The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

[RHhe82]

MAP26: Sinister Teachings. Played on UV-PS. All 154/154 kills, 3/3 secrets. Completion time 34:56.

 

I wanted to like this map more, but somehow I was mostly frustrated. Part of that is on me, at the start of I insisted on berserk punching the first baron, and I *still* suck at punching anything other than demons and spectres. I just can't dodge retaliation projectiles. Somehow when a map gives berserk pack at start for free, I start to suspect ammo is gonna be on premium. For some time it felt that way, but I guess in the end there were enough resources. 

 

Another time the level rubbed me the wrong way, and that's also partly my own fault, was the forced megasphere pick up at the suspicious library room RIGHT AFTER I had went and picked the secret soul sphere and blue armor AND saved.

 

Third time I was rubbed the wrong was also not the map's fault, but Random Number God; for some reason I'd just get hit with what seems like maximum damage roll in the brown caverns with the red pressure plates.

 

The RSK fight was quite something. I don't think you can fetch the secret BFG before that, I just wished I had, because the fight seemed quite difficult. The way I beat it was to pump rockets onto the archvile trio before I actually triggered the ambush. After that the fight becomes far too easy.

 

Oh, the final fight might also be the hardest, I'm not sure, I managed to spot the way to get the invulnerability sphere in the chaingunner cove, which redeems my experience a bit :-D

 

I sound so critical. Most of the criticism doesn't even have to do with the map itself. Guess I wasn't in the mood for what was on the offer? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

MAP27: Cargo Cult. Played on UV-PS. All 382/382 kills, almost all 10/11 secrets. Completion time 59:04.

 

Fun times ahoy! With an almost hour of playtime, one would think that a level would outstay its welcome, but it doesn't. Map is littered with doomcute stuff, and while the harbour area could be considered only a top tier(ish) city level, then there is the freight ship. Wow. (And "Wow" despite the interior of the ship is basically corridors of METAL2 -- and yet I found it totally compelling.)

 

If I had to complain about something, it's that Cargo Cult doesn't feel like Interception II map. We've had some earthen demonic outposts lately, and Cargo Cult is a "realistic" city level. But I don't wanna complain, I thoroughly enjoyed Cargo Cult. I don't even know what more to say. Love it.

[RHhe82]

MAP28: Dr. Jones Abby's Malediction. Played on UV-PS. Kills: 853/995. Secrets 1/8 (really?!). Completion time 1:29:03.

 

I had about half the kills and yellow key by 1 hour mark. So, we're back to a more exotic setting with a vast, I don't know, some sort of mountain range with blood- and lava-filled ravines. I can't help but stand in awe just how expansive map feels, and it's hard to imagine just how mapper is able to hold the package together. I suspect this is why I felt a bit lost for a good chunk of the map, and because the resources were very tight in the beginning and had me go back and forth to different direction in hopes of less beefed enemies. Only after one secret with a difficult slaughter ambush (where you can find early plasma and backpack) I was able to forget resource problems for a while.

 

Okay, so I probably missed some big fight, and I certainly missed almost all of the secrets. I must confess DJAM exhausted me. I mean, I totally understand it was a forum favourite, and certainly it is in the top 3 memorable maps so far me as well along with Cargo Cult and Ex Nihilo Slipgate. And What could go wrong... Okay, so top 4 memorable maps. But when I somehow, miraculously survived the final fight (with numerous saves that were named MAP28 BS, MAP28 BS 2, MAP28 BS 3 and MAP28 BS 4), I just couldn't find it in myself to go look for the remaining secrets and the missed fight (I saw the arena, and I somehow expected THAT to be the endgame arena)

 

I don't understand the map title, I'm constantly thinking of Dr. Jones, that's Indiana Jones, but what's Abby's Malediction then :P

 

Oh, and I played the idGames-version -- I wonder how would the sneak update have affected the experience?

 

EDIT: I once again sound so negative, when the reality is that Abby’s Malediction is a top tier map. Just so that we’re clear :-D

Edited December 30, 2021 by RHhe82

[galileo31dos01]

5 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

I don't understand the map title, I'm constantly thinking of Dr. Jones, that's Indiana Jones, but what's Abby's Malediction then :P

 

Abby is the doctor's surname, as well as 'abby's'=abyss references the island collapsing as he stole the yellow skull for his own experiments in the laboratory, little did he know the relic came with a curse, hence 'malediction', so he died a horrible death next to a machine (the corpse laying next to it is indeed Jones). It was all a vague excuse of a story when I was thinking of a title, so nothing to take too seriously. You weren't too far about Indiana Jones, the reference is again vague, because I don't remember much about the movies tbh.

 

6 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

I wonder how would the sneak update have affected the experience?

 

IIRC a huge issue with nodebuilders that'd obliterate the entire map to the tiniest change, and a small bunch of fixes and minor other changes, like no pain elementals in the secret black arena so it'd be a proper cacoswarm.

[RHhe82]

MAP29: All Fall Down. UV-PS. All 989/989 kills, but only 1/3 secrets. Completion time 65:04.

 

Slaughtermap! I'm not very good at them, but luckily the penultimate map isn't that impossible. Hardest fights (when using saves) seem to be at the beginning. Later areas are not hard because they are cramped, but rather because they are so open that when you don't know the map, you can feel at lost.  Now that I've played through the map once, second run would be easier or more technical. I could only find one of the secrets (and even that was after the said secret was already ran past its usefulness).

 

Somehow the map, especially at first, reminded me of Scythe's MAP29, I'm not sure why; Maybe because the map feels open world castle grounds, but once you get the hang of it, you realize it's more like a couple of separate islands. Kill count makes you expect the worst, when you reach the first portal.

 

I don't know; As far as slaughtermaps go, I think this is more doable for us not well-versed in those (I haven't even played Rush). That's not to say map's easy; I would never have been able to do even the first dungeon hall without saving. At least I didn't need that many midfight saves!

 

This relative easiness also contributes to the fact not once did I feel the map outstays its welcome. Perhaps the green outdoor area comes close to feeling a chore for a while -- but not too much. I guess it has to do with the mapper providing enough ammo - personally I have enough on my plate with this kind of maps, I don't want to worry about ammo.

 

 

***

 

 

MAP30: Guillotine. UV-PS, Kills: 195/199. Map had no secrets. Completion time 6:48.

 

It ends! Megawads modus operandi has been that of very long maps, so I was afraid there was going to be a long trek thru some Icon of Sin country. First positive surprise (although I was half-- quarter-expecting something else) was that it's not an IoS fare! As we all know only too well, it's not that easy to do epic boss fights in Doom. I don't know if I really found Baphomet that captivating, but I guess I still approve because it's not IoS, and because once I discovered how to survive against it, it wasn't at all frustrating despite the one time I facerocketed myself.

My second surprise was, well, that the level was short, after all. With all the ominous dead bodies and rooms that looks like there are ambushes abound with over 100 percent certainty, and if they're not triggered now, they're triggered on the way back.

 

So, okay, I wasn't able to complete this in November, but hey, at least I was spot on completing it next month with quite some time left still :P (little over three hours my local time).

 

 

***

 

 

It's hard for me to appraise the megawad as a whole, because I have little experience in custom megawads; I've mostly watched others play them on YT. So, because my personal experience consists mostly of Ultimate Doom and Doom 2, it's easy to impress me. I loved just how much work must have been put into Interception II, and I liked that it's not overly hard, but somewhat above my skill level.

 

The first batch of level (first 11?) felt somehow consistent and possibly the best part of megawad as a whole -- although the final stretch and the some of the early final episode levels (the ones with yellow aesthetics) come close too. I think I like my levels a bit shorter than what the mindset of Interceptioneers has produced here. But that's just a personal preference, and I can't deny some of the treks on offer were truly epic. My favourite map of all is, I think, MAP11, which was the first very long map, if my memory serves. Admittedly, I was so impressed by the System Shock 2 reference that Slipgate Ex Nihilo gets some extra points not directly related to gameplay.

 

So, great megawad! Even the maps I enjoyed less than others had an air of quality about them. Great stuff! Thank you. This concludes the bumping of this thread on my part, over and out.