Review by Colin Phipps

"LOCAL HERO for DOOM II" is a single medium sized level for Doom2. The title, and the fact that this is this author's first level, meant I wasn't expecting great things from this one. The plot in the text file is marked as "Cheesy Doom story" and I think that is a pretty good description; basically you are in a city overrun by the demons, and have to get through.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level though. The design is pretty good; the imported deep blue sky is a good choice, gives the level a nice feel. There are some nice architectural features, although some areas would be considered underdetailed. Some parts were good, others seemed unrealistic for a city.

The gameplay has some good features too. There is good use of releasing cacodemons over the city, whose flying makes them powerful in this sort of level. There is tons of ammo and you need a lot too, there's plenty of fighting to do. On the downside, there were many shoot-through walls used, which I never like; and a tendency to have too many monsters all of one type at once.

The fight at the end is interesting, when about 3 cyberdemons get released to wander around the city. You don't have to fight them though, there's a secret invulnerability you can use to get past and finish the level quickly.

Overall, I considered this level worth playing just for the area pictured; the flaming cans are nice, and there's a clever level progression in that area.