DOOM - John Romero's E1M4b
A brief history of this map; in early 2016, the DOOMdaddy himself, John Romero, released a map reinterpreting DOOM's E1M8, one of the two maps he didn't create in the original episode. The other one being E1M4, which was an obvious follow-up for a 100% Romero-created Knee Deep in the Dead.
That's the rub, but I don't care. The fact is that the pair of them were the first John Romero DOOM levels made since The Flesh Consumed in 1995! It was amazing to be playing both this, and E1M8b (which I'll also review). Who cares if they complete the old episode? Which, as it turns out, was a great attitude for me to have. Because they don't. Trying to play Knee Deep with the pair of 2016 Romero maps causes two noticeable upward ticks in difficulty; forgivable in the case of E1M8 as the episode climax, less so right there in the middle at E1M4.
As a standalone map in its own right however, E1M4b is fantastic. From an inauspicious start, the map is a dynamically-expanding back-and-forth romp themed around hitting numbered switches to access more areas - revealing more enemies each time.
It's a great time, initially cramped but opening up and featuring relatively-modern multidirectional encounters; with a nu-Romero flair for limit-removing detail (this wouldn't run on yer grandad's DOS exe, hell naw) that's clean and uncluttered and conveys the progression clearly.
It's like this man knows how to make a DOOM map or something. 5/5
