Review by DrCrypt

This is by no means a good map: in fact, it is a pretty appalling map, but for some reason, I really like it. Maybe its just because that it really reminds me of the color-blind levels of the old days, founded by id designer Sandy Petersen himself (who couldn't texture levels worth a shit, and whom American McGee once speculated was color-blind). I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: all those really bad but somehow cool older levels, where every room is textured with at least 39 conflicting colors, but the melted-cotton candy effect is strangely pleasing to the eye. Or maybe its just me. Oh well. At any rate, this level is an aesthetic travesty, but its still pretty cool to look at in some points, just because the author of the level textures in the weirdest way and to hell with any straight "theme".

At any rate, from the textfile:

Arch Viles guard the blue keycard you need to open the exit but to find them you must journey through three domains. Those of Man, nature, and (last but not least) The Devil. Lots of secrets that you will probly need to find in order to LIVE! This level is ROUGH!

I don't know how rough it is, since I managed to beat it without even saving, although when you get jumped by the two archies and a couple of Revenants, things do get a bit rough. Also, I thought the theme of the entire level was supposed to be the domain of the Devil. I mean, the Devil's quagmire is hell, right? Well, this level certainly looks like it. :)

Actually, the middle domain is quite sensible looking, but unfortunately, the first two domains are just atrociously textured and decorated. They aren't annoying looking or anything and in fact had me smiling, but still... from an artistic standpoint, the author of this level should never be trusted to paint a house. There is no real progression through this level, really... I mean, you'll end up where you need to be at the end, but instead of progressing through a series of challenges and puzzles, you sort of stumble through three huge rooms, gawking in bemusement at the texturing choices, and then stumble onto the two switches you need to let loose the archviles. Monster placement is pretty decent, although nothing to write home about. Architecture is pretty bad, honestly, but there are no HOMs or other errors and its sort of fun to just jump around like a baboon for a few minutes in this level. It is a bad level, but it is soundly constructed. Health and ammo are scarce enough in some places to make it interesting. Of course, there are all these frivolous power ups and weapons lying around, but still... coreless is fun, in a perverse way.

Oh, by the way, this is also from the text file, and made me laugh:

As of 03/14/96 all extra textures have been removed. This is sure to improve the wads performance.

I'm not quite clear what he means by extra textures, considering that this level already looks like Andy Warhol's DOOM nightmare.

Overall, I'm giving the level a 1, but I give it in love and fondness. I'm in a good mood today. :)