Enjoy more reviews! Ramp2024 link. GZDoom link.
Castle Wolfenstein Maps
Villa fatale by Leiche
I get a bit nervous when I see a map that relentlessly attempts to create a "real" space (here's the dining room, here's the kitchen, etc.) in an engine that really isn't about those types of spaces and with monsters whose behavior really doesn't lend themselves to those types of spaces. A little bit of realism goes a long way in Doom. Yet as I played this level I was consistently surprised by how polished each "realistic" section was with respect to gameplay and pacing. I kept waiting for it to fall off the tightrope but by the time we got to the evil chapel, I had to admit that what I was experiencing was just going to be good and fun all the way through. And it was. Even the climactic fight didn't feel wrong after the buildup. One of the best this year. 5 stars.
Be Not Afraid by Prophyt
The opening sections are fairly stingy with ammo - I would have been more generous until people get the hang of the button-heavy rooms and custom monsters, but once it gets rolling, it really gets rolling, going from big outside arenas with many different challenges to mazelike interiors with many nooks and crannies to discover. The last boss fight is a little cramped (even if you detour to get the megasphere secret) for the same reason but the gorgeousness of the levels and the tremendous pacing and excitement before that carry it. 4 stars.
Jungle prison by D404NOTFOUNDC
Although the idea of circling through these areas multiple times has merit, ultimately neither the arenas nor the ammo struggle really works - they're too cramped or the verticality is too great. Some more polish is needed for this to reach its potential. 2.5 stars
Azure Aqueducts by KoboldDev
Wow, can't believe that the kobold from Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual is now a Doom mapper! Anyway, the first hub arena is a masterpiece of monster placement, cover, design and appearance. Incredible. Oh, the next one is too? And the next one is too? And the next one is too? What an absolute pleasure from start to finish. 5 Stars.
3.14159 Rooms by GrizzlyOldB
A beautiful, highly polished and extremely well thought out map. I love that each key is right in front of you when you enter their respective tower, yet each one has a challenge before you reach it. Two areas for improvement: the rocket launcher island is great but fighting the cacodemons becomes tedious because the space is so vast. You can't just leave them at your back because they'll hit you when you're climbing the cliffs, so you're stuck hitting them with one (1) rocket, waiting for them to fly four miles back to you and hitting them again. On a similar note, in the yellow key room, the cacodemons made it very difficult to manage vertical movement in that fight once they were released. GZdoom usually handles verticality better than vanilla but I ended up getting stuck on stuff that I couldn't see. Still a gorgeous, exciting experience. 5 stars.
Raising up the Magewind by Sneezy McGlassface
This is an attempt at a Doom style of map that has been attempted before, and very rarely successfully, where you need to push forward to get the resources to win the fight you're in, then potentially double back before you push too far. It's a very creditable attempt at such a map but you can't walk the tightrope forever and eventually it just becomes too much. I want to stay somewhere and fight a bunch of monsters, I don't want to run ahead to see if I can figure out where some ammo is, die and reload. And then, unfortunately, the final showdown doesn't actually work in this style, even if you find the BFG. It's just a RNG fest. I can appreciate the ambition but the reality just isn't there yet. To be fair I can't think of a way to make this type of thing fully work here. 2.5 stars.
Pain by Artinium
It's wild how well this works, from the new monsters to the new weapon mechanics, to the charming secrets, to the cool arenas, to the exceptional theme to an actual climax! Honestly it's a gem. 5 stars.
Storm the Gates by Artende
There's a couple of rough spots but I tend to lean in favor of anyone who understands Megadeth's role in Doom. It lacks traps, essentially, which gives the feeling that the Doomguy is the aggressor in the situation, cutting deep into enemy territory. The exit sign is a bit low and I almost couldn't decide if I was not supposed to go in yet or not. Still exciting. 4 stars.
Cyberdemon Canyon Maps
Twilight's Nightmare by Impboy
I wouldn't classify this as difficulty 4. Though there's one tough fight, everything else went pretty smoothly until I ran out of ammo in literally the last room. The main highlight for me is the hub room, it's dimly lit, the atmospherics of the ghostly monsters appearing there are terrific, and even their limitation at not being able to leave the hub seems like an in-fiction development instead of a bug. A really nice experience (though I might drop another ammo box or set of shells close to the ending). 4 stars.
Eye of the Spider (FINAL VERSION) by Filip R
Just on a personal prejudice level, I really dislike how Doom manages its radiation suit - the green glow makes the colorfulness of even relatively vanilla Doom levels get washed out and unpleasant to play. So I start out somewhat tilted against a map where you have to manage radiation suits as part of exploration and handling yourself. That said, the concept here is intriguing - you have to circle around some extremely dangerous high-powered enemies with not enough firepower to handle them, picking off weaker enemies, before using a telefrag and then managing the remaining, weaker enemies, while escaping. It's a new attempt at a Doom level flow and I have to give it points for that. 3.5 stars.
The Nest by Ksawerx
A really carefully designed set of underground jagged tunnels makes for an unusual, struggling experience that never quite lets you build up inertia but also isn't frustrating. Clearly much work was put into them. Then the seemingly natural tunnels open into the evil temples of Doom and you do truly feel like you're isolated down here. The "Bonus" and "Key" teases feel a bit out of place as a result, but there's never a moment you're not excited for what comes next in this extremely highly planned map. If you aren't sure how to beat an area, just look for some more secrets. It's excellent. 5 stars.
Reddish Screen Gaming by NootstyNootsy
To be reviewed later - apparently this is a sequel to a map I haven't played.
The Ninth Circle by HiRon
"Cmon man." - Joe Biden, doom player. While there are some good ideas here, like a blob of mixed opponents who essentially enter the playing field already infighting, the rest is just impossible - the archviles in particular make this an RNG slog. 1.5 stars.
hell's gods don't die politely by CactusChowder
A fantastic puzzle map, everything works perfectly. Even the horrible sound that plays as the clock ticks is the perfect horrible sound. I really loved it - finished it and turned right back around to play it again. 5 stars.
Did It Hurt When You Fell So Hard From Heaven That You Broke Through To Hell by Dane M
The puzzle at the end is tough but actually manageable if you know some deep cut Doom lore about how archviles act during infighting. What doesn't work is the introductory section leading to the puzzle - there's just not enough ammo and you end up having to run into the puzzle without being able to pause to take the actions you need to solve it. I might even cut out that section entirely - the cyberdemon/archvile fight could be an entertaining bite-sized map on its own. 3.5 stars.
Transfer Depot Levels
Newton's Warehouse by Corbn
An unbelievable amount of style and aesthetic has gone into making a level that could have been a generic techbase. Care was even taken on signalling keyed doors and other visual languages that have been the same in Doom for thirty years but are freshened up here. One of the best tech base maps in the project so far. 5 stars.
LAST MINUTE PHAROAH'S CURSE by emmie
Okay, it's last minute, but it's very cool, has an interesting theme, and except for the last showdown the cramped fights work pretty well! The last showdown is a bit much, either another room should be added to allow greater range of movement or the monsters should be toned down. I prefer the former. Nevertheless a solid little map. 4 stars.
Nukage Waste Water Refinery by vampirelee6
I was extremely puzzled by this one - vampirelee6 put a map of the same name in Ramp2023, but this one seems to be an earlier version of that map. You can walk right through fences, there's whole sections of the map that don't do anything, you teleport to an obviously unfinished castle at the end. I don't remember the Ramp2023 version of this map being this awkward?! (I do remember the dogs not being good though and they're still not good.) DNF
MAP01.PLAN32 - ZIMMER5 Overgrowth by Kinatuk
A real pleasure - monsters popping out of the earth, a decaying tech base collapsing under the weight of earth and overgrown with plants, and most of all a real understanding of how to give someone all the resources they need and still make an encounter difficult through staging, pacing and pathing of both monster and player. I finished it wanting more (and wondering about a few obvious secrets I must have missed...) 5 stars.
Nukage Warehouse by Danny Scott
A highly detailed and atmospheric little introductory-scale map. I could easily see this as E1 in a highly themed map pack. The techbase aesthetic is used with care - the path through it, the buttons, the keys, some interesting secrets, even a quick trip outside, make this a bite-sized pleasure. 5 stars.
Yet Another Doom Level by ED Games 56
I have mixed feelings about levels like this, which attempt to relate some kind of real life issue to the level. That's not to say it can't be done, but I question the correct level of abstraction. Here, once you find your way into the secret area, the game essentially just tells you what the "secret point" of it is. I do think there's something to the final showdown - the environment hurts, there are two untouchable super-monsters who are fighting each other, your only move is to escape, but I'm not sure that's a really insightful statement, and the rest of the design is (intentionally?) pretty basic. I guess I give it points for that last showdown being thematically expressive but "less is more" for me on this type of thing. 3 stars.
Totally Normal Tech Base
I heard in a comment that it wasn't intentional that you could just walk straight to the ending without going through the slaughter map portions of the game, but I thought it was, so I'm going to review it that way. The cage trap sucks, but the rest of it is pretty nice, and I like that you can skip the slaughter map if you don't feel like committing slaughter today. 4 stars.
Toxins: Refined by indrora
A nice little map with many excellent areas, using the tech base theme well. I especially appreciate the "super-toxic-waste" death pits. Who wants to wait to die, just put a kill plane down there! Solid idea. Like the previous map I get the idea that I might have missed some stuff. Either way I did really like it. Trans rights are human rights. 4.5 stars.
