ea Gothic 1 (EAGOTH1.WAD)

EA GOTHIC 1

by Erik Alm

2001 was Erik's coming out party, starting off with a handful of submissions to Sam Woodman's One Week Mapping Contest before moving on to his first solo release, the relatively large Europa 1. He continued his frenzy of activity along a different path with ea Gothic 1. This is still a level for Boom-compatible ports but it's a much smaller, intimate affair that requires the beloved Gothic DeathMatch II texture pack. The product is a MAP27 replacement for Doom II, presumably because Alm appreciated the combination of Hellish sky and the curious atmosphere of "Waiting For Romero to Play".

This level is short and tough on UV. The monster placement is relatively understated; most of the difficulty revolves around cramped playing spaces and a tight ammo balance. In this way it's more in keeping with the difficulty of Scythe's third episode... if you were glancing through Alm's back catalogue for similar entries, I mean. If you have any inkling of the impending ammo austerity then it's not too tough to keep the couple of encountered Barons alive until you feel that you have adequate margin to handle them. Don't hold out hope for a SSG, though. Much of the grunt work will be performed with the regular shotgun.

Alm's level design is fairly claustrophobic. The most purely challenging bout to me was the cacodemon / imp / spectre brawl around the rocket launcher. I mentioned the goat men earlier; the one on the main floor presents as a mobile obstacle until you're comfortable confronting it. The turnaround comes in the fiery finale which takes place in a flame-swathed mausoleum. Erik has given you plenty of room, here, but set you up against an arch-vile duo. This isn't an impossible task as long as you take your time after blowing your rockets as accurately and early as possible.

If the density presents itself as too much of a challenge then the lower difficulty settings release either some or most of the pressure. HMP removes a select few enemies, making the plasma gun trap the single more dangerous of the fights for players who are caught off-guard. It may still be a bit much for folks who are looking for a more disposable speedmap experience. In this case, HNTR is a considerably less challenging. Almost half of the 34 HMP enemies are removed and some of the tougher remainders have been downgraded. The effect transforms the level's oppressive deathtrap aura into a spooky old ruin.

I've refrained from looking through the post-Scythe portion of Alm's catalogue so it's fun to see him break out of his stock texture trappings. The difficulty settings cover a pretty good spread between dense / overtuned and sparse / generous so this is an easy recommendation for lovers of very short levels. Of course, if you've enjoyed Erik's more popular work, then it's a must.

ELECTRONIC DARK ARTS