The game’s title screen
After I finished Phase 1 and SIGIL II, it was time to attack Phase 2 and to be done with Freedoom. It’s only been a week or two since I finished Phase 1 (or more precisely Double Impact) so unlike the year+ it took me to work through that on and off, I was clearly more focused this time around.
Map28 Grim Redoubt, a notably great map
I went through this the same as Phase 1, which is to say with the music, textures and levels intact but with the monsters and weapons from regular Doom 2. Some of the tracks were real bangers and the levels usually ranged from alright to great. There’s of course some memorable levels in there, some for good reasons and some for bad reasons.
Reaching the city maps (since the theming more or less follows Doom 2’s) feels sorta bad, because Map16 Urban Jungle is notable for being the first bad map in the lot. The secret levels were gimmicky but mostly in good ways. Some maps, like Map28 Grim Redoubt, not only had a great soundtrack but also killer design. Map26 Dark Depths, however, feels out of place in the map pack. It is extremely ugly and poorly designed. Not sure why it is still included.
Map26 Dark Depths, one of if not the worst map in the game
Overall these 32 maps went by faster than Phase 1, possibly because Double Impact being Phase 1’s fourth episode greatly increased the length of that game. I’d say I loved these a lot again, but I think Phase 1 just has a lot more polish than this one still.
Also, looking it up; it seems like most of the banger tunes in Phase 1 and Phase 2 are by Lola Harvey (BlueWorrior).