Mapgame

Mapgame - 3.59 / 6
- There is a prevailing parsimonious use of the items and a lack of outstanding ideas.

Mapgame is a nine level set replacing the first episode of The Ultimate Doom. It requires a limit removing sourceport to run, and was released in 2009 by an author simply going by the initials rf, also known as Ravage earlier in his career. He have several previous releases on the idgames archive, spanning from weapon mods to Skulltag maps.

The episode is notable for having a sentry tower and a new flare gun replacing the chaingun. It utilizes a new palette and several new textures, the most prominent ones being some pale blue editions of the familiar blue Doom textures, as well as some brown rustic metal and skull textures and a new green acid fall.

Mapgame received a Cacoward in 2009, and was praised by reviewer Hobbs. We played this set once in the past, but replayed it for this review, and also had a more in depth look at the maps in singleplayer mode. 



E1M1 - Sentry
[Hunsager]
This episode starts out with an interesting combination of some traditional Episode 1 layout and a light blue colored flat. The progression in the map is good and exciting as the path takes you through varying rooms with a decent level of details, and there is a promising use of curves, angles and lights. There is of course the traditional Episode 1 influenced dark room with the "Sladwall" texture, but it's small and not interesting enough to be worth remembering. The yard to the east feels too bright, and the same goes for the yard in the west which has a more harmonious look. The author has done a decent attempt of simulating sloping columns and you will also find the modified chaingun here. Even though this might be the best map in the collection, something seems lacking, and the map does not have a distinct character and atmosphere apart from the blue flat. Perhaps it's too small even though it's already a large map for sitting on E1M1.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

[Johnsen]
Mapgame starts out with a quite polished and slick medium sized tech-base. It sufficiently manages to establish the new textures and palette, with the characteristic blue texture variants applied to good effect. Throughout you basically get a theme consisting of grey and brown, with a few blue carpets and tiles and some acidic pools in the mix. The base interconnects quite nicely, especially given the small detour needed to collect a yellow key and raise the exit bridge (a section much like the one seen in Tom Hall and Romero's E1M4). There are a few cool design features with floors that descend and reconstruct, thus revealing new paths. The light effects and shadows are smooth and well constructed, and there is lots of nice ceiling detailing if you take your time to look around. The main visual feature of the map is a bright outdoor garden area hidden behind a secret wall, with some absolutely great looking pillar constructs supporting the base, and a neat green acid lake with rivers flowing into it. I do not find the new green falls to be particularly well done, they look too bright and loop rather abruptly, I'd much have preferred the original texture. The secret garden grants the first flack cannon of the episode. For some reason the entire map looks a bit bland, despite the level of detail and polish that went into it. It's probably the best level in the entire set though. The gameplay stays fairly easy, and includes several nicely timed lowering wall traps, and also supplies fresh opposition during backtracks. There's a welcomed berserk to compensate for the relatively tight ammo supply.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 5/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  13/18

E1M2 - Far side of the Moon
[Hunsager]
The layout in this map isn't as impressive as the previous level, and most importantly, the key pickups are too boring as they are just given away for free without any traps or ambushes appearing at all. The "Comptall" mazes and the red key feel equally excessive and creativity lacking. Implementing a "Comptall" maze is a common mistake people do when they make maps influenced by Episode 1, as this seldom adds something new, nor contributes to a distinct atmosphere in a map except for some nostalgia perhaps (some extra work has been done by making the maze 45 degrees tilted though). What's strange here is that there is really no separate red section, just some winding corridors and two red doors which only prolong the map and adds to the confusion, and the gameplay suffers as you are walking in circles while wondering why there was nothing new behind these doors. The three available secrets supply nothing more than health potions and armor bonuses so they are not very desirable to search for either. And when you finally reach the exit area you'll discover a strange texture combination with "Tekwall" and a new skull texture. On the note of the textures, there is in fact some Episode 2 inspiration here with the slightly changed blue and brown "Composho" walls in the maze.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 3/6 - Score:  10/18

[Johnsen]
One of the doors near the end didn't want to cooperate with ZDaemon, so we had to complete this one in singleplayer. It's a pretty nicely constructed map that mimics the typical Doom Episode 1 design, but it's pretty bland and fails to leave any lasting impression at all. It's fairly interconnected and deliberately made more confusing that it needed to be, mainly because of the two dark and dull E1M2 maze areas that hold two of the keys. The visually best area of the map would be the part past the yellow door, with a neatly sloped rail texture running alongside a ledge, with a green acid moat below it. Despite eventually giving it a fair rating, I didn't like this map much at all. The gameplay is straight forward Episode 1 styled stuff, perhaps a tad to the conservative side with the ammo. The three available secrets failed to engage me much.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

E1M3 - Uncontrol
[Hunsager]
"Uncontrol" is a name that suits this map perfectly. This level presents an overuse of the keys as they won't open separate sections but are just distributed around the map to make sure you have to visit every corner. I would describe the layout here as taking the shape of an octopus. The start area would be the head and you have to travel all the winding arms to collect the keys. Sooner or later you will stumble over them as they appear to be left coincidentally around the map. Make sure you collect all of them before you enter the blue door, because the red and yellow door stack up right after it. This is simply an overuse of the keys as they only serve to force you to visit every one of the arms. The new skull texture is applied again here, this time together with computer and vine textures, and I don't think it looks good. There are some nice details, like some air vents, but I don't understand why they were implemented as you hardly notice them and they don't reveal anything interesting. Air vents are a cool, classic element so we hoped to find a good secret, but there was nothing to discover. Overall I'd say that the rooms and sections are a bit more boring in this level than in the previous two, and I would even call some of the areas quite unpleasing. Apart from the garden to the west and the secret exit, this level is a dull experience.

Aesthetics: 3/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 3/6 - Score:  9/18

[Johnsen]
This is another dull, standard Episode 1 fare, with enough care for light detailing and texturing to keep it at a decent level of quality. We start out in a small yard, with a caged, square tower at the center, and several doors branching off to each side. The tower actually hosts the secret exit, and it's reachable if one pass through a textured wall to the left from the yellow key and enter a secret garden with a teleporter. The map is very mundane, and it uses a few of the really odd looking skull textures that clash badly with the overall theme. I managed to get caught in the silly crusher on my way to the yellow key, and fail to see the amusement of adding such features. There is a nice touch with a pathway that raises after one flip a switch beyond the blue door, but aside from that there isn't much to praise here. The gameplay stays rather boring but fairly well balanced, with ammo towards the tight side. One run into the first spectres in this map.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

E1M9 - Slipgates
[Hunsager]
One of the strange things with Mapgame is the size of the secret map compared to the rest, as this is in fact the largest and most monster dense creation in the collection. The map surely differs from the rest because of a confusing teleportation element. The major blunder here is that not all of the teleporters are accessible from the beginning and will instead open after you flip the corresponding switch. The teleporters are located at different spots which makes it difficult to figure out the path in this confusing map. The different sections also showcase some intrusive design and shapes which complicates the journey further. Various windows interconnect some of the rooms which adds to the confusion and make you question yourself if you have been in both parts or not. This path isn't intuitive enough, and the gameplay will suffer when the progression slows down as you are spending more time looking at the automap than gunning down monsters. This is the first level which introduces a new danger in the shape of some kind of sentry turret. It can take you by surprise at first, but it isn't difficult at all in cooperative play when one player can distract it. I have to be a bit harsh on the score here as I just can't approve how this "slipgate" concept is executed. The lesson is simple: Don't use teleporters to move the player horizontally around in the map for no good reason, instead use them to move him vertically, such as from the ground level and into a tower or from the slime and up on a ledge etc.

Aesthetics: 3/6 - Layout: 2/6 - Gameplay: 3/6 - Score:  8/18

[Johnsen]
This is the largest map in the set, with 228 monsters and five secrets. It's way too complex for its own good, with multiple teleporters that you have to unlock as you run back and forth through the mundane hallways. When a map goes out of its way to frustrate the player by overly complicating the route like this, I'm inclined to pull the rating down - despite the decent technical aspect of it, and the interconnected feel. The gameplay is harder than in the previous maps, and especially the exit area is heavily fortified. One run into the first sentry towers here, and these are well balanced and cool objects that add something fresh to the gameplay. You'll also be able to locate another flare gun here, but I found myself relying more on the shotgun. There is nothing horrible to look at in the map, neither anything particularly memorable aside from the mentioned sentries. The best part design wise is probably the fortified, large outdoor staircase section leading to the exit door. It has some really neat looking, blue tiled pillar constructions on a ledge, and a blue armor resting at the end of an acid lake. You can snag a secret by running alongside a winding mountain ledge below the pillars, but all you get for your trouble is a bunch of health potions nesting behind a bend. These underwhelming secrets seem consistent through the episode.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  11/18

E1M4 - Technical Dystropia
[Hunsager]
This is probably the shortest map in the pack, and I have the feeling that there was not enough ideas at play during the development of it. The combination with the "Startan" texture, the skulls and the vine covered walls doesn't look good. The outer walls fencing in the yard surrounding the building seem too tall, and the basement section branching out from one of the sides is rather uninteresting. There is a small UAC tower in the distance, but this nice little scenery is hardly noticeable at all and should probably have been visible from the start area instead of the exit. Wouldn't the point with such detailing be to make it noticeable? When you compare the sizes of this map and the previous secret level, wouldn't it  have been more logical if they switched spots?

Aesthetics: 3/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 3/6 - Score:  9/18

[Johnsen]
This looks almost like a filler map, but I suspect the author figured it would be nice to have a size break after the complexity of the first four maps, and it works as a nice breather. You start in a small garden part with a square looking building in front of you, and some imposing, vine clad walls to every side. The "Startan" textures make room for some highly misplaced pirate themed skull walls here and there, and the totality of it all is pretty crappy looking. A quick trip inside the square building grants a blue key which one then apply in the stray section to the west. The only nice touch to this map was the interconnecting red door allowing us to shortcut to the exit door. There are two neatly placed sentry towers on a ledge right next to the exit switch, but aside from this strategic point the gameplay stays fairly straight forward and simplistic. Visually this is probably the low of the episode, but the short size makes it more tolerable than most of them.

Aesthetics: 3/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  10/18

E1M5 - Chemical Atrophy
[Hunsager]
This is a very tiresome map that forces you to cross a dark area several times. It's probably complex enough to be called a near swastika shaped maze. You will have to collect the keys and then return to a large circular yard and it's proper to ask why there aren't any monsters teleported in to fill up the maze again as you are backtracking. There are four similar, yet different designed rooms north of the garden and I wondered why they had these strange individual details until I looked at the automap and realized they make up the letters "Doom". Maybe someone finds this cool, but personally I think it's rather embarrassing and awkward and indicates that the author didn't have enough creative ideas. It certainly wasn't a wish to create good gameplay that caused the rooms to end up like this. Even though the map is quite weak overall, the exit comes as a nice surprise and saves the map from being a complete disaster.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 2/6 - Gameplay: 3/6 - Score:  9/18

[Johnsen]
This is another frustratingly complex and confusing map that requires a lot of back and forth running. There is a cool looking generator / machinery in the yellow key garden, but I disapprove of fencing it in since the texture distorts the view. Later on one will be able to enter this area from the outdoor exit section, but the height difference between these two parts creates some horribly illogical sights. The yard with the blue key on top of an acid pillar is decent looking and hosts a rather hectic gameplay. The red key section is probably the best part of the map, spouting nice functionality and a neat view where the outer vine-clad walls have multiple sectors to give them a sloped look. There are a few neat air vent secrets here, and the exit yard looks pretty cool with the fortified walkway across the acid lake, and the glowing red star you entered from. Overall the map is way too confusing, and I really detested the dark hallway parts leading to the blue door and the yellow key. There's also a weirdly out of place looking brown-textured area tying in with that part, with some far up ceiling details that you don't really get to see unless you cheat it with mouselook or flymode.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  11/18

E1M6 - Technician's Nightmare
[Hunsager]
This is the first map with a proper Supercharge placement inside a secret garden, illustrating the kind of scenario which we have been longing for during the entire episode. The map starts out quite ordinary with some small orthogonal corridors textured with "Startan" in an odd combination with the new, brown UAC walls. There are some nice details in the room with the yellow key, but the "Tekcolumns" cause it to be too grey. The light in the garden to the north is too bright and again there is a really strange combination with vines and some large skull textures. There is a secret invisibility in this area if you can find it, but it's granted a little late as there isn't much left by then.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

[Johnsen]
The start of the map looks slightly inspired by the original E1M6, but quickly wanders into less easily recognizable Episode 1 styled areas. There are some narrow, cramped corridors early on, but they soon breach into a more open architectural style. The blue key is placed at the end of a neat looking garden area with some really cool, slightly tilted support pillars. There is an air vent that shortcuts and interconnects in a pretty sweet manner with a much larger garden. This is perhaps the visually best part of the entire episode, as you get a superb view of the base exterior, and a tasty supercharge nesting between two well constructed, fortified towers. The yellow key hall next to it is quite interesting as well, with some nice yellow ceiling lights creating a moody and dark atmosphere. The section beyond the yellow door is quite nice too, albeit a bit too over-scaled and bright for my taste. You can shoot a hidden switch between the two acid tanks and access one of them by a raising staircase. All you get at the top is a cool view and an invisibility sphere, though. Visually this map has a few highlights worth catching, but it's still a rather mundane map with a somewhat flat gameplay.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

E1M7 - The Circuits Have Fears
[Hunsager]
This is one of the best levels in the set. It consist of distinctive sections and there is an interesting change in the large "Comptall" room after the upper floor drops when you've picked up the blue key, thus revealing an ambush. There is also a good trap in the room behind the blue door with monsters popping from the floor, and we get more of the blue shades that were so distinctively present in the first map. As a last surprise we are attacked by three cacodemons, foreshadowing what is to follow in the next level.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

[Johnsen]
This is one of the most fun maps to play in the set, but that's not to say it's excellent. Some strategically placed sentry towers, a few decent traps and a berserk bonus allow for a nice flow. Design wise the map is nothing special. Rooms like the yellow key section with the brightly lit ledge contrasted by the dark void around it do have some visual flare, but somehow falls short of greatness. The exit is a similarly lit walkway in the dark, this time with a green, circular flaming pit spawning monsters at you. It's a decent sight to behold, and the three cacodemons that spawn make it a fresh confrontation.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 4/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  12/18

E1M8 - Thanatophobia
[Hunsager]
This is an arena or boss map that maintains a thematic connection with the previous level, but it is a little too dark, at least until you have conquered the monsters and the walls lower. I haven't appreciated the skull textures so far, but at least they aren't combined badly here and serve as the main scenery in the dark hall. It would probably have been better if they were savored and made exclusively for this level. There's a nice end sequence where you enter daylight and spot some tall buildings on the left. As always though, the "kill exit" is quirky, but I guess the author felt like this is the way an Episode 1 replacement must end.

Aesthetics: 3/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 4/6 - Score:  10/18

[Johnsen]
The final map is an annoying affair, with a bunch of barons perched on each their plateau inside a confined circular area, fenced on every side with the texture the author seems so fond of. You get a rocket launcher to deal out some damage with, but not enough rockets to make it a fun fight and it quickly degrades into a sluggish shotgun vs baron affair. Leading up to the the final confrontation, you have to take out a few clustered waves of lesser monsters, but it's a quick plowing. Killing the baron army will lower a wall and reveal a cool looking bridge. There's a huge outdoor garden with lots of scenery added, such as some looming, distant towers and some far down acid moats and mountainsides. All of it looks too bright though and more detail could definitely have been added to this, but my biggest gripe would be the intrusive railed fence running alongside the bridge, cluttering the view. The exit building holds a really creepy looking and ominous sounding Hell gate, with new flesh textures hanging from the ceiling and jagged teeth protruding at the bottom. It's a bit of a downer to not get a final confrontation past the bridge, and it feels a bit anticlimactic to construct such a cool exit and not have a gameplay element to it. It's probably still the most memorable part of the episode though.

Aesthetics: 4/6 - Layout: 3/6 - Gameplay: 3/6 - Score:  10/18

Hunsagers' Summary and total score:
Mapgame has a very promising title screen with a wonderful blue theme, and I like how this color tone is expressed in maps like in E1M1, E1M7 and E1M8, but I'm a bit undecided if it was a wise decision to change the palette as some of the textures look a bit too pale.

There is some obvious inspiration from Episode 1 here, but few of these maps manage to come up with an advanced layout with windows and interconnected rooms and a visually pleasing environment. Instead there are corridors and hallways and dull rooms with seemingly forgotten keys, and these medium sized maps seem to be short of underlying ideas and concepts which could have made them classic "must-plays". I would recommend catching E1M1, and then just do a warp to E1M7 and E1M8, and you'll have caught the highlights.

The gameplay in Mapgame is based on the typical Episode 1 style, with the exception of a few cacodemons at the end of E1M7 and of course the new sentry turret which is introduced in the secret map. You will probably be somewhat confused and surprised when you bump into this machinery the first time, and it can certainly give a good scare initially. However, it doesn't withstand more than three shots with the shotgun and it isn't hard to combat or dodge it as soon as you learn to recognize the sound effect ques. It's actually just based on a mini version of the Spider Master-mind, and since this is a static threat, and since Doom is all about movement with monsters that are supposed to chase the player, this doesn't add much to the gameplay but will only force you to dodge behind a corner now and again.

As doomers throughout the years have become more and more experienced, it's extremely difficult to make and Episode 1 replacement that comes off as exiting and challenging. There would have been so many more possibilities for variation if this was mad for Doom II with its supreme bestiary. Just imagine some revenants in the southern yard in E1M5 and a chaingunner in the dark maze, or if you could hear the sound of an resurrecting arch-vile roaming that same yard. I think all of it would have been a lot more tense with these monsters, and one has to realize that there is nothing you can do in Doom which you can't do in Doom II.

To draw a comparison, I will respect if someone doesn't want to have a party with alcohol involved. But if you chose to not serve some liquor you'll have to be very creative to entertain your guests and make them feel comfortable. Or equally, if you want to stick to the basics of Doom Episode 1, you really have to come up with brilliant ideas to entertain the player, or it's not gonna be much fun.

So, apart from the turret and the new weapon, has Mapgame been creative when it comes to the gameplay? I don't think so. There are some cacdemons here, but they don't show up before the very end. Why didn't the author considered implementing them earlier, maybe together with some Lost Souls even? After all, when he has already broken the Episode 1 rules by supplying berserk bonuses, why is it not as justifiable to include the Episode 2 monsters?

There is a lack of action in these level, and apart from the pirate inspired skull textures, you are gradually wondering if Mapgame is ever going to attempt being badass. Some heavier rocket launcher action might have helped. This weapon shows up in the secret map, but there are only two boxes of ammo and nineteen single rockets in the entire set, and ten of these are in the last boss fight. Even if you add the four secret backpacks, I have to say that it isn't nearly as much rocket action as I'd expect. Apart from seven welcomed berserks and and equal amount of green armors, there's only one Megaarmor, one biosuit, two invisibilities and two Supercharges distributed through the entire episode.

My thought isn't that one should throw in overloads of items for no good, but to implement them timely and allow for some clever use with the given environments. In The Ultimate Doom  you have lesser oppertunities than in Doom II, so you have to seize them and thoughtfully value every item as if they were gold. Mapgame has a strange lack of acidic areas or dark hallways in need of light amp goggles, which contributes to the lack of variation or need for items here, further adding to the boring and monotonous feel of the levels.

My conclusion would be that apart from the teleport craze in E1M9, there have been committed few fatal errors here. However, there is a prevailing parsimonious use of the items and a lack of outstanding ideas.

My score: 3.37

Aesthetics: 3.55 - Layout: 3.11 - Gameplay - 3.44
(Awarded points: 32 / 28 / 31 = 91)

        

Johnsens' Summary and total score:
Mapgame is a weird release. The new palette and textures obviously had some work and thought gone into them, and they do create a somewhat unique feel and look. The paler blue color replacing the stark blue one of the original game, do look nice. The new flare gun is OK, although I found myself switching back to the shotgun most of the time since it didn't pack much of a punch. The sentry towers are really cool looking and they work surprisingly well. I'm appreciative of the fact that they only take three well aimed shotgun blasts to destroy. Replacing the original shotgun sound with a new and annoyingly crappy one was not such a good move.

The txt state that the author didn't implement multiplayer settings beyond the player starts, which is an odd and somewhat lazy decision in 2009. As a result we didn't enjoy the cooperative session much because the ammo is balanced for one player, and becomes borderline too tight. I also completed most of the maps from scratch, and they seem fairly well balanced then. The gameplay failed to engage me much, but this ties in with the annoyingly complex layouts more so than the mixture of monsters and weapons. There's only one wave of teleporting monsters here, all the rest is left to familiar and well working gameplay gimmicks such as lowering walls, monsters popping from the floors or simply clustering behind doors and hallways, with a few more strategically placed individuals in between.

None of the maps are huge, but they feel quite frustrating and very confusing to navigate. The author seems to have taken some joy in making them as bewildering as possible. A lot of the detail work seems partly gone to waste since the sections often defeat the views by clustering them with railed fences, too bright light-levels or too high ceilings. I do not care much at all for the new brown walls with the different skulls, they look like something out of a pirate conversion and crash badly with the Episode 1 theme. The secrets completely failed to engage me because they hold such sparse rewards - and several of them are simply passable textures or "press wall" triggers.

The entire episode seems strangely void of soul and warmth - perhaps as a consequence of the altered palette, and I find it quite the boring affair. It's not a crappy and hasty looking release, but it feels much like a shell where the creativity is subtly present but never blossoms enough to take it to any heights. I'd call it as flat and mundane as Doom can get despite having decent visuals, interconnected layouts and a gameplay that attempts to stay well measured. I'm never going to play this again, and I felt very disengaged while reviewing it.

My score: 3.81

Aesthetics: 3.88 - Layout: 3.66 - Gameplay - 3.88
(Awarded points: 35 / 33 / 35 = 103)

COMBINED SCORE: 3.59

Aesthetics: 3.72 - Layout: 3.38 - Gameplay - 3.66