I’m only beginning with this exploration of fan-made Doom wads, and i finally sat down with the widely acclaimed Alien Vendetta, considered by many as “the most influential wad ever”
The first 10 levels were a very exciting experience, and i guess those are the only maps of this wad i see myself replaying in the future. As for the rest of the wad, i have to say i felt disapointed, and even completely unpleased at times.
I don’t have enough background to understand properly in which manner this wad has been so influential for the Doom community. All i can see is that this Wad had a thing for extreme difficulty, which could go in two directions:
1. Difficulty in terms of exploration, which means that certain maps are just so complex they’ll keep you going round and round trying to find the missing switch or key, ending up being a pretty dull, tedious and frustrating. The typical examples are Map 11, and Map 20, the famous egyptian-themed “Misri Halek”. Both of them took me a bit more than an hour each to finish. In the case of Map 11, i think that difficulty is mostly due to a really bad design, but in the case of Misri Halek, it’s definitely a desired effect, since no human on earth can ever dare say that Misri Halek is a badly designed map. It’s just that it’s artistic ambition ends up going against gameplay. And i wanted to play Doom, not f***ing Hexen.
2. Difficulty in terms of combat, which is pretty well represented by this wad’s obsession in throwing in some slaughtery moments in probably most of it’s maps. This is not really a problem by itself, since a very specific slaughtery moment at a certain point of a map could be a very exciting challenge, one that enhaces the overall quality of the map. The real problem here is the actual slaughter maps, from Map25 onwards. And also Map32, which is also a slaughter map but since it was the first one that i played, i had enough patience to deal with it. From Map 25 onwards i just lost my will, and i just turned on the cheats in order to get through the next level, just to find out that it was another slaughter map. I just don’t understand that style of maps, and what’s so fun about them. Pretty sure it wasn’t the first one, but i’ve read somewhere that AV is actually the one that popularised slaughter maps. If so, i guess that part of AV’s influence isn’t really a positive thing. Anyway, my information could be completely wrong, and of course my dislike for slaughter maps is just me.
In conclusion, the first third of the WAD is definitely the most fun and consistent. Second third starts to get a bit tiring, despite some memorable moments like map 20 (which still has a pretty questionable gameplay). The final third is also a combination of forgettable maps, with the infamous slaughter maps which are absolute garbage if you ask me.
Favourite maps: 04. Seclusion/ 08. Beast Island/ 09. Castle Gardens/ 10. Toxic Touch /23. Blood Sacrifice/ 31. Killer Colours
Worst maps: 11. Nemesis/ 25. Demonic Hordes/ 26. Dark Dome / 27. Stench Of Evil / 29. Fire Walk With Me / 30. Point Dreadful
And of course Misri Halek deserves a honorable mention, probably one of the most memorable maps ever done.
The first 10 levels were a very exciting experience, and i guess those are the only maps of this wad i see myself replaying in the future. As for the rest of the wad, i have to say i felt disapointed, and even completely unpleased at times.
I don’t have enough background to understand properly in which manner this wad has been so influential for the Doom community. All i can see is that this Wad had a thing for extreme difficulty, which could go in two directions:
1. Difficulty in terms of exploration, which means that certain maps are just so complex they’ll keep you going round and round trying to find the missing switch or key, ending up being a pretty dull, tedious and frustrating. The typical examples are Map 11, and Map 20, the famous egyptian-themed “Misri Halek”. Both of them took me a bit more than an hour each to finish. In the case of Map 11, i think that difficulty is mostly due to a really bad design, but in the case of Misri Halek, it’s definitely a desired effect, since no human on earth can ever dare say that Misri Halek is a badly designed map. It’s just that it’s artistic ambition ends up going against gameplay. And i wanted to play Doom, not f***ing Hexen.
2. Difficulty in terms of combat, which is pretty well represented by this wad’s obsession in throwing in some slaughtery moments in probably most of it’s maps. This is not really a problem by itself, since a very specific slaughtery moment at a certain point of a map could be a very exciting challenge, one that enhaces the overall quality of the map. The real problem here is the actual slaughter maps, from Map25 onwards. And also Map32, which is also a slaughter map but since it was the first one that i played, i had enough patience to deal with it. From Map 25 onwards i just lost my will, and i just turned on the cheats in order to get through the next level, just to find out that it was another slaughter map. I just don’t understand that style of maps, and what’s so fun about them. Pretty sure it wasn’t the first one, but i’ve read somewhere that AV is actually the one that popularised slaughter maps. If so, i guess that part of AV’s influence isn’t really a positive thing. Anyway, my information could be completely wrong, and of course my dislike for slaughter maps is just me.
In conclusion, the first third of the WAD is definitely the most fun and consistent. Second third starts to get a bit tiring, despite some memorable moments like map 20 (which still has a pretty questionable gameplay). The final third is also a combination of forgettable maps, with the infamous slaughter maps which are absolute garbage if you ask me.
Favourite maps: 04. Seclusion/ 08. Beast Island/ 09. Castle Gardens/ 10. Toxic Touch /23. Blood Sacrifice/ 31. Killer Colours
Worst maps: 11. Nemesis/ 25. Demonic Hordes/ 26. Dark Dome / 27. Stench Of Evil / 29. Fire Walk With Me / 30. Point Dreadful
And of course Misri Halek deserves a honorable mention, probably one of the most memorable maps ever done.