FATAL
June 18th, 2007, 11:39 AM
Stairs To Hell
Author: Vasek "Damned" Havranek
stairsth.zip (383 KB)
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pc/games/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/s-u/stairsth.zip
Port: ZDoom
Singleplayer
1 Map
Reviewer: Danimetal
Score: 5
When it comes to review wads I like to have some information about the author in the txt file (as told in some other review, I like to read these things to know what I´m about to play and, of course, to get a storyline, a mood and even some objectives or details). Stairs to Hell features a short storyline (in the way of "Something has gone wrong in a base when communications broke down") and no information about the author but some research on the idgames database could lead us to think that this is his first wad ever published.
Anyway, Stairs to Hell is a level that seems to change its focus with every step you take: it starts off in some full-lit rock surface with an entrance to a rusty tech complex. This entrance is leading to endless stairs that would seem to end in Hell itself making you think that´s the focus of the map but soon you get to some rooms that will lead you trough narrow and dark rock passages into what you would think to be Hell followed by rock caverns and, suddenly, more tech and caverns to it. Somewhat the layout of the map makes sense and makes you think of some kind of excavation going on and well, the dark look and the music certainly gives a lot of mood to this wad. It´s a shame that the visuals are not as shiny as the mood: some combinations are odd and unplesant (like a tech area with an insane amount of red and brown, quite violent to me), there are several misalignments in floors and walls and, regarding detail, the author seems to know a few nice tricks but it looks as if more practice is needed in pulling them out... This map would be much more bright visually speaking (with an increase on the mood) with some tweaking but, to be honest, the look is good enough.
As you have just read, you´re lead through different areas. Each of the areas has a different challenge to it (mainly battles, ambushes and some jumping since there´s only a couple of switch puzzles) and, while the idea is nice, it´s not pulled out as well as I would like. For example, the first battles are quite tight in terms of ammunition given the environment (not that you have to face them) and ambushes are quite predictable. As you go on you get some random firefights and near the end, fights could be labelled as "cheap" with strong monsters and without enough cover to avoid damage (or with details that will make you stuck when you need to run and hide)... Puzzles aren´t bright too: searching for a switch in a Hell maze chased by a cyberdemon seems fun but if you throw in some spectres you can´t almost see you´ll find yourself blocked by them and smashed by missiles once and again (that made me switch from Ultra Violence to Hurt me Plenty and, still, I got unfair battles)... And well, we can keep on counting with some jumps that could get beginners on their nerves (if they ever reach to them), some pits that drain your health instead of instantly killing you, moody descending tunnels in wich you will be stuck with every step... It would seem to me that most ideas on this map are flawed by their lack of gameplay in most cases. In the top of all, ammo ceases to be tight as you go on but it´s hard to find a welcome Rocket Launcher and health is always scarce so you face harder and harder battles with little resources on your side.
I would have liked this wad a lot if it was more playable but that wasn´t the case. You can easily get to the first red Hell area but all that lays beyond is absolute nightmare. The ending is also dissapointing (tons of imps trying to block your way that can be avoided with no problems) and could have been done much better if the doors would have taken more to open, forcing you to defend your position.
What would be a nice fix to this map in my opinion?. First, a complete review of the gameplay from the first puzzle to the end in order to make it more playable (and less dependant on save-load features). Then (why not?) some visual tweaking and little amounts of freedom in terms of linearity... With that, I would love this map and its concept and would give it a higher rating than the one I´m giving: a 5 because of it just manages to keep it floating without sinking.
<a href="http://img344.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stairsth013he.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img344.imageshack.us/img344/9634/stairsth013he.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img268.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stairsth025mu.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/600/stairsth025mu.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img268.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stairsth035hs.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4771/stairsth035hs.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
The rock surface seen both at the beginning and the end of the map.
Nice metal chops in this cave area.
A view of a tech area.
Author: Vasek "Damned" Havranek
stairsth.zip (383 KB)
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pc/games/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/s-u/stairsth.zip
Port: ZDoom
Singleplayer
1 Map
Reviewer: Danimetal
Score: 5
When it comes to review wads I like to have some information about the author in the txt file (as told in some other review, I like to read these things to know what I´m about to play and, of course, to get a storyline, a mood and even some objectives or details). Stairs to Hell features a short storyline (in the way of "Something has gone wrong in a base when communications broke down") and no information about the author but some research on the idgames database could lead us to think that this is his first wad ever published.
Anyway, Stairs to Hell is a level that seems to change its focus with every step you take: it starts off in some full-lit rock surface with an entrance to a rusty tech complex. This entrance is leading to endless stairs that would seem to end in Hell itself making you think that´s the focus of the map but soon you get to some rooms that will lead you trough narrow and dark rock passages into what you would think to be Hell followed by rock caverns and, suddenly, more tech and caverns to it. Somewhat the layout of the map makes sense and makes you think of some kind of excavation going on and well, the dark look and the music certainly gives a lot of mood to this wad. It´s a shame that the visuals are not as shiny as the mood: some combinations are odd and unplesant (like a tech area with an insane amount of red and brown, quite violent to me), there are several misalignments in floors and walls and, regarding detail, the author seems to know a few nice tricks but it looks as if more practice is needed in pulling them out... This map would be much more bright visually speaking (with an increase on the mood) with some tweaking but, to be honest, the look is good enough.
As you have just read, you´re lead through different areas. Each of the areas has a different challenge to it (mainly battles, ambushes and some jumping since there´s only a couple of switch puzzles) and, while the idea is nice, it´s not pulled out as well as I would like. For example, the first battles are quite tight in terms of ammunition given the environment (not that you have to face them) and ambushes are quite predictable. As you go on you get some random firefights and near the end, fights could be labelled as "cheap" with strong monsters and without enough cover to avoid damage (or with details that will make you stuck when you need to run and hide)... Puzzles aren´t bright too: searching for a switch in a Hell maze chased by a cyberdemon seems fun but if you throw in some spectres you can´t almost see you´ll find yourself blocked by them and smashed by missiles once and again (that made me switch from Ultra Violence to Hurt me Plenty and, still, I got unfair battles)... And well, we can keep on counting with some jumps that could get beginners on their nerves (if they ever reach to them), some pits that drain your health instead of instantly killing you, moody descending tunnels in wich you will be stuck with every step... It would seem to me that most ideas on this map are flawed by their lack of gameplay in most cases. In the top of all, ammo ceases to be tight as you go on but it´s hard to find a welcome Rocket Launcher and health is always scarce so you face harder and harder battles with little resources on your side.
I would have liked this wad a lot if it was more playable but that wasn´t the case. You can easily get to the first red Hell area but all that lays beyond is absolute nightmare. The ending is also dissapointing (tons of imps trying to block your way that can be avoided with no problems) and could have been done much better if the doors would have taken more to open, forcing you to defend your position.
What would be a nice fix to this map in my opinion?. First, a complete review of the gameplay from the first puzzle to the end in order to make it more playable (and less dependant on save-load features). Then (why not?) some visual tweaking and little amounts of freedom in terms of linearity... With that, I would love this map and its concept and would give it a higher rating than the one I´m giving: a 5 because of it just manages to keep it floating without sinking.
<a href="http://img344.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stairsth013he.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img344.imageshack.us/img344/9634/stairsth013he.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img268.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stairsth025mu.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/600/stairsth025mu.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img268.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stairsth035hs.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4771/stairsth035hs.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
The rock surface seen both at the beginning and the end of the map.
Nice metal chops in this cave area.
A view of a tech area.