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409fe16f131937caef905e6d0d52f7d4f47271aea7faec49bb571db7dcbb3391
overall_rating
4.45105421686747
83
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Iâm not sure just how many times Iâve played this level over the years, but I had to come back and play it again to better compare with the Retro Jam 7 (2022) release. The original sure does hold up for me, even after so many years.
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Excellent!
The first of (imo) two really good single-player maps by Vondur. I prefer Adamantine Cruelty overall, which has a superior layoutâKoohooâs is pretty straightforward overall, with the notable exception of the big area with the floating platforms and water, one of the most memorable areas in any Quake map. The one advantage Koohoo has over Adamantine Cruelty is a thicker atmosphere, mainly due to the new (to Quake) textures and judicious lighting (and without the fancy tricks allowed for by newer engines and mods).
Gameplay-wise itâs pretty solid. As with his previous map, Vondurâs enemy placement is often pretty basic, but this one is not underpopulated. I could do without the boss, though.
Not my favorite of Vondurâs maps but for those who value atmosphere over gameplay I can see how it could be. Personally, 4/5 but itâs really must-play Quake for its importance to the scene.
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Koohoo makes trudging through a swamp actually enjoyable and visually interesting. Iâd have to say my favorite element of the map was the textures and their use. Having looked at the readme it seems that they come from Heretic 2 which Iâve only played through a few times and that was back when it released so it all feels fresh to me. I also feel a lot of Unreal 1 influences here, I wouldnât be surprised to find out that some of the Unreal maps were used as references.
Despite essentially being a single map with a fairly low enemy count (I always play on Hard) Koohoo does a surprisingly good job in creating a sense of grand exploration. The dank waterlogged temple and itâs walls adorned with reliefs showing bizarre humanoid figures screams Shadow over Innsmouth to me. If this map were prefaced with another featuring the town itself it would fit perfectly.
I think the fact that this map has a start map and a separate boss map add to feeling of completeness which in turn boosts that sense of exploration as you feel like there really is a lot to explore despite the map featuring only 3 tagged secrets. The outro text after the boss battle also adds to this motif of exploration and adventure.
From a gameplay perspective itâs serviceable. It doesnât break new ground or have any memorable combat set pieces but it does use all the monsters competently and keeps things interesting with traps and ambushes.
As I mentioned above the map features a separate boss map and itâs a bit of a letdown. The boss is a shootable, smaller and reskinned Chthon who is very easy to defeat. He has a single attack which I think may be exactly the same as his vanilla counterpart - this also includes his predictive aim. Thanks to this aim you can strafe left and right in the same spot and he will over-predict and send projectiles sailing past you 95% of the time.
I think that adding more monsters (there is only the boss monster in the map) in staggered waves would have made the fight a) much more dynamic and engaging and b) actually challenging. Having the boss map split up from the main map raises the players expectations and then it fails to deliver. One part of the boss fight that I do appreciate is that after X amount of damage (may be random?) a gib will fly off the monster which makes it slightly more visually interesting and confirms that you are doing damage (there are blood particles too).
I had a lot of fun with Koohoo and itâs most definitely an easy recommendation.
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