The DWmegawad Club plays: Uprising

[Roofi]

+++ 3 Heures d'Agonie 2

[Anarkzie]

Map 15 Communications
This level picks up the energy, it's got all the ingredients of a great level, but I did not enjoy playing it, I think I just felt a little burnt-out. It's harder than most of the levels so far. I really find those robot cacos annoying to encounter, I think it's because I have yet to find a strategy to deal with them. I missed the secret exit at first despite hitting all of the switches. I think once I'm done playing the whole wad I'm going to try this map again.

Map 31 Dereliction
Holy hell this level is atmospheric, I love it. The concept of this level is great and masterfully realised. Playing this was a tense experience not knowing when death would appear. The last batch of levels have really felt like filler but you can tell that this one was truly inspired.

Map 32 Beyond
Another map with a strong theme, where was this creativity in the last batch of maps. I really feel this could have been stretched out over a whole chapter rather than the ice thing. Love each of the mini maps my favourite being the last super fight in terms of game play but I think the ww1 style trenches in terms of theme.

Map 16 Thermal
This level opens in what I now consider to be Cheesewheel's trademark, lots of minor enemies chiping away at your health from all angles. Once you secure the rather large open area it moves on to phase two which is 3 large set piece fights one for each key. It's a blast and in my opinion a solid map. Not a fan of the midi but it's not so bad that I have to turn the sound down.

[DJVCardMaster]

+++Doom 2 In Spain Only
+++Claustrophobia 1024

[Paf]

+++3ha2 and 3ha1

+++RAMP (probably in multiple parts)

Edited June 25, 2022 by Paf

[RHhe82]

I’ll get back on the actual schedule next week when I’m back home, but I guess I can vote, although I once again wouldn’t mind a skip next month.

 

+++Doom 2 in Spain Only (I’m already on MAP24, but what the heck)

+++3ha2, why not. Haven’t played the first one, but I guess order doesn’t matter and I understood the second was is better.

+++Auger;zenith

Edited June 25, 2022 by RHhe82
Altered my votes.

[finnks13]

Catching up on Map24 & 25...

 

MAP24 - Mars City:
This map took me an hour to complete, and yet it felt like nearly double that. Uprising has done lengthy maps well, but this is not my thing. I understand that one of Uprising's favourite tricks is to deprive the player of weapons at the start of the map and force them to fight tooth and nail for each one, but this is ridiculous. I have to pistol the first tenth of the monster count, and don't get an SSG until the 5 minute mark. You have to get a quarter of the way through the map to get a chaingun, which makes these first ten minutes of the map a slog. The rocket launcher, and plasma gun are buried deep into the map, I didn't even find the plasma gun until after unlocking the exit. There is a duplicate rocket launcher, which makes missing it completely unlikely but it's still pointlessly far into the level.

 

The combat also doesn't really do it for me even if I were to ignore the weapon placement, there's so many long-range sniper monsters that traversing the map becomes infuriating and I didn't find that any of the key fights had any punch to them. The best bit of the map is the plasma gun fight, but I had to go out of my way to find it, which is a shame. The final building is also pretty good, but why is there another single cyberdemon guarding the exit? The visuals of the map are very grand, but feel very monotonous and the music is the first track I've not liked in the wad, it's sluggish and makes the map feel more dull.

 

Overall, this is Uprising's first dud. It's too long, and doesn't justify it's length at all for me.

 

MAP25 - Bloodvine:
After the two behemoths that are Map23 and (especially) Map24, Bloodvine is a more bite-sized level, which I appreciate as these smaller maps keep the pacing of this wad at a good level for me. It's probably the most overtly "hellish" map so far, with red marble, wood and blood everywhere. Like in Map22, I find the red almost overwhelming to look at here, since it's so... everywhere but once I got used to it, it wasn't too bad. The map is pretty linear, despite the door to the exit requiring both a yellow and blue key, I'm not sure there's any way to actually get the blue key first.

 

The gameplay is fast-paced and to the point, with more heavies than is standard for Uprising. It feels like there's mancubi and arachnotrons around every corner, but rockets are plentiful enough that I didn't feel it became a slog. There's a couple of instances of archviles being used for area denial, first in the imp sandwich after getting the rocket launcher, and finally in the last area. These two "fights" feel like the only structured combat set-pieces as the rest of the map is very incidental, without any of the usual key or weapon traps.

 

Overall, this isn't a standout map, but a return to form that I enjoyed.

 

~~~

As for my votes, I've not decided on a third wad to play yet (and nothing that's been voted for already has caught my eye) so I may come back to edit this later:

+++ Fragport
+++ Xerxesia

[Red Recluse]

Dance on the water.

Edited June 25, 2022 by Red Recluse

[cannonball]

MAP24 - “Mars City”

 

For the most part this map is a big step down in difficulty, with exploration the key driver here. That said I think the map is overly bloated and you do become quite weary of this. Finding the correct path to the yellow and red keys is a little difficult as they are tucked further away than some of the weapons/items that you can collect to assist your progress. There were some neat fights, the plasma gun fight in the lava was quite nasty, however a lot of the fights (The red key section in particular) can be diffused without much hassle thanks to the space. The final crawl up the central tower is quite neat with the spiders rising to each level in the tower before you descend it again from the inside. The cyberdemon at the end is pointless like in map22. 

Overall - I don't know, I didn't mind it and it certainly isn't a map I would hate on, but I cannot think of many maps in this wad that I liked less than this. Still the going so far has been pretty good so lets say this one gets a fairly neutral score. A bit too long and cumbersome and the bigger fights are undone by the amount of space you have.

 

MAP25 - “Bloodvine”

 

Man, I would have had a far better experience with this one if I found the rocket launcher when I was supposed to. With that in mind I can only say that this was a really solid map. We have a full on hellish setting here with marble, some wood and a lot of red. The layout is combat, yet fairly open and as such plenty of room for the player and monsters to move around. This creates a really fun run and gun type of set up. The action like the last map is mostly incidental with perched enemies being the greatest threat, the main exception is the archvile and imp sandwich. There isn't much to say, this has a short playtime compared to the last couple and there wasn't many irritations that were not caused by me missing something obvious. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by cannonball

[Doomy__Doom]

Playstyle: dsda-doom (-cl2), UV (generally max but occasionally might skip secret hunt), pistol start, sparse saves/rewinds (no mid-combat)

 

Map 26 - Shrine Of Adam

 

Another mazy 3-key hunt ordeal featuring single copies of all important weapons, with RL/plasma being basically on a single path. This time around I noticed it early enough, but honestly - RL trap is really nasty, that I'm happy I got a secret blue armor first.

 

Out of three keys, only yellow set piece locks you in and poses some form of danger (awkward pillars to trip on), the other two you don't have to engage with at all if you don't want to.

 

The final arena can go south really fast, depending on Vile RNG and whether you made the awkward secret BFG jump. Uprising's mid/high tiers don't allow one luxury of safely changing direction in circlestrafey arenas much like a solid rev cluster. Megasphere(s, but you probably took one of the two) being situated in the center can easily turn into a Megasphuck(tm) with inopportune timing.
The arena does the right thing of spawning things on the edge, thus making the player navigate the chaos for a while, and as things start to settle comes the traitor wave. I'm sure not everyone will enjoy that, but works for me.

Bonus content: too long to bother

Coop features:
- More Revs at the start, but also a couple blue faces. Some nondescript shotgunners and chaingunners in the complex.
- A Vile straight on the RL pickup... why oh why? At least he can be cheesed from secret blueface.
- Some mancs and viles preplaced in BK arena.
- Yellow arena surrounds the riding down player with 3 close range cybergunners. Eww.
- Red arena houses a Cyber you'll probably have to waste before pressing the switch.
- 2 Cybers and 16 Revs are in the final arena before you press the switch. Do you feel like just rushing in for a switch press?

 

Much like with last few maps, I don't feel like it adds anything of substance to warrant a recommendation over (and especially after) regular UV.

[tonytheparrot]

(Played continuously on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 26: Shrine of Adam

100% kills, 81% items, 80% secrets

Time: 21:34

 

Shrine of Adam is another corrupted base, but this time it is floating in the void. Of course it still looks great but this time something stands out: the opening view of the base surrounded by the void all while the first notes of Myrgharok's midi start playing is absolutey jaw-dropping. This map is still a non-linear key-hunt, but the incidental combat is way more exciting than in most maps in this wad and no standouts annoy me. To get the three keys, you need to again, explore the entire level and getting them will trigger some nasty traps: the red key is protected by drones and cacobots, the blue key spaws 3 sniping revs and a lot of heavies on the ground including cacobots and 2 archies and the yellow key will lower you into a room that is inhabited by arachnos, marksmen and chaingunners. My favorite path is the yellow one, but not because of it's “last fight”, but because of the 2 that precede it: an impe, rev and chaos knight splatterfest and a dark imp, rev and knight teleport ambush. After getting all 3 keys, you will have to face Shrine of Adam's last challenge in an arena suspended in the void : a glorious teleport ambush with lots of heavies including 2 archies, who are later joined by 3 traitors. Overall, it's a really fun, pretty and perfectly scored map, what more can you ask from it?

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Love:

Map 9

Map 15

Map 13

Map 20

Map 32

Map 19

Map 26

Map 12

Map 4

Really Like:

Map 16

Map 6

Map 31

Map 1

Map 14

Map 25

Map 22

Map 21

Map 23

Map 24

Map 10

Map 7

Map 3

Map 5

Map 2

Like:

Map 11

Map 18

Map 8

Mediocre:

Map 17

[Monsieur E]

Alright, let's get back to it.

Map 16- Thermal 
100% kills, pistol start

Was pretty surprised by the drastic change of scenery from the quant snowy labs, honestly pretty jarring but I digress, the levels looks really pretty and in general
looks sleek. The incidental and shorter combat are nothing to note here but the main key fights are all enjoyable, not much else to add rly. Just a solid map.

Map 17- Digsite
100% kills, pistol start

Other than aesthetics of exploring a digsite as the title suggests, I don't really care for this level a whole lot. None of the fights rly click to me as they have for previous maps and in general, this level just doesn't have much going for it; it feels like the level and encounters in it are more dull and exhausting as opposed to being a fun challenge, felt more like a chore probably arising from the claustrophobia here which is way more prevalent than the previous levels. Other than the aesthetics and final archvile fight, this one doesn't do much for me. 
 

Map18- Biodisaster 
not 100% kills (I missed out on a couple of enemies for what I presume to be secrets and a few stragglers left in the level, still got close to a 100% so :P), pistol start

This entire section has been kinda all over the place with the aesthetics lmao, not that I'm complaining they're all done really well. The first half of this wad was a lot more consistent I'd say with continued themes but I like the diversity and detail in the levels a lot more, helps them stand out. As for the level itself, well I quite enjoyed it. My only gripe is, I totally do not enjoy the red key ambush, maybe there's a good strat to it but I didn't find it in the 5 or so attempts it took me do it and it's topped by an annoying cyberdemon I did not give two fucks to clear up until later in the level. Everything else though is extremely fun even though my dumbass didn't get the plasma gun until VERY late in the level when I realized I was probably supposed to take it BEFORE I descended into the big outdoors yellow key encounter. My other gripe with the level is the cyberdemon towards the said encounter, it felt a tedious end to an otherwise great fight.
 

Map19- Circuit Breaker
100% kills, pistol start

Don't have much to add rly, this is a perfect map to just chill out from the more expansive levels (ominous music plays for what's to come next). Honestly, the level was pretty easy and probably peaked in difficulty towards the beginning since the later encounters are much more manageable and honestly, overdoes the megaspheres. But honestly, I really enjoyed this level because tbh, a BFG romp is always fun.
 

Map20- Heroism
99% kills (skipped out on 10 enemies or so), pistol start

I audibly went "Oh no" when I saw the enemy count of this level. And yeah, this level is pretty big but it's really good. I don't really want to go into the specifics for most of the fights since they're all genuinely solid and exciting except for two. The first major fight in the level triggered by the rocket launcher is something I hate and it's primary down to the damned cacobots. I'd say most of them they're well utilized but the problem with them is that they're both fast and pack a massive punch, in addition to being able to fly and often block you which is always aggravating. The other fight I want to talk about is final encounter. It might as well be my favorite fight in Uprising so far, it's excellent because it's a perfect mix of firepower and powerups against a dangerous horde, the most deadly of them being the archviles which often catch you off guard and force you to rush for cover. A fantastic fight all around, pretty difficult too found it harder than anything that preceded it in the whole wad as well but damn did I REALLY enjoy it. The levels is also well detailed brings a thematic end to the second episode with the transition into the hellish warzone of the final arena from the corrupted techbases preceding it. My favorite detail is the little "NO RETURN" paint on the wall which is thematically cool but more importantly, I appreciate the thought of letting a player clean up any leftover enemies and resupply before entering the final arena. Just great stuff.
 

Map 21- Voidwalk
100% kills, pistol start

Pretty unique level, both in terms of design and in combat. The level is more restrained in terms of area and is more, self contained rather than a sprawl. It has a much more modest enemy count but compensates this with tighter ammo and health in addition to holding back the bigger guns. I would normally complain but this level felt more designed around this limitation rather than suffering from it. Pretty good contrast to the behemoth which preceded it and I loved it.


As for my votes;
+++ Community Chest 3
+++ Down the Drain
+++ 3HA 1 & 3HA 2 (I'd prefer 3HA 2 if we only get one of these)

[cannonball]

MAP26 - “Shrine of Adam”

 

Nice setting in the void, not sure whether this was a hellish or human construction first. This is another one of those mixed feelings kind of maps and another that appears to have one rocket launcher and one plasma gun. Okay the rocket launcher is fairly close to the start in this one so it is only the plasma gun that you need to properly search out. The map is fairly large and non-linear, but not to the scale of "Mars City". However it is advisable that you get equiped before tackling any of the keys, the red key in particular is one for the rocket launcher. The blue key is probably the easiest to grab and again the rocket launcher is probably weapon of choice here, you can escape down the corridor quite easily. The yellow key is by far the largest challenge and is also the most engaging for the player, with a variety of different and fun encounters to claim the prize.

There are some drawbacks to this one, firstly to open up the exit, you need to traverse a very large lift, now I am gong to be blunt, the cybergunners are pretty awful opposition in Uprising and placing four of them on this lift is a terrible idea. They are a chore to chip away and are far to easy to avoid given their sloth-like dexterity. The final fight I was not keen on either, it is a bit of lottery when you design a simple arena like this and then throw in a few archviles. I would add that the second megasphere feels pretty pointless because once the monsters are fully pouring out, you are never going to get near that thing until you are left with a handful of monsters. 

Overall - Nice setting and some nice fights, but the whole level feels a little too bloated and cumbersome. The finale was a little bit of a let down too in my opinion and is chalked down to another big fight that was rather flawed in execution.

Side note - It isn't the biggest issue, but there is a fast option to rise that lift up to the exit in vanilla. That would have saved around 30 seconds of my life. :P

[finnks13]

MAP26 - Shrine of Adam:
I remember liking Episode 3 of this wad a lot less than I am in this playthrough, and this is another banger. I love the void visuals, the crosses that glow in the distance look superb and the opening shot of them combined with the MIDI is a highlight of the whole megawad so far for me. I would describe this map as a more palatable version of Map24, it's a non-linear keyhunt, with the rocket launcher + plasma gun buried deep into the map - but this map is much shorter, and the weapons are less out of the way. It's still certainly possible to blunder into a keyfight woefully under-equipped, but the interconnectivity of the layout means it's not difficult to backtrack and search for greater weaponry.

 

Like Map18, there's an emphasis on damaging floors in this map, but outside of grabbing the rocket launcher, I never felt this became annoying. My favourite areas were the blue key fight and the northern series of corridors, they both require quick reflexs and aggressive play, but are generous with health and don't overstay their welcome. I felt the finale fell a bit flat, it comes down to whether the archviles separate from the crowd and target you as once they're dealt with, it's very easy to circle-strafe the rest. The elevator to the exit door felt unnecessary, it's just so slow and doesn't build to some spectacular visuals or combat - the map just sort of ends at the top of it.

 

Overall, this is a fun non-linear romp, with some jaw-dropping scenery.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP23: Digital Demons

Kills: 81%
Items: 91%
Secrets: 100%
Time: 9:07

 

Digital Demons has my favourite combat in all of Uprising.

I love the aggressiveness of this map, how it’s this quick opener, and then blam, we’re off to the races. No preamble like most maps in this wad, the format here says “go go go”. I think what I appreciate most about Digital Demons is this map doesn’t feel like a special event where you’re gorged on Invulns, it’s mostly played straight. This map doesn’t feel much like UAC HQ with all these broad setpieces, you can imagine this layout serving one of this megawad’s more grounded and balanced affairs. I’d almost think listing and explaining the individual moments would be a bit of a disservice to the map, as it isn’t really about that, that’s not this map’s objective. It’s a fun and freeform adventure through a heavily infested tech base.

(Also more Mr. X action? Guess he’s kinda just part of the cast now.)

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A-

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[Book Lord]

Hello, votes for July. I tend to support old stuff, except that I think a group project would bring more variety (hence the vote for D2iSO):
 

+++ Community Chest 3

+++ Doom 2 in Spain Only

+++ Fragport

Edited June 27, 2022 by Book Lord

[Monsieur E]

Almost caught up!

Map22- Welcoming 
100%, pistol start

Really enjoyed this level, it had a certain fluidity to it and doesn't starve or overload you with resources. The traitors return here and well, they're alright. I was concerned they'd be unbearable but they're used with restraint and are pretty good at keeping you moving. They shine the best in the blue key which is probably my favorite bit of the level, even if I did it without obtaining the ssg. Just an excellent arena overall which forces you to be fast and manage your rockets which is topped up with the archviles who could fuck up your entire cleanup job. Red key placement was just weird since it wasn't really accompanied by any major setpiece, just a single archvile who I didn't even trigger until I had dealt with the two cacobots. Yellow key was alright and I liked that it reused the blue key arena. I'm gonna forgive the dummy cyberdemon at the end since frankly, everything leading up to it is all good stuff.

Map23- Digital Demons
100%, pistol start

Loved this one, this is an amazing level! It's just a ride that keeps accelerating and accelerating and never holds anything back. Just ambush after ambush but it never starves you for resources neither does it drop a load of hitscan snipers to eat your health away. Backed by an excellent track from Eviternity, there's never a minute to rest in the level and it's just great stuff. Unfortunately, it kinda dropped off towards the ending. In particular, the final blue key encounter which was just a damn pushover. Mini-rant time: Of all the custom enemies in Uprising, the worst by far is the Chaingunner. They barely pose a threat to you since they're slow as fuck and they're just not really used a lot or used well which is a shame. As a result, the blue key arena which relied solely on them (well there was the archvile but that was easy to dispose off) to cook up pressure just falls flat. But it doesn't detract from the otherwise great level. 

Map24- Mars City
99% (left the final cyber and a couple of his flying friends alive; couldn't bother), pistol start

Well, for every Digital Demons, there's a Mars City. I could probably list a few levels that I found more tedious or unenjoyable but this level is probably the only one I wouldn't want to play again in the set. It's not bad per say, it's alright but it's just so dull and uninteresting. Nothing really stands out here other than how fucking annoying the arachnotron snipers were. Ascending the tower at the end and then descending down the lift was neat but it's like only 5% of the entire level, the remaining 95% is painfully mediocre where I spent half the time hoping something more interesting would happen but it never did. The only exception would be the plasma gun ambush but yeah, the entire city section was a misfire. It could've been shaved down to half the size but as it is, it's just too much.

Map25- Bloodvines 
99% (left one mancubus alive), pistol start

An alright pallet cleanser after Map24, nothing here really stands out but it's just an enjoyable level overall. The setpieces if you could call them that are much smaller and honestly, barely a challenge. The bulk of the level is chewing through the much heavier incidental combat and, well it's alright. The aesthetics here are very red but I like the mixing up with natural and wooden details. An average level overall.

[kalaeth]

let's go for a few more maps! 

 

MAP 25 - Bloodvine : 

Blood. Blood everywhere. I've been outside, fought an AV, pressed a switch, found some stairs, more switches, eventually reach the YSK, jump down, switch, and now the yellow doors, fight up to the RSK, red door, off to the BSK, down, and now.. a jump down? And now.. This is the exit? Ok, it let's me go back to find the secrets. Secret one, secret two, exit.

100% K/I/S, 0 deaths,22 minutes and 30 seconds.

 

MAP 26 - Shrine of Adam : 

We are back at the void! It starts simple, zombies and then imps. By the time the pinkies get to you, there's mancs shooting from behind them. There's a secret blue armor in one of the imp balconies. Revenants and dark imps have joined the mix, there's lava floors to cross, two spiders guarding a bluesphere, a lava star with a chaingun on top, an AV and his knight friend on a balcony, leading to the RSK. A drone fest shows up, and then it's a fight down the corridors, windowed revenants, zombies, knight and mancs roaming about, cacos flying around, a massive star with 4 mini-cybers, and they don't kill, I do it myself, the good old rocket to the face style. Second try one of them gets a rocket of theirs to my face. Third time it's the chainguns. Fourth time I managed to kill them. Then up, pick a side, and somehow end up back to the start. Picked up the RL and a secret bluesphere on the way back, found the plasma gun, followed a stream of lava up, all the way to a pair of switches and then died in the ambush the final switch threw at me. This time I went back to where I was, found a weird exit switch that opens a wall, right back to the star, and eventually outside where a bluesphere bluearmor and lot's of ammo waits. It's the BSK fight. But with the BFG it was doable. One more key to go. Outside impfest, YSK, spider+chaingunner trap, switch, teleport,  and now.. I'm 2 secrets and about 30 demons to go. I know where one of the secrets is..Ok, got the BFG. And found the secret berserk, now. Jum into the final fight.. and that's it. Switch, lift up, slowwwlyy, and.. Exit.

 

100,89,100% K/I/S, 4 deaths, 38 minutes and 04 seconds.

 

MAP 27 - Armaggedon : 

By the time I got a second to breath there were over 300 dead monsters, I'd gobbled up some 6/7 invun spheres and found both the red and the blue key. Yellow to go. Ah, outside. more BFG, more rockets, more invun, done. Now the secret... Ah, here. Done, exit.

 

100, 79, 100% K/I/S, 0 deaths, 16 minutes and 01 seconds.

 

totals : 99% Kills, 100% Secrets, 31 deaths, 10 hours and 22 seconds.

 

Almost there! 

 

[edited to remove vote to the next post, to "merge" them]

Edited June 29, 2022 by kalaeth

[sandwedge]

+++ 3 Heures d'Agonie 2

[RHhe82]

MAP25: Bloodvine. 193/193 K, 2/2 S. Completion time 36:43.

 

Finally got back on my computer after the midsummer's weekend. Bloodvine is a welcome change of pace, a blood-soaked hell fortress of sorts, and this time I find nothing annoying in it. There are a couple of snipery enemies, but this time I found them far more reasonable. The red theme feels consistent, overall the level looks good.

 

No complaints gameplay-wise either. I came close to starving for ammo, but I guess was being wasteful. Wish I had found the berserk secret earlier (which is why my completion time is a little bigger than the actual level would have taken).

[tonytheparrot]

(Played continuously on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 27: Armageddon

103% kills, 68% items, 0% secrets

Time: 13:50

 

Man, what an absolute joyride! While Armageddon is more of the same visually (outside of the doomcute ship at the exit), it's combat is satifsying, explosive, fast-paced and some of the wad's best. Now this map may look intimidating with it's over 500 demons and fairly compact layout, but Cheesewheel gives every weapon, almost 5000 cells and 450 rockets, 3 soulspheres, 2 blue armors, 7 megaspheres and 6 invulnerabilities, making it not as threatening as it may seem. The presence of all of these supplies also allows you to play more recklessly to absolutely destroy the hordes of enemies, which will even meet you right at the start. My 2 favorite fights are the yellow key arena which you can decimate with 2 invulnns and the blue key caco ambush followed by a horde of monsters (including 2 cybers) meeting you when you try to leave. An awesome map like this also needs a matching midi, and Cheesewheel hit the spot by selecting Dragonfly's remix of Sadistic, which inserts itself into the flow of every single encounter perfectly. Overall, Armgeddon is an adrenaline rush and Uprising's best map so far.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 27

Map 9

Map 15

Map 13

Map 20

Map 32

Map 19

Map 26

Map 12

Map 4

Really Like:

Map 16

Map 6

Map 31

Map 1

Map 14

Map 25

Map 22

Map 21

Map 23

Map 24

Map 10

Map 7

Map 3

Map 5

Map 2

Like:

Map 11

Map 18

Map 8

Mediocre:

Map 17

 

 

[finnks13]

MAP27 - Armageddon:
Armageddon follows in the footsteps of UAC HQ and Circuit Break - a slaughtery interlude before a more slow-paced finale. It's got a nice callback to UAC HQ with the MIDI being a remix of TNT's Sadistic (even though I must admit to finding it rather annoying after the first loop), as well as the more interconnected layout of an arena compared to Circuit Break's very simple layout. I still think I prefer UAC HQ's action, but the first few minutes here are definitely exhilerating as you run around trying to get weapons and supplies to deal with the very large horde. The map doesn't really feel like it's got any distinct "fights" to me, it all sort of blends together into a continuous stream of carnage.

 

I feel that there's a few too many invulnerabilities in the map on UV, while running between them and just destroying everything with rockets is undeniably entertaining, it feels rather mindless and a similar effect could have been achieved by replacing them with megaspheres. As it is, there's no challenge at all - in my 10 minute run, I never even came close to dying. You're able to get a BFG by going to the northern section of the map, and after you grab it you've basically won as there's no chance of anything being able to stand up to it as the hordes aren't anywhere near big enough to withstand more than a couple of shots.

 

Overall, this is a fun arena map, that could have been tweaked to be more rewarding to tackle properly.

[Doomy__Doom]

Playstyle: amorphous slime on a chair

 

Map 27 - Armageddon

 

Having spent the entire day in +32 heat, I am absolutely melted and my mental capacity is in deep negatives.

 

The map? It's probably really fun, but I my brain refused to register anything, it was looking at the pixels but that's about it. I know I died in dumb ways a lot until I figured out where plasma is, and then I stopped dying somehow. It's been a pain point for the whole wad - please please do not ever assume one correct weapon route in a nonlinear map unless you're trying to make Mucus Flow.

 

I need to replay this map sometime when I'm actually able to Doom.

 

 

EDIT: I can't think straight today so lets vote woooohooo

+++ 3ha2  - I played map25 at random, looks fun

+++ Auger;Zenith - it won't win, but it's a fun romp from start to finish so a vote it gets

I'll edit in slot 3 if I think of something tomorrow, I dunno.

Edited June 27, 2022 by Doomy__Doom

[cannonball]

MAP27 - “Armageddon”

 

Clearly the demons are sick of Mars because they have left an awful lot of heavy artillery for Doomguy to annihilate the lot of them several times over.

This map essentially boils down to having the same issues as map19, though the layout here is far superior and the extra space and length mean you actually have to do some work to win (As opposed to Circuit break where knowing the locations of everything guarantees victory).

Still, again this map lacks any real substance. It is a power fantasy and the number of in-vulnerabilities here is bordering on meme-worthy. On one hand the visuals look crisper than some of the other E3 maps and I like the sense of scale of offer here, however I also like to have substance to the gameplay, some intelligence to the combat. In the end it is rather lacking here.

Still I can't say I disliked it, I mean I like a lot of pop-corn action movies. But still there are far better maps in this wad that interweave solid narrative, tension with some more brutal moments that an punish the player. Come to think of it, the layout is more than capable of playing very differently to how it turned out, plenty of space for deadly hordes, as well as building tension to when the hammer does fall. I guess all I can say is this felt like a missed opportunity.

Edited June 27, 2022 by cannonball

[NiGHTS108]

MAP24: Mars City

Kills: 72%

Items: 58%

Secrets: 33%

Time: 21:17

 

Mars City is probably the most divisive map in all of Uprising for me. As an enjoyer of maps like Ticket To Eternity and Odyssey Of Noises, I think there's a lot to like here. Maybe I just like the hellish city idea. Not sure. The layout here I like considerably more than something like Street Fighter, I mean it isn't perfect, some of these structures are very noticeably only there to confuse, but I think the map nudges you in the direction of everything you need a healthy amount. It's not like half the space is completely pointless. Sadly, this map is simply too sedentary for my tastes, not a whole lot really happens in the way of combat outside of a few spikes in difficulty, mainly at keys. Thank god we're given this final showdown after finding all of them, but even so, something about this part feels a tad bit dry. Overall I wouldn't call Mars City bad, but it left some money on the table and I don't feel like replaying it.

 

Grade: B-

Difficulty: B

 

 

MAP25: Bloodvine

Kills: 94%

Items: 75%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 11:31

 

I wouldn't say a whole lot really separates Bloodvine from the crowd other than the obvious redness of this map, I think this mostly serves as a nice change of pace from the extensive Mars City. That said, there are a few nice fights I like here. Really enjoy the Arch-Vile moment with the Imps pretty early on, as well as when the map ramps up later after gaining some keys, specifically the path to the red one. Other than that there really isn't much to say here, although this is probably the third episode at it's most forgettable, it's fun enough.

 

Grade: B

Difficulty: C+

 

 

MAP26: Shrine Of Adam

Kills: 90%

Items: 81%

Secrets: 20%

Time: 18:37

 

Shrine Of Adam is a map I like for similar reasons to Welcoming. It's never really going to make your jaw drop with these amazing and fascinating setpieces, this is just a very warm and sweet map with a comfortable layout that never pisses me off. That said though, similar to MAP22 there are quite a few fights I like here, obviously the ending gets all the love from me, you could call it basic, sure, but it's pretty tense yet satisfying, as all setpieces like this should be. There's also good stuff at the keys too as always, definitely don't be an idiot like me early on by missing both the rocket launcher and plasma rifle, as they will be pretty needed pretty quick. In between the nice fights the layout is a bit like Bloodvine's again, I don't care for it a ton, but that's ultimately a nitpick. This map is swell.

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: B

 

 

MAP27: Armageddon

Kills: 95%

Items: 75%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 9:06

 

Armageddon is a map I was kinda concerned for after playing MAP19, but I think it actually came out surprisingly well. Unlike what I mentioned, Armageddon's difficulty doesn't feel... uh... at least COMPLETELY trivialised by green balls. Sure, there's practically always one close by if you're in a pinch, but beating this map while invulnerable the entire time isn't quite as easy. Also beware, as you won't receive the BFG unless you know what you're looking for. The actual fights though? You know, again kind of like MAP19 but more broad. I still enjoy Circuit Break, but I think Armageddon works a tad better as a pleasant break map where you always land on your feet. It's straightforward, breezy and chill. Oh, the irony.

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: C+

 

 

[tonytheparrot]

(Played continuously on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 28: Olympus Mons

100% kills, 80% items, 33% secrets

Time: 35:47

 

Olympus Mons really earns it's name as it is not only the longest and biggest map in the entirety of Uprising so far (and probably in the entire wad), but also beacuse this base is way more corrupted than the last ones, even containing guts on the floor of some rooms and being surrounded by red rocks and lava. The combat starts calmly, like in a lot of Cheesewheel's more classic techbases but rapidly escalates and throws bigger fights starting from the moment you grab the rocket launcher. Getting that weapon reveals an fun area with chaos knights, arachnotrons, revs and a ton of imps, and the following fights don't necessairly get easier, even if they don't particularly stand out oustide of the annoying yellow key fight with an incredibly awkward cyberdemon. But Cheesewheel is still not done yet as he turns up the heat once again when you get the BFG and throws a big group of enemies on a wide open space and later caps off the map on a BFG fest that is more aggravating than it sounds like due to the limited space and high monster strength (an archie, a cyber, dark imps, chaos knights and revs). After that, the map rewards you with a great Drake O'Brien inspired section in which you look back at everything you've accomplished with pride. Of course, a map like this needs a great midi and Cheesewheel chose an excellent one courtesy of decino and Gustavo6046 which was actually composed for a Drake O'Brien map, what a coincidence! Kidding aside, Olympus Mons is a pretty good map, but it drags a bit and the combat, while mostly fun can get annoying at times.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 27

Map 9

Map 15

Map 13

Map 20

Map 32

Map 19

Map 26

Map 12

Map 4

Really Like:

Map 16

Map 6

Map 31

Map 1

Map 14

Map 28

Map 25

Map 22

Map 21

Map 23

Map 24

Map 10

Map 7

Map 3

Map 5

Map 2

Like:

Map 11

Map 18

Map 8

Mediocre:

Map 17

 

 

[kalaeth]

MAP 28 - Olympus Mons:

Oh, after Armageddon we reach mount Olympus. Let's go kill Zeus! We've reached here on a highspeed train that looks like a submarine, there's a backpack and some ammo, a few zombies and a imp. Switch. Door opens, enter the base. Three lifts. I pick one at random, and find that all three lead to the same place. Here a switch lowers walls around another switch back up. This one opens the bars that lead to a lava cave, where a switch lowers the lift, and atop of it a secret blue armor. Up, another lift and it's back to the base. Inside there's fights at every step, mostly small fry but a few mancs and cacos are also around. Pick up the SSG and switch, big fight! And now I need the yellow key that I don't have. Cross another lava stream for another switch that does something, not sure what though. So, we go outside again and then die. Back to the reentry to the base. Open the gate, go up, go down, find the rocket launcher, finally.. I can't imagine playing this level on a pistol start.. After a small fight, a backtrack for health. Then, outside, kill tons of imps and others, another switch.. Oh damn, revs, knights, a manc and a couple mini-cybers. All this just to find another switch. And AVs. Two. I die to them. Next try, another death. Next try, BFG on their faces, done. Back to the base, and now.. Hum. A no return sign. But I can't actually return that much so.. Let's jump and see. Even with the megasphere I barely survived! Switch one, switch two, stairs, switch three, and a key! Blue door, kill imps and revs and knights, and then switches 1 to 4. Pass, and then die a bit after. Again, from the blue door. A while after there's a switch on the side of a mountain, that you can shoot for access to a berserker, all this entering and exiting the base, eventually a green armor and a blusphere tell you this particular switch will have a nasty effect. Chaingunners to one side, imps to the other and a caco. Or two. Finally, the plasma gun, and then outside complete with mancs, spiders, revs and an AV. A blue armor for your troubles, a lift and another yellow door. The lift gives you a lot of rockets and cells, plus a switch, to lower the yellow key. Cyber cacos, revs, knights, darkimps. And then the yellow key and the yellow door. Two switches, one for a small lift up to cells and health the other to a blue sphere we had seen before. Then at the end of all the lava, a megasphere with supplies and a teleport. A wave of revs and imps, mostly, besides the AV and the knights, and now we can take that yellow door from before. Lot's of stuff to fight outside, and I ended up falling down to a previous area of the level. Go back to where I was, a fake switch that forces me to a short lava run and then a cave. And here comes the final fight. Megasphere, bluespheres - two, ammo and a BFG. The first wave is triggered by BFG proximity, clear that and enter the building, then jump down, switch for the red key, back inside, red door and oh damn. Mega, invun, ammo. This wasn't too bad. A cyber, a AV and a few imps of both color variety. A couple of jumps through the map and this is the exit. I'm missing one secret and two enemies, but I can't go back.. Two revs inside a bluesphere secret it would appear. Oh well.

 

98, 95, 66%  K/I/S, 4 deaths, 57 minutes and 54 seconds.

 

 

totals : 99% Kills, 99% Items, 98% Secrets, 35 deaths, 10 hours 68 minutes and 16 seconds.

 

I'll vote for spain too and I'll add a vote for a mapset I haven't played as well:

+++ Doom 2 In Spain Only 

+++ 3 Heures d'Agonie 2

 

(had a brief glimpse at tomorrow's map.. This will be fun.)

Edited June 29, 2022 by kalaeth

[Monsieur E]

Alright, we're on the homestretch now.

Map26- Shrine of Adam
100% kills, pistol start

It's best to obtain the rocket launcher and the plasma gun as early as you can, it makes the level much more enjoyable and manageable since some fights are pretty ass to handle just with the ssg especially any of the key fights but the in-between combat can be pretty harsh too with the narrower corridors. The level is pretty solid overall and the aesthetics here are neat especially any section on the outdoors with the contrasting void with the crosses often in view in the background. Although, I was able to obtain the red key by walking on the surrounding edge and just directly collecting it from the pillar without pressing the switch. I didn't like the bunch of cybergunners on the big elevator since clearing them is ass because of how slow they are and also because there's FOUR of them and the final fight is just a roll of die.

Map27- Armageddon
99% kills (left 4 arachno-turrets on the outdoors area with the two cybderdemons in the south), pistol start

The hardest part in this entire level is getting yourself out of the tight situation in the beginning and getting your hands on the rocket launcher. This level comically overequips you, there are five non-secret invulnerabilities on UV and there's also 7 megaspheres. I only used 3 invulnerabilities of which I'd say I only needed the first one to actually carve out a spot to fight from and for most of the level I mostly relied on my RL, obtaining the plasma gun quite late in the level and only used for it for like two encounters max. Granted one of them was the cacocloud but yeah, mostly relied on the RL. I didn't even obtain the BFG till I had basically killed all of the enemies (barring the 4 arachno-turrets). Despite all of this, this level was very easy and barely posed a challenge honestly. Just a power fantasy and honestly, I'm quite disappointed. My biggest qualm with the level is that a big part of the roster literally infights to death while the remaining just get cut down like grass and in general, the level is quite a pushover. I realize I'm sounding overly negative but I honestly liked this level quite a bit and enjoyed it, but frankly, it could have been much better especially as only a few levels ago, Digital Demons stands in stark contrast as a much more deliberate, challenging and overall enjoyable experience. 

Map28- Olympus Mons
100% kills, pistol start

Mars City except better. That's a nice tl;dr of this behemoth I think. Its progression while much less non-linear is nonetheless sprinkled with better fights which gradually increase in scope, difficulty and imo, in enjoyment, reaching its climax with the finale in the tight arena as it throws like 150 monsters at you and you're armed with the BFG. Loads of enjoyment. The final sequence as you teleport around former parts of the level which ends with you in the middle of the void facing the fireblue exit is very cool. Not my favorite level I'd say but a solid one. 
 

[Doomy__Doom]

Playstyle: slightly less amorphous, but still slime on a chair

 

Map 28 - Olympus Mons

 

A linear Mars City where you don't have to suffer without guns by going in wrong directions. A lot of Uprising-usual incidental combat, a few set-pieces-but-no-lock-in affairs here and there, a couple nasty traitors in your face in awkward places to take away your armor.

 

The final fight is uhhh... not really good. Unlike the dark imp fight in UAC HQ where I gradually figured out proper herding over time spent, I don't see anything resembling a consistent strategy here. Too much dependance on Vile playing nice and spawning first, Cyber not memeing you doing super random stuff, not getting stuck and instantly dying to a volley or five of 64s on a random enemy who survived tracers... I can survive about 1 in 5 and I don't feel like it's ever on my merit as a player - it feels like a fight that lets you through. Or laughs at you. Mostly the latter.

 

The only advice I have is to not be afraid to aggressively use the center and "waste" those cell pickups and blue/brown faces. If you're gonna die, it will mostly be in the first 20-25s, so just use all the resources then.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Doomy__Doom

[NiGHTS108]

MAP28: Olympus Mons

Kills: 87%

Items: 78%

Secrets: 33%

Time: 27:29

 

God, I love this map so much. I think any fan of Drake O'Brien's work from TNT: Evilution instantly knows the appeal of a map like Olympus Mons. I could just copy-paste the Heroism review here, they both definitely remind me of Drake's work, but they're not really that similar. Unlike how Heroism handles things, I love how this one just goes on and on and on, basking in the tension of the TNT MIDI Pack song. Even this drawn out pistol sequence of the map. It evolves really really nicely, very very steadily gaining more weapons and ramping up the difficulty as it goes on. I mean, okay sure, maybe not every part of this map is completely necessary to have the same effect, but it all adds to the drama for me, drawing out this death trail as much as possible. I love how quiet the map gets when you reach the final area for a minute, just a lone outpost separating you and the final fight at the summit. The fight itself probably could be better, it is a BFG splurge and a bit of an RNG based one at that, but I'd argue this is a map that needs a fight like that at the end. After a really really sweet TNT MAP20 reference, you're... uh... done with Uprising...

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A

 

 

[RHhe82]

Falling behind schedule... :(

 

MAP26: Shrine of Adam. 427/427 K, 5/5 S. Completion time 49:23.

 

Long levels are always a bit risky for me, because apparently my play style is so slow, which tends to make these epics drag.

 

Fortunately for me, Shrine of Adam is a good map, I enjoyed it. There was no one segment that annoyed me, only that my routing was once again such that I was starving for ammo at times. I got hold of the rocket launcher quite long into the level, and had yet to find the plasma gun. I guess I can only blame myself, again, for not looking into the lava tunnel where the RL would lie waiting - though I wonder if I had been able to survive the trap there, it's a pretty tight spot that for me drained a lot of rockets. Stupid archvile and close quarter mancubi.

 

I think I survived the final battle by luck. Had to retry it several times, ended up using rewind at one point, it all came down to archviles appearing at good moments for my BFG (which I found only thru IDDT magics... I mean I spotted it legit, but the whole time I thought some teleporter would lead there. Even when I saw the red skull key bar etched in the wall). Plus points for no roadblock cybers at the end! The final fight could have used one for infight purposes, perhaps, but I don't mind its absence :P

 

One thing to help me appreciate the level was the soundtrack that stood the test of completion time.