Review by Colin Phipps

I've been going through my old reviews, finding those old levels that were too big or slow to be playable back then. Levels like 2BOSSES were once spoilt by the savegame bug and jerky gameplay, but with the advantage of Boom and a faster computer, I took another look. And I was disappointed: 2BOSSES is certainly large, both in scale and in number of rooms, but there is little quality to go around.

Usually I mention a level that comes with a plot because I see it as a positive feature. However the short lead-in for this level is somewhere between useless and misleading. And I don't remember meeting either of the 2 bosses that give the level its name.

The architecture is poor, though perhaps typical of the age of the level. The rooms are mostly cuboid and featureless, usually all in one texture. The corridors are worse, being long and featureless. There are better rooms in places, but these are alas the exception rather than the rule. The text file says

Some rooms are rather empty, because the game may slow down if there is too much decoration - and there are limitations of the DOOM engine.

and I simply couldn't resist commenting on this. If you designed a level of a sensible size then speed and Doom limitations would not be a problem. And you won't convince me you can't put in decoration in a room when you put in a block of 100 sergeants in formation instead! ;-)

The gameplay was better, with traps, and windows looking down from one area into another. But there was a steady supply of ammo, and most of the rooms were large so the fights were rarely that intense or dangerous. There were good moments, but generally I was not that impressed. The level would be harder if you didn't find the many secrets that are available, but once I found one secret, I often found several others in the same pattern, so I did find a lot of them.

There are good bits but, overall, this level shows its age and is a disappointment.