[Epic 2] MAP31: Osirion (UV-Max Demo)

we're on to the secret maps now. as you might guess from the opening, this is a misri halek tribute. unfortunately it inherits that map's lugubrious pacing, while not quite reaching the same heights in terms of scale, and has some incredibly annoying innovations. from the start, there's some pretty severe ammo deprivation, and you don't get the berserk for a little bit either. there's also a whole room of enemies that serves no purpose but to waste ammo. eventually you get on even footing, especially if you punch a hell knight or two. the whole sequence of switches that follows is completely nonsensical though. in my opinion having a bunch of switches with no clear function gets aggravating frequently.
really the most aggravating part of the level comes with the cyberdemon encounter in the middle. there's a big staircase with a number of landings, and it gets to teleport around somewhat randomly. this is incredibly difficult to predict and can lead to you getting shot in the back unexpectedly. the only saving grace here is the three rocket volley causes the cyberdemon to stand still, allowing you to move without getting flanked. this also helps actually finish off the cyberdemon as otherwise it's almost impossible to chase down and land a bfg shot on it. oh and to actually get the bfg you need to duck past it to the outside area. this part is actually pretty nice, even if i kept thinking i'd fall in the lava. there's also a map here which helps with chasing down the last few areas going to the secret exit. the other big aggravation is the two cyberdemons guarding the regular exit. try as i might i couldn't find a consistent way to deal with these as the room is incredibly small and the pillars impede your movement. all i could really manage was holding down the fire button and hoping one of them died quickly, which thankfully happened here.
epic 2: www.doomworld....
get the demo: s3.yrriban.net...
source port used: dsda-doom 0.27.5
sound font used: arachno.sf2
flags: -complevel 2