[User added a rating.]
e1f7b48e210e56c793105497439c88dc2ada1bd2bbb8be5947ec2f99f0965797
overall_rating
4.263700181159421
96
sucks. full of bugs. the combat is more often than not a slog. the new enemies are poorly balanced. the new weapons feel totally unnecessary and aren’t enjoyable to use. the writing is pretentious, boring, and riddled with typos, which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t forced down your throat with unskippable cutscenes.
worst of all, the levels are terrible. they have little to no atmosphere (although there are some cool bits), are laid out unintuitively, poorly lit, and some feature traps that feel taken straight out of Gygax’s Tomb of Horrors - unfair and unavoidable unless you know they’re coming.
overall, Zerstörer feels very much like it comes from the “unfair design == challenge == fun” school of thought that was somewhat prevalent when it was released. this is further evidenced by the fact that the game kills you if you try to select easy mode.
skip this one.
[User added a rating.]
[User added a rating.]
[User added a rating.]
[User added a rating.]
A very small start map. No enemies, no surprises, Nightmare selection is out in the open.
start.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/VcnNs7kZTcc
A surprisingly simple, short and easy map. You start with very low ammo, but the provided chainsaw is enough until you reach the Super Nailgun.
zer1m1.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/r_nv1dfWino
Just a cutscene.
zer1m2.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/y1F-SMr71A8
Really nice map. Good length, nice visuals, plenty of different things to do, weather effects, a lot going on for it. The Riot Controller weapon is also pretty neat. I really enjoy the look and feel of the whole graveyard section.
It’s not terribly difficult, but very enjoyable.
zer1m3.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/6WM6oreH1sQ
Good metal themed map. Some small issues, like the ability to grab the silver key without touching the trigger that opens the path forward. Or, sometimes, it’s possible to walk past the trigger that opens the trapdoor which reveals an Enforcer, right after the Minigun room. Oddly, it also doesn’t contain any secrets.
But gameplay is good, the custom weapons, once again, are nicely integrated.
zer1m4.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/n4TXqaaPNGE
Good map, not much to say. The room where you have to climb the moving walls is pretty neat, but somewhat prone to instantly killing you, even if you’re supposed to be safe.
zer1m5.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/CFSuqpJ93no
Nice map, with great ambience. I like the “go down to the temple with no enemies and come back to the top, fighting” vibe it has. Architecture is also pretty neat, even if simple. For some reason, when playing with Quakespasm, an ammo cache isn’t made available to the player. Which, in turn, makes it impossible for an Enforcer to spawn, limiting total kills to 87/88. This problem doesn’t seem to occur, if playing with joeQuake.
zer1m6.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/UGhFkEwJm3o
It’s a decent map, but it’s a bit too easy to get lost. The shielded Enforcer enemies aren’t very fun to fight against.
It also feels a tad out of place, for a final map.
zer1m7.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/0KGFpfw-rVk
Essentially, just a cutscene.
zerend.bsp - Link to Nightmare 100% walkthrough: https://youtu.be/R2XjFUGgFxY
Overall, nice, entertaining and detailed set of maps. The custom weapons are, mostly, very good and integrate nicely into regular Quake gameplay. Texture work feels a bit too same-y, a lot of the environments are very similar looking. Over-reliance on cutscenes, which, at the time were pretty novel but, nowadays, kind of annoying.
Still, good set of maps that you should try out.
Sucks. Full of bugs. The combat is more often than not a slog. The new enemies are poorly balanced. The new weapons feel totally unnecessary and aren’t enjoyable to use. The writing is pretentious, boring, and riddled with typos, which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t forced down your throat with unskippable cutscenes.
Worst of all, the levels are terrible. They have little to no atmosphere (although there are some interesting bits), are laid out unintuitively, poorly lit, and some feature traps that feel taken straight out of Gygax’s Tomb of Horrors - unfair and unavoidable unless you already know they’re coming.
Overall, Zerstörer feels very much like it comes from the “unfair design = challenge = fun” school of thought that was somewhat prevalent when it was released. This is further evidenced by the fact that the game kills you if you try to select easy difficulty.
Skip this one.
Overall doesn't completely stand the test of time I would say but not bad. Definitely still worth playing since this map is made to sound like "required reading" as an example of early quake mapping. It's flashy, with new weapons and enemies (particularly wasn't a big fan of the new enemies), but I think there are better examples of map design from the same year, such as Beyond Belief, or Cassandra Calamity. That is, except, for one map in this set.
Map 6, True Love Waits, is a stand out for sure. Allowing the player to safely familiarize themselves with the layout of the level before the frantic but excellently paced rush back to the entrance is some really clever stuff. Doesn't hold up as well on repeat playthroughs if you know what you're in for, but I wouldn't knock it for that.