Quake E1M1

Title: Quake E1M1
Link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1990265193
Author: John Romero, Mr. Scoot
Survivors: L4D1
Notes: This is a demo port of Introduction and E1M1 (The Slipgate Complex) from Quake (1996).

Just as the Doom levels were made available for the public to play around with, so too were the levels from Quake, another game by id Software. This campaign is specifically noted to be a demo or proof-of-concept for the Quake levels, and as such isn't a fully fleshed out campaign. It seems to have been made for people to see what a Quake campaign could be like in L4D2.

There are two maps here. The first map is extremely short, as it's really just the difficulty selection level. Once a difficulty has been chosen, it leads to a saferoom to transition to the first real map. The Slipgate Complex is a great first level, with lots of nice visuals, a gritty tone, streamlined combat, and a simple yet original and well-developed level design. The map is ported very well here and the original atmosphere is captured superbly.

There's even the secret in the beginning, with an appropriate weapon for those who can find it or remember it!

When you press the button to descend on the lift and approach the first outside area, you'll probably notice that this isn't going to be a tough campaign. There's not much room for common infected to hang out at, although specials theoretically might be able to attack you from vantage points you can't see. The health pack distribution is pretty crazy, as it's impossible to go 12 feet without running into one. Thankfully you can travel down the creek below the bridge and there's some semblance of danger of being taken down by a charger or smoker there.

The interior of the primary building looks well made and accurate. All the lifts, switches, and platforms work properly and the secrets are in the right places. As a proof of concept, this is more about showing off how the map operates rather than being a well-balanced map. As such, common infected seem to not be in the best shape to take on players, though specials have it a little better.

The damaging sewage water is still here and does enough damage over time to make you move to the end for the secret. There isn't much of a need to explore down here, but it's still a nice touch. In comparison to the Doom map remake (E1M7), this is a lot shorter than that and shouldn't take you much more than 7 or 8 minutes to complete.

It's kind of fun to see things from Quake here, but there's not much more to it than that. All of the original elements of the map work properly, so it's nice to see that functionality isn't compromised. Unfortunately, once you reach the end, there's no ending credits roll so you'll have to exit to the main menu to quit from the campaign.

Difficulty: As basically just a demo of what Quake's first episode could be like in Left 4 Dead 2, this isn't a difficult map by any stretch. Even if you've never played Quake before, it should be very easy to beat, especially with all the health packs that this campaign throws at you. Experienced players should start this on Advanced or higher if they want any sort of challenge.

Final Verdict: This really shouldn't be taken as anything more than a proof of concept. It's a little unfortunate that it doesn't just end with a fade to black like Left 4 Doom does upon reaching the end, but this shows some promise. The first Quake map isn't supposed to be difficult anyway. If you enjoy Quake, you'll probably want to at least check this out. If nothing else, this shows that the Quake maps can be made to work in this game, and it might be interesting to try and attempt making much if not all of the first episode playable. However, this isn't really a full-fledged campaign, so judging by the merits of the rest of the campaigns available for this game, this map is skippable.

Rating: 3.1/5.