Pseudonaut

Map04: Holy Jesus, the ammo situation here is fucked. That was how I reacted after my first continuous playthrough, where I exited the map with 0 bullets, 0 shells, and several monsters still alive. The vast majority of ammo on this level comes from dead bodies in the first third, and after that, there is a point of no return (two of them, actually), so you'd better grab as much as you can before taking the plunge. As it turns out, none of my pistol-start playthroughs felt as tough as that oblivious first try, as good strategies solved a lot of problems. The level opens with a huge imp-and-zombie slaughter, with a few arachnotrons thrown in to make it challenging, while 'Mars, the Bringer of War' ensures that all of it is epic. Knowing what would happen later, I was constantly looking for opportunities to chainsaw things (the chainsaw is hidden in the dark, but can technically be grabbed very early), often doing it even when I knew I'd probably lose a little health. Trading health for ammo conservation makes a lot of sense in this map. Near the chainsaw, five switches open up new areas, except for one that permanently blocks a very important secret with a megasphere and rocket launcher; this is enemy territory, why should you expect it to be designed for your convenience? :^) By some miracle, after riding that elevator four times, the cyberdemon never killed me. It's still obvious what will happen if you get the wrong RNG: you'll get blocked and killed by a rocket and there's nothing you can do about it. It's bullshit, it's unfair, whatever. The cyb seems to consistently hover around the exit of the elevator, and even if you aren't blocked, he could fire into your little box while you're slowly being raised, still not high enough to leave. To make matters worse, BPRD tries to force an invis sphere on you, though it can actually be "avoided" by backing off the elevator and letting it run out. Yet, the most important tactic for the cyberdemon is to avoid waking him up altogether (or at least until you've entered his arena proper) by staying far away from the railing upstairs, prior to the first point of no return. I wanted to collect all the items for some reason, so I just dealt with an awake cyb. Most of what happens after the cyberdemon encounter seems a little dull on paper, but I think of it as a test of the player's resource conservation, possibly even a cruel punishment for poor decisions. The three mancubi blocking a required door may be nearly insurmountable, or completely trivial, depending on your ammo situation--I've experienced it both ways. Likewise, the walls lowering to surround you with pinkies and imps can induce panic, or maybe not. If all else fails, the chainsaw never runs out of ammo. I might just be crazy, but I'm pretty sure this map is fantastic.

Map03: If you've kept your supplies from previous maps, it's a good level with ordinary combat. The dark maze with pinkies is definitely lame in this case, and I actually ran out of shells and started killing them with the pistol. Not quite as impressive as the first map, but a pleasant chapter in the adventure nonetheless. It's a far more interesting level when played from a pistol start. The available ammo can seem inadequate, but with the right strategy, it can all be done in a timely manner with hardly any pistol use. The dark pinky maze is more intimidating when you start from scratch, and for a while, I wasn't even sure if I'd have enough ammo for it unless I took the shortest possible path to the chainsaw. When that path is taken, you might only have to kill about 7 pinkies before reaching it. It turned out that I had plenty of shells, so I took the time to kill more that with the SSG. The amount of time spent waiting for elevators is excessive, but I actually really enjoyed this one.

Map02: A little hub map. It appears we're headed for the Genome Labs.

Equinox: I've got the impression that these maps are uniquely unkind to pistol starters, so I'll play each level continuously first, then try pistol starts when I already know where everything is. Map01: It's amazing what detailed, imaginative visuals and architecture can do for a level. In a vacuum, the combat here is nothing special: there are narrow hallways with single-file imps, a few flat rooms full of zombies, etc. It's just such a cool map in other ways that I don't mind. More than just an impressive piece of Doom architecture, it has environmental storytelling as well, and other details that stand out. The little boat with footprints leading to a secret cave is my favorite. The boat has a little chest just like the ones in the secret, and you're free to speculate as to why. Another nice touch is the optional switch that only turns off all the lights, but can't turn them on again - not sure what to make of that, but I pressed it. There are a few places where you can get softlocked, unfortunately. Many people notice the softlock by a required switch, but if you're adventurous enough, it can also happen if you're messing around near the soulsphere secret. Still, this wad is off to a great start.

Map17: Sacrilege Better than the previous map in nearly every way, but that isn't saying much. It's not quite as empty or rectangular. Still, it's nothing to write home about. You could find yourself uncomfortably close to a cyberdemon after blindly teleporting back to the central hub, but he was very polite to me, never in view from my teleport destination. The spider mastermind encounter succeeds at making you cling to cover for a while before slaying it in typical peekaboo fashion. Map18: Die Heuschrecke Right away, you get a BFG and rocket launcher with what might as well be infinite ammo. Yet, health is scarce until the megasphere toward the end (I could have saved the berserk for a much-needed heal, but I didn't). My health situation may have been caused by carelessness, but I did feel some tension nonetheless. Once you get the mega, the level is over. Nothing puts up a fight compared to what you have at your disposal. Overall: Operation: Biowar can be described in one word - inoffensive. It has clear highlights and lowlights, but nothing that will alienate many players. It tends to be fast-paced, is rarely tedious, and is mindless at times. If you want to play a chill wad from the late 90's, Biowar fits the bill. Just don't expect awe-inspiring visuals or daunting challenges.

Map16: The Killing Fields Big, empty, overcomplicated, and generally boring. I kinda liked the first trap, where you're teleported into a cage with many enemies on your flanks. It turns out that you can just leave through the door immediately, making it a very weak trap, but in a funny way. There's a long line of exploding barrels and imp victims, a cheap spectacle, but it manages to be a highlight in a map like this.

Map15: Heat The resource balance is relatively tight here, and I could really feel the lack of health toward the end since I wasn't very careful. It didn't even occur to me that one of the switches I pressed was for the secret exit. Map31: Juggelo Funhouse A little awkward and unsatisfying for a map with a BFG and hundreds of cells. Those resources are placed at the very end, so this map is practically begging for a "full speed 'til the end, then clean up" max route, but those slow-ass elevators get in the way. Perhaps the best option is to kill everything in the first area right away, only revisiting the barons and Mastermind. There's not much to discuss about the fights themselves, but the cyberdemon at the end is a fun inclusion, and dodging his rockets to press the switches was the best part.

Map16 UV-Speed in 35.94 seconds bw16-3594.zip

Map14: Absolution Speedrunning this seemed like it would be a chore, so I only played it once. The atmospheric midi does a lot to improve the experience. A few moments stood out to me: the pop-up baron in front of the blue key was cheap, but amusing. You also get ambushed by two revenants in an uncomfortably small room after the yellow key, and escaping into the hallway seems effective. Of course, at the end, a couple dozen unlucky demons are thrown at you and your rocket launcher.

Didn't Valiant have a map with lots of invisible monsters, including archviles?

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

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

Map13 UV-Max in 7:23 bw13m723.zip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoFjpDWR7Q8 Map31 UV-Max in 1:59 bw31m159.zip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFvmQ_aeEjs

Map11: Frozen Terror Some of the action takes place on ridges or platforms, which is a nice way to make things a little more challenging, and I also like the plasma gun secret. What I don't like is the amount of waiting involved, especially with a particular long elevator that you have to use at least twice (three times if you grab a specific secret). There is an attempt to lock you into the red key room, but all you have to do is step back right after you step in, blocking the door and defanging the trap. It isn't a challenging fight anyway, the timed lock-in just results in more waiting. Still a decent map.

Map01 NoMo in 9.09 seconds bw01o909.zip Map11 UV-Max in 3:39 bw11m339.zip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZtjbpAkOfk Map12 UV-Max in 2:39 bw12m239.zip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk7toCLbxUs