Classifying every megawad in 2024 so far

I like UV-Speed, but i also don't mind maps that force me to fight the monsters, as long as the pacing is quick. I played the first three maps of Necromantic Thirst on UV and i can see what you're talking about. The maps look great at the beginning, and i can't say no to a good-looking tech-base. The layouts are interesting as well, definitely more complex than the stuff i make, so they did well in that regard. The combat however is the slog that i feared it would be. I didn't expect it to start feeling like that right away. Map02 is a pump action cleanup chore and i was bored by it very quickly, there's no pace here, every two steps you take there's a dozen or so imps, sergeants or chaingunners that need to be killed. In Map03 things started to improve again with the addition of the rocket launcher. I found one in Map02 as well, but it wasn't until 03 where i had enough rockets to use it reliably against bigger hordes. I also noticed another trend by the end of Map03, overreliance on monster closets. They happen way too often, and it feels cheap and predictable. They even pull the good old closets within closets, which if you do more than once it gets old by the second time. I also find it a bit annoying that every single closet contains chaingunners, and almost the same arrangement of monsters, like the gameplay wasn't repetitive and predictable enough already.

I would cut at least 1/3 of the monsters from maps 02 and 03, and that's being generous. Both maps also desperately need the SSG to speed up the gameplay, because it doesn't feel like i'm playing Doom, it feels like i'm crawling through it. I'm interested to see what else the tech maps have to offer, but i'm not sure if i can keep going for long, i doubt i'll last to where you are. I think what we have here is a classic case of a bunch of friends who can't criticize each other's maps honestly. They certainly won't get any honest criticism on Doomworld. I bet if i read the thread there it will mostly be praise based on the screenshots, and no one talking about the gameplay.