The DWmegawad Club plays: Hellbound

[Spectre01]

MAP09 - Disposal Facility - Difficulty: Medium

"Rivers of toxic waste flow across the landscape, courtesy of the UAC's waste management program. Those experiments must require an awful lot of the gooey material. You must navigate the hazardous environment of the facility to locate the way out. Be careful, the hellspawn seems to have something in store for you."

Unlike the previous nukage-themed map04 that took place in the dark underground, map09 features plenty of outdoor canyons with toxic waste flowing through them. There is a nice degree of height variation in both the outdoor and indoor sections of the map. As mentioned by the author, this map mostly reminds me of The Abyss - the fantastic finale of Duke3D's first episode. Even the intro is similar as you emerge from a dark slime tunnel into an open canyon area.

After making your way through the gap in the cliffs, you take a dive off the slime waterfall into a cool looking hub area that you'll revisit a few times as you explore the base. There's a rather obscure secret behind an illusory wall that lower a slimefall and lets you kill the rest of those pesky Imps that you probably didn't have time for prior. There are also quite a few Cacodemons floating around here but the biggest threat is blowing yourself up on a stack of barrels that are scattered around.

Inside the base is a large crate storage area that rewards you with a secret backpack and V-sphere, the purpose of the latter being questionable as there isn't really any big fight you can rush to with it. It's also fun blowing up rows of barrels and taking out floors of enemies after riding some lifts.

A memorable section is the 2nd Hell-Trip of the wad, the previous being in the above mentioned map04. It's another brief and linear affair but larger and more visually interesting than before. The majority of the combat here is against waves of Lost Souls that pour out of the flesh pillars. I find it best to take this area fast and run through it while alerting all the Souls and then using one of the green marble sections with cover to bait them to you or have them die to infighting. Big fan of that throne the Baron was using at the end of the trip.

There's another wide outdoor area past the blue switch tunnels where you can either snipe the majority of the Revenants and Imps on the ledges or jump right in there and fight in the waste water as their platforms lower. I do like how the nukage mixes in with the brown slime and the use of torches to make it seems like there's green fire. The final area with the exit has some nice detailing on the rock wall. And while one might expect to find something in the slime below, there's only a teleporter that brings you back up. It's much easier to lure the Cacos and Lost Souls to the high ground either way.

I found this map to be significantly easier than the previous one due to the much lighter use of hitscanners and the shorter length makes it a bit of a breather. Another good use of a Duke3D track, directly from e1m5 where this map gets its inspiration from.

[Pirx]

MAP07 - “Woods”

a sudden change of theme, you find yourself in a forest inhabited by imps and other creatures, lurking behind trees carefully crafted out of sectors, joined in canopies, forming glades and leading into caves, an interesting way to work with an engine that is not really made for creating such scenery. i missed that shadow warrior reference as i haven't played the game for years, but anyway, it's a theme i have rarely seen in doom or other old games, and it looks convincing. the way to the "forest house" is a bit simple with enemies right in front, but the house siege is quite amusing, as is running out and beating them the hell back into the woods they came from. the end is a bit odd with those mancs and the souls, but it hides the use of the map07 tags well (a few arachs right at the start, and the mancs at the end, with everything else in between), so thanks for a charming, original map.


MAP08 - “Military Depot”

a military base at the end of the forest, overrun and its inhabitants turned into zombies, as the watch tower with the chaingunners at the entrance shows. one can make good use of infighting between the baron / pinkies vs the arachs in the next hangar. i liked the look of the base, with vines everywhere, as if the forest was reclaiming it. those "weaponized textures" were less fun with all the damn sergeants and chaingunners behind them, made it a game of peekaboo, especially as i went there first with only the ssg and saw the rocket launcher at the spider's yard only later, when everything had eaten buckshot, much of it left behind by said sergeants... then i tried in vain to jump from the tower onto the blue armor on those crates, fell every time too short (gzdoom, is that normal?) and left, with the dumb spider still behind its fence.


MAP09 - “Disposal Facility”

a canyon filled with waste, you really have to make good use of the radsuits found here. i ignored the enemies high on the canyon sides as long as i could, seems that some are lowered into the big waste lake later (the revs and imps). the big storage room didn't deliver the big fight i expected from seeing the v-sphere on those crates. perhaps it was for the renewed hell trip? running through while blasting the odd soul out of the way? i found the map a bit hard to navigate.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP09: Disposal Facility

This level feels like more of a suspense piece than an action-focused thriller, doubling down on recent offerings of industrial gloom as the player is invited through a succession of canyons bisected by a waste disposal facility. There aren't a lot of highly-charged pitched battles, and the relatively low head count in combination with the map's significant area means that the sparse population are largely charged with taking out the invading marine by ambush. The map's major setpiece is a "Hell trip" sequence upon collecting the red key, in which the player has to navigate a twisting, elevated path between pulsating columns of flesh from which lost souls pour hungrily forth. Overall it's a solid enough offering but I don't think this is going to stick with me as much as some of the WAD's stronger and more distinctive maps; there isn't really a sense of anything new being offered, this one is Hellbound as we've come to know it by-the-numbers.

[Spectre01]

Pirx said:

then i tried in vain to jump from the tower onto the blue armor on those crates, fell every time too short (gzdoom, is that normal?) and left, with the dumb spider still behind its fence.

I did a straferun from the tower and over the lift just as it hit the top to get on that crate. Watching Rayzik's max run though, he seems to walk off the lift fine to reach it.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP09 Disposal Facility

That start and that music pretty much tell us we are looking at Duke Nukem's the Abyss all over again. But it goes back to base as soon as we hit the bottom of the canyon. Of course, that yellow key off to the right side at the start is needed for actual entry. The next Hellbound base area provides plenty of barrels for some fun kills, although we dump down into another cargo bay again (and crate secrets are dumb if you ask me). There's a few things to do in the crate area, such as finding a way back, or heading down to get the blue key or jumping to two secrets. Those imps behind cages can actually fall out of there while dying, looks like he didn't put any monster-blocking lines on the cage lines.

The two-switch press for the red key isn't much, although more nukage wading reveals where I need to go to get it. Before doing so though, I go to the other side of the base and kill the sniping enemies here so I don't deal with them later. There's another trick warp after picking up the red key, now teleporting me to a hellish walkway that is entirely linear, but with surprises coming out of the body columns. The throne at the end just had a baron, and the teleporter leads to a crusher room with another WOS-style setup. Not tough, but the pain elemental back at the crate room gave me problems.

Just getting out through the other half of the canyon isn't entirely noteworthy with the snipers gone. Just makes sure to get the radsuit as usual and lay waste. A few flying enemies are in a pit somewhere, I usually deal with them last by falling in the pit (this guy makes sure to put ways out, thankfully). A pretty nice level of moderate difficulty and length.

[A2Rob]

Map09 - Disposal Facility
Difficulty - UV
Time - 18:41

Big canyon map inspired by Duke3D's "The Abyss". Another track I really like. Sprawling canyons and indoor tech facilities are the theme of this map, with lots of nuclear waste to wade through. There's lots of varying heights in in this game, both outside and inside the disposal base. We even have a large supply room connecting various points of interest in the map. We get the last hell scare as well, really cool looking with the rotating pillars of flesh. I liked the little barons throne at the end as well.

There's a lot of sniping at the beginning of this map, usually because of enemies being perched on various different cliff edges in the canyons. There's a lot of nukage in this map, though there's plenty of rad suites lying around at your disposal. The inside of the base isn't very threatening, and there's a few points where you can decimate groups of enemies due to barrel placement. I found the hell area to be kinda annoying with the constant lost soul spamming from the pillars, thought there could have been more to that section.

[Demtor]

MAP09 - “Disposal Facility”
gzDoom - UV – Continuous

I forgot all about that Duke Nukem 3d level everyone's mentioned, The Abyss. With the music and some of the cliffs at the start here, it all comes back now. (6th grade seems so long ago X_x). Loved it then and can appreciate it now.

Don't think I've ever seen the use of fire mixed in here with the change of toxic waste color before. It really works and makes this area quite enjoyable to fight in. I supposed I could have run right past everything but I used all my rockets to take out the Revs above so I could explore in peace. (My sanity requires me to kill Revs and spiders ASAP when I play. Any map. Every time.)

The base below was really cool minus the warehouse box section. Kind of getting tired of boxes in these "realism" maps. Another questionable vulnerability sphere secret here too. Scratched my head on that one. Ended up not using it at all!

Loved the interconnecting sewage halls all over this place. Plenty of more cool tech looking hallways and side rooms. Lots of lifts to mix things up a bit. Whoa, the red eyes here were a bad ass choice considering your two steps away from visiting hell again. I would've liked this hell area a lot more if the textures on the skulls weren't spinning. Why oh why would a large pillar of skulls be moving like that? Breaks the precious immersion in my super realistic game of killing hellspawn demons and such. Also, the columns could've been a little smaller maybe so the repeated texture doesn't look quite so silly, but ah well. I get that they were used to store lost souls inside. I just feel like they could've been displayed a little better, visually. Like Riley mention, that standing throne area is pretty sweet looking. Simple but very effective.

My favorite part of this map was the small end section leading to the RK switch that opens the exit, with the really cool skyline overlooking the green cesspool with it's flames below.

Map was a little easy with tons of health and ammo (plus a few soulsphere secrets) but I enjoyed exploring and looking around quite a bit.

[Pedro VC]

Yes, Hellbound is amazing. I'll follow this thread.

[gaspe]

MAP09: The starting areas are pretty much a remake of Duke Nukem level The Abyss, and the music is the same. For the rest the map does its own things. It's a nice mixture of tech-industrial areas with canyons filled with poisonous slimes. There's a second visit to hell, overall better than the first but I just headed to the teleport ignoring all the monsters there. Overall the action was allright, bur it lacks of a standout moment(s) and it felt rather uneventful. Though I can see why it can work for a narrative scope as it builds a certain atmosphere of "something big that's coming", nonetheless the gameplay feels really underdone here.

[sazza]

Map 7 - Woods
The gateway leads us to the woods, where presumably another UAC base is located. The road to the base takes us through cute sector trees towards a house stock full of ammo, ready for the teleport ambush after we grab the key. Must have been one of the UAC security officers house, especially located so far away from anything else. This level also sees a good use of the tag 667, rather than being another 'Dead Simple' remake the tag is used only to give us the red key, a nice change of pace really. The midi worked great, one of the more ambient and low key of the stock Doom 2 soundtrack.

Map 8 - Military Depot
Travelling through the woods we end up at a military depot, most likely used by the UAC. I love the use of the Spider at the entrance, the player is too under equipped to take him straight on, so its a matter of evading him until later. Once you enter the facility, through the sewage system naturally, you can take him on with the blur sphere (it's actually useful!) and the store of rockets next to him. Afterwards, its just a matter of finding the relevant keycards to gain access to the exit. The base itself is an interconnected labyrinth, with the player going through the hallways and even the air vents searching for the keys.

Map 9 - Disposal Facility
The Abyss is both midi and overall design of the start area and other areas. It makes for a fun romp through the canyons into the actual base it self. On a side note, there's something immensely satisfying about triggering a chain reaction of barrels to blow everyone up, 'tis fun. The 'Hell Trip' returns in full force, this time in a more aesthetically pleasing room, filled with lost souls and large pillars of flesh and bones, all wonderful stuff.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 10 -- Cistern - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
Set in the depths of an old water treatment station, this map's a little bit of a departure for the mapset as far as atmospherics are concerned. To a greater or lesser degree, all nine of the previous maps have been dark, gloomy, gritty, and occasionally foreboding in air, with a BGM tracklist consisting disproportiately of some of the more languid and sinister tracks from Evilution, Duke3D, and Doom II. The Cistern, by contrast, is for the most part fairly well-lit (save for the western annex, which appears to be the oldest part of the system and thus was never wired for electric lighting), and ironically seems to be one of the most 'hygenic' places we've visited thus far. The place looks old, though not unwholesomely so, and vines and other greenery have gradually moved in to colonize the moist, cool environment. The brighter lighting allows the earthy, eye-soothing color palette of tan/beige masonry, mossy green brickwork, and deep blue water to stand out more vibrantly in comparison to the shadow-soaked scenes of heavy industry and urban decay which dominated earlier maps, and the BGM selection is one of Duke3D's more chilled out/low-key numbers. The most striking physical landmark is of course the massive multilevel central settling chamber, with its huge inflow pipe descending through the ceiling from untold miles above, but side areas each have their own particular architectural nuances as well, ala the long split-level channel/observation corridor spanning the south side, or the vaguely Byzantine supports and other trappings found in the older north/western quadrants. Pungent aroma of gray water aside, it's the sort of place that would be interesting or even inviting to poke around in were it not for the advanced infestation of hell-vermin.

There's a sense that this level is intended to be received as a noticeable step up in the greater set's longform difficulty curve, which serves it well in some ways and not so well in others. Incidental engagements with mostly directly-placed adversaries in the side/interstitial areas spiced up by the occasional brief trap and highlighted by larger battles in major areas (esp. the central chamber in this case) continue to be the order of the day, and so in that sense not much has changed from the earlier maps. The pistol-start throws a considerable number of opponents at the player as soon as they peek out of the opening corridor, and presumably is intended to compel them to dash out into the greater setting in search of more ammo and armaments (trying to turtle up in the aforesaid corridor is liable to result in one simply running out of ammo and eventually being overwhelmed), though since both the SSG and especially the RL require a minor chore to be undertaken before becoming accessible things don't really shift into second gear as smoothly as some might like. As mentioned before, the gameplay is at its best where it allows the player the freedom to orchestrate the action to his/her liking, which in this level's case is primarily an attribute of the huge central chamber, containing multiple entrances, three different planes of action, and a number of monster reveals at different points during progression as it does. Methodical/cautious players can take advantage of height changes and distance for some long-range sniping (perhaps most tempting vs. the battalion of zombies that begins beaming in after fiddling with the control terminal at the west end), while those with more of a John Woo temperament can combine several different encounters into one for a roiling cauldron of bloodshed, aided greatly by another genuinely useful secret blursphere to help with those zombies.

Side areas mainly feature the sort of incidental fare that has sustained much of the mapset thus far. Something of a flow/pacing issue perhaps begins to show in some of these segments, which I would hypothesize as a case of the author feeling pressure to lay out a fine-grain steady difficulty curve, something to which many long mapsets not characterized by tons of elaborate choreography periodically fall prey. So, this is map 10, right? Clearly (or perhaps I should say, "clearly") it should be more difficult than something like map 05. Yet, it's also still way too early in the proceedings to start trotting out the big guns. Trying to find the right gradation of action, Z86 (as many before him, and probably as many yet to come) here begins to use the bigger monsters more frequently and in larger numbers than seen before, while the placements themselves remain very simple--often a recipe for action that's substantively indistinguishable from early game stuff apart from simply taking longer to clear away. Here, Hell nobles probably appear with greater frequency than they have any real business doing (i.e. the two Barons in the huge room near the YK, just as an example), and we occasionally see heavier monsters placed in environments where they're not particularly effective (i.e. mancubi in the north/west columned areas, whose spreadshots tend to be harmlessly absorbed by the welter of columns immediately after being fired). For my part, I think that it's fine to use larger monsters, or even groups of larger monsters, in scenarios that are not very threatening/pressuring as points of spectacle or emphasis--the packed cluster of nobles revealed from a closet near the BK, ripe to be obliterated with focus-fired rocket splash is a good example--but in mid-to-long maps like those characteristic of Hellbound, pacing needs to be balanced with the drive to use the heavier hitters, lest action periodically bog down enough to hamper player engagement. Another issue, still cropping up only very rarely at this point but probably more worrying to me than any other foible seen at any point thus far, is the presence of some blatantly inappropriate blocking lines. What the hell is the purpose of the one splitting the northern soulsphere room in two at a seemingly arbitrary point? Its net impact on play is causing cosmetically unsightly pathing anomalies on the part of the cacodemons and mancubus in that room (the encounter would not be any more or any less pressuring in the line's absence). I don't get it.

Those issues aside, I still enjoyed the map as a whole, and am pleased to report that the mapset as a whole has thus far managed to keep me invested.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP10: Cistern

One of my favourite maps of the set so far. I mean, sure, I blundered and fumbled my way through it, took a lot of unnecessary damage, made a lot of blatant errors (like not finding the super shotgun near the start until I was doing my final sweep for secrets and missed monsters; brown door + brown walls = easily missed when you're running from enemy fire) but after lots of crawling through gloomy corridors it's so pleasant to finally explore a place that doesn't begrudge me every candle of illumination, and the architecture here is a treat that deserves to be as properly highlighted as it is. There's a sense as you navigate the chambers and tunnels of this level that a lot of it isn't designed primarily for human passage, that you're traversing spaces intended to contain and channel vast quantities of water and that accommodations for people are an afterthought or a secondary concern - I think it's the verticality of so many spaces, the sense that they're designed to be filled up in a way that they currently are not.

The central cistern itself refreshes its population every time the path of progression runs through it, though some of these waves are more dramatic and dangerous than others; there's something delightful about the swarm of undead soldiers that's gleefully shovelled in at one point, whereas the arachnotrons that turn up later are less of a thrill ride. Overall, at least on Hurt Me Plenty it feels like there's a shortage of rockets, and the player is asked to depend on the super shotgun to cut and gouge a path slowly through walls of meatier opposition - the going isn't difficult, just slower than it could be with a different balance of ammunition. So... excellent playground, but the toys provided aren't the best.

[Kyka]

Really glad to see this wad getting lots of love. Deserved a cacoward. Probably my favorite non-iwad megawad. Enjoying reading the comments too. Cheers.

[A2Rob]

Map10 - Cistern
Difficulty - UV
Time - 18:45

This counts as a sewer level, right?

Taking a break from sprawling canyons, we get this underground water treatment plant of some sorts. It's pretty nice architecture wise, even has its own giant cistern (as the name implies) at the center of the map, interconnecting various points of interest. Very wet level. Beyond that, there isn't really much more I can say about this map visually, other than it's good. It's certainly brighter than a lot of the maps up to this point, with the exception being the little end sewer area, dark as ever (unless you find the night vision goggles; not a secret surprisingly).

We see a lot more barons than usual on this map, as well as a high number of hit scan enemies. There's not much to say about the combat, its all pretty standard throughout the level. The cistern portion of the level does through a switch/enemies teleport in trap, consisting of nothing but hit scan enemies, pretty much forcing you to use the computers nearby as cover and just camp out the encounter. Not terribly difficult beyond that, although I can imagine the beginning section is hell for anyone doing pistol start, considering the amount of enemies that are thrown your way at the start.

[DAZZER]

MAP08: Military Depot
Difficulty - UV
Time - 24:10

I like the transition from Forest to techbase here ! realy cool but it could be better if there would be more to do in the outside area :) anyways again 300+ Monsters. Mainly because this Map has some pretty big rooms which are only filled up with hitscanners. I got a little bit lost after i found the Blue Key... I think because there were again so much rooms which needed the blue key but most of them leaded to the same room. It was a fun Map :D but i hope I can see a diffrent setting soon ^^

[gaspe]

MAP10: A quite drastic change of tone in the mood, whereas before the levels had a more gloomy atmosphere here everything seems really relaxing. "One of the first maps where I started to get the importance of trim-textures", it's taken from the notes about and I found it to be very funny as trim textures in this map are spammed everywhere. Though the location was rather interesting with the central cistern and the control rooms and sewage system around it. I must say that I was really bored by the combats, there aren't many interesting things that happen and there are too many monsters that just drag things for too long . The yellow key section felt like filler, it should have been cutted out from the map.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP10 Cistern

Now we're back indoors in this underground tunneling area of sorts. It's structurally simpler than some of the other maps we've been to, but still manages to be just as long. The main cistern is pretty big, but not a whole lot goes on down there, more action is on the walkways above. After finding a switch near the red door, quite a few hitscanners come into play, this is where I use a secret invulnerability to nail them good while finding what door I unlocked. A lot of the locked doors so far have those red bars in front of them to signalize them as switch doors. Seems alright. Getting the blue key required trekking through the northern reaches. I actually thought the blue key was actually missing for a second when I found a blue switch in the northeast portion of the map, but then found it again back where I first entered the area guarded by a troupe of hell knights.

Getting the red key involves the more toxic southern portion, which I found even easier than the northern half. Heck, there's even a second secret with an invulnerability. There are slaughtermaps I know of which could use these invulnerabilities. The red door leads to the yellow door, so a mild jaunt north nets me the yellow key behind some pillar-hiding enemies. And then it's a very short outside portion for the exit. Yet the more I play this, the longer this level takes for some reason, and the less I seem to like it.

[Demtor]

MAP10 - “Cisern”
gzDoom - UV – Continuous

Author's Note: One of the first maps where I started to get the importance of trim-textures and styling. It turned out
good enough, I only needed to replace a few ugly parts. A bit of a switch hunt map, although unreasonable
"switch opens something on the other end of the map" was reduced to as little as possible. Second overhaul
added some vine bits.

Well done! The vine usage is indeed back and works really well here with the natural look of the blue waterfalls and such! This area was my favorite.




Feels good coming off the last map's swampy collection of goo. There was a side area with lots of damage sewage but you won't spend much time there. It just makes you appreciate areas above where you don't have to worry about taking hits to your health.

The main hub is massive and the view from below is also pretty cool. I liked getting to run over large beams of infrastructure encircling it. Especially during the big teleport fight that was hectic and fun. Your life goes quickly if you aren't careful but you can use some cover here and there when needed. The added mancubi above was a nice touch too.

The end section past the YK door that opened up with all of the imps hanging out on the cliffs was a nice way of rewarding progress. Seeing open air again after such an enclosed map just feels good. Also, fun detail with the tower in the corner. Too bad the barricade is too big here to get a clear look at it. I couldn't see much through it. Wonder why it was chosen here as opposed to something smaller. Oh well, not a big deal. Just a curious choice.

Overall, what a great map! Tons of good action in cool looking areas. I feel like it's going to be hard to pick favorites at the end of Hellbound but this might be one of them.

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/johnsuitepee/v/100265792 = part 3 of my playthrough, covering maps 15-18 plus both secret maps. (UV, continuous)

The fun remains largely intact, but my concerns grow over the lack of entertaining difficulty as I approach the final third.

Map 31 was the first one in my playthrough that I didn't quite enjoy from Hellbound. It lacked bite for a "Hard" difficulty map based off Speed of Doom map 31. (I've not played SOD yet) It was almost like playing a hard slaughter-ish map with the enemy density removed for most of the encounters, except for the circular arena that REALLY needed a lockdown on both occasions. Way too easy to circle strafe! And in general, the map felt easier than it should have been.
I didn't much enjoy the archvile climax of map 32 either, but I figured it out in the end.

The detailing remains good, the gameplay mostly remaining comfortable. A few Barons are still being used weakly throughout the levels.

Map 17 (Starport) needed a better encounter on the runway at the end of the level; the Arachnotrons were a good choice but not much else was. Another area in need of a lockdown and more monster density, in my opinion.
Map 18 was a nice change of pace though; a nice fast romp through a "E1 map" of sorts, which again felt like it could have belonged in KdizD. (minus the complex progression, mind!)

I'm still enjoying my playthrough, but in entering Hell soon the real test of the megawad is about to arrive...

[Pirx]

MAP10 - “Cistern”

a water treatment plant. its central reservoir with a pipe is impressive in scale and seems to be newer, with control terminals, pipelines and so on, built on an older cistern which is now the western annex of the installation. pistol starting requires some work, and got me a few times, until i knew where the ssg is, else you'll run out of ammo fast or stand no chance against the flood of zombies that will warp in around the reservoir. a secret blur sphere is very helpful here (as secret as it is in gzdoom where it just shines out of the wall near the lift). the modern part is better lit than the maps before, while the old cistern retains the dark, moody look. lots of nobles and shells, which slows down the game in places.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 11 -- Venom Canyon - 100% Kills / 66% Secrets
I give this map very high marks, it is a fine example of its genre indeed, said genre being the scenic, linear adventure-path that we saw a fair bit of in Alien Vendetta a couple of months ago, and which comprised the great majority of the content in Estranged, from a little further back. "Venom Canyon" proposes a hike through the upper reaches of the toxin-polluted river-gorge which has served as the backdrop for the adventure since the tail end of map 08, and concludes with Hellguy (Boundguy?) finally reaching the major UAC node which has been the goal of the travels and travails since the game began, and so it bears the weight of certain expectations as far as its cinematic qualities are concerned. Happily, it doesn't disappoint! From a relatively understated/humble opening which sees the protagonist scrabbling through a rocky defile and into the grime-encrusted guts of an old pumping station, progression eventually wends its way into and through a more advanced water-lift (or poison-lift, rather) system, up over and then immediately down through a towering dam, and finally through the titular canyon proper before arriving at the helipad just beyond the massive, heavy blast doors leading into the UAC facility.

Each stage of progression steadily ups the ante on both scale and scope of the presentation as an effective buildup to the final destination, and the tag-team of setting and emergent narrative do an excellent job of providing a credible framework for the activities/traversal one actually engages in while playing the map. For example, surpassing the breaker gates at the mouth of the toxic outflow duct near the dam involves clambouring around inside the workings of the hydraulic lift system in order to slip around the barricade (and eventually optionally disengage it from the other side). Later, the man-bridge crossing the gap near the end of the Canyon is found to be destroyed, betokening some fun/easy platforming to reach the other side, only to find that the tram-line leading to the base proper is also out of commission, prompting further rock-climbing around a sheer cliff face in order to finish the last leg of the journey. Throughout, the visual presentation remains consistently engaging and periodically quite striking in terms of scale and vista, all the more commendable considering it is framed in a very down-to-earth, somewhat desolate-looking realistic aesthetic idiom. Top stuff.

The level's monstercount is a relatively slim/trim 200 or so (not counting lost souls), and while I think I'd have personally liked a few more gasbags to shoot down during the latter stages of the canyon hike, density and pacing is for the most part judged well here. Par for the course, placements themselves create mostly simple/straightforward incidental skirmishes, though flying creatures and artillery-type demons (that is, arachnotrons, mancubi and the like) appear in intuitive positions to flavor and complement the increasingly long vistas and broken terrain of the later stages. Relative to something like maps 08-10, which seemed to be working on the 'challenge' angle in different ways, the action here is seemingly treated mainly as leisure/cinematic grist intended primarily to complement and complete the setting and progression, with little bits of 'fun for fun's sake' content here and there (hurling rockets into clusters of zombies from across the canyon, blasting imps off of very long drops, and the like). Fine and dandy as far as I'm concerned, as I opined of map 10 earlier I reckon a mapset in this style is seldom well-served in prioritizing challenge over a smooth cinematic progression or even simply a snappy feedback loop. The level's finale is a textbook example of what I've been referring to as 'for emphasis' placement, introducing the cyberdemon to the mapset by having a pair of them rumble out of the UAC node's heavy gates to intercept Hellguy and put a stop to his meddling. Given the vast amount of movement space available and the presence of a free plasma rifle just beforehand this is not an encounter that many modern Doomers will find particularly demanding, for sure, but it sits very naturally in its place in the narrative and is a fitting ceremonial closing to the game's first chapter.

One of the set's best levels thus far, this.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP11 Venom Canyon

Bases and canyons, an interesting combination. Whoa, only 72 enemies on this setting? And this is a pretty big map by the way, so yeah, this seems a lot easier than it should be on this setting.

Those flying enemies in the beginning are actually quite annoying, so I handle them by moving to the next area for a bit and then coming back, since trying to shoot them through their cubby means they take longer to kill. Much of the order after that is fishing for the keys so we can progress through this linear level, not all that difficult to get the first one, but then I needed to remember where the yellow door is, and then some nukage jump to cross to get the red key. There are several ways to progress past that, the closest is the door near the red key, but that requires a remote switch. Alternatively, there's a few red doors near where the yellow key was for example.

Well I for one like the more wide open canyon area than the rather cramped and interconnected base which honestly seemed rather filler to the canyon itself. Not too much trouble trudging through this big ass canyon. It mostly involves running on the sides and hopping on the rocks, with a few base structures around. I just wait for the flying enemies since sometimes the cacos take forever to come here. The blue key is rather well hidden though, and easy to run past while going down. The final part involves a plasma gun fight with a cyberdemon or two while waiting for a 30 second door to open, then a rather slow lift up to the exit switch. Not all that bad, but it could use a lot more enemies.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP11: Venom Canyon

This map presents the player with what is probably Hellbound's most spacious map so far, and the titular canyon and its associated monorail form one of the grandest and most scenic vistas the WAD has yet offered. The intended path of progression takes you, after an all-too-brief gulp of fresh air following your escape from the foetid cistern, into a claustrophobic base area before a succession of wide-open outdoor spaces are offered up as your playing field. There's an interesting contrast between the antiquated-but-sturdy feeling of MAP10's cistern and overflow tunnels, and the slime-drenched facility here, which is clearly more modern but also much more run-down or battle-scarred, feeling unstable and dangerous in a way that the preceding map did not. Escape, then, feels like a relief - but the dam that squats across the mouth of the canyon, the treacherous path along its walls, the broken bridge and non-functional monorail that your route runs parallel to on your way to the exit, aren't any less dangerous, as you're exposed to fire from all directions and flying monsters take maximum advantage of their mobility.

I think the strength of this map's design lies in the way it constructs a set of goals for the player and engages with those goals by confounding them and offering alternatives. The clear path beyond the dam is the road... but a barrier blocks your way. Okay, that's fine, you can duck into the canyon to bypass the barrier... but upon doing so, the bridge is out and the road can take you no further. But there's a monorail that necessitates once again following the canyon walls. It's a simple path, lacking branches, but the narrative qualities are designed to engender a sense of doing more than just following a line from Point A to Point B.

[Demtor]

MAP11 - “Venom Canyon”
gzDoom - UV – Continuous

Wow, some impressive sights once you get through a few great looking base sections and loading dock. Heading through the actual canyon had a Duke Nukem 3D feel in the best way that game delivered (IMO) with some more great visuals. Looking back at the dam was pretty awesome too.

I started using all that plasma I had saved up here with my rifle and still had plenty left after taking down the two Cyberdemons at the end. Was hoping a few more would pop out, heh. *flex* A very enjoyable journey with a few stops along the way and an ending with a bang. Great stuff.

Autor's Notes: A partly Half-Life inspired map. It was a bit large and empty, so quite a bit of updating was needed to get
it into shape. The dam also received a facelift, as well as the compound before it. The second update wave touched
the Canyon part of it, greatly improving detail, and making the nukage river escapable.

Ahhhh, Half-Life. I can see it now. Of course! Also, glad he made falling in the river not force a player to load a save. Would've been annoying.

[Magnusblitz]

Fell way behind again, what a surprise...

MAP02: Canal Road
100% kills, 3/3 secrets

According to the author this is inspired by the Hong Kong level in Deus Ex, and while I'm certainly a fan of trying to lift from other games and put it into a Doom experience, I can't help but feel the author missed the point. The Hong Kong level was memorable because it's bright and colorful and fun to explore, being a large sprawling level in a time when game levels had to be pretty small because of CPU constraints. This, on the other hand, is nicely detailed and gives a good sense of place, but still remains brown and boring throughout, and isn't that fun to explore every nook and cranny (granted, it's impossible to do anything like the underwater dives in Deus Ex).

Combat is pretty similar throughout, with lots of zombies, imps, demons and hell knights. The demons especially get pretty weakened by the block monster lines on the dams, not sure what the point is there. Somewhat annoying is the switch hunt, as there's a lot of "this switch did something but I'll be damned if I know what" throughout. Took me a really long time to realize the part with the red key opened up. I do like the RL secret, though.

[DAZZER]

MAP09: Disposal Facility
Difficulty - UV
Time - 15:46

In my review from Map 08 I said i would like to see some different setting... and here i got it in my face ;D We are in a Nukage canyon with low 200+ Enemies for this WAD. But that doesnt mean this Map isnt Fun ! I realy liked the Gameplay in this one (cant explain why). Also I liked the Green Torch Tops in the Nukage :D looks like a toxic flame ^^ But compared to previous Levels this one was kinda easy

[Demon of the Well]

Map 12 -- Power Station - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
This one's quite the to-do, probably the longest and easily the most involved level thus far. The story here is that you need to use the tram system (first introduced in the previous map) in order to penetrate deeper into the network, but the greater facility has been limited to emergency power and so many systems are offline. Incidentally uncovering the immediate reason for these functional irregularities constitutes the level's major narrative reveal; suffice to say that our reality seems to be coming down with something at least marginally more severe than the clap. The goal of "Power Station" is to re-engage the power from the northern control room, which requires the blue keycard; acquiring said keycard involves undertaking a minor odyssey through a couple of different meaty subquests (<-- pun may or may not be intended): the yellow keycard is secured in the same room as the blue-lock switch, and prying it free involves a roundabout through the admin center, haunted, aflame, tainted. The YK in turn grants access to the huge, bewildering stacked/layered creeper-infested techno-maze dominating the southern half of the installation, where the base's reactor and the all-important blue override card reside.

In line with the semi-nonlinear character of several of the set's other recent maps, major progression in "Power Station" follows a rigid linear sequence, while allowing the player a lot of license to wander about the unlocked sectors of the facility before beginning to run into locked doors. This is the first of the truly lengthy maps in Hellbound, and the amount of real estate covered means that one can potentially do quite a bit of exploration (and a fair bit of fighting) while making little actual level progress. Depending on one's navigational strengths and weaknesses, this may or may not represent a net positive. For example, in my playthrough, I ended up wandering over in the direction of locked/unpowered tramcar first (with the blue keypost on the desk nearby), and so when I eventually saw the blue-locked generator battery in the control room on the other side of the map, I was able to put two and two together and thus knew where to go to actually exit the map after all was said and done. Someone doing things in a different order may not be nearly so lucky. To some degree, this is part and parcel for marrying a heavily representationalist style to standard gameplay considerations, and actually paying attention to the story in the textfile (or even to the intermission screen preceding the level, in this map's case) but there's no denying that the level has a bit of the 'ol "what did THAT switch do?" syndrome going on. I didn't find it too obstructive in terms of overall progress (then again, I've got some experience with this sort of thing...), but upon reflection I reckon it's illustrative that there were at least a few switches I encountered whose actual function(s) I was never able to pin down. The size of the level in concert with this procedural sort of progression also betokens a lot of possible backtracking, naturally, and while Z86 has conscientiously taken steps to limit and mitigate this--a few monster closets in earlier areas, a series of conveniently placed (if not particularly intuitive) teleporter-booths to allow you to quickly travel to each major area to check for missed stuff at the end of the level, etc.--this sort of 'do the dishes' phase of play is bound to eventually grate to at least some nominal degree.

Action again takes a fairly familiar form here, featuring a lot of incidental combat punctuated by the occasional spate of more intense bloodletting. 12 maps in, certain mapset tropes are becoming evident, ala an early hitscan firing squad which can be quite problematic for the pistol-starter unless one finds the purpose-specific blursphere secret immediately before it, a big generalized/almost entirely unchoreographed warp-in fight in the downstairs lobby where the creeping corruption is first encountered, and so on. A late SSG is also liable to be something of a talking point; I didn't mind, myself, but I think there's an argument to be made that this is sort of a lazy way to artificially inflate perceived threat in what is a fairly slow-burning level. Also notable is the arch-vile's mapset debut in the darkened admin center on the north side. I'm of two minds about this....the initial reveal is certainly cinematically striking (as you tiptoe through a pitch-dark room littered with carcasses, the sorcerer, momentarily silhouetted against a burning room behind him, suddenly strides out of a door onto a walkway overlooking the room you're in), but from a gameplay standpoint it has no teeth whatsoever. On the other hand, it may be that this toothlessness is actually intended, to leave you offguard for a certain jumpscare a little later on down the line.

The huge multilevel maze area is also something of a mixed bag. Architecturally and conceptually, this is a very striking area with a unique gameplay feel of platforming + mazerunning, but as a far as monster placement goes it's a directionless smattering of lone monsters of all shapes and sizes that truly feels very filler-y. I suspect that there may actually be some copypasted placement going on here (though it's masked somewhat by the nature of the area), which probably contributes. As in many previous cases, running recklessly through the maze enlivens the action somewhat, but only somewhat, as the scale and nature of the construction means that monsters have a more difficult time pursuing you (though in this case there don't appear to be any blocking lines or the like actively preventing them from doing so, note). This is the kind of area that probably would've been better served as the site of a much more pronounced generalized clusterfuck, but of course there's some question as to whether that would've been appropriate at such a late stage in what is already a long/large level.

On the whole, I reckon one could fairly characterize this level as being somewhat emblematic of the mapset, showcasing many of its key strengths (aesthetic, mood, the ability to smoothly string different scene concepts into a coherent and layered setting) with a like number of its shortcomings (difficulty in consistently attaching compelling combat to each of its grandiose areas, occasional spates of overweight filler placement)--a good level to sort out one's personal priorities, I suppose. For my part, I am still quite enjoying the ride, and since we're now near the end of where my first partial playthrough stopped, I'm curious to see what sort of places the journey will head to next.

[Demtor]

MAP12 - “Power Station”
gzDoom - UV – Continuous

Thought this would be another run of the mill (however interestingly designed) tech base but nooooo. The hunt for the Blue Key past the Yellow door, was a trip! Even when you do find it, you only get to look at it. No touching! Not just that, but we finally have Arch Viles sneaking about now (poorly at times) and Hell has started to creep in.

I reached the exit tram before having any keys, whoops. When I saw the exit sign, I thought... oh, must be a shorter level? Nope. Not at all. It was a longer map than most actually thanks to the tricky layout of the aforementioned BK area with it's three levels of play all packed in to one dizzying array complete with trippy elevator shafts and flickering lights everywhere. Figuring out the complex layered walkways and jumps across gaps was where most of this maps time is spent. It wasn't hard but it was easy to fall down and/or get turned around with all of the lights changing constantly.

The first key to find is the red one. OH!? It's a skull key instead of the normal electronic key. I may be very wrong, but is this the first usage of the skull keys in this wad? In any case, good choice here in contrast to the other keys as the hellish door for it is gnarly looking.

Author's Notes: A clear continuation of MAP12, and a sort of "prequel" to MAP13. From here on the demonic corruption fusing with the techbase becomes apparent. The place becomes a bit brighter once you power up the reactor. This map was also plagued by the "what did this switch do" problem, hopefully now it is much clearer.

This map must have been a slog before, if this is the fixed version of the 'switch hunting' aspect. The short cut teleports were an interesting way to help cut down on all of the back tracking but felt too easy being able to bypass monster ambushes accidentally. I appreciate the thought though!

I am impressed with how Z86 can take a simple hallway and make it interesting and new, time and time again throughout all of these base designs so far. There are no two designs alike from map to map and they all work pretty well.

I really loved this brain wall here. I did not at all expect for it to change form as much as it did throughout the map as progress is made. At one point, even stumbling through from the other side.

Bug found!? What happened to the sky on this map? For the first time we get a change from the cloudy grey night sky and it's a broken Doom 2 rehash? Ah well.

Anyways, this map came as an enjoyable surprise for me. Look forward to the next.

[Spectre01]

'aight I'm back.

MAP10 - Cistern - Difficulty: Medium

"Seems like the only way through the area is to go down to the cistern of the nearby UAC water treatment plant. The place is crawling with monsters, but you intend to flush them out.

A large, industrial water treatment plant with a memorable hub room containing the titular cistern. It's a fun map to explore and the combat is mostly low-pressure aside from the mass hitscanner warp-in in the central area. The base itself is rather clean and without major damage, aside from the creeping vines becoming much more common. There's quite a bit of stuff to do before heading for the actual key objectives and I ended up clearing nearly half the monsters without really leaving the starting area. Another noteworthy aspect is the rather liberal use of Barons. I believe Suitepee mentioned this as a criticism but I didn't mind them playing continuous, gives a good reason to spend those rockets and cells, and it's a rather ballsy design choice in a modern wad. The dark area towards the end with the Mancs and Shotgunners is also pretty cool if you happen to miss the nightvision goggles and play in a port with dynamic lights to illuminate the area. The final outdoor area also serves as a good transition into the next map.

[Spectre01]

MAP11 - Venom Canyon - Difficulty: Medium

"A great divide lays before you. A smaller UAC complex must be crossed in order to get to the dam. Unfortunately the road that leads to the main UAC base seems to be destroyed, so you'll have to climb your way through the cliffs. Beware of the great slime river, it is poisonous to the touch."

The finale of our journey to the main UAC facility takes us through a grand canyon. Looks like the Cistern facility before wasn't doing a great job at keeping the environment clean as there's more nukage everywhere inside and out. There's plenty of great detailing and landmarks to be seen here, such as the Half-Life inspire dam, the broken bridge that used to cross the canyon and finally the UAC base entrance with the helicopter pad.

This is a linear journey and there's really nothing in the form of teleport traps as you make your way forward, clearing out any Hellspawn trying to impede your progress. There's some key-hunting at the start to unlock the gate through a small outpost reminiscent of the one in map08. My favourite part comes after you open the big gates and make it out into the dam area. There's a sense of outdoor scale that hasn't been seen before in the wad and it's really quite impressive. The solemn midi track also helps to increase that sense of desolation. I think I remember both the author and someone posting about how Hellbound can feel depressing at times and this map certainly gives me that feeling.

The finale is pretty great with the dual Cyber fight, the bic boi's first introduction. It's not too difficult or anything, assuming you keep them from splitting up too much and don't get stuck on something as your circlestrafe. It's great from a cinematic standpoint though and that's really what this wad excels at. There is some ball-busting in the later maps but the difficulty curve has been very smooth so far. Also, I've never really noticed this before when I played, but the tram with this poor bastard in it actually has a track running along the cliffs and leading into the base. Cool stuff.