So this is a retexture of an earlier map called Hell. The problem is, the bonkers colour palette was literally the only interesting thing about the original map. Did they fix the lack of ammo? No. Did they fix the awkward geometry? No. Did they fix the fact that it only had one poorly hidden secret right near the beginning of the level? No. Did they fix the button that does nothing in the room with weird spikes, a couldron and some sort of teleporter? No, they just made it display a message that confirms it does nothing.

I guess I should compliment the mapper on improving the textures and they do look halfway decent, but for the most part this was a case of using the texture replace tool in the editor, if not simply swapping out the wad.

Usually a map this mediocre would be unremarkable and therefore unworthy of review, but the fact that it's been re-released without fixing any of the originals problems sort of makes it remarkable, I guess, in a weird way?

Conclusion: You can't polish a turd.

A very unique map. Most lava maps in Quake are essentially abstract dungeons and don't feel particularly hellish to me. This is the first one that gave me the feeling of truly descending into hell. The custom textures, while slightly crude, added to that feeling.

Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't ideal. Progression is plodding at times, and ammo starvation will be a problem to any player who isn't careful. Still, this is interesting enough that it's worth playing.

@Text_Fish,

I did fix the lack of ammo that happened due to several ammo boxes falling out of the map. If you read the Read Me included in the download, this was explained. This positively affected the gameplay and was displayed in a recent playthrough online where someone played both versions. This version was extremely more playable because the ammo stayed in the map after launch.

I also retextured the entire level from scratch. Your assumption of using a replace tool was not an option, due to the custom color palette. I spent time going through the whole map, looking for suitable textures that were pleasing and fixing errors of the original.

Granted, it's an old level and might not be your cup of tea; however, my intent was to simply fixed the gameplay issues (ammo) and convert it to the standard color palette.

Greenwood, the retexture is the best thing about the remake, so well done for that.

Unfortunately the gameplay issues have not been fixed, because there still isn't enough ammo on the map.

Normal playthrough by Zigi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wVkUT0aNI

Hard playthrough by Ch0wW - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwHEd-Jg5ac&t=8s

Really fun map, great atmosphere

Replayed this, and I didn't have any problem with ammo starvation on this outing, nor was the progression plodding apart from one time when I had wait a while for a floating platform, so I'll retract my earlier comment. This is a pretty interesting map that, as originally released, had very eccentric textures. The new, re-textured version makes it look more like a typical Quake map while preserving the original's strong atmosphere. Definitely worth checking out.

Thanks, Greenwood for rescuing this from a fate worse than simple obscurity! It's not a bad map at all really with a decent set of textures. Especially considering that the original was made in early 1998. I mean, Win95 and 40 MB RAM! 8 hours to vis...

I think the colored light you added achieved the hellish feel that Rickard was aiming for. It was fun to play a truly old school level once again!

And at least on skill 2, you do need to be very careful with ammo.

@Greenwood I remember playing this one a few years ago and not enjoying it because of its looks and lack of ammo, so I for one am looking forward to giving it another try sometime.

Felt like ammo starvation made the map more enjoyable than it would've been otherwise. These narrow corridors would've been just dull if you could mow down everything without having to rely on axe a bit.