LogFAQs > #961196241

I beat Episode 2 last night, and with it comes an admission, an observation, and some thoughts to tie the two together.

The admission: I made liberal use of the ability to save (which may or may not have been in the original shareware episodes; I wouldn't know) and reload upon death towards the latter half of the episode in particular. Carrying over weapons and ammo minimized the frustration of having to try surviving the whole length of a level over and over again, but it likewise minimized the strain on my lacking skills. Someday I'll try to beat each level on its own, but not this month.

With my opinions now thoroughly discredited, the observation: Doom's sense of speed seems second to none, and that's with not much more than a sprint. Strafing the Cyberdemon at the end (which I didn't take advantage of saving to tackle) was a real highlight, forcibly freeing me from the grip of formula and the typically conservative play it fostered.

And the thoughts: The all-important adrenaline in Doom (and perhaps in FPSes in general - I don't have the experience to comment) mainly stems from the interplay of flow and challenge. I've partially disrupted that equilibrium on both ends as an attempt to ameliorate for the more severe effects my lacking skills would otherwise have. (Now I get what people refer to when they talk about playing games 'right', even if I don't necessarily agree with the concept.) Yet the game feel still shines through amidst it all, sans steep enough situational awareness and reaction time requirements to overwhelm me.

Anyways, I won't be finishing Episode 3 before the drawing, so I'll nominate Wandersong and support Doom II right now.