Castle of Oblivion

Castle Of Oblivion is a new one from Rick Lipsey - everyone, including myself, seems to know the name but cannot remember what he's done before, only that it was good.

I'll start off by saying this map is definately a keeper. The design combines elements of classic styles with newer stuff, and themes the map encompasses include a lot of Runic, Copper, some Cobalt, and some medieval. Hexen II textures are used surprisingly well to subtly complement the themes, and do not clash. The map is very large and the layout means that you'll be visiting all of the areas, most of which are multi-floored and cleverly connected, from different angles at least once. Gameplay is well-balanced throughout, with a medieval mix of enemies being challenging but not overpowering, and some interesting combat. The credits train at the end of the map is a neat idea too.

Overall, Castle Of Oblivion is a surprise map with no large flaws and enough merit to warrant playing it several times through.

A well designed level with good gameplay, and very non-linear. But the non-linearness was what ruined it for me - at one stage there were two paths, I chose the closer one and that was apparently the wrong one as I soon completely ran out of ammo and was expected to fight four Zombies, five HellKnights, two Scrags and a Vore with my axe! Unfortunately at times it got a little confusing trying to find your way around. Otherwise this would have been a really good level.