The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

[galileo31dos01]

Friendly reminder: don't forget to load the patch for map 28 which is in the OP, alongside the main wad of course... and, take your time, because the map is lengthy :x

[Dragonker]

MAP24 - “Terracotta” by Moustachio

 

Woof! * HNTR * Pistol start * Saves

 

This map just wasn't for me. I found it too unfriendly and with boring visuals. I did it as quickly as I could.

 

MAP25 - “The Sad Kingdom” by JadingTsunami

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

Excellent map! There's a great thematic-progression here: while you don't get to play on a proper kingdom, you transverse through the whole complex of a grim keep, visiting its catacombs, gardens, and little outposts on the way.

 

The room with the lowering red walls is specially memorable.

 

My words don't make this map justice as am a little burnout, but it's up there with the best.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP27: "Cargo Cult" by DFF

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 6/11 secrets

 

This is a pretty large map, and it's split into two main sections. One of which is a cargo bay/city type area, with boxes stacked to the height of buildings, and lots of neat Doomcute elements like a forklift and clipboards scattered all over the place. The second area takes place on the ultimate crowd-pleaser, a boat. The boat is equally loaded with boxes and you can see some sort of power station type building in the distance. You even get to dip down to the boat's lower deck here thanks to some invisible teleporter shenanigans, which is very cool, and down here you get to see the crates' contents which are pretty gross.

 

Despite being pretty densely populated I found this a bit easier than the previous two maps, although this might be partially owing to me locating the way to the BFG on my first run. I can imagine some of the bigger fights, especially the lower deck cyberdemon and the double spiderdemon ambush near the end, would be a lot more painful without it. In the cargo bay area, fights tend to have quite a few monsters in them and you have a lot of room to run around, I engaged in some nice run and gun combat with the rocket launcher around here. When you first get to the ship you are greeted by a bunch of hitscanners situated on the many boxes with some health to alleviate the damage you'll inevitably take, and the lower deck area gives you still a decent few monsters, but a lot less space to work with. As mentioned before, there is a cyberdemon down here, he wasn't so bad with the BFG but if I just had plasma I could see him smoking me a couple of times.

 

Also to note, I did manage to softlock myself in two different ways here. One of the times I was standing atop the boxes and shooting at the revenants that guard some rockets, and a revenant missile damage boosted me right out of the boat. The other one was in the lower deck area in the room with several beds and a plasma rifle, where I managed to get myself stuck behind a bed in the corner of the room.

 

This one was cool, loved the Doomcute visuals and the fights were on point.

[MtPain27]

MAP 21: Return to Sender

With its nearly-inaudible MIDI and limp combat, A2Rob’s first contribution to the megawad comes off rather subdued, even conservative, in its first five minutes, but it rallies down the stretch big time. Return to Sender is all blood and concrete. With a redder sky, it wouldn’t have been out of place in Nova III, which is the only other place I’ve encountered A2Rob’s work. I’ve always loved maps where you raise the water level to access items...nonsensical as Doomguy's treatment of liquids as solid surfaces is. Anyway, this map started to grab me during the ascent sequence, where you’ll have to rocket carefully if you don’t want to drop one at your feet. The blue key fight is what finally won me over: the pressure comes from all sides, from two arachnotrons, two slinking arch-viles, and enough imps, revenants, hell knights, and zombies to demand your attention while dealing with the aforementioned threats. The last room tries to ramp things up further with a cyberdemon and additional arch-viles, but cyberboi is too prone to infighting to care about you, and the soul sphere and megaarmor are enough of a buffer to weather the storm. This is solid stuff.

 

MAP 22: System Corruption

Another eclectic Moustachio map, System Corruption appears to be a toxic waste dump appended to a medieval castle, the mishmash of which is being eaten away by a fleshy, molten, hell-maw. “The realm of souls treads not lightly on the minds of the mortal,” indeed. I didn’t get any screenshots of this one, but Moustachio’s art style continues to appeal, though I do pine for a little more internal consistency color-wise. I feel like he tries to use the whole rainbow in each of his maps. If you turn around right at the start you’ll catch a glimpse of the BFG through a window, which is a pretty good summary of this map in foreshadowing. I confess I didn’t love the lava zone, which burns like hell and peppers you with hitscan and revenant fireballs: even the zombiemen are threatening here. If you duck down and to the left there’s a little pocket with a megaarmor and some cells (?), which can help lighten the load. Not a bad map, but Moustachio’s done better.

 

MAP 23: Asbestos

During Asbestos, it occurred to me that the most comparable megawad to Interception II that I know of would have to be Akeldama: both map packs are high quality, rife with different styles, combat and aesthetics-wise, and both are decidedly overlong. This map specifically reminded me of one of Akeldama’s late-stage treks...I think there may have even been a brown, sludge themed map in that pack too. In any case, this map is a shithole, and that’s a compliment. NeedHealth’s opus is a sprawling, carcinogenic open sewer of a map, I can definitely imagine mancubi rooting in the filth out here: you can practically smell them. This map is a 45-minute slugfest with tons of exploring to do, but the latter half, after the double cyberdemon in the moldy western area, is kind of a dredge. I felt a bit silly having to backtrack for the last sixty kills, most of which appear on your way to getting that blue armor secret that appears right at the beginning. Not sure why the monsters make such a fuss over it. I got perma-stuck in the slime pit that quickly lowers and sics pinkies and HKs on you at one point. I saw it pop back up after the initial rush, but then it stayed stuck down there and I couldn’t raise it again. Not sure if that’s an oversight on my part or some kind of bug. Either way, it’s not game-breaking. Asbestos is a real gutter of a map and I dig the atmosphere, but I do think it could have used some abbreviating.

 

 

MAP 24: Terracotta

Something of a breather map from Moustachio, Terracotta is a big demonic dig site with a lot of open fights and a laid back Lewkforce MIDI. Health is a little scarce until you get the red key and find yourself a berserk pack, and the second half is more generous, but lays the sniping monsters on thick: the darkened final arena gets carpeted by arachnotron bolts, skeleton rockets, and mancubus fire. I sort of stumbled in there, grabbed the plasma rifle, got the yellow key, offed the arch-vile, and danced awkwardly between the first dig site and the watery final area, scraping together ammo and doing a pitiful job of finding secrets. I did end up figuring out how to telefrag the cyber...that invuln would have really helped with cleaning up the ending. Terracotta is a fine, outdoorsy map with open-ended combat that you can make much easier for yourself with a plan of attack.

 

MAP 25: The Sad Kingdom

Oof, another long one...with twelve secrets! Nobody said conducting the comeback train would be easy. The Sad Kingdom is a patchwork epic with a bevy of memorable sights and arresting ideas: off the top of my head, there’s the watery cavern climb in the beginning, sneaking past mancubi and fleeing from revenant missiles, the insidious red maze room where the walls raise and lower, the crimson descent where you’re fighting off silhouettes for the yellow key (the arch-vile at the end is almost overkill), the huge open Mastermind battle, which can be prepared for with a partial inviso, invuln, or both, and the hellish finale, a barnstorming blowout with a cyberdemon, imps, hell knights, revs, and mancubi. I also found myself really enjoying little details like the pain elemental in the well right at the start, the lost soul cluster guarding their blue sphere in the water cave, the pinkie pen, and the ceiling fan by the yellow door and invuln. The Sad Kingdom may be a frankenmap but it’s bursting with detail, and I’m sorry to have missed out on a good deal of it by neglecting more than half of the secrets here: at least two invulnerabilities passed me by, and I wasn’t able to sniff out the early BFG. JadingTsunami’s MAP 20 was ambitious, but The Sad Kingdom beats it soundly, it’s got adventure in the marrow of its linedefs.

 

 

MAP 26: Sinister Teachings

Appropriately titled, and somehow connotating arch-viles even before I opened it, Sinister Teachings is a mood piece with some strange scenery and two especially mean fights. The start is slow and ominous with its low lighting and morbid set dressing, feeding you a trickle of revenants, hell nobles, pinkies, imps, specters, and viles in close quarters. You can lean on berserk here to save ammo if you want: revenants in particular can be rushed and pummeled to death reliably before they hit you. Once you get the yellow key, you’ll be teleported outside and take on the wickedest fight in the map, an onslaught of four arch-viles, two pain elementals, a mess of chaingunners, and whatever the evil healers feel like resurrecting. After that, there’s a tense, but fair, elevator fight with two more viles, another round of chaingunners and archies in a cave, and finally a devastating rush of revenants backed by three more arch-viles, and a boss battle with TWO Masterminds that can whittle down your meager cover in no time. The invuln secret, obtained by shooting a small red switch in the chaingunner cave, is the only way to make this closer bearable. Sinister Teachings took awhile to get going, but it became a real fiend when it finally did.

 

 

MAP 27: Cargo Cult

Another big-ass DFF map, this one kinda flattened me at the end of a long day of playing Interception II. Comparisons to Hellbound might be unflattering, but I think they’re ultimately founded: Cargo Cult is massive, uber-detailed, and impressive, but it’s actually the mildest DFF effort so far, I think. You can take every fight at your own pace, you’re smothered in rockets and given tons of room to move, even on the ship, and the epic monster count is spread across too many disparate fights to warrant concern. I am a little ground down this evening with all the recent Doom-playing and -writing I’ve been doing, but Cargo Cult took me 45 in-game minutes to knock out, and even though the environment was consistently amazing to look at, I found the action kind of mealy and slow. Honestly this map is so much more intricate and exhaustive than most of what Interception II has presented thus far, I almost suspect DFF repurposed this map from an intended solo release or something. After all, how does a giant freighter fit into the hellish theme of E3? Speculation aside, the crate-city, meat-packing room, random papers and folders strewn on the shipyard grounds, and the unreachable structure across the bay demonstrate DFF’s remarkable dedication to his craft.

 

[finnks13]

MAP 28 - Doctor Jones Abby's Malediction by galileo31dos01:

Alright, THIS is what I was talking about earlier when I said that a marathon map lives or dies for me on it's standout, memorable moments. This map, in spite of it's length, stands out to me because of the large variety of interesting, challenging fights and these all work towards building an hour long experience that is an absolute joy to play. I managed to find all of the secret fights which I think were probably the best parts - this is probably a bit of a flaw of the map, since I do think these secret fights are the best part of the map and it'd be a shame if someone missed them all.

 

I thought the BFG fight was very fun, the lowering walls followed by a small horde of arachnotrons and a caco cloud made for an balancing act of taking out the more immediately dangerous arachnotrons while keeping the cacos at bay, I managed to find this around 5 minutes into the map and having a BFG for the majority of the map made it a bit easier than it was probably intended to be (though there are still a few challenging moments). The secret lava cave, plasma gun fight was very fun with the ridiculous horde of zombiemen - I (as you may be able to guess with my love of Map19) really enjoy killing hordes of zombies. I thought the secret rocket launcher fight that utilised the fake floor and screen tint effects was incredibly cool (I genuinely haven't seen the fake floor mechanics used like this before) and on top of that, the fight itself was fun with the horde of pinkies hidden by the blood as well as flying enemies to keep the pressure on, and I presume this fight would be pretty challenging if you didn't have the BFG at this point. I liked the red and blue key fights, they were small ambushes which kept the pressure on, but were mostly easier than the secret areas and the later areas of the map.

 

I did find the map to be quite hard to navigate, due to the fact that there wasn't much variation in the looks of the outside areas (I do think the map looked great though and I can respect picking a look for your map and sticking to it) and I got completely lost looking for how to unlock the yellow key - took me about 5 minutes to find the small building with the switch in it. Though I liked the yellow key fight, with the crapload of barrels respawning in front of the mastermind and the small horde of revenants coming out of the other side of the lava lake, to be honest I don't really know what was going on in this fight, but lots of stuff was blowing up so it was pretty entertaining. I didn't mind the platforming section, sort of reminded me of a part of Combat Shock 2. The final fight felt a little bit cramped in the first part with little cover from the chaingunners, though once I realised I could lower the pillars with the soulspheres on (thought they'd lower at the same time as the bars at first) the fight was actually pretty manageable, especially after the bars lower and you're given much more space.

 

I also really liked the music in this map, it fits the atmosphere perfectly and has enough ebbs and flows to it that just really work with the action - it's also really long and varied so it doesn't get boring after an hour of playing the map, which I find really impressive. The song reminds me a lot of Heartland's soundtrack, it almost feels like a combination of the songs of Map 4, 5 and 6 from that wad - though this probably isn't too much of a surprise since Stewboy is the composer and he has a very distinctive style. Overall, I have just finished Interception 2 as of writing this sentence and (small spoilers to my thoughts on Maps 29 and 30 I guess) I can say without a doubt that this is the best map in the megawad and honestly ranks up there now as one of my favourite maps of all time. It's absolutely excellent!

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP28 - Doctor Jones Abby's Malediction - galileo31dos01 (70%K/56%I/0%S): 

Here is a magnum opus by fellow Argentine doomer Galileo, the one that makes nice status bars for other projects. I can't believe this map, and I can't believe this is one of the first, if not the first major contribution to mapping from him, as the author suddenly drops this beast of a map, that makes MAP11 of this very megawad, fall short and not as good in comparison, an excelent adventure, similar to maps like Anagnorisis in Eviternity, or the Mucus Flow. Although it may be one of the first maps made by Galileo, he is a somewhat old member of the community, and it's safe to say he knows how to make good maps by playing and experiencing other megawads. This map takes traits from other megawads like Sunlust, Stardate, Eviternity and others. I could not find any secret, and I feel bad, because most secrets reveal secret fights (Challenges taken from other wads), and I could not increase the kill counter, missing grand part of the map itself.
What an adventure, a pretty open map where you'll have to find three keys, and do some small switch hunting to progress. This big canyons has many secrets to uncover, the green teleporter room was a big pain, but I loved it, trying to escape from who knows how many Arch-viles there are at the "Green Room". Everything is well detailed, challenges and fights are really hard, but still engaging, and there is an interesting thing, as the map teases you not once, but twice, the exit room. First "exit" room, teleports you to a really interesting platforming section, with no monsters, only you and those damned pillars that will trick you. The other exit sign, is the actual exit, but first you'll have to commit for a final fight. Said fight traps you in a cage with 4 megaspheres, and a mob of ever-spawning monsters, Hell Revealed style (you know what I'm talking about). The worst part of this fight inside the cage, is that there are two (at least in HMP) spider demons shooting you from behind, and there is always a chance for them to squeeze bullets inside. What a pain. Pain calms a little when you get to escape the cage and fight in a more open space, but beware, as the map turns into an authentic slaughter, I'm not a fan of slaughter maps, but after all this journey, it's actually refreshing to deal with all those pests. Once you deal with all of them, hit a switch to reveal an exit pad, hiding behind a wall of scary arch-viles, you are safe to exit this level.
Amazing map by Galileo, and I'm actually looking forward for more maps of him, as a nationalist, this fills me with irrational Argentine pride. As for the map itself, amazing, I don't think the next two maps could top this one, it already got better than MAP11, so that's a thing.

Totally replayable map, even as a stand-alone, sadly, a map so big comes with some errors, and it needed an after-release patch, but still it is one of the best maps of the "post-Top 100 Most Memorable Maps" era, a hidden gem of Interception II.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP28

MAP11
MAP27

MAP06
MAP21
MAP26
MAP23
MAP10
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP25
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP19
MAP12
MAP22
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP24
MAP16
MAP20
MAP14
MAP31

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by DJVCardMaster

[cannonball]

MAP28 - “Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction” by galileo31dos01 *Played the patched version*

 

This could be summed up as a map detrimental to Interception 2 but it is also a case of Interception 2 being detrimental to this map....

 

It is a magnum opus map, large and well detailed. However there up some quite significant issues for first time players. Firstly I did not spot a key part of the progression for the yellow key, there is a branch off the main path in an area that is very dark (without gamma correction) that takes you to a green labyrinth. So I spent a long time trying to figure out what I still needed to do. The labyrinth for me was one of the better parts of the map, being chased around by mid-tiers that can also teleport to different locations. That was pretty neat.

I found two rather nasty secrets that seemed to only come across as optional fights (You get a megasphere at the end of it plus hopefully extra ammunition). This including the small plasma gun/lava showdown and the one with the deep blood pool. I must admit that I didn't really enjoy either of these fights that much, still others probably will and the blood pool in particular is at the very least interesting.

So I got the yellow key and headed for the exit. First is a platforming section - By the way this was pretty solid - It didn't take too many attempts and I am a keyboarder. Following this is a long trek to the exit, this includes one final fight....

Now I will say this, I only found the yellow key... so I did not have a BFG.....

Yeah I will say now that this counts as a DNF from me as I used godmode after dozens of attempts to at least see how the fight turns out. I concluded that this fight is probably impossible without the BFG given you have large groups of spiders/mancubi that need to be cleared, only the BFG is able to do this without the aid of some cyberdemons. However looking at this fight, I can only say that the design isn't particularly good. Firstly the megasphere, it really shouldn't be placed directly in front of the switch (I had 150/150 health and armour, I don't want to pick it up. It should have been placed behind the switch to at least make this optional without careful positioning. Secondly, given how the fight pans out, you are a serious risk of wasting more of your ammo by accidentally picking it up, especially cells. Thirdly, the whole fight up to the bars lowering is a complete lottery, you can get instantly pulverised by chaingunners, hit by stray homing rockets and the spider masterminds can hit you a significant ammo if you are unlucky. Yep had deaths via all these routes. Add in the archviles that yet again can quite often get a clean shot where you cannot avoid it/or face a choice of "what death would you like sir?". 

It is an exhausting map that is very unfriendly to those coming across it for the first time. Unfortunately this comes after 27 maps that are either medium or long in length. If this map was on its own and played for the second/third time, it could very well be considered a true work of art, but right here, right now? It was a rather harrowing experience for me and I feel incredibly bad for feeling this way. Maybe another day I will come back to this and enjoy it. Alas this feels like the wrong place and time and I hope that I am alone in the experience I had.

Edited November 28, 2021 by cannonball

[Doritos420]

Map28 - Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction by galileo31dos01

 

Huge map with a dizzying enemy count. Feels like a huge step up in difficulty with this one. First area is very open ended with a few routes to take. I ended up going East to start, getting to the the cargo area. Fun fights here. Right when you exit this building you run into a hell of a trap with arachnotron and chain gunners sniping at you while you run from a revenant. Next I got to the surprisingly heated rocket launcher room fight with the spider mastermind and an army of hell knights, giving a great opportunity for some infighting. Great use of damaging floors in this fight to make the player keep moving instead of hiding in a corner.

 

After that you can get to the teleporter nexus inside a cave fairly early. Ended up backtracking for more weapons and ammo before taking the green teleporter to the archville maze. This area is when I realized this level does not play around. Teleporting demons in tight spaces, really difficult if you get cornered.

 

Next I took the red teleporter which I had already mostly cleared out so it wasn't too bad.

 

The west most teleporter brought you to the center of the map, right in front of a spider mastermind. To escape I ended up going backwards and getting the plasma rifle. The fight here was difficult but fun, getting sandwiched between a horde of revenants and a group of mancubi. Definitely tests your bobbing and weaving skills. After that I doubled back and took out the spider with my remaining rockets.

 

The blue teleporter brings you to a quick but very deadly fight inside a cave packed with enemies, including arch villes, pain elementals and barons of hell (some of my favorite enemies to hate). Very frantic but fun fight here with los of opportunity to get cornered if you can't escape to the outside.

 

After that I tried to go west via the yellow teleporter but there is damaging lava here and some archvilles and enemies down there as well. Really disliked this part, trying to shoot at enemies so far below you, even with freelook is a chore (especially Archvilles). For me this was the point where progression stopped being fun and just became frustrating. After that I ran through the level several times wondering where to go. I saw the lift you are supposed to take down but didn't know you could interact with it to lower down so I thought there was some kind of switch you could find to open up the way. Anyway I ended up jumping in the highly damaging lava (with no rad suit in sight) only to have a hidden cave open up with a spider mastermind surrounded by exploding barrels. Pretty cool effect, and I suppose it damages the spider as you're trying to press past her to get away from the lava. After that it's a an insane revenant attack swarm. This struck me as a little excessive. All the fights up to this point seemed hard but fair,  this one felt easy but annoying with the sheer amount of enemies. After this part you’re able to get to the western most dock. The vista here is actually really cool, especially liked the little broken boat.

 

Next you’re teleported to a platforming section. Thankfully there’s checkpoints in this area, though I think the first bit was the hardest for me with the time limit platforms. Interesting idea.

 

The last area is totally insane, an all out slaughterfest to cap off the level. Extremely hard part to the point where I was getting super frustrated and considered cheating. I think it’s cool how the starting building morphs around you, but damn this area is just so hard. My way through was basically just circle strafe while holding down the mouse button with the BFG out and keeping an eye out for more cells and health pickups when needed. Feels like there wasn’t much strategy going on here, just had to pray to the RNG gods I could make it through. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the fighting areas were larger allowing for more room to maneuver. With the amount of enemies its all too cramped and it feels like a crapshoot if you can make it through or not. After killing most of the demons you can pick off the remaining stragglers and then exit the level.

 

I do have to say this is an impressive level, but the last 20% of it is just not my style. I really enjoyed the beginning exploration part but felt like it just went right off the rails with the combat at the end. On the plus side the detailing was great and it was really epic. I only managed to get 3 secrets and still had about 400 enemies left in the map. I must have missed a large secret area in this map. Again, love the first 80% but the ending was just too grindy. Still very fun level overall, might go back and try it again someday.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP28: "Dr. Jones Abby's Malediction" by galileo31dos01

UV, pistol start, saves

100% kills, 6/8 secrets

 

Played with the fix in place. This whacky named 28th map is the major sprawling epic in a wad with its fair share of sprawling epics. It's also our first time hearing stewboy's music in a while, and he again provides some of his finest work with a dynamic and grand midi that seems like it always fits the flow of the action. You begin in some sort of wrecked tech area, and the central theme of the map going forward is valleys of blood and hellslime, with some branching off into a few caverns and a small crate-filled techbase area. Despite the large size, I found the layout mostly digestible which was appreciated, although the part where you sink some of the level into the lava did complicate navigation when I was trying to backtrack for some things. This map is also likes its secret fights, but I didn't find secret hunting to be too much of a chore. I found all but one secret fight just going through the map, and the one I missed after the final encounter was luckily found almost immediately, being the fight in the deep blood sea. Thank you automap for giving me a glimpse of the portal needed for that one.

 

This map is also by far the hardest of the wad so far. Not only due to the length, but it loves springing nasty surprises on you and the valleys have some pretty tricky monster placements among the cliffs. The final encounter is also easily one of the most difficult fights in the wad up to this point in my opinion, and some of the other fights are no joke either. The first secret fight I found (to my memory) was the hardest one of those, being the fight for the plasma rifle in the cramped lava cave. You'll want to take down the revenants right away in this one, as they seem to always get a missile barrage around the other hordes that will decimate your health. Another challenge for me was the blue key fight, another cramped cave fight that luckily starts with the monsters' backs to you so you can work out some strategy beforehand, but it was still quite tough.

 

The final encounter is the toughest as I mentioned, and also my favourite. You are started off in a small square area surrounded by enemies on pedestals that keep being repopulated as other monsters teleport in the middle of the room, all the while two spiderdemons roam outside to create more problems for you. Then after a certain amount of time, you are released from the room to the outdoor area where the spiderdemons are as the room starts teleporting in hitscanners, and the caves begin opening up around the lava river feeding in even more enemies. Although this fight is somewhat BFG-spammy, it's complete havoc and provides a ton of thrills. So many times I just barely survived before reaching one of those megaspheres in the caves. This fight is just awesome.

 

Honestly so much happens in this one it's hard to sum it all up so I won't go too crazy, but this map was incredible, and the amount of work put into it is very admirable. The only part I have much ill will toward is the platforming section, but I just generally hate platforming sections so that's a me thing. At least up to this point, this is the wad's ultimate challenge and I adored it throughout.

 

Spoiler

Also, pour one out for Doomguys past.

 

 

 

[Moustachio]

2 hours ago, DisgruntledPorcupine said:

Also, pour one out for Doomguys past.

 

Spoiler

 

I like to think that's the unfortunate fate of this boating marine from Interception I MAP05.

 

 

 

[SiFi270]

+++ Fragport

[Book Lord]

MAP 28 – Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction by galileo31dos01

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

I approached MAP28 on Saturday the 20th of November, feeling very confident about my chances to overcome it. I knew it was going to be the longest level of Interception 2, but I never had such an ample timeframe to complete my DWMC monthly playthrough. Sadly, @galileo31dos01's rambling, grandiose and ground-breaking contribution managed to tickle so many sore points that I rage quitted the map, pistol started MAP30, checked the end of the megaWAD, and called it a day.

 

I generally prefer Doom levels to be short, not necessarily bite-sized, but at least with a limited space to explore and clear objectives to pursue. After more than half an hour, I spotted several keys but had no idea how to gain them. I either ignored or completely forgot where to use them, including the BFG on display near the start. I killed dozens of enemies that infested the rocky landscape, I found multiple inaccessible locations and dead ends, and I stumbled through several threatening combat set pieces, whose viciousness was beyond my comprehension. Even on a continuous play, I was constantly running out of shells and rockets, especially after I killed with the shotgun the Spiderdemon in the valley. It soon became clear that the free roaming nature of the sprawling canyon landscape was an illusion: everything had to be earned at great cost, and pistol starters learn it from the first shotgun.

 

After entering a green warp gate and being trapped in a labyrinth infested by Arch-Viles & Co., apparently a gratuitous punisment for my curiosity, I did something I almost never do: I reloaded a savegame and chose another direction. I stumbled into a notable set piece with Hell Knights, Pain Elementals, and a Spider Mastermind, which again eluded my speculations about its purpose, then I found myself in front of a building that revealed itself as a warehouse. After a chaingunner teleport ambush left me barely alive, I gave up, disgusted by how protracted, tiresome, and random the progression had been until then.

 

I resumed the game five days later, hoping to find the strength to carry on. The warehouse contained the RSK, unreachable like the others, then my peregrinations brought me to the starting point. The worst thing about the level was that everything was intended to be hard on first encounter: combat, puzzles, traps, resource management, even finding your bearings in a monotone rocky landscape with a lot of concealed trails. There was no other choice but to start the tour again, hoping to bump into something I missed on the first trip.

Spoiler

I fell for a small trap that surrounded me with enemies in a pit. It almost did me in, but I gritted my teeth and resisted. The escape process was less viable than killing everyone, but it was nothing if compared to the secret I found there. A twin hidden switch, which required sensitive ears to distinguish the lift sound from the dramatic soundtrack (another excess this level indulged in), revealed a star-shaped gate to a gloomy arena. I liked the intense combat in store, especially the final wave of flying balls coming out of total darkness. On the other hand, I disliked the punishing pit all around, because you are almost guaranteed to die if you slip down. With foreknowledge, a better Doomer could use the switches trapped with barrels to his advantage, but optimising play in a map like this was not for me. This arena granted an early BFG, which I immediately put to good use, and a Megasphere as a final reward.

 

Having secured the right to use the BFG, a stipulation I made with myself while playing continuous, I returned to the green labyrinth and cleansed it of its evil occupants. This achievement opened the way to three coloured teleporters, each one leading to the matching skull key. The encounters were heavy on Arch-Viles and tended to drop the player directly in front of enemies. I left the YSK last because it was close to the lava chasm with a fallen bridge, which I guessed must be raised to proceed. I considered the Radiation Suit and the new enemies in the nearby pit as an invitation, so I jumped down and completely failed to remember the BFG machine.

Spoiler

I was running frantically at the bottom of the chasm, my shielding suit gradually wearing out, when a cave opened revealing a Spider Mastermind. She was protected by a barrier of never-ending explosions, caused by more than 5k barrels teleporting in front of her. I was still scratching my head and looking for a radsuit replacement, when a horde of Revenants appeared behind me, with some Pain Elementals & Cacos for good measure. I died miserably and decided I had enough, so I cheated my way through this encounter and the rest of the map. This combat was manageable once the item locations were known, but the way it was presented to a first timer was just demoralising.

 

Crossing the bridge brought me to another dead end: stranded by a ruined house on the shore of a sea of lava, I could only stare at the island on the other side. Despite the broken sign, the house was very far from the exit; its basement led to a network of volcanic caverns with a long platforming challenge. It granted access to the island which contained the exit, but it was only after an opulent slaughter fest that the player was allowed to leave. That pandemonium, coming when my patience had already been lost, felt exaggerate under every aspect, including RNG dependency, and I did not bother fighting my way through it.

Spoiler

Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction was an ambitious map, a very long adventure hiding its best locations and moments in secret places. @galileo31dos01 is a senior Doomworld member whose mapping career started during the last few years, but this creation proved that he knows very well how to make impressive Doom levels. The graphic detail was rich beyond belief, the voodoo doll tricks were plentiful and creative, the proposed challenges were enough to tickle the best Doomers around. At the end of my fragmented and painful journey through canyons and cursed caves, the only fact that stood out to me was that this could have been a superb stand-alone map: a story and a quest on its own. Bumping into such an experience after more than 16 hours of continuous play was not exciting; it was disheartening. I will echo @cannonball and say that the megaWAD does not benefit from such an elaborate entry, and that this magnum opus is not showcased well as a mammoth-sized chapter of Interception 2. It deserved a private spotlight to shine as the awesome creation it is.

 

P.S. I forgot to play the patched version. Sorry :(

Edited November 29, 2021 by Book Lord

[finnks13]

MAP 29 - All Fall Down by valkiriforce:

This castle map starts off fairly well, the first area features good use of archviles as area denial and requires some fancy footwork to grab all of the goodies in the first few rooms. I also liked the initial revenant slaughter - had me hoping for a full on slaughterfest, but this didn't really happen. There are a lot of monsters in this map, but I found it the easiest map in episode 3 so far as you get so much ammo and have so much space to run, that the fights don't really have much challenge to them. I have played a fair few of valkiriforce's maps before, and I can appreciate that this is a different style to most of their maps I have finished, but I'm not sure if this was the best penultimate map this wad could have had.

 

I thought the initial fight in the outdoor, town-like area was alright, but after this fight, the map goes downhill dramatically. All of the fights after this point feel like they were made by someone who doesn't really like slaughter style gameplay but is still attempting to make a slaughtermap, as none of them really expect from the player and this combined with the openness of the layout made this a pretty tedious playthrough. The most dangerous threat I faced in this map is the cold I currently have, with 2 deaths coming from sneezing fits making me strafe into rockets I couldn't see.

 

The fight triggered by the blue key switch was incredibly disappointing, it's just a really slow flood of fairly low threat monsters (and also a few revenants) coming out one ONE spawn point - this means as long as you have some rockets left at this point, you can stand at the bottom of the staircase, press the mouse button and not move at all, which isn't very compelling. The final room looks really cool, but only features a single cyberdemon which you also get a soulsphere and blue armour for, which is just a sad excuse for a final boss - especially since you get a megasphere at the start of Map30 so the items aren't even helpful for continuous players. All in all, this map feels like a missed oppourtunity as it's close to being pretty good, but it just doesn't commit to being an epic penultimate journey nor does it commit to being a final challenge for the wad and all that's left is a bit of a shame.

[FragsBunny]

MAP28: Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction (77%/95%/37%)

1.       Arch-vile will steal items off the ground

2.       Arch-vile reflect projectiles back at you

3.       Collecting keys gives monsters a random buff

 

Ugh, it took me 2-3 hours to finish this level with cards! I don’t even know how many tries it took me to clear most of the fights, especially the final encounter. Clearly this is not a map that you can tackle with 29 cards stacked against you, but if you are willing to do self-masochism, be my guest. If it wasn’t for so many buffed enemies, this run would’ve been more compelling, except for the finale of course.

 

The entire map is set in a massive canyon that can be explored in many way, but don’t fall in lava! The rad suits will be needed much later. Of course, it all starts with your usual key hunt. When I activated the rocked launcher arena, I had to deal with a large number of hell knights that reflected all those rockets back at me, along with few pain elementals and spiderdemon. There is another maze arena behind the green portal, where I had to use BFG to get rid of those pesky arch-viles just to clear some space.

 

I had to grit my teeth as hard as I could when tacking the red and blue key teleporters. Compared to those encounters, the yellow key was a straight forward pick-up that required the activation of a distant switch. Eventually I had to force myself dropping down in lava, culminating with a crazy fight against a massive horde of revenants, among other nasty monsters that guarded crucial for my survival various supplies in alcoves. Eventually, I managed to raise the bridge, with led me to portal to the infamous platformer section. I had to pull all the necessary strafe run skills to finish timed platform sequence, raising/lowering platforms and crusher platforms.

 

And the worst thing in this whole level is the finale itself! A pure BFG slaughter unlike any other, made worse by those cards. First, survive in a deathbox against revenants, pain elementals and chaingunners – while NOT trying to fire BFG at those hell knights! Then the rest of the menagerie gets unleashed as well, the hardest part being arch-viles coming from exit door side, being carried by mancubi. So many monsters, with the infernal sky being blotted by lost souls and cacos! On top of that, I had to find Daisy in such a massive map afterwards, cause otherwise the next level would be impossible to complete!

 

And then there were two secret arena. I only survived one, where the deep blood is. The plasma gun secret arena, on the other hand, turned to be completely impossible for me, even with BFG on hand, cause of those buffed zombiemen! And the reflecting Hell knights afterwards. Ugh… NEVER again!

Edited November 29, 2021 by FragsBunny

[Doritos420]

Map29 - All Fall Down by valkiriforce

Some extreme combat in this map but I actually enjoyed it more than Map28's ending combat. The big reason for this I think was the more wide open arenas where you can run around, flank enemies and then dip in to take out high priority target (aka the archvilles). The beginning features a hot start with some casual archville placements. I think it did a good job of easing you into the combat but still showing that it meant business. The beginning area isn't too threatening if you take your time, giving a good warmup for the next crazy section. The next area is very difficult with the revenant swarms with archvilles and cyberdemons sprinkled in, it was a bit grindy at the start but the hallways and starting area are large enough to allow for good maneuverability and you can kite the enemies back to the starting area for an easier time. This hallway area is extremely dangerous, first thing I did was wipe out the first wave of revenants and then get the next wave to infight with the cyberdemons. Next I ran past the group of imps, using the BFG when I had to, to avoid getting cornered and triggering the red key fight. The fight here is actually safer than outside, and it locks you inside the room keeping the more dangerous enemies outside allowing them to infight in peace. After that I just had to clean up a few remaining enemies.

 

The next area was a blast. Seems like a little town on the shore absolutely jam packed with enemies on all sides. This arena really lets you run wild.

Lots of chaotic fighting here. After you clear the hurdles you take a chaingun filled cave to the next area, a very large river with a few valleys. With all the perched up imps it can become a projectile hell really fast, but gives the chance for a ton of infighting. I found this area probably one of the easiest besides the first part, lots of room to run around and hide away from enemies. After finding the blue key you head back to the town area for one last battle there and then you can teleport to the final cyberdemon arena.

 

Cool looking area with the red and black, but it was a bit of a let down, facing 1 cyberdemon was super easy compared to everything the level had thrown at you thus far. Very fun map, but I feel like the difficulty curve was backwards, hard beginning areas that eased up towards the end (at least for pistol starters).

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP29 - All Fall Down - Valkiriforce (100%K/56%I/100%S): 

This is what you would expect for the MAP29 slot, maybe I expected a little bit more of that sunlusty gameplay found while you where at the inner part of the castle itself. The map keeps you quite stocked up on ammo, but there are not so many big hordes of enemies apart of the ones found at the aforementioned sector of the map. And this is what lowered the score for me. I was really in the mood for some grindy gameplay, but the map became quite open and most of the enemies came in a classic way. Don't get me wrong, gameplay was still grindy, but not at slaughter levels. Layout itself is as interesting as it can get. I think finding the secrets, or the invulnerability behind the first portal, nullifies challenge a little bit. Not a hard map, but it serves as a good closer before our final map.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP28

MAP11
MAP27

MAP06
MAP21
MAP26
MAP23
MAP10
MAP29
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP25
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP19
MAP12
MAP22
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP24
MAP16
MAP20
MAP14
MAP31

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP29 - “All Fall Down” by valkiriforce

 

Oh boy, this is another one that effectively breaches the 1000 monster mark. However this map is certainly inspired by Alien Vendetta's hardcore maps. The opening area is very tense with archviles littered everywhere, you can always find safety but it is limited. Ironically this was for me the best part of the map. There is a freebie invulnerability behind the first portal, yeah you are going to need this as absolute chaos reigns beyond this. Oddly the actual red key trap is very tame compared to the stair madness that precedes this. Once you have the key and clear this area, you can go through the next portal....

And this is where the mad tanks in my enjoyment. Chaingunners.... freaking chaingunners!!! These dudes are everywhere, they can diminish your health with you being able to mount any kind of fightback. The waterfront area is a nightmare to get a foothold in. Not to mention you have cliffsides stuffed with archviles. I managed to finally clear this area (By the way the generosity of earlier also vanishes here). You go through a series of smaller and more manageable fights before you hit a large cave with more chaingunners.... again you will lose health here and then silence.... You are then faced with another outdoor slugfest. I made the mistake of going right first, the left side is far easier to clear and once you have you can lure the stuff from the right out a bit at a time. There is another area with chaingunners well scattered that all can get a hit on you, another horrible mess that you need a bit of blind luck to clear. Oddly again the actual key trap is easy to clear as you get a cluster of revenants and nobles that you can take out at your leisure. Now you just need to remember where the blue key switch is and you get one final outpour of monsters. This was okay and less aggravating than some of the other fights. 

The final room looks stunning, the lone cyber seems to be a nod to the end of Fire Walk with me from Alien Vendetta, you can take him out or run past him. He isn't really a threat.

Overall, this is another exhausting map, though at the very least I felt like I was making progress and all the fights were beatable. However the quality of the map felt a little all over the place, some well designed fights and some that were horrible. Without the chaingunner spam in places this would have been a overall positive experience, alas this plus the fact it followed an even bigger map really does not do this map any favours. 

[Book Lord]

MAP 29 – All Fall Down by valkiriforce

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

When I used IDCLEV to pistol start this map, just after quitting MAP28 for the first time, I noticed a monster count close to the thousand and concluded I would never beat this one. I am glad that I gathered the courage to complete Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction, even with a bit of cheating in the last stretch, because that experience gave me the strength to blaze through this action-packed last level of Interception 2.

 

This contribution by @valkiriforce had a special meaning; it established a link with the first Interception, which featured various levels from this author, and it cemented the bond between this megaWAD and Akeldama, another celebrated product of 2020 that incorporated a level by both @Moustachio and @DFF. This free interchange of favours and fruitful pooling of skills gives me confidence in the positive role of the Doomworld community, which helps breeding wonderful projects by keeping industrious people connected. As for myself, it was the first experience with Michael Jan Krizik’s work, and a much-needed adrenaline rush of contemporary old-school gameplay, if such a definition makes sense.

 

It began in a dreary landscape, between austere marble temples already teeming with monsters, especially Arch-Viles. There were no subtleties or elaborate ways to ambush the player: here are your weapons, go ahead and kill them all. Not so fast though, as it was advisable to thoroughly explore the area and find all the weapon stashes, including the BFG on the bastion, and especially the Invulnerability tucked behind the red portal.

Spoiler

Seeing white prevented me from seeing red, because on the other side of the gate I was greeted by a legion from hell: 130 Revenants, 33 Hell Nobles, 8 Arch-Viles, 4 Cyberdemons, and more than 100 Imps stood in front of me, descending rapidly from a colossal staircase. I charged recklessly with the BFG, trying to bring down as many enemies as possible. Once the god mode expired, I fell back to the room with loads of ammo, finding a way to enter the secret terrace with chaingunners and more useful supplies. With the second Invulnerability I annihilated the rest of the army, reaching the room with the RSK.

Spoiler

The yellow gate sent me to a terraced area overlooking the sea, where more fierce opposition was in store, this time less brutal but more difficult to drive out, thanks to the height variation and increased monster variety. This was the part of the map I liked best, used multiple times as a battleground against teleporting hordes. The YSK was found right away during the exploration of the buildings, which included the pier and the flooded hallway inside. There was no strong attempt at recreating real or believable places in All Fall Down: everything was functional to combat, including the serpentine tunnel with a cluster of Commandos, the overstretched outdoor hillside areas, where even normal Imps managed to hit me a couple of times, and the canyon where the BSK was retrieved, which had the proper bends for Revenant rockets to follow me until the river.

Spoiler

The map had an unusual intensity curve: it reached the climax in the first half and gradually lost tension in the second, resulting in an easy blue switch ambush by the seaside and ending with a harmless Cyberdemon duel in a red & black arena, a high-contrast scheme that always catches the eye. @valkiriforce could have devised more dangerous setups for the last part, without risking a player burnout. Still, I welcomed a straightforward and slightly yielding bloodbath, that I fully enjoyed wrapping up the busy agenda of Interception 2.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Book Lord

[Book Lord]

MAP 30 – Interception 2 by DFF, Moustachio

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

A magnificent scenario of carnage and devastation was set up by @DFF as a prelude to the final confrontation with the Baphomet. The beginning was the most impressive sight in the whole megaWAD, facing a marvellous hellish fortress surrounded by deep pits in a rocky and seemingly endless landscape. Treading the glorious halls, splattered in blood, and collecting the weapons dropped by the slain marines, waiting for the inevitable climax, was a suspenseful, enthralling, and tantalizing experience.

Spoiler

Once I picked up the BFG, the door shut behind me. There I saw him, a grey winged demon floating in the middle of an enormous arena that slowly came alive before my eyes, with a trove of Boom effects displayed just for the sake of building tension. The lift finally lowered, then the Baphomet saw me and started throwing volleys of fireballs.

 

There are two ways to tackle the boss: 1) charge him frontally and try to hit him hard, leading to a lot of missed shots and to a premature death under his unerring immolation attack (possibly hitscan-based); 2) ignore him and start running around in circles, allowing for the plethora of sidekicks to teleport in and be involved in a mass infight. @Moustachio was particularly merciful with his choice of monsters, refraining from using major harassment sources like Lost Souls, Pain Elementals and Arch-Viles.

Spoiler

Once the four Cyberdemons joined the fray, no more reinforcements appeared, and they made short work of everyone else, including the massive 21021 hit points of the Baphomet. They blasted him dead while I was not looking, and it was a bit of an anticlimactic ending for this joyful final showdown. Reading that The Baphomet had finally been slain, and by none other than a mere mortal was hilarious, but I think this is what Doomguy will tell humankind, being the only witness of his fall. History is written by the winners, after all. Not a difficult endgame once you know how to deal with it, with an exceptional preamble that will surely imprint into the player’s memory.

 

P.S. the map is called "Interception 2" in the WAD and this is confirmed by DoomWiki. Is the name "Guillotine" in the OP the intended title?

Edited November 30, 2021 by Book Lord

[DFF]

Man, i apologize for eventually losing steam with this WAD, other factors came into play and i eventually just fell too far behind. I will probably do a little write-up at the end, but for now i'll just throw my monthly votes in. I will not be voting for 100 Lines 3 but mainly to give other WADs a chance as it seems this one has a lot of attention. I really enjoyed the original 100 Lines so if it wins i'll gladly play the third installment.

 

+++Fragport
+++Community Chest

 

and a curveball WAD that i played long ago but remember being quite fun for its limitations: +++1Monster

[DJVCardMaster]

I'll choose +++Fragport, I hope it gets into a tiebreak.

[FragsBunny]

+++ 1000 Lines 3

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP29: "All Fall Down" by valkiriforce

UV, pistol start, saves

100% kills, 2/3 secrets

 

As an Akeldama fan (gee, think I like long maps?), I was excited to see how this one was. The penultimate map of the wad takes you on a medieval journey, starting in a ruined town and then being taken to a moated fortress and a lakeside village. The midi opts for a more subtle sort of intensity building, which seems to be creator Darman Macray's style judging from their other midis in this wad, and it works well here. We have almost 1000 monsters to deal with again in this map, but while a long one it's not a fullblown epic like the previous map, instead providing more tightly packed together encounters.

 

The starting area is relatively tricky. You almost can't look around a corner without an archvile popping out in this area, but luckily when you get to the main area you are given a wealth of rockets to deal with them. Next you portal off to the castle, where you're given an all-out slaughter with revenants, archviles, and cyberdemons. Luckily though you already get a BFG before this, and there's an invuln tucked away behind the portal so you can rush right into the fray for some time. The starting room of this castle has a ton of supplies, especially if you find the secret (which I didn't until the end, where I was trying to locate the remaining kills), so you'll have the option of coming back here to restock at any time. Teleporting off to the village soon after you'll find it overrun with all sorts of foes, and may want to camp in the starting area to take care of them all as their placements can be quite nasty.

 

Eventually you'll come to a long cave full of chaingunners, which will take you back to the castle, only with access to the outdoor area now where you'll face some mancubi, a bunch of pinkies, and quite a few imps silhouetted on the cliffs and raining fireballs down on you, and then there's a cyberdemon with some buddies around the corner. I do think the action kind of peters off a bit from here on. The canyon on the other side of the castle has some enemies on cliffs and some small globs of enemies that are pure rocket fodder. The ending area has slightly annoying revenant placements as they are spread out and among cliffs, but nothing too much. Once you grab the blue key you face more globs of enemies on your way back to the village, and triggering the switch causes a bunch of monsters to teleport in. As all the monsters teleport into the same spot, they end up rather packed together and again are perfect rocket food. The forces will likely start creeping out on you at some point though, so you may have to do some running around. The final room is a very cool looking abstract red temple of some kind, and the final foe is a cyberdemon. He's nothing too challenging, but hey it's a picturesque fight.

 

This map was definitely fun, but I think the action could have been redistributed around a bit. Everything here was quite enjoyable, it just felt odd to have the most climactic encounters happen in about the early-middle stages, while the later stretch was a tad ordinary.

Edited November 30, 2021 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[Book Lord]

I'll vote for:

 

+++ Fragport

+++ Hexen: Beyond Heretic (as usual)

 

@LadyMistDragon: better use three + (+++) before the votes or they may get lost

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Book Lord

[finnks13]

MAP 30 - Interception II by DFF & Moustachio:

You know what, I'm glad this wad doesn't end with a lame Icon of Sin duel like most megawads and commits to creating a final boss of it's own. Other than Going Down's final boss, this is the only custom final boss enemy that I have actually enjoyed fighting as it isn't infuriatingly quick and projectile spammy like most of these tend to be. The arena looks nice, the scripted sequence that occurs before you lower down into it is pretty neat, with a gate opening to reveal the green sky behind it.

 

I thought the slow build up of gathering weapons and armour through the sea of corpses was a cool way to start off the map and the MIDI helps with the atmosphere here too. The fight itself is pretty much a circle-strafe to win, though the archvile attack from the final boss keeps the pressure on and the constant spawning in of new foes also helps with this. I honestly think the final boss could have had a bit more health as once the cyberdemons spawn in, they just tear through it with the rocket barrages as long as you don't anger them. I managed to get the killing blow myself, but I could have left the baphomet to the cybers if I wanted to. I liked this ending, it was fun and ended the wad off on a solid note.

 

Overall Thoughts on Episode 3:

I think this is my favourite episode in the wad. It has two of my three favourite maps in the wad in it and overall, I think these final ten maps have the most consistently solid gameplay in the wad - even through the maps I was mixed on. There were a couple of maps here that I really didn't like, but I don't think that's enough to spoil the episode for me. I can definitely appreciate the increase in difficulty compared to the first two episodes, this is definitely the most challenging set of maps this wad has to offer and while Map29 and Map30 are pretty easy ways to end off the wad, I think Map28 makes up for the tameness of those two. I still think the green-void theme of Episode 1 was my favourite, but I liked the grounded theme this episode had to offer and there are some excellent looking maps here.

 

Overall Rankings for Episode 3:

Spoiler

Map 28 - Dr Jones Abby's Malediction

Map 21 - Return to Sender

Map 26 - Sinister Teachings

Map 22 - System Corruption

Map 30 - Interception II

Map 25 - The Sad Kingdom

Map 24 - Terracotta

Map 29 - All Fall Down

Map 23 - Asbestos

 

Overall Thoughts on Interception II:

I enjoyed this much more than I was expecting to, while I had seen this wad while browsing the forums, I wasn't really intending on playing it. If I had played it, I expect I would have given up on Map11 after I lost 15 minutes of progress to not saving and dying to a surprise trap (nothing against that map, just an event that sticks out in memory as something that would have made me throw in the towel normally), so I am very happy that I decided to join the megawad club to play through this wad as I think the second half is overall a better time than the first half and I doubt I'd have got there if there wasn't a vague obligation to play through a map every day. And at the end of it, I liked the vast majority of the maps (I would only say I didn't enjoy two maps out of the thirty one) which is a very good record for me, most of the maps in this wad were very solidly good maps.

 

I'm surprised that I ended up liking the third episode the best, as I tend to dislike the final parts of megawads because they tend to get overlong and sloggy (this is the case for some of my favourite wads of all time). While this definitely has something to do with the expectation of a long, slow paced third act to follow up the similarly long, slow paced first two episodes, I don't think the third episode is really much longer than either of the first two. It's definitely making me re-evaluate my opinion on long maps, as I enjoyed a few of them here, so maybe I should give another chance to some wads I dropped previously for being long.

 

I don't think this is my favourite wad ever, but I definitely enjoyed my time with it and I'd like to thank The Interceptors for making it, as even if it's still not entirely my cup of tea, I can see the obvious effort and care that was put into it and I can appreciate that for sure!

 

Favourite Maps:

Map 28 - Dr Jones Abby's Malediction by galileo31dos01

Map 19 - Asteroid Assault by DFF

Map 21 - Return to Sender by A2Rob

Map 6 - What Could Go Wrong? by Big Ol' Billy

Map 17 - Yellow Sea by DukeofDoom

 

Full Rankings:

Spoiler

I'm not writing this out in full, just the numbers here (if you for some reason, want to know how I rank your favourite map against the others but don't know it's number, then look at the list in the first post :P)

(Favourite)                                                                                                                (Least Favourite)

28, 19, 21, 6, 17, 15, 7, 2, 26, 22, 13, 31, 10, 4, 30, 25, 18, 14, 5, 11, 24, 9, 1, 16, 8, 12, 29, 20, 3, 23

 

Oh and if you care, my number rankings for the entire wad averaged out to 7.10/10 which is pretty good.

 

Don't really mind what we play in December, but I was already going to play through 1k3 so I guess I'll vote for that (oh and CC1 for the hell of it).

 

+++ 1000 Lines Community Project 3

+++ Community Chest

 

Sorry for this massive wall of text, I'll try to incorporate some more pictures into my write-ups in future.

[Doritos420]

Map30 - Guillotine/Interception II by DFF, Moustachio

 

A final boss that isn't another Icon of Sin? Automatic points in my book. Loved the beginning of this map. Really well done detailing and it really ratchets up the tension. I like how at the beginning it feels like you've missed a giant battle with tons of bodies everywhere and you can gather up all the weapons from the dead marines. Great environmental storytelling. Meanwhile you're left waiting for the other shoe to drop. I like how you enter the arena you can survey everything and see how the the platforms move up and down to provide cover. Long wait before the elevator drops allowing you to really soak everything in while you see the forboding boss in the distance. The fight itself is pretty chaotic but not too crazy. At first his archville attack kept killing me over and over and then I tried to take a more passive approach allowing the boss to infight. Once the cyberdemons show up it’s pretty easy just to have them infight and take out the boss while you pepper it with BFG shots and strafe behind the pillars for safety. I do think the archville zap attack is a bit too sudden, it seems to happen immediately after getting the warning flames shooting up in front of you, but other than that I was really happy with this level.
 

 

Overall Thoughts

Fantastic wad. One of the best I've played (though I haven't played too many). Some really creative maps on display with some incredible detail. I'd say there were no maps that I straight up didn't like, though there were definitely ones that stood out among the rest. Really loved the soundtrack too, not a dud midi in the wad. It was also fun to see some different textures and some more of the boom effects being implemented. Progression was usually pretty straightforward and combat was often a good challenge without being too frustrating. If I had to pick, I’d say the first episode was probably my favorite, very different atmosphere compared to the rest of the wad, but honestly the whole thing was really well done. Great job everyone, thanks for the killer wad.

 

Favorite maps:

Map 6 - What could Go Wrong -  Probably my favorite of the set. Loved the parallel worlds and the great use of boom effects in this one.

Map 7 - The Everlaster - Fun gimmick with the respawning mancubus, really enjoyed it.

Map 11 - Slipgate Ex Nihilo - What a fantastic techbase level!

Map 15 - Volcanic Research - Another great techbase with more lava and some really fun secret hunting.

Map 21 - Return to Sender - Great aesthetic to this map with the grey concrete and blood everywhere. Fun combat and progression.

Map 23 - Asbestos - Punishing long map with great atmosphere.

Map 27 - Cargo Cult - A realistic boat map that was so fun to explore, great detail!

 

Special Mention/Hardest: Map 28 - Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction - Great map, but maybe I’m not skilled enough to appreciate the ending battle.

[LadyMistDragon]

12 hours ago, Book Lord said:

I'll vote for:

 

+++ Fragport

+++ Hexen: Beyond Heretic (as usual)

 

@LadyMistDragon: better use three + (+++) before the votes or they may get lost

 

I mean, 1k3 already won (first wad to reach 5 votes!) so meh. I edited it though....

Edited November 30, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[FragsBunny]

MAP29: All Fall Down (93%/81%/66%)

1.       Cyberdemon consumes corpses to gain health

2.       Pain elemental may teleport away when in danger

3.       Zombieman gains all your enchantment cards

 

If MAP28 was not grindy enough, then “All Fall Down” is the worst kind of such grind. True to “Fall Down” moniker, a large amount of time would be spent retreating back to previously visited areas in order to scavenge ammo, restore lost health and patch broken armor. In that sense, you won’t really fell being cornered by monsters, compared to arena encounters of MAP28, and as such, it will be considerably easier to plow through. Due to long an narrow spaces, saving a lot of times will be required, even if you are not losing to particular encounters after clearing them for the first time.

 

Valkiriforce does a nasty trick by hiding invulnerability sphere right behind the first portal that you are required to go through. As soon as you step though the portal, you will be greeted by a HUGE number of revenants, among with some arch-viles and cybers, It is imperative to attract the attention of as many monsters in the corridor as possible during the invulnerability rush, in order to allow the cybers to clear them out through the infighting. In my case, the revenants were turning to stone on death, saving me from usual headache of arch-viles resurrecting them.

 

Following the first major encounters, it will take a long time clearing the rest of the map, made more difficult in the yellow key area cause of entrenched monsters. I was not fond of chaingunner cave due to some of those bastards having the bloated amount of health, so even with me provoking their infight I still had to retreat and restock my supplies. I did not like another card moment where shotgun guys in cages took several good supplies away from me. I had to kill a guy while he was close to the bars in order to grab the invulnerability that he was holding but could not get as much advantage of it as I hoped.

 

The canyon leading to blue key was another tough grind, to the point when I encountered the hell hobbles on my way back, I chose simply to ignore them. Pressing the yellow switch triggered another grindy battle, where monsters were quickly teleporting and blocking access to the exit area, made more difficult cause among them were reflecting hell knight. It also turned the portal which was previously used to access this area in the first place into sure-death trap to prevent portal rush to the exit. Now I understand the purpose of other seemingly useless portal that leads back to wharf! The final area is just for building tension for the final level, with a lone Cyberdemon that can even be ignored and some power-ups to patch you up!

[Andromeda]

44 minutes ago, LadyMistDragon said:

I mean, 1k1 already won (first wad to reach 5 votes!) so meh. Though I feel like people may be slightly unprepared for the challenge in the last third especially. I saw some of the people who made maps for it, and it's definitely not going to be another Zone 400. Size may not matter beyond the time it takes to complete each map on average. It's been a couple of months at any rate however, so I'll still play most of it.

Who knows, maybe it'll matter...

 

+++ Fragport

+++ Hexen

Edited November 30, 2021 by Andromeda

[FragsBunny]

MAP30: Interception II (28%/50%/100%)

1.       You will be attacked by the Inferno Crew!

2.       All projectiles have increased speed

3.       Baphomet spawns with a small companion

 

I decided to give an epic map an epic ending and chose the option that spawned a second copy of the boss! The arena-build up was very slow, to the point that sludge started to rain right after elevator started to lower down. And I quickly learned that directly attacking the boss (or its mini-me) caused them to immediately react with hellfire attack similar to the one used by arch-viles. But because the bosses were prone to infighting, and some card made cannon fodder like mancubus much tougher, I decided to leave the job to infights, considering that my overheal was not permanent. Eventually the Cyberdemons came in and started to infight with the bosses shortly thereafter. One of them killed the smaller clone of the boss. And guess what? The level ended right after that! Uh, I am not sure how this encounter would fit into Doom canon… I should have chosen the Inferno Crew card instead…

 

Overall, what can I say about Interception 2? The first 20 levels were quite solid, most of the latter were not so much, but I blame the card choices on that. While factoring the cards that I had during the walkthrough, the most enjoyable levels were MAP11, MAP15, MAP19 and MAP27. Typical of rushed community projects, there were some glitches as well (who wouldn’t remember MAP20 of the first interception). But as a mapset made by a new school of mappers, with different textures and themes coming up, I can say that this is a solid megawad that was worth of being chosen for DWmegawad club’s playthrough! And Corruption Cards are another example why you should build your own story like this. Shame that DFF gave up on his card run midway…