Underworldfan's Single Player Map Reviews

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## Reviews: 20th April 2007 review 2 [Reviewed by Tronyn]

SUMMARY
Game - QUAKE
Map - tpof: E4M4 Quoth Remake
by - ijed
Download - tpof.rar
Overall Verdict - A fun remix of E4M4.

FULL REVIEW:
This is a tidy, fairly straightforward and nice remake of id's E4M4: The Palace of Hate (it is now The Palace of Fear). The layout is almost exactly the same, you might notice a bit of variation here and there but overall it's the same. The architecture and texturing is much cleaner than in id's original, with a few nice additions here and there and of course the quoth scenery.
There are plenty of shadow-casting torch-cages in the map, which give a nice effect to the map. However, lighting is in some areas too bland/dark, mainly on the floor levels of the two long hallways and around the first central atrium. More contrast between the shadow-areas, where the knights and so forth hide, and the inner, lit area would have been nice. Overall the lighting is good, all sourced from various types of torches and wall-lights, but in some areas the gloom becomes too monotonous and hard to properly see.

Gameplay is like the original, only again it is slightly tweaked. Plenty of Quoth's cool enemies appear, and this makes the map feel fresh, in addition to having a new challenge in dealing with the various types of monsters. It's not that much harder than the original overall, but you can't be careless or you will die. There is one ambush that seemed quite a bit nastier than I remember.
As this is a remake, and a good one, it sort of goes without saying that it retains the atmosphere and sense of place (and foreboding/fear/hate) that id's original map had. However, by today's standards the map is kind of random and small. Aside from the lighting, what would have improved this map would have been lots of unexpected surprises (new ambushes or monster closets, traps, etc, that weren't in the original). In conclusion, I think it was a good choice of a map to remake, and quite well put together too, with tidy, never boring architecture and a good dose of Quoth monsters. Recommended.

Overall Score: 14/20