Tow words: SEVERELY UNBALANCED

No overall cohesive progression to connect the different areas. And again, severely unbalanced where too many monsters are placed everywhere with no perceivable strategy or rationale.

On the pro side the brushing is not bad at all and while it may still evolve to craft more absorbing architectures it doesn't look like a novice work.

Tip to the author: There is much potential in your work. Give gameplay and overall planing of the level more thought. Consider the balance between boring/challenging/frustrating while test playing it and get more feedback before considering it finished.

My 5 cents

Loads of fun slaughtermap for Quake :D There is this 1 part with the Shamblers which is a real challenge... But it's a great map for epic, epic Quad runs!

Extremely hard map. Puts Smej on its knees. But quite fun if played in proper non serious mood. Also usage of blood-stained walls is nice - rarely seen anywhere; lovely

Very hard map, not for that less fun. Totally the opposite of that. Map is challenging and fun. The shambler part will make you see god by the way >=)

What are you waiting for? GO FOR IT!

The Last room battle "*%£!:@$!king hell" lol Gotta give it 5/5.

In response to alex about the theme: it's cool someone commented on the visuals of this map! while being "basic id1 runic" I tried to take my own spin on it by playing on the games already existing religious undertones and adding drama to it by making it extra bloody and grotesque to really symbolize the brutality of crucifixion which is also where the name of the map actually came from "why has thou forsaken me"

In response to some of the other comments: The gameplay matches the brutal nature of the theme as well I advise anyone struggling with it to lower the difficulty, a lot of effort was put into balancing each difficulty so if it's difficult on "hard" and a nightmare on "nightmare" well that's the point!

very hardcore but very good and fun, and well balanced. the final slaughter area was pretty funny ngl.

I beat it, I actually beat the ending. Nightmare difficultly and maybe 50 loads. The ogre pit too was a brief obstacle, but nothing on the scale of the end. How I did it - prioritised the shamblers, a few quad rockets but mostly spamming pills at the horded masses. Grenades really open up space to kite round. Fun map, but won't revisit for a while

This map aims to be like a Doom slaughtermap - only, for Quake. It succeeds in what it sets out to do! My gameplay here:

https://youtu.be/Y18QVjdSrOE

Replying to it being a "slaughter map" I think that is a bit misleading, its more of a set piece combat map and the end starts to verge in slaughter territory but not really. that being said it is kind of doomy in a sense.

Welcome to another mapper!

The map itself is a bit blocky, but with quite good use of the bloody textures. The architecture shows some good ideas.

The 'gameplay' - if a such exist - is wanting. Shoot - reload - shoot reload etc. with big monsters and only small weapons, is, admitted, not my cup of tea.

For a first map not bad; i hope to see more from this mapper!

Right off the bat, don't play this map expecting your typical Quake fare! Manage your expectations first:

• QUICKSAVE often! Don't have any macho delusions about surviving the map without saving on your first run. Even on normal you'll most likely die.

• As the author suggests in the readme, play on lower difficulty than what you'd normally play on. Maybe even on easy first.

• Take some of the combat encounters as puzzles where with each passing death you come closer to figuring out and solving the puzzle.

• There is quite a bit of RNG involved, so victory is most likely achieved only after having some good luck; especially on the harder difficulties. Kind of like a Doom slaughtermap, as mentioned in previous reviews. Because of the luck element, you shouldn't feel bruised in your ego for dying.

If you play with these caveats in mind, I think you'll find something to enjoy in this map. Pros:

• Colossus really succeeded in hammering home the brutality in all aspects: the imagery, architecture, gameplay, even the music. That theme of brutality certainly shone through it all.

• Innovative puzzle-like combat encounters that I haven't quite come across before.

• For me, it was personally the first time I've played a Quake slaughtermap, so it was a novel and cathartic experience for me.

Cons:

• The brushwork really isn't that pretty. But on the other hand, the ugliness kind of suits the brutal and bloody style of the map.

• Even with all my expectations managed, I still found some encounters a bit unfair/cheap; especially the ones involving shamblers (the cross shaped arena and the teleport + button shooting puzzle). You're kind of at the mercy of the RNG not having the shamblers zap too much lightning at you, even though you can try to mitigate it by trying to stun them or using the puzzle elements.

• Having now experienced what I'd consider a slaughtermap, I'm not sure I'm really into the whole "dying a whole bunch of times first to devise a working strategy and then grinding runs until you hit a lucky run and finally beat the encounter". Granted, it got really grindy and a bit frustrating only on nightmare difficulty, but on normal, I think I managed the final fight with only 2 or 3 deaths, if I recall correctly.

• I softlocked myself once on my second nightmare run, by quickly backtracking while a door was trying to close on me. The door cancelled the closing process and I was able to continue with that particular corridor. But, once I touched the pillar at the end of the branch, the door finally toggled itself close, and I couldn't get back into the hub room without noclipping.

All in all, when I approached the map with the right kind of mindset, even with all my gripes, I found it quite a cool experience worth playing and I think I'd rate it 4/5.

I shall end this review with a quote appropriate with the theme of the map: With his stripes we are healed. Is. 53:5