to say that it's not fun, just that the fun that's to be had here is for the most part tangential to its theme.

 

Anyway!  This is mostly a secret hunt, with a whopping nine secret areas to go looking for; one of them contains a map scroll which makes finding the rest of them rather straightforward if you stumble your way into that particular cell first.  There are enough doors, tight angles, and enclosed hallways to make most of the combat a somewhat stop-start affair: pop around a corner, unload down the corridor, duck back into cover to avoid the return fire, rinse and repeat because there's not really enough open space for the player's superior mobility to be used to its best advantage.

[Zedonk]

1 hour ago, Lol 6 said:

So yeah, not much to say, I found two iron litches.

Did you licherally find them by any chance? : D

Sorry, I had to.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Zedonk

[antares031]

E2M5 - "The Catacombs"
BP-WS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

Oh, this music works even better with this level, compare to E1M4, in my opinion. Anyway, you start the level from an outside area with lots of pillar and staircases. There's a dragon claw under the small pit near the intersection for wand starters, and an easy yellow key to grab on the left side. The yellow key door near the canal reveals an altar with a blue key, located on the center of deep lava pit. Spoiler alert: you can actually reach the altar with straferunning, instead of falling down to the lava pit. But we're not going to break the sequence, and just press the button on the left, opening all of two iron face doors around the canal.

 

After playing with gargoyles & sabreclaws ambush beyond the iron face door on the canal, you'll enter a flooded underground temple, presumably catacombs from the name, with an iron lich and its minions. I don't know why, but I dig the theme of this flooded catacomb, especially a hallway with stained glasses on the left side wall, those pillars and beams, and chandeliers on the ceiling. The end of hallway leads you to the green key room, where you can get a legit access to a blue key.

 

The level is nothing too special, especially because of generic monster placements, with occasional ambushes. But the environmental design of flooded catacombs gets me somehow, combined with the sounds of pipe organ and strings. The progression is quite linear, but there are some optional areas and secrets to explore, which are always welcome to me.

[Capellan]

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

E2M5: The Catacombs

 

The layout of this one has a rather playful quality to it, starting the player out in a man-made (or perhaps demon-made) area which then gives way to natural caverns as it coils around the lava-filled crater at its core, then transitioning back to constructed spaces of progressively more ornate decor toward the end, looping back on itself both physically and thematically even if it doesn't quite hook back into its earliest spaces as it reaches its conclusion.  A relatively early peek at the blue key, displayed atop a sarcophagus across a chasm, helps to establish a goal and a sense of progress toward it that isn't always present in Heretic maps; the green key, by way of counter-example, is stuffed away here unceremoniously in a cramped little room in a cluttered corner of the map, and doesn't really have that same sense of being something that you can identify and work toward, just there to be stumbled upon as you muddle your way around a roadblock to your advancement.  The combat pacing is a little odd, too, with one of the map's earlier encounters proving its most frantic and substantial and the rest of the combat gameplay feeling not quite so up-tempo in comparison.

[ReaperAA]

E2M5: The Catacombs

Kills = 96/96

Secrets = 6/6

Deaths = 0 (Total deaths in the wad = 1)

 

Honestly a pretty meh map. Its not bad by any means, but it isn't anything special. The only notable thing is the sarcophagus having the blue key that can be reached by strafe running and thus we can sequence break this map.

 

Apologies for not writing a full review because I am not in a mood today.

[LadyMistDragon]

The Catacombs

 

It's sort of hard to comment on the layout.

The beginning makes me think of a Doom map I can't quite remember with stairs rising on both sides, and there are lots of those yellowish volcanic structures in other areas. This is also the first map where floating water is very important to your progression and can frustrate you if you don't know the map's design beforehand. See, there's always a side hallway that'll lead you to a teleporter that takes you back to a previous area when it seems like the only way back is forward. You'll just have to search around a bit.

 

E1M4's music will play without the Raven midi pack, which is fine, because I never get tired of hearing it like I've said in my Guard Tower post. However, the creepy and grim "Avenger's Spirit" is a strong enough replacement track that also fits the map strongly, albeit with perhaps a different angle. The way it speeds up toward the end of the loop a la' that other track while also having some echoes of it is a nice touch.

 

Wand-starting this map is.....definitely kind of rough. There's a Bag of Holding located not too far down the river from the start in a fairly cramped, but there are a few Weredragons you probably won't want to fight with at this point. Fall into the lava with the blue key platform without any protection whatsoever, explore the side caves some and find a Ring of Invincibility (which you might have to use here, as opposed to a certain Weredragon trap that's actually NOT the one with the Bag of Holding but still is adjacent) Hellstaff, which can do some serious damage with a Tome of Power in the right spots. The Crossbow and Dragon's Claw are hidden away in secrets, but they shouldn't be too difficult to find if you're observant. Honestly, the layout's such that you may well find secrets like the Crossbow room before you find a door that leads your forward. Specifically. I'm thinking of the rectangular room with the Iron Lich and the teleporters which lower when you hit the switch from the upper section of the river. Though now that I think about it, this is a case where you basically have to search around for said way if you want a way out. Hmmmm...

 

I really like this map, but it's kind of strange why I don't seem to remember this map as much as E2M4, apart from the beginning. No matter, my favorite music of the episode should be coming soon...

Edited April 15, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[Doritos420]

E2M4 - The Ice Grotto

I think I’m starting to see a pattern with these levels. Most of them start with large open areas where you have to hunt for keys and weapons while fighting off a whole army of ghouls. I like that there is a huge wall and it feels like you’re infiltrating a fortress. One thing I liked was how fast it gave you the phoenix rod, even before some of the other weapons. Something I really disliked was how when you teleport onto the tower overlooking the area there is a Disciple that was placed so that they are right on top of you. Other than that I kind of liked this level. The icy floor physics makes things a little more challenging but not enough to frustrate me. Also once you find the scroll it’s ez-pz to find the secret exit (not sure what triggers the door to open though).

 

E2M9 - The Glacier

I really liked this map. Felt like a good old fashioned dungeon to explore with plenty of secrets. Unfortunately if you’re like me you’ll find the two hidden weapons at the end after everything has been killed. The giant set piece of the glacier seems a little bit silly (like @TheOrganGrinder mentioned, why is a glacier just sitting in a room), but there were plenty of other areas I enjoyed. For example the intro area with the explodey pods. Also I liked the dark area with the weredragons, it was a bit spooky and you can use your weapons to illuminate the hall or just use your torch. I was surprised when I jumped down off the glacier into the stained glass window and then it revealed an iron lich right in my face, very fun surprise. This is the first map where I found the fire mace. A bit underwhelming like you guys say, but maybe I’ll save up on ammo combine it with a tome of power and then use it on a boss.

 

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

42 minutes ago, LadyMistDragon said:

The beginning makes me think of a Doom map I can't quite remember with stairs rising on both sides.

Command control, perhaps?