metlslime's map was my favorite. Good vertical progression, neat monster placement, especially the ogres. The others are ok.

I am a sucker for swamp type levels so I had to give this a try

metlslime: The most vertical of all of the swamps, nicely done

Pulsar: Not a swamp whatsoever but still a fun quickie.

Scampie: Fits the theme well, funny idea to use trees

Speedy: Nothing to do a with a swamp...or a vertical one at that. Just monster fill (Although sending spawns and fiends to their demise is fun!)

Zwiffle: More like a horizontal swamp, but at least it is a swamp! Fun little play.

2 stars for the largest reason that only three of the five entries use the theme and only one map used vertical layers as far as I am concerned.

The Not-So-Grisly Grotto (sm80_metl): yep: that is a vertical swamp all right! Nicely executed, but a bit anticlimactic when you ascend to the top level only to find you've already killed everyone.

The place of besporyadok (sm80_pulsar) is a really nice level, though it's neither vertical nor a swamp. I'm not sure what it's going in this pack, but I'm glad it's here.

Scampie's untitled map (sm80_scampie) is beautifully constructed, but terribly underpopulated. I got about half way through, then picked off the distant high-up enemies with the nailgun before they'd even seen me, then ... that was it. It was over. A shame: all the hard work had been done.

The enigmatically named ddrslut (sm80_speedy) is, like Pulsar's offering, a really good little map that has absolutely nothing to do with the "vertical swamp" theme. It's very difficult, full-on combat almost from the start, with an ending that really tests your ability to think through strategy. I finished with thee rockets and no other ammo, having rocketed the two of the many shamblers to death. Most enjoyable.

Swamp with Leaks (it's a pun) (sm80_zwiffle) is also enjoyable, and does stick to the swamp theme -- though all on one level. Rather easier than some of the other maps in this pack, though, and not quite so cleanly executed.

All in all, this is a fine pack of five maps that are all short, all adequately to well constructed, and all fun to play. Well worth downloading, and I think worth three and a half stars which I will somewhat ungenerously round down to three.

I don't have anything to add to what MikeTaylor had to say, except that I loved this pack. It's much better than the ratings would have you thinking.