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WAD Review - Eviltech: Soul Of Megawad
10 years ago
General
Eviltech: Soul Of Megawad (click to download)
Click here for screenshots
INFO: 32 maps. Requires DOOM2.WAD and a limit-removing source port. (GZDoom recommended by the designer.)
BUGS AND ISSUES: In the version I played, some of the later levels had "exit level" switch actions applied to normal walls, allowing you to press them and finish maps earlier than intended. Yes, I exploited this. XD
RATING: 3 out of 5
Eviltech: Soul of Megawad is a chameleon, repeatedly changing its colors and never fully settling on one gameplay style.
Simple, efficient and quick: these words describe the first 11 levels of Eviltech. I was reminded quite a bit of the old Serenity series for Doom 1 with these maps, with how the level layouts were both winding and straightforward at once: hallways loop around and through each other in every direction making for a complex but compact network of passages, and yet every time you find a key or necessary switch, almost immediately after, a shortcut would open up that would lead you right to the newly-unlocked area you needed to revisit. Couple that with the fact that enemy forces consisted entirely of the easier Doom 1 enemies, and that picking up keys often didn't trigger ambushes (unheard of, I know), and even my slowpoke self soon adopted a brisk pace, tearing through these initial 11 levels in under 2 hours (and that's with backtracking to find as many secrets as I could). These were really simple, laid-back levels that didn't want to waste your time, and I was rather enjoying them.
Then you get to Map12. The endless series of Doom 1-style techbase levels have been replaced with a more Doom 2-styled urban flair (which returns to a techbase theme by the next map, by the way), complete with the first appearances of Doom 2 enemies and items. It's distinctly different than what's come before, which is exciting at first.
But things quickly start to get worse from that initial impression. Complex but efficient design gives way to bloated, unbelievably convoluted mazes where you're wondering what the heck that last switch did and which one of the multiple routes available is actually necessary for progression. Before, I could clear 11 maps in 2 hours, but with these new levels, it was taking me as much time as that or more to beat just 2 maps. And where you once breezed through fast-paced skirmishes, you now trudge through repeated, spammy ambushes that seem to occur any time you do anything at all, which tend to either surround or corner you, giving you virtually no chance of avoiding damage. This is all hard enough to stomach as is, but the precedent for lightweight, speedy action had been set by the earlier levels, and having it abruptly replaced is an especially bitter sensation.
And yet, I kept plugging away at this WAD. Once I got adjusted to the drastic change in gameplay tone, I found it oddly compelling. Sure, a lot of the traps and ambushes are still total BS (those crushing ceilings in Map17, ugh), backtracking is a complete nightmare, and more than once I had to save my game and just walk away to calm myself and gather my sanity. But there's something appealing about a modern mapset that challenges your sense of direction as much as your reflexes -- something becoming increasingly rare in the modern Doom climate of endless action-focused slaughtermaps.
To a degree, Eviltech's second episode managed to resurrect the feelings I got from playing Doom for the first time, when all the maps felt huge and labyrinthine and impossibly complicated, and when any one of the many ambushes could abruptly spell my demise. These maps instilling such emotions in me once again made for an addictive experience despite (and sometimes because of) the frustration.
(Map19's repetitive combat scenarios and Map20's obnoxious platforming and spiderdemon sections make for objectively bad level design, though. There's no sugarcoating that.)
But wouldn't you know it? The gameplay style switches up yet again with Map21, and it starts feeling more like a typical modern PWAD, with levels that are shorter and less complicated than the previous episode. The addition of arch-viles (which were pleasantly absent for most of the WAD) and combat with an overall more slaughtery tone (especially Map29) only compounds the generic feeling. It's not that these levels are awful (well, aside from the intensely frustrating Map29), but they lack the distinct hooks of their predecessors, making the WAD go out on a bit of a low note.
Inconsistency is both a burden and a boon for Eviltech. The abrupt changes in gameplay style can prove to be infuriating if you're not prepared, but it's nice playing a megaWAD where all the tricks aren't exhausted in the first few levels. While it's far from the best mapset I've ever played, the design risks it takes make it one of the more memorable ones. For those nostalgic types looking for good, simple `94-style maps (for the first 11 levels, at least) or some massive, complex brain-teasers (for the subsequent 9 levels), Eviltech: Soul of Megawad is the mapset for you. The less-patient Doomers amongst us probably shouldn't bother (or consider skipping to Map21).
~
Click here for screenshots
INFO: 32 maps. Requires DOOM2.WAD and a limit-removing source port. (GZDoom recommended by the designer.)
BUGS AND ISSUES: In the version I played, some of the later levels had "exit level" switch actions applied to normal walls, allowing you to press them and finish maps earlier than intended. Yes, I exploited this. XD
RATING: 3 out of 5
Eviltech: Soul of Megawad is a chameleon, repeatedly changing its colors and never fully settling on one gameplay style.
Simple, efficient and quick: these words describe the first 11 levels of Eviltech. I was reminded quite a bit of the old Serenity series for Doom 1 with these maps, with how the level layouts were both winding and straightforward at once: hallways loop around and through each other in every direction making for a complex but compact network of passages, and yet every time you find a key or necessary switch, almost immediately after, a shortcut would open up that would lead you right to the newly-unlocked area you needed to revisit. Couple that with the fact that enemy forces consisted entirely of the easier Doom 1 enemies, and that picking up keys often didn't trigger ambushes (unheard of, I know), and even my slowpoke self soon adopted a brisk pace, tearing through these initial 11 levels in under 2 hours (and that's with backtracking to find as many secrets as I could). These were really simple, laid-back levels that didn't want to waste your time, and I was rather enjoying them.
Then you get to Map12. The endless series of Doom 1-style techbase levels have been replaced with a more Doom 2-styled urban flair (which returns to a techbase theme by the next map, by the way), complete with the first appearances of Doom 2 enemies and items. It's distinctly different than what's come before, which is exciting at first.
But things quickly start to get worse from that initial impression. Complex but efficient design gives way to bloated, unbelievably convoluted mazes where you're wondering what the heck that last switch did and which one of the multiple routes available is actually necessary for progression. Before, I could clear 11 maps in 2 hours, but with these new levels, it was taking me as much time as that or more to beat just 2 maps. And where you once breezed through fast-paced skirmishes, you now trudge through repeated, spammy ambushes that seem to occur any time you do anything at all, which tend to either surround or corner you, giving you virtually no chance of avoiding damage. This is all hard enough to stomach as is, but the precedent for lightweight, speedy action had been set by the earlier levels, and having it abruptly replaced is an especially bitter sensation.
And yet, I kept plugging away at this WAD. Once I got adjusted to the drastic change in gameplay tone, I found it oddly compelling. Sure, a lot of the traps and ambushes are still total BS (those crushing ceilings in Map17, ugh), backtracking is a complete nightmare, and more than once I had to save my game and just walk away to calm myself and gather my sanity. But there's something appealing about a modern mapset that challenges your sense of direction as much as your reflexes -- something becoming increasingly rare in the modern Doom climate of endless action-focused slaughtermaps.
To a degree, Eviltech's second episode managed to resurrect the feelings I got from playing Doom for the first time, when all the maps felt huge and labyrinthine and impossibly complicated, and when any one of the many ambushes could abruptly spell my demise. These maps instilling such emotions in me once again made for an addictive experience despite (and sometimes because of) the frustration.
(Map19's repetitive combat scenarios and Map20's obnoxious platforming and spiderdemon sections make for objectively bad level design, though. There's no sugarcoating that.)
But wouldn't you know it? The gameplay style switches up yet again with Map21, and it starts feeling more like a typical modern PWAD, with levels that are shorter and less complicated than the previous episode. The addition of arch-viles (which were pleasantly absent for most of the WAD) and combat with an overall more slaughtery tone (especially Map29) only compounds the generic feeling. It's not that these levels are awful (well, aside from the intensely frustrating Map29), but they lack the distinct hooks of their predecessors, making the WAD go out on a bit of a low note.
Inconsistency is both a burden and a boon for Eviltech. The abrupt changes in gameplay style can prove to be infuriating if you're not prepared, but it's nice playing a megaWAD where all the tricks aren't exhausted in the first few levels. While it's far from the best mapset I've ever played, the design risks it takes make it one of the more memorable ones. For those nostalgic types looking for good, simple `94-style maps (for the first 11 levels, at least) or some massive, complex brain-teasers (for the subsequent 9 levels), Eviltech: Soul of Megawad is the mapset for you. The less-patient Doomers amongst us probably shouldn't bother (or consider skipping to Map21).
~
