The DWmegawad Club plays: Resurgence

[Joshy]

Demon of the Well said:

A wall of specters and cacos stuck behind a blocking line, Joshy? I'm sorry, I just don't understand what the intent was here at all.

Woah shit, I need to fix that. No blocking lines here at all, just a result of my own stupidity and the steps not being big enough for the monsters to cross.

[Demon of the Well]

Ah, I see. For my own education, are the monsters not able to cross the steps because of their (the steps') width, or because of their height, or is it both in concert? I notice that the chaingunners seem to be able to stand on the wooden step out of the lava just fine, but they can't seem to step onto the next metal segment, so it looked like a blocking line to me.

[Joshy]

Demon of the Well said:

Ah, I see. For my own education, are the monsters not able to cross the steps because of their (the steps') width, or because of their height, or is it both in concert? I notice that the chaingunners seem to be able to stand on the wooden step out of the lava just fine, but they can't seem to step onto the next metal segment, so it looked like a blocking line to me.

AFAIK, it can be either the height or the width, or both. It's likely the wooden steps aren't wide enough for them to step up and down comfortably.

[tourniquet]

27: "Where the Poison Ivies Grow Wild"

Never was a huge fan of those poison ivy maps, nevertheless i had a good portion of fun here. The initial crowd appears to be quite daunting but it was suprisingly easy to gain some foothold, the sniping arachnotrons were probably the major threat for me. Killing the 6 viles ,guarding the western switch, only equipped with an RL gave me a lot of trouble. Though this was actually the only time where frustration started to gain the upper hand. The flock of afrits in the BK section was ridiculously hard, keeping the 2 cybies alive was at least a bit helpful here. The final fight and the seemingly endless caco swarm was quite a spectacle.

[Budoka]

SteveD said:

That's a great attitude, Budoka, and I look forward to seeing you again in the DWMC. I've really enjoyed reading your posts, and it's always great to see a new face, even when it's a vet. Cheers. :)

Thanks a lot. Well I guess I'm a Doom veteran, but not necessarily a Doomworld one despite how old my account is.

Personally, I enjoyed all I've played of Resurgence (everything up to and including MAP17) save for "Gauntlet". Seriously, I have a tougher time dealing with MAP01 than with stuff like that.

Next up is Requiem, huh ? Well, I'm only familiar with the first few levels and this one has been on my to-play list for a very, very long time, so I'll definitely be joining in. It's probably the single megawad I've seen the most praise for except maybe Alien Vendetta. Though I guess this means I'll be playing Requiem before ever finishing Memento Mori II (you can thank Capellan for that), but that's the way it is.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP28 Breaking Point

hey that's the name of Bullet For My Valentine's first song off of their recent album.

anyways, another slaughterfest, in pretty much the same scale as the previous level. and it proves just as hard. the beginning is a nightmare with viles on tops of towers close to the start, and a cyberdemon directly behind. other than those, my biggest concern on the outside were the trigger happy revenants. the indoor areas proved to be fun as well, with the damnable icy maze to the west being one considerable "breaking point", while the flankings on the right-hand side are also one. given that both paths lead to either the yellow or blue keys, and you need at least one to access the BFG, I'd imagine how those pistol starters would feel. the one part I really hated was the center box with the cyberdemons attacking in a very tight space. other than that, this level was very good and very hard for running around and killing.

[tourniquet]

28: "Breaking Point

Glorious fun, gameplay-wise pretty similar to the previous map still i enjoyed it a lot more. After rushing to the RL and ignoring every enemy that popped up in front or beside me i ended up in the samll mine shaft that later reveals a wide cavern full of barons and 3 cybies, fun encounter. The icy maze was another joyfull place luckily i had allready obtained the BFG, think this area would have been a real pain with PG/RL only. The final cybie trio was definitely one of the hardest fights though i think i struggled a lot more at the vile/afrit combo. Awesome map and one of my fav's, i would say.

[Capellan]

Budoka said:
I guess this means I'll be playing Requiem before ever finishing Memento Mori II (you can thank Capellan for that), but that's the way it is.

Hmmm? What did I do now?

[Demon of the Well]

Map 28 -- Breaking Point - 110% Kills / 100% Secrets
Seems like the textfile would have one believe that this is Resurgence's hardest map, not a light claim to make at this point. It has a couple of extremely nasty encounters in it, both of which are small in scale (indeed, this is in large part what makes them so nasty), and account for only a little bit of the actual runtime; most of the proceedings seem to be generally similar in nature to map 27, although this one seems to blend the setpiece battles with the general AoE furor more comfortably, and so I would say is the better of the two.

As in map 27's opening area, Doomguy begins this one heavily beleaguered, and in some ways the situation is even worse because this time there really is no 'safe 1%' to start building from, and getting the first high-end weapon (the RL, in this case) can quickly go south into a highly intractable situation unless managed carefully. Oh, there are a couple of spots that seem like good starter bases, ala the little ammo/armor/soulsphere cache overlooking the red skull, but trying to stick around here and methodically clear out the starting area (e.g. to make the RL easier to fight for) is likely to doom you in the long run, since most of the outdoor monsters aren't deaf and thus will gradually swarm the vicinity, cutting you off from options and supplies if not killing you outright. By the same token, you can run around and go all kinds of places at the start, and can even likely do so while suffering little if any damage (only the post-viles at the start are likely to be a real concern), but if you wander too far you'll inevitably end up in one of the setpiece battles, which is essentially a death sentence if you don't have the right equipment--on my first try I grabassed around the start for a bit, found Cybie wasn't making for very good company, and then ran off to the southeastern cavern (didn't even really look at the RL shrine behind the start, such a dunce), eventually triggering the goatlegged flood. Suffice to say that being in there without a rocket launcher, I, uh....died. Horribly.

Nope, working out how to get started in this map is more of a puzzle, and with a fairly specific solution. Unlike map 27, which you can hang around in for quite a while and gradually gain a foothold in several different ways, 'Breaking Point' kills you dead without remorse until you work out the steps you need to complete. But, once you've got it figured out, it's not hard to pull off, and the early going turns out to be less of an endurance match as a result, perhaps because Joshy is eager to shuttle you off to the setpieces. Rather than coming in a heavily prescribed sequence, this time you get a bit of say in which order to tackle these challenges, framed via the classic Doom keyhunting trope--you need all three, yellow and blue first, but in either order. Having one key will allow you to access the BFG and make the other key leg a bit easier to deal with, so the order of progression is a non-trivial consideration; unfortunately for me, my continued duncery saw me tackle both the blue and yellow key legs without the Big Fucking Gun. Well, I say 'unfortunate', but that's not really true, as I found the encounters in both of these areas to be both eminently doable and, more importantly, enjoyable without the BFG. The blue key leg centers around the amusingly simplistic deadend fight I mentioned earlier (the real punchline to this particular dirty joke doesn't come until much later, though, and when you least expect it), and the yellow key leg involves some dimly-lit ice caverns which crumble away in stages to reveal wave after wave of evil, with you playing hide-and-seek with the arch-viles and their pets while the cyberdemons snort and clamor and rage in the background. This latter area was probably my favorite part of the map; I admire the way Hell seemed to always just one more ace up its sleeve, with the monster waves showing no sign of abating as the supplies and ammo gradually dwindle down. I was getting pretty worried by the time the huge chaingunner death squad showed up, let me tell you--worried enough to save the game, even! ;)

After this point, the map musters another decidedly prolonged ending sequence, which by this point seem like they're a defining characteristic of the later half of Resurgence. This involves getting the red key and climbing/circling around the outside of the map, ala map 27, but in traversal terms this is all largely a formality--the real point is the linear sequence of setpiece battles, ranging from the fairly light/easy (the red key fight) to the whimsical (using the arch-viles as a pale squishy meatshield against the spiderdemon's bullets) to the rather milquetoast (the cyberdemon/revenant corridor near the end) to the downright brutal--revisiting the site of the cyberdemon/Baron brawl from earlier sees a bevy of arch-viles and afrits turned loose. There is little real cover, and the viles gleefully resurrect Barons to act as heavy-duty meatshields left and right, making for a highly lethal situation. What I ended up doing was breaking for the entrance to the cave that I'd used way back near the start of the map, funneling the viles between the snowbanks and annihilating them with rockets from a distance. The afrits' ability to rise high over the landscape made executing this strategy far from trivial, but it was still the most workable solution I found (protip: DON'T try hiding in that same little cave from your first visit, it'll end badly). The trio of cyberdemons in the little catskinner box at the very end seemed like respite after this--it may seem intimidating, but if you don't try to go for style points or something you CAN reliably do it--although I've got to admit they're pretty fucking scary when they suddenly make their appearance.

An enjoyable romp, similar to but ultimately feeling more 'balanced' in presentation than map 27, which I think is largely a result of a shorter preamble and some additional elements of optionality/non-linearity.

[Budoka]

Capellan said:

Hmmm? What did I do now?

MAP15. It seems great and all, but I couldn't get past the first room without dying repeatedly, and then the savegame buffer overflow bug crashed my game (I used to play on DOSBox back then, and I still do when I record). :-P

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP29 The Calm Before The Storm

another three key fest, but with the difficulty lessened to make things a bit easier. good, I needed a slight breather map anyways. emphasis on slight, however, as this map was more or less like Plutonia 2's difficulty. I don't really have too much trouble except against those damnable afrits that teleport in every now and then. also the whole red key area was annoying as hell, because I kept wandering after pressing that one switch, and not noticing the staircase next to the teleporter. while lighter, it is still a very tough map to beat.

6 death exits. I was keeping score.

[Capellan]

Budoka said:
MAP15. It seems great and all, but I couldn't get past the first room without dying repeatedly, and then the savegame buffer overflow bug crashed my game (I used to play on DOSBox back then, and I still do when I record). :-P

True story: I got a quite angry email back in about 1997, complaining that I had "ruined" this level in MP by including too many archviles in it.

There are 6 (total) in UV MP. I have no idea what that guy would think of Resurgence!

The opening room of MM2 map15 is one of my favourite things I ever did, because the actual monsters used are fairly small in number and fairly weak in type, overall, but they do a pretty great job of making the player's life interesting :)

Can't help you with the savegame thing; the level doesn't have that many things in it that I'd expect a problem.

Every now and then I like to re-read SteveD's post about the map. Brings a smile to my face every time :)

[Steve D]

^^^Ah, yes, that map! My very first experience of a Cacoswarm. My therapist says I may never recover from the PTSD caused by this map. ;D

[tourniquet]

29: "The Calm Before The Storm"

Not that calm at least for me, i wandered around a long time looking for RL/PG, unfortunately i was searching at the wrong places and died several times in the crossfire. Things got a lot better after i finally discovered the PG and was able to get rid of Manc and Arachnotron snipers. The vine maze was very enjoyable and the RK area which reveals more and more enemies, the further you venture into, also was a cool gimmick. I wouldn't say it's a breather map still it was slighty easier than the precursors.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP30 Eternal Redemption

claustrophic beginning, that delves into one hell of an open area. the lava makes it so you have to carefully come back to get the radsuits, but the sniper mancubi and cyberdemons make it much tougher than it looks. the two separate wings each bring their own doses of slaughter. and if none of us have learned already, the afrit's preferred environment is the open spaces, and with that many afrits attacking me it was certainly hell. but it was fun. no Icon of Sin for once, just an apparent walk through the long valley to complete the map. very cool but extraneously hard.

Final

yes, some fun was had in this wad, and some frustration as well. by the time the bigger maps came about (the secret maps, and from MAP18 onwards), these maps would take very long to complete. some of them are so worth it though, especially the last few maps. fuck it, this is some slaughtery stuff that might just be replayed again by the fans. take note that all of my write-ups were from a first-time play though.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 29 -- The Quiet Before the Storm - 115% Kills / 100% Secrets
Ah, it's good to see that I'm not the only one who really digs "Realm." That's one of my favorites from Plutonia, especially where atmosphere/aesthetics are concerned (fun to play too, of course), but it's a map that you don't seem to hear a lot about or see referenced very often, perhaps understandable given the relative infamy of some other maps from that IWAD. I didn't recognize much in the way of really direct references (perhaps excepting the plumbing tunnel in the red key area), but it certainly captures the mysterious feel of that level nonetheless--probably mostly on account of the highly distinctive water/vines/limestone/tech texture scheme, but no doubt Stewboy's mellifluous, nostalgic BGM track helps as well. In layout/structure terms this one stood out to me because, like map 18 before it, it seemed to present a marriage of the squarejawed, compact nature of Joshy's older maps with the expansive, wide open feel of his more recent maps, whereas the majority of E3 has been all about the 'macrotecture.' Indeed, squares and grids are something of a theme for this map, defining not only the feel of the setting (some kind of strange, mostly-drowned temple with esoterically significant geometry), but also the nature of the play in some of its major combat zones, as well.

Anyway, bit of a change of pace here, yes. I'm not quite sure I'd call it a 'breather map' either, since it definitely keeps you on your toes, mostly by having you fight the vast majority of your battles from a markedly inferior position--in order to clear out enemies you've either got to expose yourself in some decidedly awkward situations, or, alternatively, you've got to play conservatively and sort of work around the edges of encounter zones, softening them up as much as you can before you actually dive in. I'm not normally a player given to a lot of camping corners, exploiting doorways, or looking for chokepoints to slow down most encounters, but I did seem to find myself doing that quite a bit in this one, which reflected in my playtime of 50+ minutes, which I'm pretty sure is longer than in any other map in the set (longer if we don't account for elapsed time due to deaths in a handful of the nastier maps, anyway). Uh....probably didn't help that I spent a good 7 or 8 minutes wandering aimlessly in search of the way into the red key zone after clearing the other two, but I blame myself for that, not the map.

The somewhat uncomfortable (<--not in an entirely unpleasant way, mind you) nature of the combat is epitomized by the early gambit for weaponry. Gaining a foothold in the map is not anywhere near as much work as in the last couple of maps, since most of the opposition is entrenched rather than free to roam, but therein lies the issue: to really make headway you need weapons, but the staples of your armament are sequestered in areas that can only be smoothly broken into with better armament, bit of a catch 22. I ended up having to dash for the SSG whilst blindly hoping a vile wouldn't nuke me (which miraculously didn't happen), and getting the rocket launcher saw me patiently shotgunning away a certain turret-vile from a distant position so that I could go in and have the actual fight for the weapon without his troublesome interference. On a blind run, a lot of this map is like that--pressure is fairly heavy but its sources are very often static, so it often seems instinctive to proceed slowly and methodically and to look for indirect angles of attack on some problems, as exemplified by the whole blue key quest, where I spent almost all of my time either holed up and fending off intruders or shelling the problem area from afar (e.g. cleared out most of the 'trons from the SSG area much earlier in the map).

Of course, Joshy won't allow you to get off Scot free, and so has set up a couple of more intense grid-based fights to keep the blood flowing. Both are quite violent, particularly the amusing imp-rush scene in the viney cloister en route to the yellow key (I used a ton of ammo here because one of the viles got away from me and built himself a fullscale ranch house entirely out of animate imp-steaks), although neither is truly demanding if you keep your cool; the rush of six or so viles at the end of the unfolding cistern grid in the red key area is probably the most intimidating thrust, but if you don't panic you can quell it quite easily by standing calmly and firing a steady stream of rockets dead-center at the vile groups, who initially begin far enough away that they will not immediately attack. These more body-packed encounters, and the occasional appearance of big monsters, are really nothing in comparison to the general incidental stress of penetrating the sniper-defended killzones between marquee fights, although there are a few afrits who show up at odd times in unexpected places and might give you a bit of a startle.

Despite the slow pace I did mostly enjoy the map. It seems like the sort of map that'd probably be a lot more fun for someone who knows the terrain/encounters beforehand, though....of course, some would argue that this is true to some extent for nearly all Doom maps, but I suppose that's a discussion for another time.

Map 30 -- Eternal Redemption - 122% Kills / No secrets
And we close with this, a heaping helping of 'advancing armies' slaughterplay with a little spate of bloody CQC for an appetizer and an artsy little epilogue. I'm sure many will greatly appreciate the absence of Icon of Sin setup here; for my part, I'm just glad the megaWAD didn't end on something anticlimactic (though I did find myself musing 'what if an IoS woke up right now, THAT sure would be a dick move' at a few points), although if I may make one more tiresome comparison to Speed of Doom, there's still not much I've seen since that WAD that comes to such a striking conclusion. 'Eternal Redemption' doesn't leave quite as much of a visceral impact as SoD's map 30, but it's still fun to play.

The Misri Halek homage that opens up the map is done well enough--simple action that garners most of its bite from limited/inconvenient ammo placement and of course the tight quarters of most of the action, but its real virtue isn't in the particulars but rather that it goes on for just the right amount of time: just long enough to get me thinking "okay, so this is what the final map is going to be like" and thus underscoring the big reveal of the actual main battleground--again, an interesting juxtaposition of the different styles of scale and construction now at Joshy's command. Monsters travel in free-roaming armies in this vast open space, and arch-viles are a major factor in many waves, so simply grabassing around in the open space without a plan, hoping for everything to infight itself to death, just isn't going to work consistently. If you play your cards right, a lot of the population WILL annihilate itself--of the many, many cyberdemons in the level, I think I only personally killed three (the one in the fuck-you ambush behind the yellow bars, and the two in isolation near the switch that opens the blue skull's resting place), with the rest all falling to one of the 2-3 big afrit attacks that happened at various points (which also saw the afrits themselves seriously reduced in numbers when all was said and done)--but you've got to think on the fly and make some good strategic decisions to bring this about.

While the play space is simple, it's just complex enough, and the monster hordes just large enough, that all sorts of different scenarios can develop organically from game to game--for instance, I bumbled about and ended up pushed back into the tomb not long after reaching the main area, and so ended up using essentially all of the resources left in there fighting off the massive torrent of revenants (with the occasional interloping elemental) that followed me in. Felt like it worked out pretty well at the time, but I was kicking myself later when the dual armies of skeletons and viles that eventually pour out of the hills were introduced--what might have been a haven in a much more dangerous encounter had already been bled dry due to my earlier lack of foresight. This being the case, I had to hold the great steps up to the tomb for as long as I could (the severe angle partially shielding me from viles' spell attacks) before switching sides and jumping into the lava, tearing ass into one the side areas and frantically working to clear it out before the rest of the army caught up. I might've just retreated towards the east end of the main area instead, but there were a LOT of afrits still alive, so....suffice to say it was a complicated and chaotic situation, quite invigorating. The side areas, by contrast, generally don't feel nearly as vibrant. The symmetrical arachnatron/pinky armies to the south felt more like cursory BFG-janitoring exercises than a really sharp encounter, and while I was okay with the various stages of defense in the blue skull's chamber, I didn't like the two cyberdemons guarding the switch to open the area--I understand why they're there, but they're never satisfying to fight when they're just stuck on a dinky little sequestered platform purely as roadblocks--I think another group of (deaf) arch-viles on the ground back here or something would've been much preferable, and more effective.

To be honest, I found myself slightly disappointed that the WAD returned to a very straightfored/orthodox fire and brimstone Hell look at the very end (again, the endless black abyss of SoD's map 30 was probably looming large in the back of my mind, and the level's abstract 'walk into darkness' conclusion doesn't really compare), although the heavy shadows in the side areas help lend some flavor, suggesting that most of the light in this case is coming from the lava lake rather than from the sky. The interior of the main tomb is an exception here--very unusual texture scheme in there, very quirky, but I liked it. My main aesthetic gripe actually isn't the general theme, though, just in a few of the details: I strongly disliked the patches of shadow matching the pillars on the ceiling of the cave area at the east end, they made me think of nothing so much as grease stains on a napkin after it's had a slice of takeout pizza sitting on it for a while. I feel that the avowed influence from SoD's map 31 also hardly registers at all (probably wouldn't have occurred to me if I hadn't read the textfile), for whatever that's worth.

Very minor note, but the ending intermission text gets partially cut off in Eternity (seems to happen a lot with that port, for whatever reason). Works just fine in what is presumably the target port (e.g. PrBoom+), though, so not exactly a serious concern.

[mouldy]

Map26 - “The Library”

I spent far too long dancing around with the cyber at the start trying to get him to kill all the snipers, after many deaths that didn't seem to be going anywhere, so down into the library I go. Its quite a mammoth undertaking clearing everything out, seems like its necessary though as diving deeper just unearths more archviles, luckily i stumbled on the plasma rifle. Then a bit more methodical dusting of shelves and I had the rocket launcher. Still a bit of a grind though. I was stumped for a while by one of the switches, turns out it requires another one of those strafe jumps from high up, with the most tedious climb back up if you miss. But I can't help liking this map, arse-ache though it is chipping your way through it. Sprawling libraries with arcane navigation and intriguing secrets are one of the great doom themes.

Map27 - "Where the Poison Ivies Grow Wild"

That was a map and a half. Though it is overflowing with all kinds of everything, its layout provides plenty of opportunities to outsmart the monsters, not that I didn't die a million times in the process. Particularly nasty moments include the jump into the bfg nukage pit with all the revenants. Eventually I found the best option for that fight was going in with as much health and armour as I could find and just carve through them all and escape through the other side. I was probably lucky it worked. Then there was the afrit shitstorm, very deadly. I kept the 2 cybers to help but they were wiped out in seconds. Then the caco clouds provided some light relief before the final push to the exit. Fun map, fairly forgiving in terms of safe spots and cover, but still a bastard when it wants to be.

Map28 - Breaking Point

Great start, I like the muddy frozen landscape too. Most memorable part of this map is the battle in the caverns, after jumping down a hole. Felt very much at the mercy of the whims of the archviles in that one, same goes for any fight with a ton of viles I guess. The archvile and afrit combo was quite dangerous too, nicely placed next to a pile of baron corpses from an earlier fight. Cyber and revenant sandwich near the end was a bit naughty, as was fighting 3 cybers in a shoebox. I was lucky to be standing on one of the teleport points so one was late to the fight. Good stuff.

Think I'll have to leave the last 2 maps for another day.

[tourniquet]

30: "Eternal Redemption"

A worthy conclusion for the mapset. The initial "Misri Halek" part was a great prelude to the following battleground which was another amazing fight. The central AV's were my major concern, luckily they were distracted by Cyb's behind them and i was able to clean this place relavtively unharmed. Clearing the 2 side branches was a bit more tricky due to the roaming vile's on the BK side, that kept resurecting things until i almost ran out of ammo. I was more than glad to be spared from another IOS battle thus i enjoyed this great finale even more.

Résumé: Besides a few maps that i didn't like that much, i really enjoyed my playtrough. Even playing from pistol starts wasn't as frustrating as i've expected. Fantastic mapset, 5 stars.

[Demon of the Well]

Wanted to sum up real quick:

I had a lot of fun playing Resurgence. While some of the action and a few particular recalcitrant design tropes (particularly the persistent placement of 'boss' monsters as big, essentially immobile turrets that eventually need to be manually disassembled) make for mildly clunky maxplay at times, for the most part it's a rollicking good time that strikes a nice balance between setpieces/ambushes and incidental combat, and runs the gamut from quite easy to rather difficult gameplay over its entirety as well. Even as far as some of the flaws go, in a way it seems comfortable and familiar to fans of Speed of Doom and Joshy's other maps (like myself), even while it's impossible to overlook how much more varied his command of scale and layout have become of late. Incidentally, to me, Resurgence is defined by its second half, and particularly its third episode--as I've said time and time again this month, short sharp (speed)maps like those that defined Surge (and thus comprise much of the earlier half of Resurgence) certainly have their merits, but for my money it's in more expansive settings, in more involved adventuring, and more epic bloodletting that the game shines brightest, and here in Resurgence we see Joshy growing from a relatively one-trick mapper (albeit a trick he was and is pretty damned good at) to really start putting all the pieces together into a truly complete package of depth, variety, and nuance. Cool thing is, you still get the sense that there's more growth yet to come--generally speaking Resurgence is a clean-looking, attractive mapset that makes efficient use of its real estate, but in the bigger, later levels you can still see Joshy experimenting with setting the scene and choosing textures for the vast vistas, as well as hammering out more precise monster placement practices suited to that kind of scale, suggesting that as he continues to hone his craft his worlds will continue to grow in both splendor and lethality.

My top 5 maps from the WAD, in no particular order:

Map 18 -- Excavation Project
Map 26 -- The Library
Map 22 -- Mt. Katoomba
Map 08 -- Obsidian Hotbed
Map 19 -- Quadrilateral Rampage

[Lingyan203]

You know, I have to say when I did my practice playthrough on UV with lots of saves, I had a lot of fun with this wad, even though the later maps were brutally vicious and insane. It's another wad from Joshy and Darkwave0000 that I liked quite a lot. Although I liked Speed of Doom a lot, Resurgence is still a great wad nonetheless. The only problem is that there were too many death exits, which I didn't like too much. I think Joshy wanted to make Resurgence similar to Scythe 2, which I think that's why he wanted to have more death exits like every 5 levels. The plasma zombies are thankfully easier to hit than they were in Scythe 2, but dodging their attacks are very tricky. The afrits are much weaker than they were in Scythe 2, but they are still a problem in large numbers, particularly in map27 when you open the blue key door. I think after reading some of the thoughts on what people think of the maps and how difficult they found them I think I should be ready to start my playthrough of it on Ultra-Violence on YouTube, where I'm trying to get 100% kills and secrets, just like a UV-max run except that I'm playing at my own pace rather than doing the speedrunning aspect. I really hope Joshy creates more megawads like these as I'm greatly impressed by his maps.