Filename: E2M4_remake.pk3
Gamemode: Co-op
Forum thread: Beta Release E2M4 - Deimos Lab remake
Screenshot of the darkest place I think of on the map:
Spoiler: WARNING 1080p (Open)
Fellow doomers, there have been too few reviews lately, so I decided to do one, and looking through the todo list on reviews, I stumbled onto this map that I forgot to play!
As a quick introduction, I would like to tell you that before you ask for a specific detail, please look at the top of this post, I can think of nothing else to add there. Other than that, there are many screens on the thread, which are better shots than I can probably take, so please, before you read on, have a look at them. When writing the rest of this review I expect you to have done that.
The way I have chosen to rate this map is by splitting it into visuals, atmosphere and gameplay. I point out the bad parts first, as these are the things that the mapper need to know about to improve his work, if that is his intention. Then I will add in the good parts, which may or may not be as thorough, though I will try my best.
I have played through the map with vanilla and brutal doom, while also looking at the map using freedoom.
Visual:[/size]
As you can probably tell from the screens in the thread (which you should have been at by now), you can already see it look pretty promising at the first glance!
This is not where I personally find the most to speak of, there are a few things I would like to point out:
1. The sectors for the light are blocky, the grid alignment is very obvious and was the first thing that caught my attention. They could be made more round so they don't draw obvious lines on the floor.
2. I never liked the shawn doors, just a personal preference, they are very visible on this map though, which is good, though another door could have done the job just as well without sticking halfway out of the screen.
Other than that the map generally is in great detail and with many little things that you can stumble upon, and just look at! Some can be seen from the screens, but it would give the best impression if you loaded it up! (you can always just type spectate in the console to fly around)
The good part is really hard to describe without spoiling all of it, and spoiling isn't fun, so read the rest of the review and give the map a spin!
Atmosphere:[/size]
This one lacks far behind in comparison with the visuals, though since the visuals are an aspect of this, that might make this statement confusing, but here's the deal:
1. The music is creepy, but not scary at all, instead it is creepy in the sense of "being peeked on by a perv" feeling. This knocked it down a bit for me.
2. OVERLOUD PULSATING SOUND EFFECT!
This sound effect appear a few times though the map. The sound in itself is fine, it is simply so loud that it gives me a headache in normal playthrough time. Luckily this isn't constant throughout the level, if it was I would have quit, the sound is really a pain though. (again, just lower its volume)
3. The map simply isn't dark enough to give a scary impression, it is just a tad darker than standard which was a bit disappointing. Maybe I just had other expectations, but I hoped for something that could make me turn, both in the game and maybe in real life. More on this point in gameplay.
On a good note, the map design itself gave a good impression, which is why it makes the above disappoint me a bit, because the great map made me expect the rest to be the same.
Again, the screens describe it better than I can and talking about the rest would be spoilers.
The added zombies with the melee weapons are a really nice touch, even though they are R667 resources. The difference is that they fit the map perfectly, and the placement seem natural.
Gameplay:[/size]
This one can use an introduction in itself, though I will make it short.
This map does not like the player, it doesn't try to kill you with irritating traps or other lame ideas, rather it puts you up in tiresome battles. If you want to play this map, get a cup of coffee, not for the nerves, but for the patience.
1. Let's start small. One of the rooms is symmetrical in monster placement, which made me wonder if the mapper forgot to finish the room or thought that it was a good idea. I really do not like this kind of thing.
2. This is a minor point, and personally doesn't really mean much, but for some it does and that is why I include it.
There are two parts of the map that force you to use jump/crouch.
I found no way around the jump part, there might have been, but a few steps would have been nice, and would let people who prefer it that way have it that way.
The yellow door nr. 2... I thought the map was broken until I found out I was supposed to crouch under it. I would have liked if you had the option of doing something similar to lifting the door, by pressing the E button. Though this is still very minor.
3. The map gives you a shotgun early, and you better hold on to it, you are going to need it. Early in the map you are put up against relatively many enemies in a relatively cramped space (you are in a small room and have to rush out if you are going to leave).
As the level progresses you are given a chaingun and the RL, these prove really helpful, though the ammo is scarce.
When you play the map you realise how much the mapper likes to place barons, he must have a scripted suggestion button that only respond with "add a baron", because I have never seen a map with that many barons on the same spot unless it was a semi-slaughtermap and above. You even have to fight two with just a shotgun and a pistol in a room with quite a little space to move (not sure if you have a chaingun at that point).
4. I hate it when a map contains monsters that just do not seem to be added for any other reason than another point on the feature list. The blood demon, the transparent black guys and the dark imps could have been cut away and replaced with vanilla monsters. Better impression instantaneously. Mostly because those resources are overused and because they do not really add anything in terms of new gameplay.
5. The map is generally cramped, every time I was in a fight I kept hitting the walls, because the room can't support so many monsters.
The problem is that the monster count is too high for the room sizes, when the monsters within five seconds fill half the room and you are up against a wall it is just a deathtrap. I actually halfway lied when I said the map didn't try to kill you with traps, because spawning monsters to fill 50% of the room floor is a trap, isn't it?
There is only one place where you are actually in a fight where you get space to move on the whole map besides the start, which is really annoying.
6. The lighting of the map does in one place make the pesky little transparent black guys invisible. Literally. They can attack you while you either have to waste ammo or make a run for it through a relatively narrow corridor with projectiles spawning particle effects around, making dodging really hard, as you can not instantly notice if the projectile has passed.
That might be a rant, but that is pretty much summing my impression up, though some of these things are minor. There is a lack of things that makes the gameplay interesting, the only thing I have come upon are annoyances.
SCORES:[/size]
The scores also take into consideration that the different categories affect each other.
Visual: 9/10
Atmosphere: 3/10
Gameplay:4/10
Overall: 5.33/10
I STILL RECOMMEND PLAYING THIS MAP
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edit: edited to correct some grammatical and spelling mistakes [Hypnotoad]
