[Alien Vendetta] MAP10: Toxic Touch (UV-Max Demo)

sewer levels have a well-earned reputation of being the worst level in any particular video game. fortunately vanilla doom wads are limited in the tedium they can inflict on the player in these types of levels, but they're certainly capable of rendering endless twisty passages that are easy to get lost in. and yet toxic touch has managed to rise above tons of other doom levels, and is considered one of the most memorable doom levels ever made (#56, on the list produced in 2018). and you know what? i think the accolades are more than deserved. but it's hard to articulate in words exactly why this level works so well. i think some of it is the use of verticality, and especially all the tall slimefalls. there's also once again lots of detailed lighting work that sells this as being actually underground. combatwise, there's a lot of relatively standard encounters, but they're granted substantial additional tension by the almost-nonexistent health-extending items in this level - no soulspheres, no megaspheres, and just one green armor mean that you're never quite as far away from death as you'd hope. fortunately the heavy projectile monsters are relatively few in this level, as one good hit from a hell knight or revenant would have killed me immediately throughout a lot of the level. the flipside is that hitscanners are absolutely everywhere, and a lot of the level requires taking corners carefully and knowing where ambushes are going to come from. really the only part i dislike is the shotgunners behind the grates near the yellow key; it's hard to remember that you're supposed to go back there, and there really isn't any reason to unless you're going for all the kills.
but i guess the upshot is: like all the best, kim andre malde takes a bunch of fiddly, precise work and makes the end product look effortless.
alien vendetta: www.doomworld.com/idgames/lev...
av midi pack: www.doomworld.com/idgames/mus...
get the demo: s3.yrriban.net/doom/av_map10.lmp
source port used: dsda-doom 0.27.5
sound font used: arachno.sf2
flags: -complevel 2

[@Skronkidonk]

Your description pretty much sums up this map perfectly! Toxic Touch really holds a specific aura that's indescribable (like you mentioned). MtPain27 acutely described the map as "everything being in the right place", Which I completely agree with. The entire map feels completely natural and is perfectly complimented by Castle Gardens being the map that Segway's you into this masterpiece. Not to mention the length of this map is much more bearable compared to Misri Halek, not saying that MAP20 is painfully long. But its a lot easier to boot up Toxic Touch and beat it in maybe 12 - 18 minutes than it is to play Misri Halek for maybe 30 minutes upwards to an hour. Malde really had a knack for atmosphere and lighting and Toxic Touch is arguably where he did it best. Great run!