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| I haven't mentioned it, but I like the little icon in the lower right |
E2M1, what's this? Different wall textures? In Wolfenstein 3D? What Satanic ritual is this? Effort put into level design? A spooky dank dungeon without any enemies yet? Tension? This level introduces the undead, or Frankenstein as I call them. They're technically called mutants, but that's not mentioned in-game. It's troublesome to kill these guys with just a pistol, one wrong move and they gun you down. I did get gunned down. Wandered right into the level exit, where three of them mopped up my bullets and then myself. Well played, well played. Playing these levels pistol start might be fun, or it would be if I could do that without letting an enemy kill me.. This sudden burst of difficulty is short-lived as the other two doors at the start led me to all the firepower I'd need. No more using the MP-40, its the gatling from here on out.
E2M10, a blue ceiling? What sorcery is this? This level is actually really neat, despite the constant use of blue blocks. It seems to be intended as some cross between a secret dungeon and treasure room. There are signs the mutants don't like the humans. Well, when they aren't both gunning you down at the same time.
E2M2, the undead are really good at sneaking up on you, since they have no alert noise. So naturally, they snuck one right behind you at the start. This level continues the tension. I die again, leaving me without any real weapons. Fortunately, a secret allows me to avoid making the same mistake twice. I am forced to gun down two SS members for their SMG, like a peasent. The choice of AI in this seems questionable. I presume this has the same option as the Doom engine to allow the AI to "ambush" the player. I.E., not react to sound. Yet this seems to have been activated on an SS who has no reason to ambush the player, as he just saw me gun down his comrade. This is also one heck of a level. This one has the first mandatory secret. Not a lot of health items either.
E2M3, this one continues the trend of placing the enemy in sneaky positions. I find that slowly looking out gradually more from a safe position helps prevent them from shooting you in the back. A curious area with pillars seems to serve no real purpose except hide treasure.
E2M4, now they're just screwing with me. Starting off right in front of an undead. We're really in the thick of it now. An unwise move to a secret area brings more enemies than in the level proper. There are a lot of enemies in the level proper. I didn't know that the 1-up orb gave you full health. I needed it, thanks to a neverending swarm of the undead.
E2M5, this one's a bit of a slaughter map. The enemies are frequently placed in large grounds where they easily hear you, yet are quickly dispatched with a burst of fire. It briefly got harrowing when I thought I'd run out of ammo. I actually reached single digits.
E2M6, not the purple walls again. I hate the purple walls. It breaks away into a normal-ish area, but I do not like this texture. Once again I die do to the enemy getting the first strike. Just what I wanted, more using the pistol to gun down the undead. This one's obnoxious in its mazeness. We also get the first appearance of the elevator trap, at least on skill level 3. Presumably, there's a bugger hiding somewhere on Death Incarnate. This one is in the form of two elevator exits. Seeing that the trap part involves picking the one used for the level entrance, I picked it anyway. I also got full 100% of enemies, secrets and treasures. Somehow I felt like I was missing a lot.
E2M7, is a bit annoying. You see, the level proper is like 30 seconds. Its so short you activate the level exit thinking its a secret and a trap. Nope, this level is almost as short as it appears, except for the massive secret area that is the entire level.
E2M8, a nice large level. More effort was put in this level than the entirity of the first episode. It feels like a real place. However, this also has a secret maze, as in, a maze where you have to push blocks. I looked this up because this is garbage and whoever thought it up should've been fired. This is known as the Aardwolf maze. It contains 179 secrets, making this the level with the most secrets in any commercial product. I feel I can safely award it that without any fear of being wrong.
E2M9, haven't seen a full metal room yet. Probably because it makes it look like you're in a bank vault. We get to fight Dr. Schabbs. He throws syringes. As in, he has a projectile attack. This makes him the easiest boss in the game. You'll have more trouble fighting the undead in his lab than him.
Deaths: 5
Final Score: 649300
It's gotten better, but I'm not exactly joyous yet.
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