[Doom] THEPITS.WAD - E2M1 UV Maxdemo

Pwad: Thepits.wad Author: Alex Siegel Date: 10th April 1994 Map: e2m1 Category: UV Maxdemo Executable: Doom.exe Time: 4:25 For April 1994, this is a pretty good level. The layout ideas are pretty basic - you've got one large arena, and three separate sections thrown haphazardly within it. But the gameplay is quite addictive, and brutal. First section of the level throws you in at the deep end (literally) - it's close quarter combat with the shotgun, with you at the base of a spiral, imp and caco fireballs raining down on you while demons and spectres go hunting for a bite. It's an arena that feels both spacious and claustrophobic, which is a decent achievement. Fighting your way to the top is a lot of fun. Then comes the second section, which mainly involves close quarter mayhem with the berserker fist. You're presented with what is basically a grid maze, but it never feels like it - the walls curve and feel organic, and most of the time there's only one path forward. And rather brilliantly, when you finally make it to the key, the wall behind you closes, a new one opens, and the maze reconfigures itself so you've got a fresh path back to the exit, with new rooms and monsters. My punching during this section wasn't perfect, and health got down to 2%. Certainly you'll be much safer to fight remotely with shotgun and chaingun. But it's not nearly as exciting that way. Pity about the third section, which doesn't live up to what's come before. It's a nice idea in theory - a room full of deadly lava, one save path to the key on the far side, and dozens monsters that begin to rise into view as soon as you enter. Can you run in, grab the yellow key, and get out before they get you? But the implementation is a little iffy. Some sections of the path keep the player bounded, while others let him fly off into the lava. Sometimes you can fall off the path and not get back on. And once those monsters appear, they don't spread out and attack the player, they just stay where they are in their little square cages. Which both reduces the threat and makes it much more tedious to kill them all if you want 100%. So I have to do some tedious sniping from the pathway at the end. Download from /idgames here: http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/inde...