Kuchitsu (KUCHITSU.WAD)

Memfis is a pretty cool person who makes maps and releases them piecemeal instead of throwing together one of those hugeass megaWADs that tends to grind aspiring authors down. Kuchitsu, released early in 2013 for limit-removing ports, is therefore a little unusual as it's six levels long, serving as something of a minisode. Kuchitsu doesn't have an official story but there's kind of a tie between the levels, like taking a boat from "Lotus Island" to the docks of "Mechanical" and then fighting your way through a Doom City to an escape plane. The music that plays during the intermission is supposed to be the in-flight tune. I guess the tech-savvy Doomguy always carries a set of earphones!

The levels of Kuchitsu are short, mostly loaded with low-tier enemies, and a little tight on ammo and health. They're not excessively challenging, but if you want to walk away you'd better take a little care while you're racing through memfis's maps. The experience kind of reminds me of TOT Comics Doom, except this is a little less jokey and way more competent. It's also got a really earthy feel, what with the grey / green status bar, leaved trees, potted plants, and early emphasis on caves and stuff. The city and starports don't really fit into that, but uh, they do kind of fit in with memfis's love of the pioneering days of Doom WADs when people were happy just to be able to throw anything together if it resembled something more concrete.

Kuchitsu isn't groundbreaking, but it's very fun and easygoing and totally worth a gander. I would totally dig a megaWAD of levels like these, visiting all the different ideas that captured the imagination of ancient Doomers. I'll be looking forward to more works of Memfis, "fun" or otherwise.

KUCHITSU
by "Memfis"

Ikuwayo

MAP01

Cool little base map set into a hill populated with zombies, imps, and maybe a lost soul. There's not a whole lot of health and zero armor so it's possible that a careless player might die from attrition; most of your refills are scattered bonuses. Nothing too threatening apart from maybe that commando overlooking the first yard. I like the structure and that tower off beyond the wall is a nice touch.

MAP02

Lotus Island

Cute little island fortress with some caverns to pick through. I also think I see a couple of Doom II homages, but the game is quite different. Demons appear in here to put pressure on the player, but unless you're shotgunning through the level at top speed, you shouldn't be under any pressure. If you play dangerously, you live dangerously, though, and run the risk of waking up too many zombies at once. About the only really threatening thing you might find here is that blind drop for the green key. Fast and very fun.

Mechanical	MAP03
You start off at the docks and fight your way through a fortress that gradually morphs into a more modern base. Nothing too scary except for maybe the revenant, which makes its debut appearance here. Still a lot of small arms fire; you'll pretty much be constantly firing your shotgun and chaingun as you prance through the wonderfully-lit hallways.

MAP04

Water Leak

Another base map, mostly making its difficulty through attrition due to a dearth of health supplies, though there was one moment after a blind drop that had me sweat a little...if only because taking on a revenant and a hell knight in a tight space with just a shotty feels kind of edgy. I guess I'd say that ammo's pretty tight as well, but while you're feeling things out you get a nice inundated layout to battle through and a little trip outside at roughly the halfway point.

Doom Town

MAP05

Bam - city level, out of nowhere. It's a cute little elbow of road with some parking garages, a convenience story, warehouse, and bank. memfis throws in a couple larger monsters and a SSG to compensate - time to tear this shit up. Or get tore up, as the case may be. The open layout and scant health may leave you running for cover as you fight off several pain elementals and mancubuses, not to mention numerous hitscanners taking potshots as you try and figure out what's the first thing to die. That maze fight was a nice surprise.

MAP06

Have a Nice Flight

The finale is a mad dash through a toxin-filled starport. Memfis sets some nice goals like hinting at the red key switch and spaceship you're supposed to escape on, and then goes and throws the hardest fights of the set at you. It's still pretty chill but be prepared for a very scrappy start trying to gather up ammo followed by several arch-vile intrusions and even a few mancubuses. It's fast, it's fun, and there's even a little outdoor area to explore. Cool!

BLESS YOU!

This post is part of a series on
Doomworld's 2013 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Back to Saturn X: Episode 1	Eyedea	Interception
Doom 2 the Way id Did	Samsara	Hadephobia
Unholy Realms	Eon Deathmatch	Hellbound
ZDoom Community Map Project: Take 2	Best Gameplay Mod	High / Low 5
Fuel Devourer	Project MSX	Soulcrusher
Kuchitsu	Mordeth Award	Stomper
Forsaken Overlook	ZDCMP2
Stardate 20X6	Mockaward
Pirate Doom	Extreme Weapon Pack
Swim With the Whales	Mapper of the Year
	Ribbiks