The DWmegawad Club plays: Ray Mohawk 1 & 2 (It's Our Tenth Anniversary!)

[tonytheparrot]

(Played from pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 2: Ossuary of the Hula Imps by MidnightMage

105% kills, 98% items, 100% secrets

Time: 4:47

 

Despite being so short and simple, Ossuary of the Hula Imps is a very action-packed map that throws a lot of fights very quickly. The main encounters are the yellow key trap with multiple monster closets opening at once, the part when you reveal the red key but also open some monster closets and trigger a teleport ambush and the rev and arch-vile group at the exit. All 3 of these are really satisfying to beat and sprinting through the whole level is a joy given it's high dose of action and short run-time. However, the secret is way too obscure and feels like it was put it just because a secret was needed. Thankfully, Ossuary is still very enjoyable.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 1

Really Like:

Map 2

 

 

[RED77]

MAP02 - “Ossuary of the Hula Imps” by MidnightMage

 

This level feels a little tamed than the previous one.

But I think it's better on its ideas.
really funmap.

 

No idea where the secret is.
★★★☆☆

[cannonball]

MAP02 - “Ossuary of the Hula Imps” by MidnightMage

 

Gah those cacodemons....

That aside this is a solid map, the visuals are a little bland inside the temple, but otherwise this is a fun romp mowing down fodder enemies, most of these being hula imps. The fight behind the red key door kind of makes me cringe, on the other and it kind of works too. The buffed up pistol/shotgun are more than capable to managing large groups of monsters to the point where it still feels kind of alien.

[Monsieur E]

Map02- Ossuary of the Hula Imps by MidnightMage 
100% kills but I used doomwiki to get that weird secret after I got every other kill

Another excellent and enjoyable outing, although what are Egyptian ruins doing right next to Ray's hometown; did the demons build it, are they into ancient Egyptian architecture, so many questions!! Kidding aside, the level is more compact and condensed compared to map01 but exciting either way. Your kickass arsenal shines again, despite the demonic multitudes you never feel oppressed or unequipped; likewise for the demons, they never feel like pushovers, particularly the dubious usage of archviles who do their best to get the party running and due to the large crowds are pretty well protected. A lot of the combat blends together as you run and gun but I don't mind it, I love running and gunning! The final fight before the exit was cool, the revenant vanguard pushes you back as the archviles light you up and you have to maneuver to deal with the necromancers lest you be cooked, very enjoyable stuff.

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Monsieur E

[SuperPecanMan]

I played through the remaining three maps of Ray Mohawk 1 over the weekend, posting my thoughts now before they fully escape me:

 

Map04: Little Oasis

This map kicked my ass. On my first attempt I ran out of ammo several times and got killed by hitscanners going for the chaingun. Starting with my second attempt I had to learn how to use the chainsaw, which meant I had to tackle most of the fights with less health as a result. This attempt ended with me getting punched by a  revenant after getting softened by ghost monsters. Then archie got two cheap kills on me: I timed one zap wrong and came out of cover too fast, and the other one I got hung up on barrels I was saving in case of ghosts, and got super exploded. After that, I got picked off by hitscanners down the right hallway and got hit a revenant rocket from behind. Even with all this pain and suffering, I really did like this map.  It always feels good to overcome a challenge, this map is the hardest in the set in my opinion. I believe I missed out on a secret here.

 

Map05: Big Room Full of Baddies

Well for starters, this map consists of more than one room, so I want a refund. I actually think the vanilla MIDI works perfectly here, the tempo lines up great with how the map plays and the generic name deserves. This map was pretty easy for me (I found all the secret immediately which I imagine helped a bit), no deaths and was able to get all kills and secrets. Also I want to take a moment to say how awesome the swivel chairs that change based on the viewing angle are.

 

Map06: The Maw of Industry

The caco in the inescapable death pit at the start is cheap, at least it's at the beginning of the map though. I don't know if that counts as a death, but I did suffer two more: once I overestimated my BFG and got zapped when archie survived, and the other one was a failure to dodge cyberdemon rockets. With more careful planning I might've been able to get 100% kills, but I was in a rush and didn't have time for a second playthrough. I wish the map was a little more generous with cells or gave you an environmental way to dispatch the cybers, just feels wrong to exit without 100% kills (did get all of the secrets though).

[Capellan]

 

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Time to tackle the sequel

 

Ray Mohawk 2: "Ray wreaks Havoc!"

Played through Woof!, -complevel 2, again on Playing For Fun, saves when needed.

 

Map 01: Back Ashore!

Results: 100%, 97%, 100%

 

A good introduction to this wad's new tricks, first we get the new pistol and some new enemies. Mainly the re-skinned nazi, the re-skinned baron of hell and hell knight, the cacos with a blue eye and a new enemy with a flame thrower??? Damn, Doomkid is a DeHacked wizard. The map itself isn't too long, but it can feel like it is cuz of the enemy quantity, same with the music (It's fun the first time but after listening to it for 13 minutes straight it becomes a bit annoying [For me]), it's also considerably harder than the original's Map 01, but it's doable. Some of the new weapons get introduced here, we have a very, very smooth shotgun, our favorite knife, the op pistol and the gauntlets of the necromancer, which is perhaps my favorite weapon of those. I like the visuals of this one, and the doom cute too, really well placed doom cute. The final fight is perhaps the toughest part of the entire map, on one hand because of enemy placement, the other cuz of how quickly I ran out of shells. Thankfully, there's enough ammo to finish and to carry on for the next levels

 

Good intro, looking forward for the next maps

Spoiler

I was a bit busy in weekend with personal stuff, that's why I didn't start with Mohawk 2 until today, I'll try to catch up as quickly as I can though :-)

 

[NiGHTS108]

MAP05: Big Room Full Of Baddies

Kills: 97%

Items: 79%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 5:53

 

Against all odds I actually really enjoyed Big Room Full Of Baddies, contrary to what the name would have you believe. Similar to all the other Ray Mohawk maps, this is a pretty sweet and enjoyable base with a number of pleasant moments, mostly in the second half but it's not to say the first parts are bad at all. Big fan of the momentum of this map, it builds and builds all the way to a pretty feisty ending with an Arch-Vile and company, and I'm also super into the (titular?) big room full of baddies when you run to get one of the keys, feels so good doing that whole thing perfectly. Overall there's not a lot to say here, just a really tightly woven tech base with a few nice fights, top of the list so far!

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: C

 

 

MAP06: The Maw Of Industry

Kills: 92%

Items: 91%

Kills: 0%

Time: 7:12

 

The Maw Of Industry is honestly kind of a really weird map, but it ended up pulling through for me and was one of my favourites of the whole wad! The theme here is definitely most bizarre, I'll get it out of the way first, seeing blue sky with this grim marble aesthetic and walking into the IoS' mouth at the end (Wasn't this a wad about mind controlling pollution???) is odd, but still I appreciate the strange direction of it all. The combat is pretty good, I might be stupid but I remember a lack of health at the start, so be careful. Despite a cool AV fight I'd say the map considerably improves entering the citadel itself. The fights here are all pretty nicely choreographed in my opinion, especially the circular room I used for my video thumbnail. The ending room is alright, I'm pretty sure they're the wad's only Cyberdemons so that's cool, but it is slightly anti-climactic. Overall this map is bizarre but I like it quite a bit, one of the best!

 

(Also I totally got the EPIC Ikari Warriors reference)

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: B-

 

 

(Considering these wads are related, I'll hold the final thoughts and ranking until the 28th alongside Ray Mohawk 2)

Edited August 9, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[Roofi]

Map 03 "Beachside Bookworms"

 

 

Besides the library set on the seashore, I mostly remember this map for the midi rendition of the very quirky soundtrack from Cruis'n USA. I just love this music , especially when you are on the beach killing mass of ennemies.  It also became "my D_RUNNIN"when I get bored with a music. I remember for instance using this tune on map 17 because I was tired of listening to the Super Mario World theme after dying several times in the cyber/viles trap.

 

This map becomes even more entertaining once you know how to unlock the secret megasphere on the beach and how to obtain the non-secret soulsphere and blue armor. I also appreciated the non-linearity. You have collect three keys in the order you want. It's an easy way to create exploration , even in a small map like this.

 

It's also the first map where you experience the true powerfulness of the cell cannon which is a tasty fusion of the rocket launcher and the plasma gun. This weapon is just perfect against low-tiers and really useful against more resistant monsters !

 

Grade : B+

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Roofi

[Silhouette 03]

Map03: Beachside Bookworms- Doomkid

 

Interesting place to put a library.

 

Two branching paths, both filled with pain. Fortunately, this map gives you access to the cell cannon, whose sprite I recognize from Star Wars: Dark Forces. The cell cannon is basically a more powerful rocket launcher, and, as all weapons in the arsenal so far, it absolutely decimates monsters. I love it.

 

The path directly in front of you from the starting position is the path where you acquire the cell cannon, which is the recommended one. The second path is the library itself, which is packed to the brim with enemies. You'll need a lot of health and ammo if you want to survive.

 

More spicy than the last map, but really fun overall. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Ray Mohawk 2 has in store for us.

 

Kills: 100%

Secrets: 50%  

[Dersulbob]

(GZDoom 4.8.2, Seeking Validation, continuous, saves allowed)

 

MAP03 - Beachside Bookworms

 

My favourite map of the set so far. An unusual concept to have a library/beach map, but it works very well in my opinion, the contrast between the bright colourful exterior and the browner, more dimly lit interior making for a good aesthetic experience.

 

The combat was challenging but not unfair, the new cell cannon really helping out in the more densely populated areas. Again, a very wide open exterior area helped the gameplay flow nicely. Also nice that this was non-linear, I can't recall how often that's been the case throughout both megaWADs so far, but it stood out to me, so probably not too often.

 

Really fun to blast around this one.

 

Grade - A 

[Rujasu]

MAP03: Beachside Bookworms

Success: No

 

It is a very nice map from an aesthetics standpoint, and the shooting continues to be satisfying too. Sadly I didn't really get to play with the new gun all that much, as I found a welcoming party of two of those flamethrower guys waiting for me when I went back up on the library elevator. The pistol did not do the trick at that point. I notice I've not been too bothered by the liberal use of archviles since the arsenal makes them less of a big deal, so that's also nice.

[SuperPecanMan]

And now it's time for Ray Mohawk 2 on PRBOOM+ (And then I'm all caught up... for now)

 

MAP01 - Back Ashore!
Holy hell what an intro.  All of the weapon replacements are so much fun. Right now, I'm feeling like the pistol is a better general use weapon than the shotgun because it can stun lock baddies more easily. And zapping things to death with the gantlets is so satisfying too.  I died quite a few times in the rocky area (I didn't get the mega armor until I went secret hunting at the end, that probably would've made this much easier), but this map definitely gets my seal of approval.  I've got a good feeling about this mapset. 100% kills and secrets

 

MAP02 - Ossuary of the Hula Imps
I started this one off by backing into the teleporter, which seems to be the harder of the two opening routes. I'll say it again because I felt it again, killing baddies with the new shotgun and pistol is so satisfying. This map was a lot shorter and easier than the opener for me. As long as you don't get flustered running into the arch-viles, you can just wait until they make it to the front of the pack for you to shoot them, you've got plenty of ammo. Missed on all kills and secrets, could not figure out how to get outside to the beach.

 

MAP03 - Beachside Bookworms
This is the first map where the flamethrower baddies really make their presence known, I haven't quite figured out how many hits they take to kill but they feel a little tougher than they look.  Those guys are definitely scary and I almost always focus them down early in combat. They got a few kills on me when entering the library building, otherwise this map was smooth sailing. I really enjoyed the outdoor fight (just before the exit room), and I had to test to see if the new rocket launcher kills you with splash damage (It does). At this point, I feel like the standard doom2 monsters are under-matched against Ray's arsenal, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the weapons and if there are any more DeHacked enemies. Couldn't figure out how to get the megasphere secret.

Edited August 9, 2022 by SuperPecanMan
kill & secrets

[RED77]

MAP03 - “Beachside Bookworms” by Doomkid

This level was even Easier than the previous one. That's so strange. Maybe the weapons are too buffed up?
That said, I think it's a great and fun level. Run shoot and cool music.
Love these wads so far.

★★★☆☆

[Alaxzandarz]

I'm playing on Seeking Validation with pistol starts on Crispy Doom.

 

Map 02: Ossuary of the Hula Imps

 

I like the sorta egyptian vibe of this map. The outdoors area and the lighting indoors are both very nice. I had massive trouble finding the yellow key on my previous runs, but this time it wasn't a problem. The high amount of weak enemies you can gun down easily is great. A fun short map.

 

Map 03: Beachside Bookworms

 

This map introduces the cell cannon, a super fast rocket launcher that uses cells as ammo. It's really fun to use. The map has two very different areas, the large open outside area and the more confined indoors area. I like the contrast between these two. The Slyor (the fire bug enemy) is used very nicely in this map. Archviles are quite a bit less scary in this set bacause of you increased firepower. The red key really annoys me, the wall just lowering when you aproach it feels very illogical. A very nice map.

[KickAss]

(-warp 3)map03 - "Beachside Bookworms" by Doomkid, GZDooM 4.7.1, doom2.wad (ver1.666), -skill 4 (UV), Pistol start

• Kill  100%
• Item 95%
• Scrt   0%

time 15:18

 

Clean out the first room with your pistol and the shotgun that you get from one of the shotgun guys to the right or the left. Watch out for the gunner in the far left corner behind those obstacles! Go through the door to your left hand and get the cacos in close combat fight so that you can take them away with your shotgun easily. Shot the enemys on top of the bookshelfs in front of the door with your pistol. They are easy to snipe. Make your way to the lift in the far right corner of this room. When you reach the top with the lift you'll get the yellow key card and snipe some imps and gunners from there. Return to the "main" room and get to the far left corner of the room where are some stairs from which you can take out the revenants, the gunners and the imps. Grab the glove to the right from the stairs which are helpful to take out the demons. Get downstairs and turn right until you reach a switch that lowers the middle pedastal in the room with the revenants where you can get an berserk and the switch also makes your way to the blue key card which you can get now by taking the lift to the left hand of the switch or go upstairs through the middle of the "main" room. The blue key card is behind the inner corner where you can get to through the window near the lift. From this small floor you can take out easily the imps and the gunners in the outside of this level by shooting them through the windows. Return to the start of the level and get through one of the doors directly in front of your starting point to enter the outer area of this level and grab this plasma gun located there near the doors. Be careful of enemys and go through the teleport beyond the second hill counting from right where you came from to the left which takes you directly to the red key card, an mega armor and a supercharge in the starting room on the right top half of this room. Take away the enemys that appear when you pick up those items and return to the outside through one of the two doors now on your right hand and get to the exit in the very far left in the outside. Open the door(s) and take away the enemys and you are done! Have fun and enjoy!

Edited August 9, 2022 by KickAss

[Doomy__Doom]

Map 03: Beachside Bookworms

 

A less crowded map that still follows the general feel of the previous two - wide areas with lots of fodder and some interweaved mid-tiers, plus the occasional Vile. For a level that introduces the not!rocketlauncher, it sure lacks the punch to make you appreciate the firepower. It'll probably take me a while to get instinctively used to the fact slot 5 now operates on cells, even though I understand it consciously.

 

Not!pistol retains its crown as the default weapon as for wide open areas x random hitscanners combo I generally look to pick those pesky human enemies first and foremost. Given an increase in flamethrower enemy presence the projectile lot can infight easier than ever in the meantime. A relative lack of dispersed healing and armor only makes hitscanners more of a priority over the previous two levels.

[cannonball]

MAP03 - “Beachside Bookworms” by Doomkid

 

Doomkid has upped his game for this set, this was a lot of fun to blast through. The flamethrower guys are the main threat as the buffed up guns make mincemeat of your standard mid tiers. We get a new gun that is a cross between the plasma gun and the rocket launcher. It does the job well in my opinion. It took me a while to find all three keys, though this was me being blind rather than a mapper issue.

Best map of the set so far, and surpasses anything in Ray Mohawk 1.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 03: Beachside Bookworms

by @Doomkid

 

Shotgun near start. This cliffside installation's rendered in full living color, with jungle detail and sand where you'd expect despite the layout being a little strange overall. You also pick up the cell cannon for the first time here. It replaces the rocket launcher and does roughly the same damage but with such a ridiculous spread that you can be far less concerned with careful aiming. I think this may have been the first map where I actually tried out the unbuffed punch and it was fast enough there was little concern for clapback. I was a touch annoyed when using the shotgun on the Arch-viles to save cell ammo, although I may have been a bit confused to see it on the bottom like always when cell cannon replaces the #5 weapon.

lmd_mohawk2_03.zip

[Monsieur E]

Map03- Beachside Bookworms by Doomkid 
100% kills

Oh wow, there's a library too, the demons seem quite cultured. Map03 is another solid outing, lots of enjoyable running and gunning although I did notice a higher emphasis on mid-tiers. Not to worry, the pistol is great at stun locking them with it due to its rapid rate of fire. The cell cannon makes its debut here and while I found it to be nearly identical to the regular rocket launcher, it visually looks way cooler. There are a number of groups of enemies to test it out with and I imagine as your BFG gets thrown into the mix, it'd make for interesting scenarios as you balance the ammo but we'll see later. The slyor, while introduced in map01, felt more prominent here and often lit me up when I was least expecting them, they make for good enemies. Visually, the quiet indoors with the library were a nice contrast to the tropical nature settings. I think while not as thematically strong as RM1, RM2 looks much more prettier and a nice refreshment from the usual DOOM locales. All around, this map is great. 

[Magnusblitz]

Playing pistol starts for now...

 

MAP02: Ossuary of the Hula Imps by MidnightMage

98% kills, 0/1 secret

 

Pretty simple layout here, as the map basically consists of one main area to repeatedly clear out as you gather the keys, then one final room. However, it's nicely designed with a couple of different vertical levels and lots of interconnectivity, much like a good DM map. It's also stuffed to the brim with monsters, which again plays well with the souped-up weapons. Funny enough, I actually decided to just stab everything in the final room instead of trying to whittle down the revenants while the AVs attacked safely from behind.

 

A couple of weird design points - first, the yellow door room is basically an empty room with a soulsphere and two monsters, the real import is a walkover trigger that unlocks the red key. Thankfully the trigger isn't far into the room so you'll probably hit it even if you don't want to grab the soulsphere, but still kinda weird, and would be better with a switch or even a Quake-style ground tile to depress. The secret is also a bit weirdly designed and seems like it was meant to be a walk over trigger instead of a switch - I suppose a player might try wallhumping it before the red key reveal due to the torches, but if you don't find it before opening up the red key you'll probably never find it, because there's no reason to 'use' an open hallway.

 

Overall, a pretty simple but unoffensive map with plenty of monsters to just blast through.

 

MAP03: Beachside Bookworms by Doomkid

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Kid gloves are off for the start here with no armor and no easy weapons right away, but plenty of monsters surrounding you. And there's Doomkid's "choose wisely" trope - going outside and getting the rocket launcher (well, cell launcher) and eventually the blue armor by the red key is much preferable to going into the library, which only eventually gives you the gauntlets and secret berserk. Good action here, as some of the monster placements get trickier such as long-range AVs. The megasphere secret is clever (which I missed).

[Garlichead]

MAP03 - “Beachside Bookworms” by Doomkid 100 Everything
11:44

Another map from Doomkid, this one taking level on some sort of beach castle / library. 

This level continuous the high octane action from the last level, and kind of reminds me of maps such MAP03 - “We Love Pollution” or MAP05 - “Big Room with Baddies” since it is a kind of arena combat scenario. You need to clear the fortress out of enemies while trying to find the three skull keys that open the exit area.

I was killed by hitscanners on my first run while going through the library area. On my second run, i took the outside route which provides very good infighting between the enemies due to the presence of arachnotrons and mancubus whose attacks tend to provoke enemies.

The new plasma rocket launcher

You receive the new rocket launcher on this level. In this wad it uses cells instead of rockets and shoot much faster than the Doom 2 variant.

Fun sandboxy map in which you can take several routes towards the keys while using the new toys. 

[NiGHTS108]

 

- Ray Mohawk 2: Ray Wreaks Havoc! -

 

MAP01: Back Ashore!

By Doomkid
Kills: 95%

Items: 52%

Secrets: 66%

Time: 9:13

 

Man what a good start to Serious Sam 5! Naturally the first thing immediately prevalent with the sequel is the all new and intensely juicy DeHackEd weaponry, I don't mean to nitpick or anything, but this Deh was so taxing they had to remove the original explosion frames of both the explosive barrel and Revenant rocket to make room, but oh boy was it worth it. Unlike Rowdy Rudy II, Doomkid's other extreme sequel, Ray Mohawk 2 spends much less time on the bestiary. There's only one brand new enemy, this weird little flamethrower demon guy. All the other new faces are reskins and/or slight enhancements (Like the upcoming Bleached Cyberdemon.) Anyway, all the weaponry shown off in this map alone is amazing, Ray kept the overpowered knife from the first wad, and gained an extreme pistol and pump shotgun, which are both way stronger than the old single barrel shotgun and even the holy grail, the SSG, respectively. Either way how does the map itself fare? Well it's great and I loved it of course! Even aside from simply how fun the weapons are I think they're introduced in a super clever way, they really throw a load of demons at you but it never feels too overwhelming. Stellar combat all around frankly. Although there's not AS many cute details as the first opener this month, I really think the outstanding and clever combat mixed with the best DeHackEd I've ever seen pushes it way above House By The Bay. Back Ashore is going at the top of my rankings so far obviously, and it's going to be a while before it's overthrown!

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: C+

 

 

 

MAP02: Ossuary Of The Hula Imps

By MidnightMage

Kills: 98%

Items: 63%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 4:59

 

As it's name would have you believe, Ossuary Of The Hula Imps is a fair bit sweeter and slower than MAP01, but for what it's worth I do enjoy it quite a lot. It's pretty dark inside the main temple, but it has a nice cool atmosphere to it and doesn't get in the way of fights thankfully. I definitely wouldn't call this one a pushover but it's still got some bite no doubt in the form of at least a few Arch-Viles. Overall I don't have much to say here, it's a sugary MAP02 that bodes well after the hot-headed MAP01. Ray Mohawk 2 sure is on a winning streak!

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: C-

 

 

MAP03: Beachside Bookworms

Kills: 99%

Items: 12%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 5:41

 

Beachside Bookworms is pretty good, even if mostly for that stellar map name. Kidding aside, I appreciate the looks here, you'd think a library and a beach wouldn't go great together but Doomkid just kinda... makes it work! The most fun thing about this map was easily the epic Cell Cannon, which is effectively a super rocket launcher that's really really easy to find ammo for. Also introduced before the Chaingun and SSG equivalent I think? Either way the map itself sorta feels like a return to Ray Mohawk 1, a simple layout with cool details and a great swingin' MIDI. The library was easily my favourite part, mainly because I like how the water and lighting is used there. Overall a really nice a sweet map, same as the last!

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: C

 

 

[RHhe82]

36 minutes ago, NiGHTS108 said:

As it's name would have you believe, Ossuary Of The Hula Imps is a fair bit sweeter and slower than MAP01

Personally the word ’Ossuary’ sets the expectations to very difficult and intense experience - The fourth episode of Heretic, that was added later just like Thy flesh consumed to Ultimate Doom, is named Ossuary (or was it the name of E4M1?) and it marks a very sharp spike in difficulty curve :P

[Roofi]

Map 04 : Surf's up in Nuketown

 

 

The very open city layout and the slaughterish fights in this map represent for me the strongest points of Cheesewheel's submission. He focused more on the architecture than the detailing in order to keep the vanilla limits and it was a success. "Surf's up in Nuketown" has the strongest visuals among all maps I reviewed for now. I really like the work on the shadows too. Simple and effective.

 

Map 04 has a lot of monsters but the latter are just meat to annihilate for our powerful cell cannon. About this weapon, I love you can hava a lot of cells as if it was a simple plasmagun whereas each cell prove to be as powerful as a rocket. Doomguy should steal Ray's arsenal someday. My favourite part in this level was when you open the yellow-keyed door and you just have to pulverize tons of hula imps with your overpowered weapon.

 

It was a very fun map.

 

Grade : B+

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Roofi

[NiGHTS108]

1 hour ago, RHhe82 said:

Personally the word ’Ossuary’ sets the expectations to very difficult and intense experience - The fourth episode of Heretic, that was added later just like Thy flesh consumed to Ultimate Doom, is named Ossuary (or was it the name of E4M1?) and it marks a very sharp spike in difficulty curve :P

 

Fair enough
But Hula Imps

[Garlichead]

MAP04 - “Surf’s up in Nuketown” by Cheesewheel 101 Kills / 100 Items / 100 Secrets. 
14:16

An outside arena map designed by Cheesewheel.

I died at least three times, once getting out of the opening room, once on the archiville trap and another time due to my cat jumping on the keyboard :P.

The map consists of a very long fight on an open arena, plus two small treks to recover some keys from a couple of bunkers.

The author provides more than enough firepower to take care of the monsters, shotguns, rocket launchers and berserks packs. This keeps the action going through and provide ample opportunities to dispatch groups of enemies bundle together.

A panoramic view of the main building of the arena

Overall this is not a bad map; however, the amount of arena shootouts on this set is starting to bear on me. I liked the slower pace of the first episode, how it combined shootouts with some exploration sections. This one is more focused on big fights with the new fire power.

Lets wait and see how the rest of the level set goes on.
 

[tonytheparrot]

Since I couldn't write yesterday, you get 2 maps for today!

 

(Played from pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 3: Beachside Bookworms by Adam "Doomkid" Post

102% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 7:47

 

Beachside Bookworms is another light-hearted and energetic map from Doomkid set to an excellent midi that makes you wanna run around at top speed and destroy every demon foolish enough to challenge a heavily-armed Ray. This map is generally very open, just like Doomkid's opener, allowing you to move freely, kill enemies and dodge their attacks without much thought, especially as the cell cannon: a faster rocket launcher that only uses 1 cell per shot is introduced. With your new toy, your pistol and your shotgun, you are completely unstoppable and can experience a real power fantasy, which is something that I can't not love. My only issue with Beachside Bookworms is that the 2 secrets are really weird, but it's still an excellent level.

 

Map 4: Surf's up in Nuketown by Cheesewheel

101% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 8:24

 

Ray Mohawk 2 is on a roll! Surf's up in Nuketown is another excellent map. The start forces you to run in that city area to find the supplies you need including a fully loaded cell cannon all while dodging snipers and monsters on the ground. Later, you will be able to grab the keys, which all trigger some ambushes that throw more enemies into the mix, but Ray's weaponry makes them harmless to the point that even arch-viles and pain elementals act more as fodder. To be honest, that's what they deserve for screwing me over so many times in wads. I also really like the surfing imps, even if they don't seem that good at it given that their boards are static, but they try, and I appreciate that. However, I had to bother them during their attempts at learning by making holes in their chest with my trusty shotgun. Kidding aside, Surf's up in Nuketown is again, pure fun all the way through.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 1

Map 4

Map 3

Really Like:

Map 2

 

 

[Silhouette 03]

Map04: Surf's Up In Nuketown- Cheesewheel

 

Doomcute surfboards!

 

The carnage continues as we descend upon a very abstract town. There's more resistance then usual here, with the opening fight through the town being very challenging, though the pistol helps alleviate that challenge a little bit. I missed picking up the cell cannon on my first try, which made the map much, much more difficult. Picking up the cell cannon is almost compulsory.

 

I enjoyed this one, too. So far there hasn't been a single map I disliked. Also, doomcute surfboards.

 

Kills: 100%

Secrets : 100%

[RED77]

MAP04 - “Surf’s up in Nuketown” by Cheesewheel

Super fun level. Very open, and a little confusing at times.
But there are plenty of instances where you are just blasting thru a lot of low their enemy and it feels awesome.
The secrets are useful but not hidden at all.


★★★★☆