Omega Tyrant

I didn't find the first Sigil to be amazing, but it was a good time with some very memorable maps. I particularly enjoyed how it forced you to managed your resources well with its deprivation of ammo and health, and how it fostered an oppressive atmosphere, enhanced by the deep hell theme of the maps, Romero's impressive aesthetic work, and Paddock's masterful midis. So I was intrigued by Sigil 2 and decided to immediately jump into it while it was hot.

So here are my map ratings for Sigil 2, rating each map on a 0-10✪ scale for how much I like it, a 0-10☠ scale for how difficult I found it (an explanation of the scale can be found here), the amount of deaths it took for me to beat it for the first time, and  quick thoughts I wrote down after finishing each map. Each map was played on UV saveless on a Pistol start, and I aimed to max each map, though I would sometimes cheat for a computer map or with IDDT when at the end of map and missing secrets and/or kills, to ensure I seen everything within the map. For the like two or three people that may read this and are interested in my map thoughts, you can see how I rated Sigil 1's maps here (alongside how I rated all the other Ultimate Doom maps, though they lack any summary of thoughts as I didn't write them down at the time).

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E6M1 Cursed Darkness: 3✪|5☠|4 deaths -  Not off to a strong start for Sigil 2, the very limited health combined with 20 damaging floors and annoying hitscan usage is not fun (placing Shotgunners in far off dark cages that you can't see while on a thin winding walkway was especially unfun). What really drags the map down is how terrible it is to max the map, requiring you to go out of your way after having already reached the exit to do so. After reaching the exit area you must backtrack, then have to make a jump onto and navigate a thin ledge while a Cyberdemon is prowling around, and then have the clairvoyance to know that there's a switch in the lava pool that you must find with a secret Invulnerability, which then opens another secret in an area you already been in. After that to kill the Cyberdemon, you must either slowly whittle it down with a Shotgun and Chaingun, or after hitting the aforementioned switch, getting it to wander under a crusher to be slowly killed by it, either method being very tedious. The map's saving grace is its cool visual design and I appreciate what it was going for, especially the patrolling Cyberdemon that is sure a shock on the first map, could have been a solid map if not for the aforementioned issues.

E6M2 Violent Hatred: 4✪|5☠|2 deaths - This map has fairer usage of hitscanners and I sorta like the tight boxy surroundings of the map. While a decent time to beat normally, it is however brought down by maxing again being a big pain, between a secret that's only open for 30 seconds within a hot start, having to traverse thin ledges over 20 damaging lava while a Cyberdemon patrols around, twice, and again having to kill a Cyber with the Shotgun and Chaingun for 100% kills while you don't even have a crusher to help this time (unless you can pull off a very lucky telefrag, failing which will likely get you killed). The patrolling Cyber also doesn't add all that much to this map other than making maxing a slog, as the outside area he resides is completely optional, and if you go wake him up, he'll be unlikely to actually get a rocket through a window at you, so you could easily ignore him completely if you don't go for all the secrets.

E6M3 Twilight Desolation: 7✪|5☠|7 deaths - The difficulty of this map is largely frontloaded and derived from harsh unclear progression, which will inevitably inflate the death counter on blind runs. Once you know what to do though, it's not hard and resources are surprisingly generous for a Sigil map, with the only real big threat being the surprise Cyberdemon at the end that you have to fight on an awkward walkway full of trees to get caught on. But you do have a BFG this time for him, and if you're not maxing, you can just ignore him and run to the exit. This was a fun and cool looking map, the dark building with the Barons silhouetted by a bright red wall was a memorable and nerve wracking setpiece, but the map loses a point for the needless inescapable death pit at the exit and the Cyberdemon being easily ignorable if you're not maxing, since he teleports away you once he sees you at the exit.

E6M9 Shattered Homecoming: 6✪|6☠|4 deaths - As the name implies, Romero returns to his roots with a tech base map, though much nastier than his Episode 1 fare, reflected by it developing a "corrupted" look as you progress into it. It has a very hot start, but this time the difficulty isn't all front-loaded, with a tough Cyberdemon fight in a cramped arena with a large nukage pool, the yellow key door ambush that locks you in, and the secret arena that can easily kill you if you're not prepared for it. I like a lot of what's in this map, but I do not like how you have to enter the Cyber's arena through a narrow tunnel that you need his cooperation to get through without getting splattered, as you can't hope to dodge him running through the tunnel if he starts firing on you or blocks the entrance, otherwise you have to slowly chip him down through the windows. I also don't like the secret arena that seems to mainly serve to screw over 100% seekers, as all you get in it is a Backpack and a Supercharge you'll likely expend surviving it. Not to mention the arena area is plainly designed and ugly. If the Cyber didn't spawn in until you enter his arena (it's not like him being there before does anything when he can't hit you through the windows) and the secret arena was made worthwhile to enter, this map could have been a 7 or an 8.

E6M4 Fragments of Sanity: 2✪|6☠|8 deaths - This map has two fatal flaws in it. First there's the timed secret at the start that is luck-based to get; if you get unlucky damage rolls or enemies block your way in the hallway to the secret, you will just die or not get there in time. This secret alone will inevitably inflate the death counter for 100% seekers. At least it is a Berserk, so as long as you don't die getting to it, you will get all the inevitable health loss back and is a handy powerup for a map where ammo can get tight. Then there's the crusher room; crusher rooms are rarely fun but not inherently a negative, this one however is particularly awful, as depending on the timing when you trigger them, they can end up in a pattern where it is literally impossible to get through one side of them without getting crushed (which happened to me my first time making it to the crusher room, where after several saves and reloads to confirm it was indeed impossible to get through, I no clipped through, only die to later on anyway). And if you don't get an impossible crusher pattern, the timing to get through them is stupidly tight, while you will also have to contend with enemies potentially blocking you on the way back. There's also the final room, which has you going down a dark crater full of Shotgunners that you can't see (and even with freelook they are very hard to see), while they can of course shoot you no problem, making the final room very annoying and a potential final fuck you if you make it there with low health. The map does have some cool looking areas, particularly the aforementioned crater, and a heart-pounding Cyberdemon encounter to get the red key, but is an otherwise average map that gets dragged down greatly by the aforementioned problem areas.

E6M5 Wrathful Reckoning: 8✪|5☠|4 deaths - Normally I dislike heavy damaging floor usage, but it's executed well here as a way to limit movement and backtracking, while not being too punishing and mandatory treks through it are very limited. The Baron use is exquisite, with some high pressure situations featuring them. Particularly the first Baron that is released behind you once you get out of the acid pool into a tight corridor, as it forces you to quickly progress forward into danger as you don't have the ammo yet nor space to comfortably stand your ground against it. But you also get a Berserk less than midway into the map, so you have a means to kill most of the Barons at a reasonable pace without expending an unhealthy amount of ammo. Then the two Cybers may not pose that much of a threat if the map is played correctly, but the one that is hidden in the central area for most of the map is sure paranoia-inducing when you keep hearing it but can't see it, and the other one can be difficult to kill if you don't find the telefrag secret (which I didn't find my first time until after I already killed it, at which point I just killed myself and restarted, which ended up being the right call as I needed those cells later). Speaking of secrets, they are very useful in this map, and without them, I could see this map getting very difficult, though most of them aren't too hard to find; even the timed secret at the start isn't as obnoxious as they usually are. Overall a map that is great looking with several memorable areas, and executes Sigil's trademark gameplay in a very fun manner. Maybe the map is a bit too reliant on its secrets and unkind to blind players, but I was enjoying the map more than enough to not mind dying a few times figuring it out.

E6M6 Vengeance Unleashed: 5✪|7☠|9 deaths - This map is long, this map is hard, and it will kick your ass if you don't tackle it properly. It got all the Sigil hallmarks of tough Cyberdemon fights (having three of them here), nasty Baron ambushes, and tight resources. Proper routing and resource management is essential, and much of the secrets may as well be mandatory. If you miss the secrets or are the slightest bit wasteful, you WILL run out of ammo trying to kill everything, and will certainly not be able to kill all the Cyberdemons if you do not find the BFG and get good shots on them with it. I'm torn on how to rate it; I did have fun with most of the map, and the red key maze and yellow key lava cliffs were memorable areas, but the blue key elevator is such a tremendous slog that slows down the map so much. What the hell was Romero thinking with having you ride a long ass elevator while you slowly whittle away at enemies in the rooms you pass by, that you can't just enter because they're blocking the way (I learned later that you can just BFG blast through them after watching Decino's video of the map, but if you're not good at two-tapping Cybers such as myself, you don't want to use plasma in a map with three Cybers and limited ammo unless you absolutely need to). I also found the hot start a bit overly frustrating, being such a large open area with several Shotgunners, and even if you get to the timed secret without dying, there's just a medkit in it, not a Berserk, so if you take too much damage you may as well just reset when health is not plentiful for a map this size. Without those two problem areas, this map would be great or even amazing, but they bring it down so much for me.

E6M7 Descent Into Terror: 7✪|5☠|7 deaths - This map is even bigger than the last, but certainly not quite as hard. For a big surprise in Sigil, this map is very generous with health and ammo, the latter of which I learned way too late as I clung on to over 400 cells to the end of the map thinking it would spring multiple Cybers on me at any moment, especially after the last map. Speaking of Cyberdemons, despite the last map having three Cybers, this map has only one, and while it's awkwardly placed, it is easily cheesable without putting yourself at risk, if you're willing to Shotgun it down (which given the aforementioned surplus of ammo, you can safely do, and you are given a radsuit later in the map to safely fight it in the more open lava pool it resides). The map does look absolutely stunning, it is easily the most visually impressive map that Romero has put out; the hell fortress surrounded by a large lake of lava is imposing, and there are several memorable locales within it, such as the creepy dark computer room, and the unsettling flesh room at the end. Combat was engaging throughout, but given the aforementioned surplus of health and ammo, it won't have you feeling quite as pressured like the other Sigil maps did, unless it's your first time through and you're paranoid that the map is gonna rip the gloves off at some later point. Your death count on this map is probably going to be inflated rushing to the timed secret in a very hot start, or falling into the several inescapable pits, as was the case with all my deaths. The map is overall very good, but falls short of greatness for me, while it gets dinged for the surplus of resources that makes it lack that signature Sigil tension, the inescapable pits that could have easily had a teleporter in them, and the subpar Cyber that is more of an annoyance than an engaging threat.

E6M8 Abyss Of Despair: 5✪|4☠|6 deaths - This may be the final map, but it's certainly the easiest of Sigil 2. The fight against the two Cyberdemons and Spider Mastermind while you're surrounded by them in a completely open arena can get you, and you're sure to die multiple times trying to find the timed secret blind, which yet again inflated my death count, otherwise the map doesn't have much to threaten you with. The map is pretty banal for the most part, though getting the Cybers and Spiderdemon to infight while you dance between the rockets and lack a BFG to blow through them is somewhat interesting. Not an exciting finish by any means, but you can do a whole lot worse for a final map than this, and at least it has some cool visuals.

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OVERALL AVERAGE: 5.22✪|5.33☠|51 deaths total (5-6 per map)

Well Sigil 2 was decent, but definitely a step down from Sigil 1 in my view (whose maps averaged a whole star higher in my ratings), with the quality being more clearly mixed and not reaching the same heights (Abaddon's Void blows away every map here, and Nightmare Underworld left a much bigger impression on me than any Sigil 2 map). Difficulty-wise, it's certainly a noticeable step up over the already tough first Sigil, I beat all of Sigil 1 with fast monsters but I definitely will not be trying it with 2. While I was ok with the difficulty, I really disliked the constant combination of brutal hot starts and timed secrets you had only 30 seconds to get, which often weren't even worth the mad dash to. Sigil 2 in general was hostile to UV Maxing and playing blind; maps don't need to cater to maxing or blind playthroughs, sometimes a map's vision would be compromised by doing so, but it seems like Sigil 2 went out of its way to spite maxers and blind playthroughs (with the E6M1 post-exit secrets and the E6M2 Cyberdemon being the most egregious examples). I also thought Paddock's work on the soundtrack took a step back, with none of the midis sticking in my mind, and sometimes they sounded a bit too much like... generic rock? It's hard to describe why I don't like any particular piece of music, but at the least, Sigil 2's soundtrack failed to set an oppressive atmosphere like most of Sigil 1's midis did, which played a big part in making maps like Abaddon's Void, Unspeakable Persecution, and Nightmare Underworld so memorable to me. I think Doom music is at its best when it strongly aids in setting the appropriate atmosphere for the given map, rather than just being rock and metal. At least aesthetically, Sigil 2's maps consistently looked great and Romero certainly hasn't declined there, the only criticism I could levy on that front is that the maps seemed to lack a unified distinct theme, unlike Sigil 1 and the rest of the Ultimate Doom episodes, but it's not like the maps were aesthetically disjointed either, so it's a minor point of contention.

So overall, if you're looking for an Ultimate Doom wad or just want to see some more Romero maps, Sigil 2 can be an enjoyable time. Just maybe don't play on UV if you're not a hardcore player, and perhaps just look up the secrets too, at least looking up where the timed secrets are could save you some frustration if you care about maxing. Regardless of Sigil 2 falling under expectations, I look forward to Hellion, I am curious to see what Romero can do with a Doom 2 megawad that he makes all the map for rather than just six of them.

To close things out, these were my favorite maps of Sigil 2:
Gold : E6M5 Wrathful Reckoning
Silver: E6M3 Twilight Desolation

And these were the maps I found most difficult:
Gold : E6M6 Vengeance Unleashed
Silver: E6M9 Shattered Homecoming

Before giving 2022 A Doom Odyssey a try, I decided to revisit its prior iteration, 2002 A Doom Odyssey, after having only played it once nearly a decade ago after seeing the DWmegawad Club play it. I remember not liking it much back then and being a letdown, but I only have vague memories outside a few specific setpieces, while I want a fresher perspective on it and to see how much 2022 improves on it, and maybe I'll find it more enjoyable this time?

So here are my map ratings for it after revisiting, rating each map on a 0-10* scale for how much I like it and a 0-10^ scale for how difficult I found it (an explanation of the scale can be found here), as well as notes that are more just quick thoughts I wrote down after finishing the map rather than any cohesive deep review. Doubt any one really cares about this, but I found this fun to do and wanted to put my thoughts down somewhere. Each map was played on UV saveless on a Pistol start, and I attempted to max when possible, though I would cheat for a computer map or with IDDT when at the end of map and missing secrets and/or kills, to ensure I seen everything within the map.

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EPISODE 1: Deep Into The Code

E1M1 The Entry: 5* / 1^ - 0 deaths: Very standard map 1 fare, a bit too toothless, secrets are overkill.

E1M2 Helicopter Bay: 4* / 2^ - 0 deaths: A pretty big jump from map 1, opening is a little rough, health is tight especially without the Supercharge secret. Didn't like the hitscanners in open areas, and the nukage paths with no radsuit was a dick move, just a waste of health yet needed for max.

E1M3 The Doomed Lab: 5* / 2^ - 0 deaths: Despite the much higher enemy count, the map was overly easy even without the Chaingun and secrets that way overload you. Overall not bad, but a bit banal and not memorable. The midi was nice.

E1M9 Lugano Base ZRX: 4* / 2^ - 0 deaths: The beginning puts you in a rough spot but it's easily manageable if you just run out. The platoon of shotgunners with the Imps on the helicopter pad might get you but they'll likely just kill each other. BFG secret is complete bullshit, dings a star, though you can easily ignore it because you absolutely do not need the BFG in this map.

E1M4 Substation 537A: 6* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Health is tight without secret Supercharge, nasty Shotgunner ambush at Yellow key when you won't have the Chaingun yet, could be hard with fast monsters but is still easy overall on UV, just you can actually die here. Fun but nothing particularly noteworthy.

E1M5 Combat Station: 5* / 3^ - 0 deaths: More enemies and teeth than prior maps, though while not bad, still feels uninspired. Secret Plasma Rifle with plentiful ammo neuters the later half of the map, but is obtuse to find.

E1M6 Toxic Treatment Plant: 3* / 2^ - 0 deaths: A lot of "what does this switch do", with the one official secret being an especially egregious example, and unofficial secrets behind indistinguishable walls. Map as a whole was also on the boring side.

E1M7 Service Base: 5* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Another bland and toothless tech base map with some indistinguishable secrets. Map is easy aside from the red key trap, which essentially subjects you to a firing squad with nowhere to run nor dodge.

E1M8 Paradox: 5* / 2^ - 0 deaths: A much more interesting Baron fight than the original Phobos Anomaly, with the Barons actually being used well, as you're in a tight room fighting a lot of them and you can get sandwiched or eat rocket splash if you're not careful. But the fight is still easy, and the leadup to it is filler. Loses most points for the complete lack of atmosphere, especially with very boring marching music, a big failure as a Phobos Anomaly homage. Good Baron fight is its saving grace.

AVERAGE: 4.67* / 2.22^ - 0 deaths total

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EPISODE 2: Road To Eternity

E2M1 Station Alpha: 7* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Good opener, sensible secrets, map is balanced decently, fun Berserk. Highlight is spooky hall section where you do get some handy goggles for (playing on GZDoom that is with how it handles the goggles). Loses a point for bullshit blue key ambush that surrounds you with Shotgunners in close quarters, bad RNG can easily kill you there, especially if you missed secret armor and supercharge.

E2M2 Station Beta: 4* / 5^ - 0 deaths: WHERE'S THE HEALTH?! Some good ideas, the low health could even be excusable despite the abundance of Shotgunners, but loses points for nukage maze, instakill crushers, making you have to wait for a slow elevator, and dumb ending sequence that may require more nukage running unless your movement is really quick. Biggest sin though is its secret Megaarmor, that not only is it obtained pretty late and hidden behind an unmarked wall under a crusher that needs to be shot open, but requires you to run through the aforementioned nukage maze after going in with no health to spare, unless you have the foresight to save the radsuit in the Megaarmor room that you would have probably grabbed earlier during your first run through the maze. Why couldn't you just teleport back after grabbing it?! The midi was good at least, very mixed map.

E2M3 The Lost Labs: 4* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Ok map but loses major points for radiation room that locks you inside, a noob trap to walk in without the radsuit first not knowing you need it and then dying for it. Additionally if you leave the radiation room without killing everything first, you can't get back in. Also two instances of "secret opens back in the map you wouldn't know about after you do something later in the map".

E2M4 Shotgun Blues: 6* / 4^ - 1 death: Beginning is bullshit without knowing about the secret Megaarmor at the start, with Shotgunners teleporting behind or right next to you, it may as well be RNG if you survive without the Megaarmor. Being teleported into a pancake between two Barons and a lot of Lost Souls after getting the Plasma Rifle secret is also bullshit. Teleporting monters throughout the rest of the map is a nuisance but it is overall fun, lots of secrets that are surprisingly well thought out, and the lava cliff cavern is very cool visually, though it goes on a bit too long. Map would be a solid 8 if not for the aforementioned encounters.

E5M1 Surfing the Mighty Green: 5* / 5^ - 1 death: Beginning is a bit tight, but the map is pretty brainless up until the end when you got a Cyberdemon to fight in a very compact area full of pillars. The Cyberdemon is difficult to get clean BFG shots on, having the foresight to keep some Cacos around in the central area to distract it helps a lot. Map is overly basic otherwise but there is some fun to be had.

E2M5 Fortress Of Fatalities: 7* / 4^ - 1 death: Little health and ammo at the start with no armor, while also being required to run through damaging floors. Can get potentially softlocked as a result. Also has "practically mandatory secrets"; if you don't find the Rocket Launcher secret and Berserk + Megaarmor secret, you just won't have enough ammo to kill most enemies until the end of the map (difficulty becomes a 6^ or higher without these two secrets). At leas the ammo boxes in the Berserk Map secret could have been near the start of the map and it would alleviate a lot of issues, while that secret would still be very useful. The map was otherwise good, secrets aren't too hard to find and I love the ominous atmosphere of it, the midi was also amazing. Just those two big flaws knocks it down a point.

E2M9 Dungeon Of Hate: 5* / 3^ - 2 deaths: The map is hard... if you don't know the secrets. There's a crucial secret Megaarmor at the start that isn't too hidden if you pay attention to the walls, but without it you'll be struggling for health throughout a map full of Shotgunners. There's additionally a practically mandatory secret Plasma Rifle, which if you don't think to backtrack before revealing the first Cyber, you'll have to kill it with just the Shotgun and help from two Barons. Combined with the suddenly appearing Shotgunners at the start, and the map is very unfriendly to blind playthroughs (probably being a 6^ blind). BFG secret is also behind an indistinguishable wall, but no encounter really needs it. Once you know everything though, map is easily consistently beatable, with no hard encounters after the first Cyber, and even attrition isn't much a concern with the Megaarmor unless you eat a rocket. The map could have really used a Berserk or Rocket Launcher, there is too much Shotgunning. A memorable and decently fun map, that's brought down a lot by its harshness to blind players.

E2M6 Between Demons And Insects: 3* / 4^ - 0 deaths: The map is dull and has too much Baron shotgunning. An interesting part is when you're teleported into the Yellow key area, where you can't go back, and there are four switches that each summons a large wave of enemies, that you will not have enough ammo to kill them all on a Pistol start. You take out one or two waves first, and then you hit the rest of the switches as fast as you can and make a run for it. Once you're safe you can then abuse infighting behind a door they can't open to take them out. Then the map is dull for the rest of the finish. Also the lone secret is a backpack + Invisibility that is after the aforementioned hard part, being completely useless, and you also cannot backtrack to this area after leaving without noclipping, knocking off more points. Map is saved by the Yellow key area.

E2M7 Puzzles To Solve: 8* / 4^ - 0 deaths: The name is a lie, this map doesn't have puzzles at all. A bit of a long map and has a bit too much of Shotgunning Barons near the beginning, but there is a secret Berserk not too deep in that gets rid of that, while Plasma and Rockets become plentiful near the end. All around a very good and memorable map that doesn't get dull, and has the best song so far too, with an interesting remix of Sinister that takes on its own spin.

E2M8 Total Disturbance: 1* / 1^ - 0 deaths: This map may have been something back in 94. It's a Cyberdemon duel map that is even easier than the original Tower Of Babel, when you get a Plasma Rifle fully stocked, a much larger and much more open arena to fight the Cyber in, and about a half dozen Cacos that make much more useful infighting buddies than the Lost Souls. The map isn't even visually interesting. Couldn't have added a second Cyber at least in all that space? How do you make a more toothless Cyberdemon duel map than the original Tower Of Babel in 2002?

AVERAGE: 5.00* / 3.60^ - 5 deaths total (average less than 1 a map)

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EPISODE 3: The Evil Unleashed

E3M1 Gatehouse: 5* / 2^ - 0 deaths: The midi in this map goes way too hard for such a toothless map, best song yet. Otherwise a solid fun opener, but it way overarms you for a very easy map where you won't use even a quarter of the ammunition it gives you. Only the teleporting Shotgunner ambush at the red key might do something, but there's only a half dozen of them and you should easily be at full health with armor + overarmed, making them a nuisance at best. The midi may be inflating the score.

E3M2 Caves Of Bosnia: 3* / 5^ - 1 death: The music went from banger to... whatever this goblin music was. The map is very stingy with health and ammo isn't plentiful, it at least gives you a Berserk early but you don't got good opportunities to use it and you might be better off leaving it for health. Rocket Launcher is also hidden behind a wall humping secret, and not finding the secret Supercharge nor the Plasma + Megaarmor secret near the end makes the map way tougher. Also features Shotgunners among vast open spaces, and has a very mean trap late into the map that immediately sandwiches you between a Caco and group of Pinkies, which can easily kill you if you don't find the secret Plasma first.

E3M3 Stronghold Of Damnation: 7* / 5^ - 0 deaths: Really cool map idea, the map is quite open and while you're besieged by a lot of enemiesat the start, you are given a lot of armory instantly, allowing you to flee and take them out as you please or just storm the stronghold right away. The midi is great, the stronghold looks great, and they fixed the final Cacodemon swarm to not count towards the kill percent (at least in GZDoom, don't know if was the 10th anniversary that fixed it), so you can now UV Max the map without removing the admittedly cool final room idea. The map just loses a point for the very dumb Cyberdemon room, where it's suicidal to fight him in such a tiny room and you must flee, which requires having the foreknowledge to open the door right as you go press the switch, otherwise you'll get splattered waiting for the door to open when trying to leave. Additionally the window between being able to open the door, hit the switch, and leave before it closes is tight, while the crampness and decorations makes it very easy to get caught during your escape. Even knowing what to do, the Cyber room has a good chance to kill you if he decides to immediately attack and your movement isn't perfect (with later testing, I had about a 75% chance to make it out of the room alive). Also killing him after for maxing is a slog, and there's still RNG involved as his rockets will usually hit the inside of the well he is in, but depending on position may shoot over, which can kill you if you're tricked into thinking he can't shoot you from the other room and don't react in time. Overall, an excellent map brought down by that very very stupid Cyberdemon room.

E3M4 Halls Of Ebola: 4* / 2^ - 0 deaths: The opening looks foreboding with you facing down a swarm of enemies immediately in a blood-filled hall, but just grab the Shotgun immediately and back up, perhaps accidentally into the secret Megaarmor, and just mow them down. Very easy map, especially if you find the secret Megaarmor and Plasma + BFG. Little threatening enemy usage, health and ammo are plentiful, and teleporting ambushes are easily escaped, where then enemies will chokehold up. Maybe becomes harder if you try to fight the ambushes in the rooms they spawn instead of immediately fleeing, but otherwise I didn't even take much damage throughout the map. Loses points for overly easy combat and requiring a bit too much Shotgunning Barons and Caco swarms, though at least a Berserk is available about halfway through. Also the midi is good and solemn, but has a weird ending that just completely kills the atmosphere.

E3M5 Blood And Guts: 7* / 4^ - 0 deaths: Very fun map that stands out visually as a bloody gory place. Map is balanced much better than previous maps, as even with a free Megaarmor near the start, you may find yourself scrapping around for health, especially without the secret Supercharge, but the map doesn't get as restrictive as Caves Of Bosnia or Station Beta did. The standout moment is the tense final Cyberdemon fight, as it teleports around while shooting rockets from high elevated platforms, while you can't really retaliate meaningfully with the BFG, the Plasma Rifle will miss a lot of shots, and you likely have no more armor by this point, making splash damage especially threatening. There is a secret Invlun in the arena that will easen the fight a lot, but you're probably not finding it your first time. Unfortunately, once you enter this arena, you can't backtrack, and even more unfortunately, there is a secret exit before the arena. You can trigger the secret within the secret exit without triggering the exit itself, allowing you to still max the map, but you can't take the secret exit and fight the Cyber without cheats, which is the highlight of the map. Loses a point because of this blatant oversight.

E5M2 Secret Wolfenstein Level: 2* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Even with the usage of regular Doom enemies alongside the SS, this map was really boring. Unexciting combat, and lots of running around back and forth as you have to find what the switch you hit just did. Cyber at the end might be a problem if you wasted the Invuln on the Mastermind as the area he is in is very cramped, but you can get him to come out to the much larger Mastermind arena where he is easily dealt with.

E3M6 Obituary Written: 0* / 6^ - 4 deaths: Tons of forced running across damaging floors, only a few radsuits, and very limited health (you have 192 health max plus a secret Megaarmor not too far in but not immediately available). WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING?! And the original didn't even have radsuits apparently! It has to be impossible to beat blind, you need very proper routing and can make very little mistakes, or else you just won't have the health for the many mandatory blood/lava runs. If you know exactly where to go and all the ambushes, it's not too hard, but even then there's still a lot of RNG involved; get plinked a lot by the Shotgunners at the beginning? You strafe into a Caco ball that does 40? You get caught on something and eat a 64 damage Baron ball? GG. Take a couple big hits and you can easily find yourself softlocked without savescumming from not having the health to make the blood/lava treks. If this was the original version with no radsuits, this is probably an 8^, the map would become RNG hell and require near perfect play.

E3M9 The Lost Chord: 4* / 2^ - 0 deaths: A secret map that reeks of being a reject map. It's a bit visually interesting, but the map is short and enemy encounters are really easy. There's a Cyber, but you fight him from a high ground where he can't hit you, while he'll also clean up the group of enemies around him. At least the midi is good, but you won't get to hear it for very long.

E3M7 System Control: 6* / 3^ - 0 deaths: A long map with a lot of enemies, but it has a lot of resources, abundantly so if you find the secrets. If you find how to open the three secrets in the beginning bunker, the level may drop to a 2^ even, but gets the 3^ because you can die if you miss it, as you'll be a bit short on resources for a bit. Has one of the few decent Cyberdemon usages in this wad as you square off in a climatic final battle, but it's pretty easy as you'll be loaded and there's an Invuln to completely invalidate it, overall not being as good as Blood And Guts' Cyber battle. I like the concept and had a good amount of fun, but loses points for too much "what did that switch do?" as you run around gameplay, as well as the final room having no backtracking, a couple needless inescapable pits, and a few of its many secrets being behind unmarked walls (though most of the secrets can be realistically found without cheats nor looking it up).

E3M8 Spider Temple: 3* / 4^ - 1 death: Not as laughable of an attempt at a boss map like E2M8 was, but a lousy map still that has you going back and forth hitting switches, and way too much Shotgunning Barons, while ultimately the final boss fight still blows, as it's just a Mastermind with two Cybers in a plain open arena while you get a free Invuln. There is also a bullshit part where you're teleported onto a thin railing facing a Baron, while falling off is an inescapable pit. The scarce amount of health with no armor until the end does make combat a bit tense though, while not being too stingy with health, creating enough excitement to not rank this lower.

AVERAGE: 4.10* / 3.60^ - 6 deaths total (average less than 1 map)

~~~~~~~~~~

EPISODE 4: Torment Ultima

E4M1 Unity: 7* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Gives you Berserk right away and is pretty suited for punching stuff out, making it fun despite the lack of ammo, but you do get enough ammo to shoot most stuff down if you want to play it safe. Encounters aren't bad, but health is limited, so you may pay if you grabbed the Berserk immediately and get too careless. A short and sweet map that won't blow you away but does its job as an opener well.

E4M2 Back To Base X: 6* / 4^ - 2 deaths: Shortly after the blue key, there's a bullshit trap where you're immediately sandwiched between two group of already active enemies, which includes Shotgunners, while you have no armor yet, and will have to use the Shotgun or Chaingun with very limited ammo to get through them. Bad RNG here will easily kill you, but at least it's near the start so not too much progress will be lost on it. Also loses points for an important secret being of pointlessly limited access (while monsters can also trigger the 4 linedefs for it!), and on top of that you have to perform multiple straferunning jumps to get everything from the secret, which is easily messed up. Otherwise a pretty fun and decent looking tech base map, though nothing spectacular.

E4M9 De-Moon Side: 6* / 6^ - 6 deaths: This map really stands out visually, the tall building with fireblue streaks rising into the starry night sky is striking. And this map doesn't give you much moment to relax, you're under a huge besiege of enemies immediately and the area keeps filling up with stronger enemies as you progress, while you scramble for the supplies just to hang on. Your ability to weave through enemies and effectively thin out the horde to make room is really tested. Then when you finally do finish the outside and get inside the red key building, there are still some nasty encounters like the blue key ambush, and the final Cyberdemon battle where you don't have much room and will depend on help from a group of Barons. The map loses points though for being needlessly unfriendly to blind players; the Berserk + Supercharge secret for example is very important to survive but is pretty obtuse (you need to try activating one of the banners that is no different from the rest within that building) and you don't have time to search for it when you got such a massive horde on you. The Berserk could have at least been normally obtainable while keeping the Supercharge the secret, which would have made the secret still very useful but give those who can't find it a better fighting chance. The map loses farther points for also being incredibly unfriendly to maxing, there are three points(!) where areas become permanently inaccessible; activating the stairs to the Red Key will block off a secret if you haven't gotten it yet, you can't leave the Red Key building once you enter, and you cannot backtrack from the final Cyberdemon arena, which also pointlessly has a time-limited secret that can only be activated once for no good reason. There's farther unfriendliness with the swarm of respawning window Imps in the outside area, as you would think to save your ammo for pressing encounters inside the Red Key building than to try killing them all, but again you can't backtrack from the Red Key building to finish them off later. Plus it's very easy to end the map before killing the Cyber + Barons by strafing onto the exit teleporter that should have been farther back. Overall, this map would have been an 8* if not for these major design flaws.

E4M3 Hell Unleashed: 8* / 7^ - 14 deaths: This map is brutal, the Baron fights here exceed the nastiest of Romero's Barons. Health is at a premium, ammo is limited with no Berserk nor even a Chainsaw in sight, and constant tight spaces limit the viability of the Rocket Launcher. At least you do get Armor at the start, and a Megaarmor soon after. The Baron traps are the standout moments that I still remembered from when I first played this WAD a decade prior, which will fuck you up if you don't handle them properly and even if you do know how to, while you won't be able to heal up muvh hits you take. I love the dreary look of the map, which the bleak-sounding midi builds upon that atmosphere, and is only compounded by the oppressive gameplay. The map loses out on a 9* or even 10* rating due to some boring encounters that are just tedium in the second half, namely the harmless hordes of Pinkies that are just going to drain your ammo, or waste a lot of time as you punch them Berserkless from safety to preserve ammo, as well as Lost Soul swarms that are equally as harmless and just as ammo draining, though at least they can kill each other. I can understand not giving a Berserk here, but could have at least supplied a Chainsaw that would be worthless against the Barons but get through those meat hordes faster, or just replace the meat hordes with Imps. It's also a bit too unfriendly for a blind playthrough, the Baron traps are great but they will kill first time players who don't have a huge Plasma cache from playing continuously, and the Plasma Rifle secret is essentially mandatory.

E4M4 Disreputable Stronghold: 5* / 4^ - 1 death: This map is a relative breather after the last two maps, encounters are a lot less nasty here, and you get a Megaarmor in a secret immediately that isn't obtuse to find, as well as a secret Supercharge shortly in. The map isn't free though, as ammo is tight, and health isn't plentiful (especially if you miss the aforementioned Supercharge), so you can easily find yourself running out if you're too careless or make a few too many mistakes. The map would have been a 3^ still if not for the final room, where you're suddenly staring down two Barons in a tight hallway without a Plasma Rifle and few if any rockets, while the lift out is very long, boning you if you miss the lift out and get cornered by them or don't have enough rockets to kill one very quickly (which caused my lone death on the map). The map looks good, has another great midi, and is decently engaging, but loses a point for a completely unnecessary inescapable pit after the aforementioned Barons that serves as nothing but a final fuck you if a player is a bit slow running over it or jumps in thinking it's the way forward.

E4M5 Indomitable Haunt: 3* / 4^ - 2 deaths: This map has an unfair battle at the beginning, where you get surrounded by lots of enemies, including Shotgunners, in a smallish room with much of it covered in damaging floor. It's sure to kill you your first time, and even if you got the strat down for it, bad RNG can still kill you when you just have a Shotgun, Green Armor, and likely less than 100 health. There's also not much healing after, so you could still be crippled if you barely survive this room. The rest of map is mundane other than the Blue Key trap that surrounds with two lines of Cacos while you can't escape, but is cheesable by just staying the Blue Key hole and sniping one line down while tanking the occasional Cacoball that the Supercharge right before allows you to take.

E4M6 Dementia: 7* / 5^ - 0 deaths: This map is a beast and is the biggest map in this megawad by far. Despite how huge and sprawling it is, it flows rather smoothly and progression isn't too confusing, though as a consequence, the map is a lot more linear than it would appear to be. Health and ammo are more available than other maps of Episode 4, and you get provided with a Chainsaw + Berserk early, but you don't get too much room for error, as you're frequently temporary sealed off from backtracking and thus may not have access to health you left lying around. There is also no Megaarmor and the two green Armors are secret, so you can never get too comfortable. There is an interesting setpiece with a Cyberdemon you encounter less than halfway into the map, where he is an awkward position, and while you get a Plasma Rifle, you only have 60 energy cells at this point. You can just run past though it is nerve wracking, or you can slowly snipe him down with the Shotgun and Chaingun. Besides taking really long, this will eat up most of your ammo and you don't get a big ammo replenishment immediately, but if you don't kill him there, he'll teleport away to the end, where you now do have a BFG and plenty of energy cells, but he is in a more dangerous position and it's right at the end of the map, so you have much more to lose if you fuck up. There are no other particularly notable combat encounters, the main threat of the map comes from how long it is, increasing pressure as you go on, and not always being able to retreat to resources you left, making death by attrition a threat. Visually some aspects are cool like the big lava lake surrounding the castle, but all the green marble gets monotonous fast. Overall it's a good map, but the rather boring visuals and the lack of memorable combat encounters outside the Cyberdemon keeps it from being truly great.

E4M7 Odious Grounds: 4* / 6^ - 5 deaths: Don't let the much smaller enemy count fool you, this is easily the second hardest map of this WAD. It's an extreme deprivation map, where you have only 197% health to work with for basically the entire map (the secret Supercharge doesn't count when you can't get it until right at the end of the map), and you do not have enough ammo to kill everything without infighting, with no Berserk nor even a Chainsaw available (you especially need to get some Baron on Caco action if you want to kill everything without having to resort Berserk-less punching). The combat encounters are tough too, as after the beginning area you are teleported right in the middle of enemies, while running to the next room has a teleport ambush, and there are more encounters throughout the map where you get surrounded by large amounts of enemies. The map is quite cramped as well, making avoiding enemies all the more a hassle, and with the limited ammo, you will be forced to run through enemies into the next areas, as you won't be to stand your ground and kill everything as soon as you encounter them. Even when knowing everything that is coming, the map is still difficult unlike E4M9 (doing a second clear with full map knowledge took me 7 tries). It is also quite clear the secret Megaarmor at the start is mandatory, unless you are incredibly skilled or lucky you are not surviving this map with less than 200 functional health. That is a major point against this map; not only do you need this Megaarmor, but the secret is permanently missable through two points; fail the jump to the lift in the beginning, you cannot bring it down from the other side, and if you teleport into the next area, you cannot backtrack from it. This is needlessly cruel to blind players, and the secret isn't intuitive either, there is no reason to believe that backing on to the lift after getting off will teleport you there and you'll probably only find it by a lucky accident. The map also loses more points on the very stupid Supercharge secret, where access to it is opened by a switch at the end of the map that you have no idea would do that, and then you need to backtrack all the way from the end of the map, potentially through roaming Cacos you left behind. The Supercharge should be opened as soon as you reach the area with it, which would have been a very opportune time to get a Supercharge, or if the mapmaker thought it made the rest of the map too easy, then just don't have it instead of having a pointless secret that just makes maxing more annoying. Then finally, there are lots of annoying juts or other decorations that often leads to you getting caught on something when trying to dodge, and I did not like the Red Key double-timed puzzle either that will kill you if you don't figure it out before your radsuit runs out. In all, a map I like the concept of but has too many major design flaws to ignore.

E4M8 Impossible Mission: 2* / 3^ - 0 deaths: Very misleading name, the easiest map of this episode aside from possibly the opener. It has four Cybers but they're all easily dealt with; the first is in a pit it can't shoot you from, the second will infight the Mastermind and probably die, and the last two you have BFG + Invuln for, and even then you got a big open space to fight them in while they're blocked from exiting their room. The Mastermind is of course nothing as usual, and after infighting the Cyber, is easily killed by Plasma from afar. This map only misses a 2^ because you don't have much at the start, and can thus die if you get bad RNG with the opening Shotgunners or eat too much crossfire trying to get the Cacos to infight the Baron instead of doing the safe route of tediously shooting them all down with the Shotgun and Chaingun. That's a major flaw with the map, the swarm of Cacos and the Baron aren't very threatening but they're tedious to kill without getting them to infight, which is awkward with the Baron's positioning. Then the rest of the fights aren't threatening either nor much fun. The map is also drab visually, the midi isn't that good, and there's the kick to the balls at the beginning where a bridge collapses into an inescapable pit. At least the Zombieman for the "final boss" was cute.

AVERAGE: 5.33* / 4.67^ - 30 deaths total (average 3 a map)

~~~~~~~~~~

OVERALL AVERAGE: 4.76* / 3.53^ - 41 deaths total (Hell Unleashed, Odious Grounds, Obituary Written, and De-Moon Side did a lot of heavy lifting in these deaths)

Well it's still as subpar as I remembered it being (Ultimate Doom for reference I gave an average rating of 5.14* to, in my map ratings for it here). A few maps I did have more appreciation for now, like I absolutely hated Hell Unleashed back then but now it's my favorite map of the WAD, and I found Episode 4 to be a noticeable improvement over the rest of the WAD, whereas before it was lowpoint for me in my much younger Doom days. The secrets are also not as wall humpy as I remember them being, with me finding most of them without cheating nor looking them up, maybe secrets were given better clues in the 10th anniversary edition? But some other stuff I disliked just as much as before, the Cyber room in Stronghold Of Damnation is still such bastard design, and my distant memories of Obituary Written were as just bad as I remembered it being, it's possibly the worst serious map I ever played. This WAD has too much maps that are just dull (especially Episode 1, as how brief my notes were there give away how little I felt about them), and then there are too much other maps full of frustrating elements. I certainly am not going to be replying through this WAD with fast monsters, and probably will never revisit it in whole again, but I am curious to see how far pcorf and the rest of the ADO team has advanced in the 20 years since with 2022. At least one very strong positive of this WAD was the music, pcorf was certainly excellent with his compositions here.

To close things out,  these were my favorite maps of 2002 A Doom Odyssey

Gold Medal: E4M3 Hell Unleashed

Silver Medal: E2M7 Puzzles To Solve

Bronze Medal: E3M5 Blood And Guts

Just missed the podium: E3M3 Stronghold Of Damnation

And here were the most difficult maps to me

Gold Medal: E4M3 Hell Unleashed

Silver Medal: E4M7 Odious Grounds

Bronze Medal: E3M6 Obituary Written

Just missed the podium: E4M9 De-Moon Side

My map ratings for Ultimate Doom, on a 0-10* scale for how much I like the map and 0-10^ scale for how difficult I found it. An explanation of the scale can be found here. Difficulty here is on UV with fast monsters and Pistol starting every map, the difficulty rating with normal monsters would generally be somewhere around half (lower end for maps with heavy hitscan usage).

EPISODE 1 - Knee Deep In The Dead:

Map                                     |Rating    |Difficulty|Comments

E1M1 Hangar                     |7*           |2^           |10* as a first map ever played, but isn't as engaging for the experienced
E1M2 Nuclear Plant:         |4*           |2^           |
E1M3 Toxin Refinery         |9*           |4^           |Probably the best utilization of secrets in commercial Doom
E1M9 Military Base           |5*           |6^           |Hard start and resources aren't plentiful even with the Chaingun secret
E1M4 Command Control |5*           |3^           |The start can be lethal, but the rest of the map is free
E1M5 Phobos Lab             |10*         |4^           |Suspense is perfect for this map, though would still rate it a 10 without it
E1M6 Central Processing |8*           |5^           |That ending room is intimidating with fast monsters
E1M7 Computer Station   |6*          |4^           |
E1M8 Phobos Anomaly    |5*           |2^           |Aged poorly, but is so iconic and atmosphere is still top notch

AVERAGE: 6.56* | 3.67^ : I agree with the common opinion that Episode 1 is the best, and is still fun even with its limited enemy variety, making it farther impressive

EPISODE 2 - The Shores Of Hell:

Map                                         |Rating    |Difficulty|Comments

E2M1 Deimos Anomaly        |4*           |3^           |
E2M2 Containment Area      |4*           |2^          |Not a fan of the crate maze and rest of map is boring
E2M3 Refinery                        |2*           |5^          |Rating tries to ignore the horrible choice of Intermission for its track
E2M4 Deimos Lab                  |7*           |4^          |
E2M5 Command Center       |3*           |5^ (6^)   |Second difficulty rating is for 100%, the secret exit is bullshit with fast monsters
E2M9 Fortress Of Mystery    |1*           |4^          |A joke of a map, but a room of fast Cacos is pretty deadly
E2M6 Halls Of The Damned |10*         |6^          |The closest the original Doom gets to survival horror
E2M7 Spawning Vats             |5*           |4^          |
E2M8 Tower Of Babel           |5*            |2^         |Aged terribly, but gets credit for the iconic first experience with it

AVERAGE: 4.56* | 3.89^ (4.00^ for 100%) : Map quality becomes a lot more inconsistent, and Halls Of The Damned carries the episode for me

EPISODE 3 - Inferno:

Map                                      |Rating    |Difficulty|Comments

E3M1 Hell Keep                 |1*            |2^           |Even fast monsters can't make this map remotely engaging
E3M2 Slough Of Despair  |4*           |5^            |Would be quite brutal without prior knowledge
E3M3 Pandemonium        |7*           |4^            |
E3M4 House Of Pain         |8*           |4^            |The difficulty would notch up if you don't know to gun for Invulnerability at start
E3M5 Unholy Cathedral   |3*           |4^            |
E3M6 Mt. Erebus               |8*           |5^            |Sandy shown he can make a good sandbox map here, what happened in Doom 2?
E3M9 Warrens                   |4*           |3^            |Best secret map conceptually, but half of it is still Hell Keep and has a softlock
E3M7 Limbo                       |5*           |4^            |Seems quite unpopular but I don't hate it, rather survival horrorish on Pistol start
E3M8 Dis                            |1*            |1^            |Arguably even easier with fast monsters, since the Cacos and Baron infight better

AVERAGE: 4.56* | 3.56^ : I find it on par with the prior episode, with again inconsistent map quality

EPISODE 4 - Thy Flesh Consumed:

Map                                            |Rating    |Difficulty|Comments

E4M1 Hell Beneath                  |3*           |6^           |I like what it was going for, but feels too RNG with heavy Shotgunner usage
E4M2 Perfect Hatred               |9*           |6^           |A masterclass on how to effectively utilize the Doom 1 bestiary
E4M9 Fear                                 |3*            |5^           |Action is way too front-loaded, and those teleporters are death
E4M3 Sever The Wicked         |6*            |4^           |If you don't grab Invuln ASAP at start you die, but is otherwise not hard
E4M4 Unruly Evil                      |2*            |4^           |Has a bit of teeth on Pistol start/fast monsters, but still such a nothing map
E4M5 They Will Repent           |5*            |4^           |
E4M6 Against Thee Wickedly |8*            |7^           |No armor on UV is overly harsh, should have been the final map
E4M7 And Hell Followed         |4*            |3^           |Such a misuse of Sinister here
E4M8 Unto The Cruel               |4*           |3^           |Why was this the final map?

AVERAGE: 4.89* | 4.67^ : Still inconsistent map quality, and difficulty is erratic too, but the lows aren't as bad

OVERALL AVERAGE: 5.14* / 3.94^ : Episode 1 certainly carries the first Doom, and there are a fair share of awful maps, though there are still gems after Episode 1 that hold up today. While notoriously easy normally, it does provide a fair challenge with fast monsters, aside from a few spots not being properly balanced for it.

Gold medal: Phobos Lab

Silver Medal: Halls Of The Damned

Bronze Medal: Perfect Hatred

Just missed the podium: Toxin Refinery

Gonna also rank the Playstation exclusive maps here, with the difficulty being for fast monsters on a Pistol start:

Map                           |Rating     |Difficulty|Comments
Hell Gate                   |3*           |2^           |Even with fast monsters this wasn't any challenging, but it's inoffensive
Hell Keep                  |5*            |9^           |Very mixed feelings, Hell Beneath was at least nice enough to give you armor
Twilight Descends   |10*         |5^           |My absolute favorite commercial map, a much more fitting penultimate map than E4M7
The Marshes            |4*            |3^          |Aged bad like any Cyberdemon duel map but was a nice secret in context of PSX Doom
Threshold Of Pain   |9*           |8^           |Final battle is brilliant, and is absolutely brutal with fast monsters
The Mansion            |8*           |4^           |Finally a worthy secret map, looks great, unique, memorable, and is fun.
Club Doom               |6*           |2^ (5^)   |Second rating is if you don't cheese it and fight the Revenants in the open.
Redemption Denied|2*           |2^ (3^)   |Second rating is if you intentionally avoid making the Masterminds infight, terrible final map but at least it's not the Icon Of Sin

Some of these PSX maps are certainly worth checking out, whether in their individual recreations out there or through the PSXCE. A big shame these maps weren't actually a part of the original games, Twilight Descends and Threshold Of Pain made such a vastly better ending to the first Doom (even if the latter uses Doom 2 stuff), while the Mansion and Club Doom shown what the secret maps should have been like. Also would have loved if these maps got more speedrunning attention.

I'm rating the Sigil maps here too, with difficulty also being based on Pistol starting with fast monsters:

Episode 5 - Sigil:

Map                                                 |Rating    |Difficulty|Comments

E5M1 Baphomet's Demense      |6*           |4^            |
E5M2 Sheol                                   |5*            |5^           |Telefragging the Cyber is death if you mistime it but worth it
E5M3 Cages Of The Damned     |4*           |5^            |That Berserk + Supercharge secret really takes the bite out of the later half
E5M4 Paths of Wretchedness    |6*           |6^            |That crusher section is so damn nerve-wracking
E5M5 Abaddon's Void                 |10*         |7^            |One of the most oppressive maps I ever played and has the action to match
E5M6 Unspeakable Persecution|7*           |7^           |The Cyber labyrinth at the end is a really cool setpiece
E5M9 Realm Of Iblis                     |4*           |6^           |Reeks of being a reject map like the Doom 1 secret maps
E5M7 Nightmare Underworld    |8*           |8^           |This map is deadly all the way through and resources will always be tight
E5M8 Halls of Perdition               |5*           |6^           |Not an inspired final map but is ok

AVERAGE: 6.11* / 6.00^

May not have met the lofty expectations it had but still a really solid piece of work, Romero did succeed in crafting  an oppressive-feeling hell atmosphere, and shown his skills at getting challenge out of the Doom 1 bestiary without resorting to bullshit measures; even without fast monsters I found Sigil on par with Plutonia in difficulty, if not harder. I do appreciate when maps do make resource management a serious factor, which Sigil does well without ever going as extreme as Hell Beneath and PSX Hell Keep did.

Gonna start posting map ratings here, rating maps on how much I like them and how difficult I found them, on a scale of 0-10. Making this initial post for future reference to explain the scale.

On the map rating scale:

10 = All-time favorite, the map sticks with me and I find little to no fault with it

9 = Amazing, a highly memorable map I love but it is missing a little something

8 = Great, a standout map I really enjoy, with a few blemishes

7 = Good, an enjoyable map well above average, but does have a clear flaw knocking it down or isn't the most memorable

6 = Solid, a fun map that is flawed or doesn't push the envelope

5 = Average, the map has a mix of good things and bad things, but I'm still enjoying it

4 = Mediocre/Subpar, the map's flaws are too much or it's overly banal, deterring a good time

3 = Poor, the map is outright bad or boring, with a redeeming factor or two

2 = Awful, the map is actively unpleasant to play or incredibly insubstantial, but at least it's not the worst thing

1 = Irredeemable, nothing good at all I can say about the map

0 = D!ZONE

On the difficulty scale:

0 = Virtually impossible to die

1 = Can run through the map braindead

2 = Still very easy, but it'll invoke some brain activity

3 = Should have a 100% clear rate, but I can die if I'm overly reckless or sloppy

4 = Will often clear first try blind, but death is a real possibility

5 = Clearing first try is tough, and I can die even after knowing the map well

6 = Won't clear first try without exceptional play or luck, and will likely take several attempts to single segment

7 = First try clear is out of the question, will require an hour+ of attempts to beat saveless

8 = Very difficult, this map will leave me stuck for multiple hours but is still very much within my abilities

9 = Trying to beat this saveless will take up much of the day for me

10 = About the limit of my skill, I can beat it saveless but will take a ton of grinding

Anything over 10 = I have to use saves, the higher the number the more I have to savescum

Also a note about the difficulty rating, frontloaded difficulty will be weighed a lot less. Like if a map has a hot start that will kill me 80% of the time, but I'm guaranteed to breeze through the rest of the map if I survive the first minute, I won't rate its difficulty more than a 4 or even 3 despite it technically requiring many attempts, as it ultimately requires little more time investment. It will be especially relevant when I play with fast monsters, where hot starts are often disproportionately lethal but then the rest of the map can end up lacking any teeth.