The DWmegawad Club plays: Operation: BIOWAR & Equinox

[Votterbin]

Biowar - MAP11: Frozen Terror

 

This. This is the one. Even looking back and reflecting on some of my bizarre commentary, MAP11? This one's my favorite. Ice caves with a ton of verticality and narrow ledges to run on, perfect music for an ice level, you blow up a huge ice wall to progress and get caught in an avalanche at a certain point. Love it. Top to bottom. Even the "go this way" arrow to the yellow key can't detract from this one for me.

 

5/5, easy.

Edited June 12 by Votterbin
Wrong URL

[Plerb]

Biowar MAP11 (UV, continuous, saves):

Solid map, also that animated teleporter pad looks pretty cool.

 

MAP12:

Another hub connecting to smaller rooms type deal. Come to think of it I've never made a map like this before. I should sometime.
I can never tell what's making those low-pitched growling sounds but they sound like pitched-down mancubus alert sounds. Maybe they are.
Another ok map overall.

[Blast_Brothers]

MAP12: Military Center

The last few maps have felt like prototypes, but this one feels more fleshed out. The central progression gimmick is a little stilted, but it gives the map more of a 'point' than previous ones. Combat feels tighter here too, though only a mite more threatening - I keep getting handed a plasma gun I don't need in this WAD. Hopefully future maps head more in this direction.

[RHhe82]

MAP12: Military Center. Played on UV, pistol start. DSDA v0.27.4. K: 82/82, S: 2/2, I: 66/66. Comp. time 9:50

 

This is structurally like an immensely improved version of MAP02, Terror Core in that we take teleports to different locations to gain access to keys. Blue one is needed for the exit. While the visual outlook is not exactly up to modern standards, I feel that especially the outdoor area looks nice, and the rest looks okay for such an old wad. My only complaint here is that it took me a long time to realize where the keycards were. For a moment I thought the map had bugged out somehow. Good thing that I thought of going back... not remembering that even in MAP02 the keycards somehow appeared in previously visited room.

Edited June 12 by RHhe82

[DavitW]

MAP10: Dark Woods
By the time you get to Map 10, I feel like it should be standard practice to give you a shotgun within the first five seconds of the level. They don't do that here, so you'll just have to salvage it out off a dead shotgunner guerrilla style instead. Detailing is minimal in this map and the texture work is very bland. It's basically pick one texture for the floor, one texture for the walls, slap them across every surface you can and change it up every few areas. The brown valley at the beginning is like one of those optical illusions. Where does the ground end and the walls begin? At least it's not a chore to get through.

 

MAP11: Frozen Terror
The ice level, number 7 in the standard video game level set but one rarely explored in Doom. A little bit of platforming here if you want to call it that. The setting seemed like the perfect time to open up the maps a little bit, but even the outdoor areas are still close quarters engagements. Remember the Bruiser Brothers from E1M8? Turns out they spent the last 5 or so years hiding out and training in these mountains after getting there assed kicked by the Doom Guy. Did it do them any favors? Probably not. Having the Plasma gun and Super Shotgun at your disposal this time certainly doesn't help them any.

 

MAP12: Military Center
Already another one of those hub maps, this time with a bit of backtracking and keys that appear in the starting area after you do... things. Can't say I understand the science behind that one. I was hoping the wad would start to step it up at this point, but they're still taking it easy on us. Health isn't exactly in short supply and ammo of all kinds is plentiful. I had so much plasma I was just using it for fun half of the time. Now that's a luxury you're rarely afforded.

 

bio10-12.zip

[Magnusblitz]

MAP11: Frozen Terror

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

A lot like last map, the aesthetic theme is the main thing going for it, and the actual gameplay is pretty subpar. Still, it's an improvement, since I don't have to pistol 20 imps this time before getting a shotgun, and there are a couple of interesting fights (though most of the danger comes from chaingunner ambushes coupled with a lack of armor). I'm not sure the second secret, trading a baron's worth of ammo for a chainsaw, is quite worth it, though I did use the chainsaw on the arachnatrons at the end. Speaking of, that elevator ambush seemed like it was gonna be interesting, but it really peters out at the end with the penultimate fight being 3 imps and the last warp-in being one 'tron. I might have been primed by the textures but the red key room reminded me of the "four swords" room in Guardian of Ice from Hexen. Oh yeah, and obligatory fuck that one lift.

[Pseudonaut]

Map12: Military Center
This one follows the basic formula of map02: a central hub with four teleporters leading to three areas with keys and one exit area. It's bigger and more complicated. But honestly, Terror Core is more fun for me. There's something about the regular shotgun vs. imps and zombies that is consistently entertaining, and it probably has to do with rate of fire. It's satisfying to kill an enemy with one well-placed shot every second. Terror Core mostly consists of that, with minimal interruption. Military Center is more complicated, but it feels bloated compared to the other map, partly because of the bizarre decision to make the player backtrack to the center of the map for every key. You can't even do all three key areas before returning, as one of them requires the other two keys, meaning you must ride the elevator back up to the central hub twice at a minimum. I don't mean that it's tedious or anything, but it's only been a few days since I recorded my run, and I wouldn't remember what the combat is like if I didn't check.

 

 

[Zerofuchs]

Map12: Military Center

It's not really much of a looker, the combat is kinda just there, and it's kind of obscure the first playthrough. The basic idea of finding keys at outposts then returning to a hub makes it feel a bit less random than some other maps, but overall that's the most it's really got going for it. Difficulty wise it's replete with health kits and armour and resistance is anemic. Don't bother trying to save cells for the plasma rifle. 

[Insaneprophet]

Map 12: Military Center

 

 This one is back to doing exactly what Doom does best. Tech-base with a hub and multiple key paths. The combat is pretty simplistic but at least some thought was put into it and the layout is pretty simplistic but at least some thought was put into it as well. I cant dislike this map, this is what made me fall in love with Doom in the first place. Yes its the standard formula but anyone and everyone can and has given us thier own versions and there will never be an end to it. 😀

[General Roasterock]

Map 12: Military Center

 

  When all you have are three keys, every map starts to look like Tricks and Traps. I wasn’t entirely convinced on the comparisons made in this thread for Terror Core, but abstracting the two out enough does put them in a similar field. Again, three keys, three stretches of privately maintained mess hall + 1 exit bout, and a bunch of revisiting a central structure to pick up the arbitrary points of continue. It’s Wheelhouse design. The best strength this map has going for it is the Plasma Rifle, filled with just enough ammo to burn through anything, if you include the supply in the secrets. It’s actually pretty funny that Horus mentioned Hanger for Map 06, because I was getting the same feeling navigating the southeast outpost, being pretty close to that Evilution map’s Yellow Key run. It’s a shame that the ice theme was so quickly discarded, seeing a frozen over outpost would’ve likely made this one stick a little better.

[veevil]

Operation: Biowar
MAP12: Military Center
(UV, pistol start, K: 100% / S: 100%, DSDA-Doom, complevel 2)

 

Another teleport hub design reminiscent of MAP02, but with a more rigid progression scheme and mandatory detours through the starting room to pick up keys and clear out monster closets. I like the look of the open area outside the start building, but the rest of the map is again comprised of small tech-basey rooms, and the combat has no spice at all. You could sleepwalk through this one and exit with hundreds of cells left over - I only used some on the exit room revenants because it felt like a shame to just leave all of 'em.

 

Apologies for the negativity these past few days, folks, but I'll be honest: Biowar is kind of starting to lose me with this and the preceding two maps. Hopefully the following maps will pick up the slack. If not... I think Equinox will.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 12: Military Center

by Chris Harbin

Crispy Doom, pistol-start, UV

 

Symmetrical boredom the map. It's really too bad because the layout of the outer courtyard is quite nice, with some snug overhangs connecting each of the four corners of the outer courtyard, which also presents a moderate amount of danger to the pistol-starter though probably not too much when you get a Super Shotgun from the jump. Somehow I ended up with 12 rockets despite not even finding a rocket launcher. Monster closets open up every time it proves necessary to return to the central building to collect a key but it's very much on the 'eh' side of things. Ultimately, despite the modified version of a late-period classic practically akin to "Land of Able," there's nothing here worth talking about.

 

 

 

[Votterbin]

Biowar - MAP12: Military Base

 

And we're right back in a key gauntlet map, just like its bigger brothers MAP02 and MAP09. The specific layout of the "hub" reminds me of No Rest For The Living and I'm not sure if it's in a good or bad way. It's very symmetrical so I got a little disoriented a couple of times trying to find the next teleporter. I dunno, it's fine, it's serviceable, just completely forgettable.

 

2/5

[Roofi]

Map 12 : Military Center

 

 

Map 02 but with more substance. "Military Center" is another map that belongs to the "3 keys, three sections" trope, but contrary to the second map, the sections are more linked together as some switches located in them require a specific key and those are mandatory to unlock another one. Unfortunately, this level design result to a lot of needless amount of backtracks as this map, while being fine aesthetically speaking, don't have any landmark worthy enough to be explored in its details. I like how the HUB gives a view to the sea surrounding the complex, but the area itself suffers of excessive symmetry and therefore the places look a bit too samey.

 

About the gameplay, the combats are a walk in the park as usual but after 11 maps of Biowar, you should already know that challenge wasn't the goal from its authors. "Military Center" isn't as confusing with some knowledge of the maps but that in no way demonstrates a peak in inspiration. "Military Center" rhymes with filler.

 

Grade : C+ (11/20)

 

 

 

[Lila Feuer]

Operation: BIOWAR
MAP10: Dark Woods (unfortunately not of the Serpent)
Ultra-Violence / Pistol Start / Nugget Doom / Vanilla compatibility
K: 83/83 I: 20/20 S: 1/1 T: 11:54

Wow that's kind of a tedious start with that dinky little pistol again. You're plummeted into a dark forest-type area but like all things in this PWAD it's bite-sized and won't outstay its welcome, which can be both a good and a bad thing if you want more of something you like. For me it's just OK. You'll definitely want that SSG as pointed out so be sure to scan around until you get it; shortly before you go further outdoors, as the Baron will make a mockery of your lame pump-action. The one secret is easy to get and comes too late, providing a backpack and blue armor. There's a couple Mancubi near the end who would certainly be trouble without the SSG. The impaled corpses from Hexen is a nice scene. The final resistance is a chaingunner and an Imp. Scary!

Operation: BIOWAR
MAP11: Frozen Terror (I like chilly horror myself)
Ultra-Violence / Pistol Start / Nugget Doom / Vanilla compatibility
K: 65/65 I: 60/62 S: 1/2 T: 9:07

Ah, classic Midnight Call, this is where I first heard it, for newer players they would've heard it on MAP01 of Eviternity where it was also put to pretty good use. There's a nice sense of verticality in this one, and I love snowy levels in video games so this is right up my alley. A decent fight can be had in a cave with the blue key. There's a secret chainsaw that will probably be of no use to anyone, but watch out for the Baron as he could flank you when you teleport in. The finale reminds me of the elevator battle at the end of Quake's second episode, where the first proper fight in the WAD can be had IMO. The Berserk should be reserved for healing if you find yourself in trouble at all but I didn't need it. Unfortunately this is a one-way path and I missed a secret and two items and I have no clue where they could be, at least not in this playthrough. All in all, a pleasant enough venture.

Operation: BIOWAR
MAP12: Military Center (apparently)
Ultra-Violence / Pistol Start / Nugget Doom / Vanilla compatibility
K: 82/82 I: 66/66 S: 2/2 T: 9:17

Honestly a really lame introduction to the second (and final) half of the WAD, sure it's an evolution of MAP02: Terror Core but it's still a fkn play-by-the-numbers key fetch in a somewhat awkward order that doesn't really promote choosing your path so you'll inevitably pick the wrong teleporters on your first try. The starting room is cool though, as is the outdoor section really, easily the highlight of the level. You'll be pulling switches in the other small areas and returning to the...center, of the military place, to get keys and really underwhelming monster closets. No major items on this level, just health and armor bonuses. You will eventually be flooded with cell ammo so go nuts with the plasma gun I guess. That be it, there's not much else to honestly say.

[Horus]

MAP12 - “Military Center” by Chris Harbin

 

After a whistlestop tour of wooded and icy environments we are back in the familiar territory of the techbase. Unfortunately, it’s an unpleasant return because of its pairing of near perfect symmetry and absence of combat challenge. In fact we not only have geometric and visual symmetry, but worse still we have combat symmetry as well, leading to a map that plays very predictably.

 

I am fine with a map being easy if it has something else to offer in its place, such as the environmental storytelling present in most of the preceding maps. But this map has nothing else to offer. The one thing that did catch my interest is how Chris got the keys to appear in the central hub, for which I checked UDB to see they are each buried in a sunken sector which is raised when the relevant trigger is activated. A pretty simple trick in retrospect, but one I hadn’t considered at the time.

 

Ultimately, while (used in moderation) symmetry certainly has its place, for me this is a perfect example why perfect symmetry is not good map design.

[Horus]

MAP13 - “UAC Prison” by John Bishop

 

Well well well what’s this, a 364 monster map in Biowar!? This was what I needed after the last map, and whilst I didn’t know it at the time of playing, having checked afterwards I’m not surprised that this John Bishop’s second map in the wad.

 

Despite this however, it shows visual continuity as the start of this map matches with the end of the last map, which is pretty unusual considering in most of the maps the ending has nothing to do the start of the next map.

 

Aside from that, this does have a lot of parallels with John’s last map, Last Call. There are a lot of thin hallways and corridors, although this time rather than opening up bit by bit, they are separated by height differences or keyed doors. Additionally, this map makes very heavy use of teleporting monsters to repopulate formerly explored areas.

 

Carelessness is also punished, as a found out to my detriment, as I died in the main prison area about half a dozen times, mainly thanks to not being cautious enough with the prevalence of hitscan in this map. Ultimately, whilst the hitscan-use may be a bit egregious, I found it an engaging map to play with a catchy midi to boot, and it was refreshing to have a combat-focused map in this set for a change. John Bishop has both of my favourite maps in this set so far.

Edited June 12 by Horus

[Devalaous]

12 was pretty neat. Central platform with teleports to four visible buildings out around it, each with a mini-challenge inside. The excess of backpacks in the center  caught me offguard, figured it was just two.

 

13 was pretty damn awesome. Long and winding, 300+ enemies, very 'Team TNT' feeling level. The titular prison itself was oddly difficult, kept getting revenant rocketed in a tight space with no room to dodge. The multiple returns to long lifts was a bit annoying, but it just reminded me of 90s classic jank and I cant fault it for that. The Gigerwalls were an interesting touch too.

 

[E.M.]

MAP13: UAC Prison

DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start

 

Oh, it's this level. I vaguely remember not liking this one. After replaying it, I remember why. It boasts the highest monster count in the whole wad, for starters. Most of them are hitscanners, by the way. What is this, TNT? It suffers deeply from "I hope that switch did something" syndrome, making progression a confusing endeavor. Every time you hit one of those switches, the starting courtyard and other previous areas repopulate with enemies, which are tedious to clean up. The combat mostly consists of SSG-ing large hordes of monsters, but things got a bit more fun after I got that plasma. What's not fun is getting pot-shotted by hitscanners and running desperately low on health. By the way, there's no way to go back to the section with the blue key after you teleport out of there, so if you still have monsters to clean up in that section, you're shit out of luck. It took me nearly 20 minutes to play through this thing and I have no intention of coming back to it.

[Crusader No Regret]

Biowar map 10

 

  I never did find the SSG when doing practice runs for IronEagle.  Then again, I'm coming in at 200/200 and full bullets and shells so on continuous, there's less incentive to search for it.  Very tempting to rush past everything.  And it does work out for the initial stretch.  However, there is some parts which call for backtracking and rushing heedlessly also exposes one to a greater amount of stray hitscan damage and other stray shots.  So a measured pace serves one better for survival and preserving health.  The arachnotrons are very prone to bottlenecing the path after using the switch behind the blue key door, pushing me into dealing with all those monsters I tried to skip.  No cell or rocket ammo but nothing is dangerous enough to warrant that degree of firepower so I hold off on those weapons for this map.

 

map 11

 

   That damned lift.  Need to take it up at least twice (plus another if going after the 2nd secret) and there will likely be monsters milling about at the top.  When 11 maps into a recording, taking an infinite height imp scratch while trying to board the lift is insulting.  Being able to thwart the timed door is useful for reaching the exit quicker; appreciate the reminder.  I save a few rockets for the descending lift at the end to splatter some imps with infinite height splash before even starting.  It's nowhere near the intensity of Hell Revealed's infamous descending elevator; aggressively taking out the remaining monsters with SSG and chaingun is a cinch by comparison.  I also skip the 2nd secret in a survival attempt; nothing in there is important enough to bother with a baron and waiting for that loooong lift another time.

[RHhe82]

MAP13: UAC Prison. Played on UV, pistol start. DSDA v0.27.4. K: 364/364, S: 2/2, I: 38/38. Comp. time 24:16

 

What in the world is that kill counter all of a sudden?! UAC Prison is easily the longest map so far. What we have here is a third decent map in a row, although I was hoping for excess á la Alien Vendetta's 'Suicidal Tendencies' instead of mowing down shotgunners and a handful of revenants locked behind bars. It's fun for a while, but runs the risk of becoming a chore. We stay on the winning side here; the only disappointment is that this could have been my favourite map if not for the prison part tedium and some slightly annoying back-tracking earlier in the map when you have to go back and forth places with the red key.

 

I noticed the lady face in the "hub" area, which I understand is a H.R. Giger painting, which I know from a game of 90s I never played, but I always remember from the very first gaming magazine number that I bought (had my parents buy) for myself: The game Dark Seed was reviewed in that number, and the same lady face was in the cover of that magazine. Whatever that year was, 1992?

[veevil]

Operation: Biowar
MAP13: UAC Prison
(UV, pistol start, K: 100% / S: 100%, DSDA-Doom, complevel 2)

 

Now we're talking! Finally, some good [frag]ing Doom!

 

I asked for some challenge and I got it. Over 360 enemies, almost triple the previous maximum, and the map isn't shy about dropping them behind you in droves when you least expect it. The map seems to especially love sergeants: going by the wiki, almost half of the population is lugging shotguns around. Suits me just fine, means you're never short on shells and blasting groups of squishy foes with the boomstick never gets old. The combat setups here are also leagues ahead the preceding maps, with a nice variety of enemy formations at different ranges, and a good amount of traps to keep you on your toes.

 

Early progression is similar to MAP05 in that you often need to go as far as you can in one direction, then backtrack the other way to find that a new area has opened up. I didn't mind this too much, since Bishop keeps it fresh by warping in enemies each time. In the visuals department, that center room with free refills on enemies and Giger artwork on the walls (from Dark Seed, maybe?) and the dark lava cave you descend into from above stood out. The titular prison tried to avoid monotony by switching up the contents of each cell, but didn't quite manage to do that since the general layout is so simple. I appreciated the effort anyway. The music track is certified Mark Klem quality, no further comment needed.

 

Some criticism: the map is slightly too fond of putting enemy formations right in front of lifts, which results in almost unavoidable damage. The lift-camping revenants especially could really ruin your health if you're unlucky. I got a good chuckle out of the mancubus closets after the yellow key door, though. Specifically, the part where I fell for an identical trap twice in a row. "You think you're fine now, after you survived the trap? Psych! Have another!"

 

I fully expect that I wouldn't have enjoyed the map as much if there wasn't such a clear contrast between it and the previous entries, but this is exactly the kind of thing Biowar needed to grab my attention again. Well done.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP12: Military Center

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

I can see the comparison others are making to MAP02, in that both have a center hub with blind teleports to each of the four key areas. I actually liked the center hub area of this one the most, as the design allows the monsters to roam and flank the player, wish more was done with it. The rest of the map is pretty ho-hum though, lots of rote SSG work. There is some slight weirdness in the progression that two of the wings unlock the red and yellow keys in the center, but the blue key's unlock is hidden behind the other key doors rather than just being a third un-keyed wing. I suppose this is the sort of thing that sticks out when the rest of the map is so mentally unstimulating.

Edited June 13 by Magnusblitz

[Magnusblitz]

3 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

I noticed the lady face in the "hub" area, which I understand is a H.R. Giger painting, which I know from a game of 90s I never played, but I always remember from the very first gaming magazine number that I bought (had my parents buy) for myself: The game Dark Seed was reviewed in that number, and the same lady face was in the cover of that magazine. Whatever that year was, 1992?

 

Good memory! Little bit of googling turned up this: https://magazinesfromthepast.fandom.com/wiki/Amiga_CD32_Gamer_Issue_1

[Pseudonaut]

Map13: UAC Prison
An action-packed level with a constant influx of things to shoot. Like map06 (both maps are by John Bishop), UAC Prison frequently repopulates previously-visited areas with mostly weak enemies. I'm pretty sure many of them died from infighting while I was ignoring them. Not everything is great; killing caged enemies in the prison is pretty lame, and there's a definite case of "Missing Monster Syndrome" with UV-Max speedrunning. Not a big deal with typical completionist gameplay, though, since all parts of the map can be revisited if need be. One of the better maps.

 

 

[Celestin]

MAP13: UAC Prison by John Bishop

 

The last of three maps by guest authors and it's a complete change of style. Pretty much anything you do or anywhere you go, UAC Prison spawns hordes of imps and hitscanners. Fighting this many enemies was a shock at first in a wad that tend to prefer smaller groups of monsters, but damn, it was fun. I stopped my no-save run here, as shotgunners up-close can melt your health and there might not be enough to recover, though the map gives 3 blurspheres that are particularly helpful here.

 

The visual style is one aspect I'm not sure what to think about. I like the courtyard at the start with a curious metal structure (which also serves as an intense finale, where you run with a plasma, pushing back the teleporting spam of monsters) and the fiery caves the complex sits over, but the actual prison is a box of gray rocks and a corridor with cages. I know I shouldn't expect much from a jail, but it could have done better.

 

Despite this, UAC Prison was one hell of a ride, providing a challenge Biowar so far lacked.
 

[Zerofuchs]

Map13: UAC Prison

An austere aesthetic of stone and metal, but it flows in a fairly fun fashion and it's nice to get a map that's not afraid of a few proper fights. Although that said, it's still the kind of map you can blind run in a single try with but a modicum of caution. Sometimes it's not clear what the switch you've pressed has just changed or you need to go over a linedef that isn't really signposted, and that door you need to shoot to open just seems a bizarre decision to me, but overall it's a castle crawl I wouldn't mind playing through again. Does a good job of reusing areas when you backtrack, which helps keep things fresh.

[General Roasterock]

Map 13: UAC Prison

 

  I am entirely realizing my mistake. I invoked the beast. I called out for more John Bishop while knee deep in the 90s, and I am now looking at the color of sound. What the fuck just happened?

  For a time, I felt my impact on cause and effect had lessened. Not only did this map feel like 40% switch, but every interaction with one, whether it was a lift or otherwise, would send a wave of Shotgunners to flood the room I was currently in. This happened at least half a dozen times, not even considering the main room in front of the exit that repopulates three times as well, enough to start another useless conversation on slaughter. I didn’t feel like I was making progress, but rather that I was simply pushing through one more horde to the next “release the shotgunners” button ad nauseum until the map somehow finished. The only other notable piece of combat I can remember is the pit of lava, in a prison mind you, that had Pinkies charging single file out of the tiniest room like a clown car. I had a pretty short fit of psychotic laughter just staring at the visual of all those Demons somehow perfectly in line before getting back to throwing bullets at whatever was in front of me. 

  Making sense of the contraptions around me was completely out of the picture. I’ve always found the concept of a demon, a being of malice normally personified as only wishing to torture human souls, being held in captivity to be incredibly silly, and the only true blooded prison section requires jehova’s witness style door to door clearing of every cell before dumping another Shotgunner Shitflood on top of you. They’re not even hard, because having one hard corner to duck behind allows for half the group to die to infighting without threat. UAC Prison is a bloated map, high above the monster count of just about anything else here, and so manically layered together that I doubt I’ll forget it anytime soon. Now I know I’m excited for anything else John Bishop has in his discography.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 13: UAC Prison

 

Anyone whos read any reviews Ive ever written is already going to be able to guess that this is by far my favorite map in the set yet. I havnt played ahead from here but seeing that someone has already stated that this is the last guest map, this is probably going to be my favorite of the whole wad. Is this a perfect level? No, far from it, but it has the length and monster density that makes it feel like Ive not only done something with my time but maybe even accomplished something while I was at it. I would have loved to get this size map with the aestetics of say map 2, 10 or 11. I dont need cohesive progression or difficult combat, just have a little more meat on the bones and Im a happy man. 😀

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 13: UAC Prison

by John Bishop

Crispy Doom, UV, pistol-start

 

I don't want to spend too much time here. Safe to say John Bishop teleport traps in practically every room at least once and in the case of the central courtyard and accompanying towers at one end, does it every time that we return. It's probably a casual level of danger I can imagine was still quite unexpected in the 90s. Then there's the optional encounter accessed by plunging into the central cavern with a large rad pool and thusly facing off against half a dozen Cacodemons and huge mass of pinkies. It's not too hard to dispose of with the plasma rifle but is the best 'setpiece,' as far as that goes.

 

What's not so exciting is facing off against 'prisoners.' Just like General Roasterock, I never really understood how this was supposed to be 'cute' and find the whole concept of caged enemies in jail entirely nonsensical. The one trap toward the end one can probably use a couple of rockets on was sufficiently dangerous (since they'll teleport out!) and one of the harder situations in the map but the rest were rather unthreatening turret nonsense that just dragged down the pace quite badly. One could also argue that having mass teleport ambushes cheapens their impact after a while, since this'll probably take close to 20 minutes the first time around

 

Still, this would probably rank the best John Bishop map played, although that's basically because something like Sprike 2 proved so mediocre, despite the Quake ripoff effects.