The DWmegawad Club plays: Overboard & Running Late 2 & Fractured Worlds

MAP11: Break Room. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 319/321 K, 3/3 S, 70/70 I. Completion time 48:02.

 

Lately the long maps of RL2 hasn't bothered me that much -- I had good time with Break Room, although I at the start I was afraid it was going to be a Tyson map. Tyson-start usually seems to have a peculiar effect on me: I try to survive with berserk fists as long as possible, even when it's not necessary. I seem to fall into impression that ammo is going to be tight because the mapper gave me the berserk pack.

 

Despite length, Break Room doesn't really grow tiresome, and my only gripes would be that two of the enemies couldn't be killed: they were placed on top each other so they won't move and teleport out of the teleporter closet. Tsk! Also the plasma gun secret was weird -- I spent quite some time trying to looking for a way to open it, but I couldn't find it. And then, long after the map gives a plasma gun, something opens the bars. Whatevs, as long as I'm not denied of tagging the secret :P

 

Good map, with an insignificant flaw.

Map09: "The Crate Temple 2"
226/226 kills, 2/2 secrets 

The aesthetics of this map are invocative of btsx e2 and with the sharing of Jimmy's e2map14 MIDI, I suspect it may be the intention. As the name implies, the map takes place in an ancient temple of sorts which the UAC seems to use as a warehouse. The combat in this map feels like a constant application of pressure, rushing for supplies while escaping from your opposition in the open ended environment, going for your weapons until you've geared up to capture the skull keys. The one that stood out to me the most was the yellow skull fight because of how it traps you within the square area you were previously jumping across by raising the bridges alongside sic-ing an ambush who are then free to close in on you. It's pretty fun and in particular, showcases the plasma marines as they can often snipe you and can move quickly through the circuit. Another standout fight is the northernmost arena which lets you use your rocket launcher against enemies which excel at compromising space forcing you into a quick close quarter rocket dance with them while a biased audience tries to ensure the demons win. The exploratory nature of this map, the constant action and memorable encounters make this another standout map in RL2.

Map10: "Overtime"
298/298 kills, 0/3 secrets

Oh hey, I remember this map, decino played it for one of his viewer submissions a while back. Overtime is a really good map, a constant romp from start to finish. First off, I love the arid setting right beside the dam. The contrast between the desert and the reservoir works really well and the areas themselves look very pretty. The desert in particular looks great and actually compliments the use of demons with a more warm color palette, special highlight on the use of boxer revenants here. I really like the use of the cyberdemon sniper who has a pretty vast range of influence and the combat is enjoyable and flows well. The only exception I found would be the southernmost water segment which felt too dull and also rather obnoxiously tight for some reason. However, the map picks up pace again with the stunning final encounter, an amazing rush on the road fighting escaping hell knights while trying to escape from a group of melee enemies functioning as a blockade and engaging with the boss monsters. The inaccessible supplies and yellow key in the main room become available now as a player would probably remember them by now and they prove useful, this was an all around stunning encounter capping off one of RL2's strongest maps. 

Map11: "Break Room"
310/312, 1/3 secrets 

After the high intensity of the previous maps, this map is definitely decompression and well, it's a pretty straightforward map. Loads of doomcute and the map in general looks really good, although this might be more on my end but I found progression pretty confusing. I don't think it was too much of an issue since the map isn't obnoxious and is rather pleasant overall, the combat works with the final archvile surprise being a particular highlight and I like the slight subversion of the final jump across to the red key leading to an ambush. Oh and, I liked the tysoning segment at the start. Otherwise, this is a good break map. 

MAP 12 – Un-Employed

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

With 1041 enemies on UV, Un-Employed was arguably the biggest and most crowded affair in the whole Running Late 2. Its sheer scale and monster count could discourage players like me that do not feel comfortable when placed in front of such endeavours requiring skill, patience, and endurance in the same proportion. However, I am happy to say this was a positive experience, understandably long and convoluted at times, but constantly crisp and entertaining thanks to the accurate visual presentation, the varied and manageable combat design, and compelling exploration in both mandatory and secret areas.

A contemporary urban sandbox level, Un-Employed revived all qualities of old Downtown to bring them to a superior degree. After acquiring almost all weapons, the player was not just thrown inside a level full of alerted enemies and snipers as in the days of yore; the district was entered through a sort of trench crossing between buildings. It offered both shelter and opportunities for the enemies to take shots at Security Doomguy, until the inevitable traps were sprung in the congested space. The path to the outside was found after getting a glimpse of the unreachable RK; from then on, the city could be explored freely. Important switches lay everywhere but generally in plain sight, and pressing them released waves of enemies that rampaged in the streets.

The roaming creatures were not a problem thanks to the plentiful resources available. The objective was to find all three keycards and enter the train station in the south-east, where a train was about to depart for Chinatown. Pistol starters looking for a BFG, a useful but non-essential weapon for most of the encounters, could enter the marble church seen when first entering the streets. It was a shame to disturb such a composed audience of zombies attending a blaspheme ceremony, officiated by a Baron of Hell as the high priest; what a lovely visual design. The Caco-cloud’s deafening hiss in my ears when I pressed the switch was exhilarating, as I could not imagine they would emerge from the holy painting behind the altar. This was one of the best moments in the entire Running Late 2, even though the subsequent extermination was ordinary rocket & cell spam.

The RK was in the northern underground tunnel, found after a sinking floor trap that pitted me against small but tricky monster combinations in a confined space. It was one of the most dangerous situations in the level, where having the wrong weapon equipped might result in a swift death. That tunnel contained also a large secret fight, found after uncovering a chain of secrets; I did not see much purpose in that rocket gib fest, except collecting some extra ammo that was not necessary. The YK was comparatively quick to find inside the UAC building with the fountain, where a wave of Mancubi was followed by Arch-Viles in the basement.

 

The quest for the BK was the longest and began with a double Spider Mastermind encounter. With patience, they can be easily tricked into infighting. The rooftop area that preceded the key pickup was the nicest of the whole map, as it released new groups of monsters while becoming gradually larger, leading to amusing chases and sudden bursts of violence. The secrets were numerous and particularly nice, above all the one with the billboards. I could not find a good use for the Invulnerability; the train station was a bit far to use it there. It would have been nice to make that Cyberdemon corridor less aggravating.

 

The final arena in the train station was staged well, but I did not like it as the rest of the map. The appearance of Cyberdemons, Arch-Viles and Revenants was sudden and arbitrary, I could see it coming but when it happened it was the worst possible moment. After a few failed attempts, things turned out as planned and I was able to jump on the train to Chinatown. Un-Employed was one of the best urban maps I have played, challenging and entertaining for a good hour, full of epic and memorable moments, with only the ending slightly overstaying its welcome.

Since I didn't write yesterday, here's 4 maps:

 

(Played from a pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

 

Map 5: Rooftop Rampage

100% kills, 90% items, 75% secrets

Time: 19:52

Maybe I am very biased because of the BTSXE1 midi, but Rooftop Rampage is outsanding. While the map didn't grab me that much during the early blue key hunt, it did immediately after I took the teleporter and what an absolute thrill it became! Clearing that area with the crates was already very entertaining, but the places it leads to all house some nasty surprsies : a barrel gib-fest in which the enemies are later revived by 2 unexpected arch-viles, a moment when you are sandwiched by 2 hordes of teleporting enemies while far away revs try to snipe you (and do a terrible job at it) and an arena that gets flooded with low-level foes before arch-viles show up, including one in the middle resurrecting some skeletons (unless you find the secret switch that crushes the revs). All 3 of this fights are my favorites so far and represent everything I wanted to see when I started this wad. The rest of the combat is still really good and I dig the the aesthetic. Outsanding work, probably my favorite map from A2Rob so far.

 

Map 6: Rough Commute

103% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 12:17

Rough Commute is another hit from A2Rob as the combination of the Duke-inspired setting, ROTT midi and great combat make for an absolute blast. This time, 4 fights seem to be the obvious standouts, the opening rush of both types of skeletons and low-level foes, the Hk, pinky and revenant ambush, the horde of piggies coming after you get both keys and the basement fight obviously inspired by Vanguard's best moment. These 4 encounters are of course amazing, but I find the ones between them to be a bit less entertaining than 5's even if it's only a very minor complaint.

 

Map 7: Dead On Arrival

105% kills, 96% items, 100% secrets

Time: 7:37

Dead On Arrival is an obligatory Dead Simple clone, but I find it pretty fun. It is symmetrical and the combat isn't as sophisticated or enjoyable as in the last 2 maps, but the ambushes that trigger after you grab the keys are good fun, and the final fight with the archies, mancubi and plasma zombies can get tense.

 

Map 8: Graveyard Shift

100% kills, 90% items, 100% secrets

Time: 12:13

Graveyard Shift is a map I want to like, but it feels pretty empty and dull, which made for a sadly pretty boring experience for me. I understand that a breather is appreciated and I agree that the map looks pretty good, but the only fight that I really enjoyed was the one for the red key, but it arrived to late to matter. On top of that, the area with the damaging water felt like the biggest cheap shot in RL2 so far.

 

RL2 Rankings:

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by tonytheparrot : done

MAP11 - Break Room:

21:49/5 Deaths
I remember being rather nonplussed by this map on my first playthrough, but it's been an absolute joy to play this time round. Break Room is much more of a standard techbase in look and feel than most of Running Late 2, but I honestly don't care about that since A2Rob is a master at creating this sort of very clean, very nice-looking cc4-style techbase. There's fun little touches sprinkled around too, such as the posters on the wall next to the secret plasma gun and the break room itself being the location for the cruel red key fight.

 

The map starts with the familiar pattern of being equipped with only weapons 3 & 4, and having to fight some fodder with some heavies sprinkled in to get some decent firepower. Progressing further will take you to a flooded section that involves raising the water level to open up new pathways, which was a very cool moment - this made me think that this map was going to be a "sequel" to Map01 at first too. After getting the blue key, and clearing out the break room, you get to the best part of the map - the dark storage room. This area is fantastic, it shows off the power of the melee revenants since they are very good at forcing you to stay on the move with their incredibly high movement speed, and constantly hearing the purring of the archviles hidden in the crates, not knowing when they'll be unleashed on you is very paranoia inducing :P

 

Once you clear out the storage area, you unlock the red key fight which is mean! Despite being given the plasma gun and enough rockets to level a small village beforehand, the combination of being surrounded on all sides and the lack of cover makes for a rather tough encounter, though it's fairly manageable once you take out the archviles. I did get a little frustrated here since it took me an embarrasingly long time to figure out how to actually access the red key, but that's the only part of the map I didn't particularly like. The map ends with a Descent that gets filled with archviles just when you've cleared it out and are hoping to leave the map further unscathed. This is my pick for a sleeper hit in Running Late 2, it's not very flashy compared to other maps in the wad but it's incredibly fun and that's what matters the most.

MAP12: Un-Employed. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 1041/1041 K, 6/6 S, 206/206 I. Completion time 75:58.

 

Longest map yet. At first I was less impressed; running through linear corridors from one predictable ambush to another. Then we reach the wide streets, with too much space... But somehow the map grips you, and the encounters become fun, starting from the Icon of Cacodemons, where a cloud emanates from a (presumably) religious painting. That's where you first get the BFG, too.

 

In any case the length didn't annoy me this time, although a lot of time was spent on trying to find secrets (or being wary of missing any). Especially lot of time was spent on trying to run-jump to a small balcony that opens up the secret imp ambush... only I later found out there was a far less frustrating way to reach the platform, d'oh.

 

Not sure what'd be the highlight; I'm guessing the ending fight that houses some 300+ monsters. There was an invuln sphere there, which I only found at the end of the fight. It made killing the cybers easier, but the sphere could have been even more useful when the archviles swarmed in... Oh well. Great map, but I really do hope for a breather after this!

Edited December 21, 2022 by RHhe82 : Changed wording -- english not being my primary language tone can go slightly wrong.

Map12: "Un-Employed"
1039/1041 kills, 2/6 secrets

I feel rather conflicted about this map overall, I like the map for what it is, a large open town is offered as a sandbox to explore and as per usual, track down the three keys to open the way forward. Several of the fights are energetic, exciting and rather challenging. But simply put, this map took damn long. Progression didn't feel the most straightforward at times and in particular, I spent something like 15 minutes stumbling around for a way to enter the yellow key area until I finally gave up and checked on UDB, only to find the switch was placed pretty straightforwardly but it had been obscured by the corpse of a spiderdemon. But the map overall felt like it lasted way too long even when not going for secrets (which I did not, barring the two I stumbled upon), my in game time was close to an hour which took me two play sessions to complete. I liked the design of the map itself with the urban city working pretty well as a setting, even though I can't really tell what half of these buildings are supposed to be. I like the entire train station finale with how it works as a big fight with powerups located in cars and the fight itself is solid fun. I imagine this map is much better on replay but on first go around, I feel pretty conflicted on this map.

I am finally playing some Doom this month. I can only apologise for the rather short reviews here.

 

Overboard

 

MAP01 - “Cruisn’n UAC”

A perfect little opener full of neat details and popcorn fights. The cargo hold underneath the boat holds an unexpected surprise. This map is probably the right side to give you the full overboard experience without it feeling overwhelming.

 

MAP02 - “Skeleton Coast”

The opening scene is pretty darn cool and the imp abandoning ship is worth a chuckle. The rest of the map gives you no time to be paranoid, just accept that chaos will ensue and use your rockets wisely. Another really fun map.

 

MAP03 - “Depth Charge”

Considering the setting, the confined space and the very linear nature of the map, this actually gets a lot of mileage out of the source material. The combat again is chaotic and engaging without being to difficult. Another toilet gag here, would this be the imp that jumped ship in map02 perhaps?

 

MAP04 - “Cacotoa”

The transformations are pretty cool, including the fact that the opening scene goes from a plain grey background to one filled with lava falls. That said I don't think the level reaches the level of quality seen so far. The map is a little too grey and I found myself succumbing to flanking revenant missiles a little too much for my liking. This is still a solid map.

 

MAP05 - “Archi-Pelago”

The biggest success is being able to perfectly recreate the opening island up-side down whilst you deal with the horrors of Australia... I mean upside down world....

Fair to say this is a compete success in terms of achieving a vision, the upside down arena looks on one hand garish and unnerving, but it fits the feel of the map perfectly.

 

MAP06 - “Seaside Siege”

A satisfyingly gory end to the regular set of maps. I was surprised at how much freedom the monsters had in regarding to roaming the island. It certainly sets up a varied experience. There isn't much else to say here, the conclusion was certainly worth it.

 

Overall - Overboard is vert much a triumphant return for Cyriak. The gameplay feels smoother in comparison to Going Down and the maps have enough doomcute and visual gags to carry the mapset on its own, yet the gameplay is also well rounded and surprisingly accessible. The addition of the New Game + is a neat idea too where the maps carry over quite a different experience at times.

In the end this is probably one of the best wads to be released in the 2020s so far. 5/5 

Unfortunately I am once again "running late" to get the maps played by the daily allotment suggestion. a couple more and ill soon be back on track.

Running Late 2: Map09 - Crate Temple 2
FDWL (Prboom+), UV, continuous
K: 108 | I: 90 | S: 100

not much to comment on this map for me, which in of itself partially tells of how i felt overall about it. The map theme choice and texture usage here was a bit more unorthodox, mixing brick and marble with the variously colored doom crates and some bits of modern concrete structuring. It felt a bit of a mismatch but that does make it one of the more identifiable maps from memory, as the rest of the WAD has generally stood in its own techbase playbox. Combat and variety was generally good with some very interesting geometry changes to affect combat and revisiting areas. The final arena was also a noteworthy design, having generally waves denoted by disappearing crates. A fair map that is not really low on my favorite list, but didn't click with me in the way that i'd actively look forward to this map on replaying the WAD.

Running Late 2: Map10 - Overtime
FDWL (Prboom+), UV, continuous
K: 98 | I: 85 | S: 100

I recognized this map as soon as the first door opened as Decino had played through this map during a viewer submission i think. Personally Overtime probably has the most interesting and cohesively designed setting so far. The desert and dam work very well and I really enjoyed the open design of the map. I like how the map opens up and creates more paths of exploration in a almost seamless sort of weave around the main area. The cyber sniper was a great touch, as he was ever present in every major encounter and other than the farther outland desert, there were few areas where i felt truly safe from his missiles; a great dedication to his sightline design. Combat kept good pace and the variety of encounters kept me entertained almost the whole way through. The only area that felt a bit like it dragged on was the exterior water area. not bad but maybe not as engaging as the other sections for its inclusion. But the final dam blockades afterwards was a simple but great idea to give the map an interesting but tough final stretch, locking the player in with several cyberdemons, a spider queen, and a bunch of enraged boners and spectres.

I agree with @finnks13 that this for me was not my absolute favorite in the set, but it felt the most completely packaged and consistent. arguably a excellent encapsulation of the feeling of the WAD, and a map worth enjoying even on its own. I think the combat and visuals of map05 were still more to my taste, but this is a close second.

Rankings:

 

(Played from a pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

 

Map 9: The Crate Temple 2

104% kills, 60% items, 50% secrets

Time: 12:15

A sequel to RL1's second map, The Crate Temple feels pretty similar to map 4, as both take place in wide open areas that allow enemies to roam free and in which nasty fights can be expected in the small buildings and arenas built in the middle of the water. The aesthetics however, seem more BTSXE2 inspired, which allows Enigma to shine. For the same reasons as Oil Rigged, I love the beginning of ths level, but I also find the encounters in the areas to be more entertaining than in that map, with my favorites being the teleport ambush in the southern metal structure and the blue card arena, which starts with a wave of imps on the ledges, helped by some melee revs and pinkies, followed by HKs and revs reiforcements on the walls and zombies and barons on the ground and finally some PEs. Great stuff !

 

Map 10:Overtime

100% kills, 81% items, 66% secrets

Time: 16:57

 

Overtime is just a comfy playthrough for me. It is one of the set's best looking maps, with the natural environments being organic and the dam very impressive, the combat decently hard without being overhelming in any way and Heartbeat being also a big contributor to that feeling. Also, this is probably the map that uses the best it's environments in favor of combat, no matter if it's in the early battle at the foot of the dam with the watching cyber, the melee revenant rocket-fest in the canyon, the switch-hunt on the top of the dam while more and more enemies teleport in or appear out of thin air and the great sniper placement (especially the cyberdemons, who are the most threatening part of the level). While I can't say that this is my favorite entry in the wad combat-wise, it is undoubtably one of the most representative of RL2 as a whole and one of A2Rob's best visual efforts.

 

RL2 Rankings:

 

MAP03: Under Construction

Kills: 87%

Items: 96%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 7:27

 

Huh. This map looks pretty finished to me...
Jokes aside, Under Construction is pretty good. It doesn't really make me smile like Chinatown Beatdown did and is more of a regular tech base like Drip, but overall I still had a pretty fun time with it. This is a really cozy map for me, the type of thing that is just pleasant to be in even if the map itself isn't super special. I don't think I've said it about this wad yet but I really enjoy the texturing, I'm not even a big city guy with Doom or anything but the grimy and dark tones merged with just the right amount of bright, vibrant colours hits a sweet spot that really appeals to me. Although this map is relatively easy, the wad is starting to ramp up a little with the presence of the extended fight for the red key. This part of the map is easy to underestimate and can catch you off guard, so stay frosty.
 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: D+

 

 

MAP04: Oil Rigged

Kills: 97%

Items: 69%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 8:54

 

Oil Rigged is another map where I'm kinda surprised how much the map commits to the name. I mean maybe that's weird to say but this oil rig setting I actually really enjoyed and didn't really expect. This entire map takes place on water and has a really open layout, it's one of those where you can walk around the entire perimeter of the map which is always something I like. Really makes a location feel alive if you ask me. Like MAP03 the combat here isn't wildly creative, outside a few smaller moments the main fight that sticks in my mind is the one for the Plasma Rifle. All around cool usage of crushers to make a surprisingly entertaining fight. It probably has something to do with playing the map at like 5 or 6 AM, but I kinda noticed the progression was a little hard to get around and it was easy to miss obvious stuff. Not sure if that's a common sentiment with this map or not though. As a whole, pretty good.
 

Grade: B+
Difficulty: C

 

 

MAP05: Rooftop Rampage

Kills: 86%

Items: 69%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 14:28

Oh... YES. Rooftop Rampage is easily Running Late 2's first great map. An amazing spectacle from start to finish. This map's progression is simply impeccable, starting in a dark and dingy dungeon before taking to the titular rooftops and the rampages that will inevitably ensue. There's a certain flow to these fights that just makes them all feel great to play, every last one is extremely fluid and visceral. One standout in my mind is the plasma marine (Who I just realised I never mentioned until now, I guess the Boxer Revenant is a more memorable and unique enemy :P) ambush, which just peppers you with projectiles from all directions and an Arch-Vile in the middle of the square arena to add tension, it's not the biggest or most difficult fight ever but MAN is it good fun, not far off peak Skillsaw spectacle. That goes for almost all the fights in this map, every enemy feels perfectly synchronised with the combat to simply just maximise the fun. I love Rooftop Rampage, it's a blast from start to finish and exactly what I was looking for coming into this wad. A crescendoing spectacle of an experience.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: B

 

 

MAP06: Rough Commute

Kills: 95%

Items: 14%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 8:34

 

Just in case you didn't think A2Rob was capable of following up the terrific shootouts of the last map, here comes Rough Commute. Similar action but taking the setting far underground into a derelict tram (?) system. Once again I admire A2Rob's commitment to the setting, these are by no means adventure maps but he manages to stage all this amazing combat in these wonderfully detailed realistic maps. It's really appealing. Anyway yeah did I spoil it for you? Rough Commute is a boat load of fun. Simply pick up the rocket launcher and go to town on floods of demons raiding every corner of this human rabbit hole. The Pinkies work great here I find, perfect fodder for rockets in a tense, rocky setting like this. I don't think this map is AS good as MAP05, mainly because I wish the combat was a little fluid. The pace starts high but never really exceeds that energy until the ending. That said though, there is stuff I enjoy on the paths to the keys, but I'm basically just waiting for the map to kick it up a notch. The ending though is really strong. I love the sheer volume of demons that invade the area as well as the final FINAL fight in this sapphire blue secret section. The barrel usage here is great, as they can easily be used against you just as much as for you, and also the Barons stand out to me here for being pretty good. Overall a great map and a more than welcome addition to this wad.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: B+

 

 

Onto Running Late 2;

 

MAP01 - “Drip”

A generally Brown indoor techbase, I guess this was solid if not overly memorable overall. The shotgun will get a good workout and the visuals are very nice throughout. The process of getting the red key felt a little too drawn out for its own good.

 

MAP02 - “Chinatown Beatdown”

A tyson orientated map that wasn't too difficult. The yellow key required far more work than the red to the point where the latter felt more like it had been tacked on (Especially given that the area felt thematically different to the rest of the map).

Overall this was perfectly fine, the melee only revenant variant is used well here.

 

MAP03 - “Under Construction”

This certainly felt more fleshed out in every metric. A more interesting layout, some meatier encounters and an interesting theme couple together to give the best map so far. For the most part the wad is still easing you into things, however it is nice to have both the SSG and rocket launcher to cut loose from time to time. 

MAP13: Need a Vacation. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 435/435 K, 0/0 S, 4/4 I. Completion time 11:10.

 

We're back at Chinatown! Or, rather, we're passing thru the Chinatown to some sort of sewer area, perhaps an annex to MAP01, and we get a short and sweet cistern BFG showdown! I especially liked the pinkies, imps, revenants wave. There's not much to talk, Need a Vacation feels like a breather after the onslaught of MAP12.

 

Good fun.

MAP 13 – Need a Vacation

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Back to the same Chinatown seen in MAP02, our Security Doomguy found himself in a now deserted district. Lo Wang’s Dojo of Death was closed, and the door was locked with a red security code. I quickly found a way through the sushi bar and its warehouse, where I found a previously inaccessible path to a door, and the RK tucked in a dark corner. I retraced my steps to the dojo and entered it, following the familiar path to the sewer area and… to the exit.

Being able to complete the level without killing the whopping 435 enemies was something I could not anticipate, but I think A2Rob wanted to reward keen eyes and awareness for once. The regular path featured a short and bloody BFG spam fest in a flooded basement, where the player revealed various closets packed with monsters ready for the slaughter. The first wave was probably the hardest, because I must resist the impulse of firing against the Demons and Imps in close quarters, whose role as a meat shield against Revenant rockets was key to survival. After that, the subsequent hordes of Pain Elementals, Plasma Troopers and Cyberdemons were easy to dispatch in a vulgar display of BFG power. After killing so many demons and creating a streak of consistently good maps, it appears that both the protagonist and the author Need a Vacation. The content was passable and the pacifist/sneaky way to the exit was an interesting expedient, but this level was the first to lose steam after many outstanding entries. It could be called a pressure relief map.

 

I am not sure when MAP14 should be posted, it could certainly be done tomorrow along with MAP31-32 and the placeholders that are MAP15 and MAP16, but it's short enough to anticipate it a bit. Considering it's also wrap-up time, there's a lot to write on a single day on the 23rd.

Edited December 22, 2022 by Book Lord

GZDooM 4.9, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Weapon Neural Upscale, Simple Upscaled Enemies, Destroyable Decorations Definitive Edition, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

 

Running Late 2, MAP09 - “The Crate Temple 2”

 

 

MAP04 - “Oil Rigged”

A nice change of space, the layout is rather sandbox in nature and the player has plenty of room to move around. As such the greater number of difficult foes is neutered somewhat by an easier to navigate playing area. As such this one is most fun to charge through at high speed. There really are not many complaints to be had here, the map is fairly breezy and fun.

 

MAP05 - “Rooftop Rampage”

This map is at its best in the middle, where you are on the rooftops. The beginning and end sections are less exciting and seem to serve more as narrative than actual positive content for the map. I was not expecting the first cyberdemon by the red key, but this fight was pretty well staged, in fact this entire area was by far the highlight. The yellow key is okay, the staircase fight with the glut of rockets is decent and the revenant snipers are not to difficult to avoid. These are revealed later on when you get the yellow key, which was neat. Overall a solid map again though the basement elements bring this down a tad (I prefer Map04 so far)

 

MAP06 - “Rough Commute”

This map is certainly to the point and for the most part the fights are fun and engaging. That said the encounter after opening the blue and red bars could have been axed with no negative repercussions because it is easy to cheese your way out of it by using the huge amount of space available. This is probably my favourite map so far.

I am posting MAP14-15 a bit in advance, to avoid sending a literal wall of text tomorrow. Hopefully some of you will post in between...

 

MAP 14 – The End

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Finally, Security Doomguy clocked in at work! Was it really The End? The level was just a large open space office with several cubicles furnished with desks, computers, and weapons (you never know, they may come in handy in case the colleagues get nervous); this might be a better representation of Hell on Earth than most demonic shrines seen in Doom WADs. Some spaces even contained switches that did not work, because they must be shot instead. An odd fact since they were within reach, but the intent was to make advancement a bit obscure since the beginning, when the protagonist’s cubicle was sealed with bars and must be escaped via climbing. A screen projected a “Thanks for playing Running Late 2” message, such as ending the megaWAD here was a suitable option too. Shooting a total of four switches granted access to the enclosed area with a SSG and a pentagram trigger, used to summon a horde of 196 Imps in the four corners. Using rockets to carve a path among their ranks was fun as usual, and 4 Arch-Viles joined later to carry on the party. A rather silly Romero’s Head could be seen and destroyed once the player wanted the level to end. This was a curious way to continue the adventures of Running Late 2, with the secret levels counting as (unpaid) overtime work. Nice excuse!

 

MAP 15 – …

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

It took me 17 seconds to find the exit, even too much for the scope of this level. This was just a connection between MAP14 and MAP31. MAP14 could probably have included this instead of Romero’s Head, thus becoming a more meaningful MAP15 and leaving the previous slot free for another map. Unfortunately, ideas for fully-fledged levels seemed to have faded away since MAP13.

(Played from a pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

 

Map 11: Break Room

113% kills, 82% items, 66% secrets

Time: 19:34

Break Room is nothing special by RL2 standards, a medium length entry with good visuals, a catchy midi and some really fun setpieces separated by more incidental combat. While I really enjoyed the crate room at the west of the map, the moments when the main hub got repopulated and the whole section on the lowering platform near the exit, the rest more or less blends together for me and the whole level isn't as memorable or distinctive as 10, 5 or next map. That said, It still wasn't unfun or boring at all!

 

Map 12: Un-employed

103% kills, 84% items, 66% secrets

Time: 29:02

Un-employed is RL2's magnum opus, a massive city map allowing for more exploration than RL2's usual fare and containing over 1000 enemies. Given how big this level is, you will probably get lost multiple times during your playthrough (especially blind), but visting every inch of this landscape and swiping every street clean of baddies stays fun throughout the entire duration of the level and many fights, even outside of the ones for keys stand out, especially the one in the church with the BFG and the first few ambushes before you actually discover how much there is to explore in this town. Sadly, if I have to talk about a few flaws in this map, I would say that I think the combat is a bit better in maps 5 and 6 and this map is undoubtably the worst offender at hiding too many enemies in secrets, with the horde of 50 imps being an especially bad move for players who wanna get 100% kills but not necessairly secrets. That said, Un-employed concludes on an epic BFG fest with around 300 monsters ina train station, which is not only one of the map's more entertaining fights (even if I don't think the invuln is needed), but it also feels like the encounter that RL2 has been building up to since the beginning. Un-employed is really entertaining, captivating, perfectly scored and even if some players might get confused or turned off by it's size, it is a perfect climax for this wad.

 

RL2 Rankings:

 

MAP12 - Un-Employed:

37:52/6 Deaths

aka: Dave's retirement party gets cancelled and doomguy decides to take it out on a city full of hellspawn.

 

Un-Employed is the largest, and grandest level in Running Late 2 and would likely function as the finale in most other mapsets - it certainly feels like one when playing through it, so the fact that Running Late 2 continues on for another four maps afterwards is an interesting choice. It's a massive city map, structured in the best way a large city map can be - open for exploration in almost any order, with the exit locked by all the keys. Now there are non mandatory buildings you can explore, and some buildings are locked behind completing other buildings, but I only found this a problem when trying to unlock the skyscraper that houses the yellow key, since I managed to completely overlook a switch that opens it up for many minutes.

 

The map starts off in a manner that reminds me a lot of Quadrilateral Rampage from Resurgence as you're in a tight series of tunnels exposed to fire from above, with ambushes coming whenever you take a few steps forward - I found these first couple of minutes the hardest part of the map, taking 3 of my 6 deaths before I got out into the city itself. I would highly recommend opening the church that's right in front of you when you exit the tunnels immediately as it houses a BFG that's defended by only a few cacodemons, which will come in very handy for everything else this map has to offer. The blue and red key sections are both great, and themed around the reuse of areas for fights, with walls lowering to reveal new paths for you and the monsters. The blue key area set on the roofs is definitely the highlight of the map for me as I think it uses the reuse of areas gimmick the best, and the silly little worldbuilding touch of seeing a large billboard advertising toothpaste outside the window where you get the BFG made me chuckle.

 

Two other parts of the map I want to highlight are the plasma zombie horde & two cyberdemons that attack when you try to open the yellow key area, and the finale. The plasma horde is a surprisingly tough encounter, even with the BFG since the plasma guys will melt your health in large enough numbers, and there's always the threat of death by random infighting cyberdemon rocket. The finale, set in a underground station, is a fairly easy yet fun BFG extravaganza against a bunch of fodder with some hell knights, revenants, archviles & cyberdemons coming in near the end to make sure you don't get away too easily. Un-Employed is great, perhaps it's a little long, but I think the map has enough interesting moments to earn that length and I had tons of fun in any case.

 

MAP13 - Need a Vacation:

2:19/4 Deaths
We arrive back in Chinatown to find some crates have been moved in a basement to lead us to - a big room full of enemies! It should be no surprise that I like this map since I really like BFG spam fights, and that's what this map is - a fun BFG spam fight. I think it's intended to function as a wind-down from the incredible size of the previous map, and after a behemoth, I like nothing more than the catharsis that can only come from BFGing a bunch of revenants. I also think it's really cool that if you're observant enough, you can complete the map without even finding this fight by going through the sewers - and I genuinely didn't know this until I read @Book Lord's writeup, which is either testament to how well it's hidden, or to how bad I am at finding secrets!

 

I knew this map was coming, and from having watched some UV-Max demos of this wad when I was planning on learning it myself (perhaps I should go back to that...), I know that you can play this fight incredibly aggressively and activate everything without hesitation to complete the map very quickly. This strategy is very fun, and I'd recommend anyone who wasn't particularly impressed by how the fight is normally played to give it a go - the music is chill enough that you won't mind throwing yourself against this brick wall much I promise! I enjoyed this map to the point where I went back a couple more times, improving my strategy until I was able to exit in 2:19, a mere 53 seconds behind the record :P

[WARNING! WARNING! HUGE WALL OF TEXT ALERT!]

 

MAP07: Dead On Arrival

Kills: 99%

Items: 57%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 6:43

 

You know, I really find it funny how this map is a forced pistol start which is even called attention to in the story and then you immediately gain a Rocket Launcher and Plasma Rifle. I'm not sure if A2Rob is in on the joke but it's funny either way. Anyway Dead On Arrival is not very good. It's kinda just Dead Simple but in a larger area and with some other enemies. I found it kind of a drag to kill the Arachnotron and Mancubi in this map as there's a lot of them and you're also not swimming in rockets. None of the encounters starring other monsters really stuck with me, the Arch-Viles are kinda just there in this map. I'm not really gonna drag out this review but this map almost seems like A2Rob was running late 2 meet some sort of deadline. It's a little flat and low on energy compared to this wad's usual output sadly.

 

Grade: C+

Difficulty: B-

 

 

MAP08: Graveyard Shift

Kills: 78%

Items: 85%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 11:57

 

Graveyard Shift is sadly the driest map we've seen in Running Late 2 so far. It's a pretty dark tech base with really not a whole lot going on. Although the opening and ending is okay, the middle can feel really dull when you're just kinda rummaging in the darkness trying to find the keys, which sadly at least for me took up the majority of the run time. As an adventure map or a combat focused map I don't find this one particularly interesting or fun, the setting isn't really detailed/expansive enough to really feel satisfying to explore. If anything writing this review I wish this map was more like Chinatown Beatdown, that map wasn't thrilling but did have a surprising amount of adorable attention to detail I find largely abscent here outside of the damaging water fight. This map also highlights the biggest issue in Running Late 2 I find. This isn't huge or anything but similar to Resurgence I constantly find I'm missing seemingly obvious progression beats due to them being weirdly subtle, and it's at its worst in this map. I spent forever running around trying to find any keys in this map and thankfully although I noticed it quickly I'm not too fond of the tiny lift that raises once you hit a switch. I kinda feel I got lucky I noticed that quickly instead of running all over this map for another several minutes wondering what that switch did. I'm not gonna drag out this review, maybe this isn't as negative as what my grade for this map would imply but sadly I find this the most boring Running Late 2 map and I'm constantly wanting for it to be like other Running Late 2 maps.

 

Grade: D+

Difficulty: D+

 

 

MAP09: The Crate Temple 2

Kills: 95%

Items: 42%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 14:33

 

The Crate Temple 2 definitely gets us back on track. I definitely like this temple setting more than the dark murky tech base which I have no strong feelings one way or the other. The combat is a bit more up to speed with MAP05 and 06 here but only a little. The triple Arch-Vile ambush is really unexpected and caught me off guard early on and I do quite enjoy the blue keycard fight, as weird as it is the final three crates just immediately fell to the ground. The progression isn't also the most direct here, it took me a solid minute to know I was looking for the red skull key after the yellow skull key didn't directly take me to the blue one but other than that it's mostly okay. The ending is kinda strange, I didn't even notice Arch-Viles teleported into the middle of the map for a while. Maybe I'm doing too much bitching about the progression in this wad but, I mean, I had like the exact same issue with Resurgence which this wad is clearly inspired by so I don't know. Might be just a me thing however. Overall though this map is pretty good.

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: C

 

 

MAP10: Overtime

Kills: 91%

Items: 37%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 12:56

 

Oh hell yeah. Overtime gets us back on par with the tremendous shootouts seen in MAP05 and 06. This map feels really unique to me among other Running Late 2 maps, the bright evening sky compliments the desert scenery perfectly and can make some fights just look really cool. In general this map reminds me quite a bit of Ancient Aliens, I'm thinking the Stewboy MIDI (Which is probably his most underrated track and a PERFECT fit for not only this map but the wad in general, just saying), the layout of the desert area which instantly reminded me of Sinkhole Showdown to the point where I was ready for the area to start lowering as I activated the fight, as well as the Cyberdemon turret. The combat is great all the way through but I think peaks at the start and end. I love the afformentioned fight in the desert, it's the "tons of Revenants in a flat space" trick that I'm usually not wild about but it's not overdone here and uses Boxer Revenants instead, which for my money are more satisfying to kill in large groups. As I said the ending is great too, reigniting the party on the main road of the map which separates the two halves. Tons of enemies, tons of ammo, you know what to do. It's that simple. Shoutouts to the helpless Mastermind at the end.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: B+

 

 

MAP11: Break Room

Kills: 97%

Items: 30%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 17:51

 

Break Room isn't a particularly bad map but it's one that didn't really stick with me, even while I was playing it. The details are pretty neat, I love the posters in the yellow key switch room especially. The fights are mostly just fine, not a lot really stood out to me except the ending. Most of these are just average Running Late 2 fights with not a whole lot to really differentiate them, though given how good this wad is, that's a compliment itself. I just don't find it that memorable. I did quite enjoy the early one in the water for the staging alone and the way it rises once you hit a switch, that was cute. I didn't particularly care about the dark storage room which you access by a teleporter in the kitchen for some reason, I mean it's creative how you trigger the fight by using crates to jump through an open window but otherwise the combat was just fine. The cafeteria area was also fine, the Arch-Viles were kinda cool I guess given they make any fight cool and I was pretty caught off guard when the fight began, but otherwise it's just fine. The map really thrives in the final few minutes after you get all the keys, the final shootout with the Arch-Viles which creatively reuses the previous setpiece really stood out to me. Overall this part definitely raised my opinion of the map which was a pleasant surprise. As a whole it's okay.

 

Grade: B

Difficulty: B-

 

 

MAP12: Un-Employed

Kills: 91%

Items: 66%

Secrets: 16%

Time: 23:44

Oh.. YES. Un-Employed is kind of the last "real" Running Late 2 map even though I'll still be reviewing 4 maps after this. A grand city map with over a thousand monsters that feels like everything Running Late 2 as a wad was building towards. The combat here is mostly pretty great and the city visuals are breathtaking. The combat piece that stands out most to me is the high up battles on one of the skyscrapers. The BFG fest at the end with the Arch-Viles is quite a blast but even throughout the whole fight it's simply fun. Sadly though this is a map where I think the flaws really sting because of how close this map was to perfection. The main issue here is the ending, which is just really overkill in Doomguy's favour. It's a 400 monster fight or so but it really doesn't feel like it, around 2 or 300 of that count is just fodder which you can just decimate with the BFG which appears three times on mainline progression in this map, and the worst part is how you get four whole Soulspheres, a Megasphere, AND Invulnerability which makes this fight virtually impossible to die in unless you get bad luck with Cyberdemons. Outside of this, I didn't mention it until now but this map is kind of awkwardly paced? Like the city can feel weirdly empty and it feels there's a disproportionate amount of combat between the keys. I'd like to reiterate though, I'm talking about this in the detail I am because I do really like this map and I find it's THIS close to being something really really special. It's just these little things the map kinda slips up on. Overall though a great map, and a wonderful payoff to this wad.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: B+

 

 

MAP13: Need A Vacation

Kills: 100%

Items: 100%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 6:21

 

Doomguy finally escapes the hellish, infested city on a train that leads back to the same place seen in Chinatown Beatdown which was actually foreshadowed in MAP12. Huh. I really like that. I'm not sure why Doomguy had to walk to work rather than take the train if he was running late 2 begin with, but let's not worry about that. If you're attentive (or use a hud that shows monster count like me) you'll notice there's actually 400 monsters in this map. poke around and a shining red light may catch your eye deep in a warehouse, pick up the red key and drop into a watery basin with a BFG and a horde of 400 monsters which is more difficult and fun than MAP12's 400 monster fight. Not a lot to say here, just hold down the trigger, kill everything that moves, be careful around Cyberdemons and you're rewarded with a far more cinematic ending where the map very slowly gets darker on an elevator up. Very cool.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: C

 

 

MAP 31 – Heavy Press

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

The secret levels of Running Late 2 were presented as unpaid overtime work for Security Doomguy. In Heavy Press, he was sent to Sector 8 where some demons were still causing trouble. The level displayed the trademark Plutonia curvy staircases and interconnected layout, but at the same time it ripped off texturing and visuals of tech-bases in TNT: Evilution. Weapons were provided right from the start, so pistol starters needed only to check their ammo balance throughout the level. Not a big issue, since ammo was everywhere.

 

The relatively small installation packed a decent opposition that was alerted since the beginning; repelling the aggressors should not be a big deal, there was only a faraway Arch-Vile nest to keep an eye on. The healers guarded the YK, while the RK was in the north, ready to trigger a teleport ambush, and the BK was in the southern sludge pool behind a series of monster closets. The three keys activated the matching switches to raise pillars and enter the BSK enclosure in the central courtyard.

The “exit room” behind the blue skull door amped up the threat significantly, as it plunged the player into a small hellish room surrounded by shooting creatures, with two roaming Arch-Viles and only three pillars to use as cover. Escaping the area by pressing switches was unpractical, and I succumbed here while finding my bearings. Once through, I found the secret exit before the regular one, since the timed closet was easier to see than the newly opened path to the Evil Eye teleporter. This MAP31 did not blow me away, except that its concept seemed to belong to another project, probably a megaWAD inspired by Final Doom. It found its place in Running Late 2, where it was a suitable bonus level.

 

MAP 32 – Supply Closet

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

“Great, now they are in the basement”. The elevator brought Security Doomguy to a dark cellar with aptly low ceiling, used as a warehouse and hosting various types of machinery. This was a spooky and awkward place to have slaughter encounters, especially when involving Spectres, reserved as a special delight for UV players. Supply Closet was a tense, intense, but ultimately quick experience, revealing its fights in large portions with only a few short intermissions.

As a continuous player, I cheated a bit against the first assorted Revenant horde; I lured them by the switch and used the double staircase both as a cover and as a funnel. My carryover ammo allowed me to stay there, but pistol starters must lose them in the dark basement and grab the supplies behind the skeletons, alerting the Chaingunners. The next step released a small group of Plasma Guards along with four Arch-Viles, that I am sure would be a lot more active if more Revenants had been killed in the big dark room beforehand.

 

The next area granted a BFG, a Berserk pack, some ammo, and eventually the RK, which unlocked the next big fight in the south-eastern flooded area. The monster groups here were large but easy to single out and exterminate. When a remarkable body count was reached, the BK was retrieved behind a waterfall. Using it on the matching switch in the main hub summoned a small but unsettling ambush involving more Plasma Guards, Hell Knights, and 16 Spectres that were barely visible in the dimly lit environment.

After the blue door, a Revenant squad emerged from behind a series of crushers and gave me a surprising hard time, as there was no margin for evaluation mistakes in that small room. The nearby area was a corrupted warehouse where hundreds of critters were summoned along with two Cyberdemons, initiating a hectic slaughter party with gibs flying everywhere. The considerable hitscanner quota made this part more difficult and somewhat RNG-dependant, but after a couple of failures I found that moving around in circles, restocking health when needed, and using the BFG proficiently was reliable. The Evil Eye sent me to an alternate version of the familiar basement, where a group of ten Arch-Viles lurked in the darkness. They met the same fate as the first Revenant squadron in the double staircase bottleneck. I am not a fan of slaughter maps, though I enjoyed myself with Supply Closet, thanks to the varied encounter design, the detailed and sinister environment, and the efficient organisation that minimised downtime. 21 minutes were enough to massacre 710 monsters on the first blind playthrough, where I discovered all secrets except the Light Amplification Visor.

 

MAP 16 – The End for Real

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Yes, this time it is The End for Real. A placeholder map to say thanks for playing once more.

MAP14: The End. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 200/200 K, 0/0 S, 2/3 I. Completion time 10:57.

 

It took me fifteen minutes to figure out the switches were not pressable switches, and that the switches were not mere decorations either. We get one final (aside from secret maps) slaughter, 196 imps and 4 archviles. It's not a joke ending, health is at a premium (although we are afforded one extra soulsphere). Something reminds me of Going Down MAP02, I guess it's the doomcute water cooler.

 

*

MAP15: ... -- Completion time 0:15.

 

...

 

*

 

MAP31: Heavy Press. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 123/123 K, 1/1 S, 113/114 I. Completion time 17:55.

 

Good map, although I gotta say I'm not finding that bonus-mappy feeling here, although on the other hand Heavy Press is somehow unlike Running Late 2, which does warrant its place as a secret map. I seem to have little to say, it's a solid map. The fake exit fight was a tough cookie, I had barely enough cells to deal with the archviles fast enough.

I somehow had trouble finding the secret exit, although I think I should have seen it.

 

*

 

MAP32: Supply Closet. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 710/710 K, 0/1 S, 9/10 I. Completion time 25:07.

 

As to why Supply Closet was the other secret level, when it would have fitted to be a late RL2 level, I believe it's because I felt Supply Closet was easily(ish) the hardest level of the pack. I'm not sure if that's completely true, only one cyberdemon, but I found all the archviles nasty, saveless play on the final onslaught against ten archviles would have devastated me, although now that I said it, ten archies don't feel that much. Still. Also the crusher corridor with revenants felt "impossible" at first for me, although I guess I employed wrong tactics at first, because final attempt wasn't that hard, just peek-a-booing behind the farthest crusher and shooting rockets, hoping theirs hit the wall instead of you.

 

The one arena with the cyberdemon was great fun, I wish I had managed to make them infight a bit more. And I'm glad I used SSG to finish off the cyber instead of cells, because of the final ten enemies.

 

I couldn't find the secret legitly :( After finishing the map, I had to go to UDB to see just how I'd obtain the mostly useless light goggles. At least I was on the right track, I was looking for switches in the vicinity of the crate, but couldn't see the inconsistent (meaning suspicious) texture there. Oh well.

 

*

MAP16: The End for Real. DNF.

 

Even when I'm critical at times, I quite liked Running Late 2. It's a pack of really solid maps, all quality stuff, no clunkers. My bad experiences have mostly to do with me probably being tired and some personal preferences. (And when I say 'bad' here, I mean good-but-not-great-as-some-other-maps-in-the-set) I have to confess that I had lowish expectations before I knew who the mapper was. Somehow I was expecting some Zdoom-gimmicky or boring set of maps, and I'm not sure why. I'm happy I was wrong, and I'm happy to have played it.

 

That said, is Running Late 1 of similar quality?

 

Anyway, thanks to A2Rob -- if Ad Mortem did not make certain of it (it did, though), from now on I'm sure I'll be on the lookout for your maps.

GZDooM 4.9, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Weapon Neural Upscale, Simple Upscaled Enemies, Destroyable Decorations Definitive Edition, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

 

Running Late 2, MAP10 - “Overtime”, 4 bosses that you have to mess with. The second twosome of cyberdemons is really hard and anoying to take out. A nice key card puzzle of course.

 

 

2 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

 

That said, is Running Late 1 of similar quality? 

If you liked rl2, Runlate.wad is an interesting play to see where the author comes from. The quality is pretty good, Boom-compatible port is required, the maps are finely balanced, much shorter, generally less challenging but not boring at all.

 

Final Thoughts

I think very highly of @A2Rob because he embodies my favourite type of creativity in the contemporary Doom scene. I have hardly played a fraction of his numerous contributions to community projects in the last 5 years, ranging from Joy of Mapping to the MAYhem series, taking part in between to various speedmapping events and springboard projects like Nova III. This regular training cemented his mapping skills and design principles into a sound and distinguished style, turning a promising newcomer into an expert mapper that was eventually granted the highest recognition.

 

Running Late 2 is one of the few opportunities to play a large megaWAD by this author, thus unmissable if you like the exciting action he typically sets up. There was an earlier and less ambitious offer in his 2017 Running Late, a 5-map episode that lay the foundations of the 2020 sequel. I absolutely had to play it after completing this DWMC playthrough, to realise how A2Rob refined his editing skills, which were quite intriguing for a quasi-beginner, and expanded the resources, the scope, and the Boom trickery of the first instalment to deliver a well-rounded, adventurous, and satisfying sequel, certainly worthy of its Cacoward.

 

The story of Running Late 2 was the same as the first chapter: you are a Security Guard who has been “relocated to a different, remote UAC facility. You begin your commute to work one day, only to run into another demonic invasion”. These loose premisses did not imply that the resulting events lacked substance, since most of the storytelling happened during the game. The author has a talent for realistic design, achieved with clever use of textures, largely borrowed from Community Chest 4 and Shadow Warrior, supported by an approach to building materials that would have made Espi proud. Instead of just drawing rooms and decorating walls, he often started from real world objects, searching for the best way to represent them with the engine. Electric panels, loading cells, vending machines and countless small props went well beyond the concept of Doomcute. The attention to detail and proportions made sure that construction sites, sushi bars, warehouses, rooftops, offices, streets, and other typical urban settings became convincing scenarios for another streak of thrilling Doom mayhem.

 

The gameplay was the trump card in A2Rob’s hand. The way he designed the encounters could be described as both shocking and predictable; strangely enough, I was regularly surprised by the monster deployment, but at the same time I could figure out a way to confront them. The secret behind this perfect combination of aggressiveness and simplicity still eludes me, it might have something to do with the given freedom of movement, but I maintain that combat improvisation is a rare pleasure in contemporary WADs. The two additional enemies, the Plasma Guard and the melee-only Boxer Revenant, were good complements to the roster and were more balanced than Running Late’s fast Plasma Marines.

 

Running Late 2 felt designed around the journey instead of following a difficulty curve; curiously, I found MAP05 and MAP07 to be the hardest, while I had a considerably softer experience with the later offerings, regardless of the increasing monster count and map length. As usual for PWADs that are not exclusively oriented to challenge, I opted for continuous play on Ultra-Violence, with savegames mid-level (not during encounters to cheat the RNG or to facilitate anything). I also have the habit of self-restraining my weapons to get some pistol-start sensations (I used only weapons provided in each map, after acquiring them), and I noticed that resources were generally plentiful, except when the author wanted otherwise. For example, the experience of pistol-starting the Tyson MAP02 was the same when coming directly from MAP01, since no ammo was provided on UV. A mandatory death exit on MAP06 forced a reset in the arsenal and might have been the reason behind the perceived difficulty of MAP07. On the other hand, MAP05 was a deliberately long and demanding ordeal through fierce slaughter arenas, a bold setup for an early slot that shocked me a bit.

 

I consider secrets and secret levels as an integral part of the game; therefore, I was pleased to see that each map contained a suitable number of hidden resources, which could be spotted with a check to the automap paired with straightforward reasoning. MAP31-32 could not be considered secret; they were an optional part of the adventure, that might also end on MAP14 with a return to the workplace routine. The extra levels were ok, especially the slaughter MAP32 that felt more varied and interesting than the typical PWAD offer in that slot, thanks to a dark & spooky setting.

 

The soundtrack put together hits from famous Doomworld composers (mostly Jimmy and stewboy) and a few Lee Jackson tracks taken from other FPS games. I did not care for the music most of the time; it provided a fine acoustic background but the bread and butter of Running Late 2 were its outstanding encounter design and semi-realistic world representation. In those fields it manifested its strengths, narrating a believable story in-game and without the need of flavour text.

 

In the OG Doom II, it seemed perfectly fine for a surviving marine to take the destiny of mankind upon himself and put an end to the demonic invasion single-handedly. I felt the same way in Security Doomguy’s shoes and black gloves; galvanised by the workaholic mindset to clock in on time, I wielded heavy weapons and carved my path through the hordes from hell on the morning commute, just to receive a pat on the shoulder and more unpaid overtime work. This might be the tragic allegory of contemporary working life, but A2Rob’s work was too entertaining to end on a sour note. Running Late 2 was an accessible, polished, and fascinating megaWAD, a product that could appeal to most Doomers, provided they are familiar with big monster crowds and challenging setups.

 

Best maps:

MAP 09 – The Crate Temple 2

MAP 11 – Break Room

MAP 12 – Un-Employed

 

Other standout maps:

MAP 03 – Under Construction

MAP 06 – Rough Commute

MAP 08 – Graveyard Shift

MAP 32 – Supply Closet

Map13: "Need A Vacation"
435/435 kills, 0/0 secrets

And a vacation we get! First off, I love how we revisit chinatown through a door we couldn't open back in map02 and the exploring the now abandoned locale bathed in moonlight coupled with the MIDI piece made for a pretty fun experience. The main fight in this level is a good bit of BFG slaughter that is basically decompression after the several heavy hitters prior but not much else. However, prompted by @Book Lord's writeup, I decided to look around for the red key which unlocked the sewers you had visited back in the second map, with the added benefit of looking at the switches you had to press back in that map already activated which made for a fun callback and another exit which would render the main fight obsolete. I actually prefer this since it works better as a slight worldbuilding level and the next level is also decompression. Cool stuff.

Map14: "The End"
200/200 kills, 0/0 secrets

Like I mentioned earlier, this is another decompression level. You're finally at the office with a large thank you for playing billboard, but wait, weren't we promised 2 secret levels and what's this about 200 enemies ? Well, look around the cubicles to pick up powerups, resources and eventually, a suspicious pentagram switch will unleash 196 imps to be rocket'd into oblivion with an archvile quartet arriving as backup. Honestly, the simple premise coupled with a kind of jazz MIDI rendition of one of my favorite Queen tracks made me have a blast with this level. 

I don't have much to say about Map15 but I kinda find the absolute lack of any soundtrack a bit jarring, the same goes for Map16, oh well.

Map31: "Heavy Press"
123/123 kills, 1/1 secrets 

Pretty straightforward map I'd say, the modest enemy count ensures this map doesn't take a whole lot of time. Combat feels fluid throughout with the interconnected layout being a plus, I also quite liked the space base aesthetic and texturing. My favorite encounter in the level was the fake exit even though it was pretty obvious, the actual setup with dodging the archvile duo while avoiding the spectators was a fun challenge. Don't have much else to say, this is a pretty fun map.

Map32: "Supply Closet"
710/710 kills, 0/1 secrets

This one is pretty excellent and feels more inline with a regular map in this roster. Every fight here was pretty well calibrated from the beginning brawl with the revenants and their boxing buddies in the darkness enabling you to be flanked by them. The archvile resurrection party lights this fight up again at alarming speed as the skeletons close in on you alongside some daring archviles, again the darkness and claustrophobia caused by the fast moving enemies make this a pretty fun yet challenging encounter. Another claustrophobic challenge set upon you utilizes specters which again, blend well into the darkness except while you could anticipate the skeletons once they were close to you, you're often gonna get stuck sorrounded by the specters. The other enemies help in this feeling of gradual encirclement but this can be eased with strategic BFG use combined with your rocket launcher for the primary cleanup. My favorite fight overall was the cyberdemon-fodder ambush in the corrupted area which is succeeded by a paper-tiger ambush of ten archviles who can be easily bottlenecked in a room nearby, I wouldn't mind it much but it felt disappointing the corrupted dimension of the basement was exclusive only to this one encounter. But this is a small blemish on an otherwise excellent level closing an excellent wad.


Final Thoughts on Running Late 2

Despite being a cacoward winning wad, I didn't actually know much about RL2 going into it and I was pretty pleasantly surprised; A2Rob delivers a mapset of beautiful urban settings, thrilling combat and well-crafted doomcute to top it all off. I liked the gradual escalation in scale and while the later levels did last long, I think it had a good sense of pacing within each level. The only issue I had which I don't want to harp on too much was that I was often lost trying to find key progression points, the biggest offender being that yellow key area switch in map12, otherwise I loved the presentation of each map. The diversity in settings were pretty cool, each level felt like it had its own identity barring Map07 unless you count it as being typical in a diverse wad. Either way, my favorite themes were the rooftop setting in map05, the desert beside a dam theme in map10, and of course, the downtown in map12. The strongest gameplay aspect of this wad was the fluidity with combat that keep pushing you forward and keeping you engaged, punctuating the higher energy keystone setpiece fights. The maps pretty consistently provided ammunition and I didn't ever feel underequipped or deprived of ammo. The only map I think I felt pretty negative on overall was Map07 mostly for being unremarkable and a cut below the wad's standard. As for my favorite maps:

5) Rooftop Rampage
4) Supply Closet
3) The Crate Temple 2
2) Rough Commute
1) Overtime

The difficulty curve in this wad was pretty balanced and consistent but still had an upward curve until map12 which I reckon to be the hardest in the set, I think this wad should be pretty accessible, at least compared to the next wad we're gonna be playing. Overall, this was a very fun wad and I'm glad to have played it; great work!

(Played from a pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

 

Map 13: Need a Vacation

100% kills, items and secrets

Time: 4:23

Need a Vacation takes you back to Chinatown Beatdown, now empty, or so you would believe. In a basement that was blocked in the original map, A2Rob gives you a BFG and unleashes over 400 enemies, first imps, then more imps, pinkies, revs and a few helping mancubi, then pain elementals, then plasma zombies and finally 4 cybers. This is far from the most sophisticated fight in RL2, but BFG-fests are my biggest guilty pleasure in Doom and I really like when mappers make you revisit areas you already went through, especially if they add on them like in here.

 

Map 14: The End

105% kills, 33% items, 100% secrets

Time: 3:43

At first you may think that this office is just RL2's credits map, but after pressing the multiple switches, 196 imps and 4 archies will teleport in, but thankfully you get enough rockets to take them all out. While the gameplay is pretty simplistic, it's still enjoyable and I never thought that I would enjoy a Queen midi in Doom as much as I did in here.

 

Map 15: ...

Time: 0:08

It may seem like a simple credits map, but look behind you and a door is open... Now where does it take us ?

 

RL2 Rankings:

 

MAP07 - “Dead on Arrival”

A Dead Simple inspired map, overall this isn't too bad in terms of execution. There isn't too much to say about this one, it gives a decent amount of buzz without being too difficult. 

 

MAP08 - “Graveyard Shift”

I must confess that this map did irk me a little. The excessive darkness was lacking in the ambiance to really make it feel worth it. Instead it meant you could get easily blind-sided by monsters and I struggled for ammo for a fair proportion of the map. It is a shame because the layout allows you to kill most of the monsters before you even make a start of the needed progression. The final fight for the red skull was pretty fun though.

MAP14 - The End:

3:09/0 Deaths
Bit of a silly map, this map does it's best to fool you into thinking it's the actual end credits map by hiding it's content behind a fairly tedious switch hunt. Honestly if I hadn't seen the kill count on my first playthrough, I'd have definitely never found the secret maps were it not for the kill count. The fight itself is entertaining enough, rocketing imps is always fun, and the archviles that pop up around a minute in certainly stop the map from being boring. Honestly my favourite thing about this map is the choice of background music :P

 

MAP31 - Heavy Press:

8:24/3 Deaths

The first of the secret maps is a bit of an oddball. A lot of people have talked about this map feeling different to the rest of Running Late 2, and I think that is perhaps due to the fact that Heavy Press is made of almost entirely vanilla textures which definitely lend the map a slightly different atmosphere to the cc4-style stuff we've seen in every other map. This map felt notably light on health, and all of my deaths came from trying to brute-force the finale, where pressing what appears to be the exit switch drops you directly onto two archviles ready to fry you, with only 6% health. My fault I suppose. I like the secret exit reusing parts of the map for a small navigational puzzle, but the rest of the map is basically inoffensive and fine. Not the flashiest map, but it does the job.
 

MAP32 - Supply Closet:

13:53/3 Deaths
I remember this map kicking my arse on my first playthrough, though I didn't have too much trouble this time through. The basement we found the entrance to in the previous map is full of all kinds of nasties and serves as the final challenge of Running Late 2. It's a worthy challenge, and the main basement area is very fun to fight in, my favourite fight in this area being the massive horde of revenants, both regular and punch-only which are a very fun combo together. The toughest part of the map is the flooded section that opens up after you get the BFG, I definitely could have come up with a better strategy sooner, since trying to do anything but immediately nuke the pain elementals was causing me to face-rocket a high amount later on in the fight, fun stuff though.

 

The "main event", which comprises of nearly 300 of the 700 monsters in this map is set in the gory basement of this already gory basement. This is not a particularly difficult fight, since the main threat is death by chip-damage, since there's enough space to dodge the cyberdemon's rockets without too much trouble, but the only health can be quite hard to get to while they are still alive - the chaingunners are particularly brutal in this fight. The final boss of the wad is 10 archviles, and while you've got a lot of space to take them out, knowing that they're coming and hearing the purring through the walls does a lot to build the tension up to when they're released and I think it's a fitting end for the set. Good stuff!

 

Overall Thoughts on Running Late 2:

Since I started keeping track of wads that I really liked and would recommend, Running Late 2 has been very comfortably in my Top 5 after I loved it so much on my first playthrough. It had a very large influence on my own mapmaking, both directly and indirectly, since the fusion of the modern run & gun gameplay with a more slaughtery edge was something I very much wanted to emulate, and my attempts to find more of A2Rob's stuff to play led me to Nova III, who's third episode inspired me to make a lunar-themed wad of my own. It's not a stretch at all to say that a lot of my maps from 2021 would not exist without Running Late 2. So, when it came to replaying it for the megawad club and trying to talk and evaluate it, at least a year or so since I last touched it and after my tastes have certainly changed, I was a little nervous that it wouldn't live up to my memory of it, but I am very pleased to say that I had a ton of fun with it over the last few days! 

 

I am struggling to say anything that I haven't already said (especially cause it's currently 2 in the morning as I write this :P), so I'll keep it brief. Running Late 2 is near perfect for what I think a modern doom experience can be: it's got fluid and fast-paced incidental combat, it's got punchy and surprising ambushes, it's got excellently done visuals that look nice and convey a sense of an actual place, it's got some very solid additions to the monster roster that are introduced well and fun to fight, and most importantly, it's very well paced and doesn't outstay it's welcome at all in spite of the fact that it goes on for four more maps after it's finale! It's absolutely fantastic and I think everyone should play it.

 

Top 5 Maps:

MAP11 - Break Room

MAP13 - Need a Vacation

MAP05 - Rooftop Rampage

MAP04 - Oil Rigged

MAP10 - Overtime

^{(to be honest, I could have made an argument for pretty much every map to be here)}

On Christmas' Eve, we are supposed to begin playing Fractured Worlds. Thankfully I already did my homework...

 

MAP 01 – Tomahawk by @Nirvana

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, HMP, Pistol start, blind run w/saves

 

Among the nice features of Fractured Worlds is the “Extra Info” text file, an interesting read where Nirvana explains the background and design principles behind each level. Tomahawk’s name “was meant to reflect the swiftness and aggressiveness of the gameplay”, as if the typical Doomer would naturally sprint forward and run around this place like in a deathmatch arena. I am no deathmatch player and my experience was the opposite, with my first attempts to move on and “try to be aggressive” ending miserably. Well-placed hellspawn easily overwhelmed my ammo-starved alter ego.

Once I got hold of the weapon placement and ambush setup around the starting area, I was eventually able to advance, but staying alive required a cautious attitude that had nothing to do with the assertiveness the author hoped for. The abundance of damaging floors, often taxing my health in addition to the tolls applied by combat, and a couple of one-way paths did not give me the impression of a free-flowing layout. After acquiring the RK and pressing the red switches, the progression was quite obscure for such a small environment, and the BFG did not gave me much confidence since it took a while to find a cell supply, quickly depleted against the BK Arch-Viles and the following Cyberdemon.

I gradually realised that the blue goat bosses were the standard ones, while the teal Cyberdemons were an alternative version with the same HP of a Baron of Hell. I noticed this in the wonderful YK arena, where a BFG shot was enough to kill two of the latter at once, as they were weakened after infighting with Hell Nobles. The arena looked incredible with the strong light contrast and the bright cyan inserts, animated by voodoo-powered blinking sequences. The whole map was true eye candy, impressive to see and explore. It was a bit harsh though, springing lethal traps that required either foreknowledge or greater skill than mine, even on HMP. My improvisation was more disastrous than successful, and finding the secret purple key required more than sixth sense (the editor, actually). By the way, the rationale behind the “bonus secret fight” escapes my understanding. I cannot see more opposition and further threat to my existence as a reward; maybe my masochism has not reached the required degree yet. Great opener as expected, I look forward to seeing if I can keep up with the difficulty ramp in the next levels.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Book Lord

Fractured Worlds

 

MAP01: Tomahawk. Played on DSDA v0.24, HMP, PS. 105/105 K, 3/3 S, 8/8 I. Completion time 22:50.

 

Having played the first three maps of Fractured World in pre-idGames days on HNTR, I knew UV would be out of the question. This is gonna be Ribbiks-tier difficulty right here. That said, I'm gonna restart on HMP.

 

I ended spending way too much time on this great opener; I would restart over and over again just to get the cyan cyber infight some starting area enemies, and I'd just catch facerockets and fail somehow. I somehow remember ammo was gonna be on the premium, and while I don't think it's too generous, I ended up having way ammo surplus upon exit. I should have been more trigger happy.

 

Already the first level promises we're in for a treat, even if I end up lowering the difficult before FW is over. This seems probable, because the yellow key fight was way harder than I remembered it being on HNTR (where it wasn't easy either, but I was slightly more inexperienced at the time).

 

I didn't remember there were two varieties of cybers -- I was quite surprised when the blue key pillar cybie was destroyed by infighters, and without me firing one shot at it. I was even more surprised when another cyber appeared in the starting area, and that one was a regular one, albeit with new coloring. Was there one HNTR? Can't remember.

 

On my HNTR playthrough (can't remember the completion time, I have cleared the RC version from my Doom Launcher) I spent a lot of time looking for secrets. Having exposed myself to Stardates and early Sunsluts, I knew to be on a lookout for tiny switches lurking in plain sight, and finding the purple key was no chore this time.