Omega Tyrant

I didn't find the first Sigil to be amazing, but it was a good time with some very memorable maps. I particularly enjoyed how it forced you to managed your resources well with its deprivation of ammo and health, and how it fostered an oppressive atmosphere, enhanced by the deep hell theme of the maps, Romero's impressive aesthetic work, and Paddock's masterful midis. So I was intrigued by Sigil 2 and decided to immediately jump into it while it was hot.

So here are my map ratings for Sigil 2, rating each map on a 0-10✪ scale for how much I like it, a 0-10☠ scale for how difficult I found it (an explanation of the scale can be found here), the amount of deaths it took for me to beat it for the first time, and  quick thoughts I wrote down after finishing each map. Each map was played on UV saveless on a Pistol start, and I aimed to max each map, though I would sometimes cheat for a computer map or with IDDT when at the end of map and missing secrets and/or kills, to ensure I seen everything within the map. For the like two or three people that may read this and are interested in my map thoughts, you can see how I rated Sigil 1's maps here (alongside how I rated all the other Ultimate Doom maps, though they lack any summary of thoughts as I didn't write them down at the time).

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E6M1 Cursed Darkness: 3✪|5☠|4 deaths -  Not off to a strong start for Sigil 2, the very limited health combined with 20 damaging floors and annoying hitscan usage is not fun (placing Shotgunners in far off dark cages that you can't see while on a thin winding walkway was especially unfun). What really drags the map down is how terrible it is to max the map, requiring you to go out of your way after having already reached the exit to do so. After reaching the exit area you must backtrack, then have to make a jump onto and navigate a thin ledge while a Cyberdemon is prowling around, and then have the clairvoyance to know that there's a switch in the lava pool that you must find with a secret Invulnerability, which then opens another secret in an area you already been in. After that to kill the Cyberdemon, you must either slowly whittle it down with a Shotgun and Chaingun, or after hitting the aforementioned switch, getting it to wander under a crusher to be slowly killed by it, either method being very tedious. The map's saving grace is its cool visual design and I appreciate what it was going for, especially the patrolling Cyberdemon that is sure a shock on the first map, could have been a solid map if not for the aforementioned issues.

E6M2 Violent Hatred: 4✪|5☠|2 deaths - This map has fairer usage of hitscanners and I sorta like the tight boxy surroundings of the map. While a decent time to beat normally, it is however brought down by maxing again being a big pain, between a secret that's only open for 30 seconds within a hot start, having to traverse thin ledges over 20 damaging lava while a Cyberdemon patrols around, twice, and again having to kill a Cyber with the Shotgun and Chaingun for 100% kills while you don't even have a crusher to help this time (unless you can pull off a very lucky telefrag, failing which will likely get you killed). The patrolling Cyber also doesn't add all that much to this map other than making maxing a slog, as the outside area he resides is completely optional, and if you go wake him up, he'll be unlikely to actually get a rocket through a window at you, so you could easily ignore him completely if you don't go for all the secrets.

E6M3 Twilight Desolation: 7✪|5☠|7 deaths - The difficulty of this map is largely frontloaded and derived from harsh unclear progression, which will inevitably inflate the death counter on blind runs. Once you know what to do though, it's not hard and resources are surprisingly generous for a Sigil map, with the only real big threat being the surprise Cyberdemon at the end that you have to fight on an awkward walkway full of trees to get caught on. But you do have a BFG this time for him, and if you're not maxing, you can just ignore him and run to the exit. This was a fun and cool looking map, the dark building with the Barons silhouetted by a bright red wall was a memorable and nerve wracking setpiece, but the map loses a point for the needless inescapable death pit at the exit and the Cyberdemon being easily ignorable if you're not maxing, since he teleports away you once he sees you at the exit.

E6M9 Shattered Homecoming: 6✪|6☠|4 deaths - As the name implies, Romero returns to his roots with a tech base map, though much nastier than his Episode 1 fare, reflected by it developing a "corrupted" look as you progress into it. It has a very hot start, but this time the difficulty isn't all front-loaded, with a tough Cyberdemon fight in a cramped arena with a large nukage pool, the yellow key door ambush that locks you in, and the secret arena that can easily kill you if you're not prepared for it. I like a lot of what's in this map, but I do not like how you have to enter the Cyber's arena through a narrow tunnel that you need his cooperation to get through without getting splattered, as you can't hope to dodge him running through the tunnel if he starts firing on you or blocks the entrance, otherwise you have to slowly chip him down through the windows. I also don't like the secret arena that seems to mainly serve to screw over 100% seekers, as all you get in it is a Backpack and a Supercharge you'll likely expend surviving it. Not to mention the arena area is plainly designed and ugly. If the Cyber didn't spawn in until you enter his arena (it's not like him being there before does anything when he can't hit you through the windows) and the secret arena was made worthwhile to enter, this map could have been a 7 or an 8.

E6M4 Fragments of Sanity: 2✪|6☠|8 deaths - This map has two fatal flaws in it. First there's the timed secret at the start that is luck-based to get; if you get unlucky damage rolls or enemies block your way in the hallway to the secret, you will just die or not get there in time. This secret alone will inevitably inflate the death counter for 100% seekers. At least it is a Berserk, so as long as you don't die getting to it, you will get all the inevitable health loss back and is a handy powerup for a map where ammo can get tight. Then there's the crusher room; crusher rooms are rarely fun but not inherently a negative, this one however is particularly awful, as depending on the timing when you trigger them, they can end up in a pattern where it is literally impossible to get through one side of them without getting crushed (which happened to me my first time making it to the crusher room, where after several saves and reloads to confirm it was indeed impossible to get through, I no clipped through, only die to later on anyway). And if you don't get an impossible crusher pattern, the timing to get through them is stupidly tight, while you will also have to contend with enemies potentially blocking you on the way back. There's also the final room, which has you going down a dark crater full of Shotgunners that you can't see (and even with freelook they are very hard to see), while they can of course shoot you no problem, making the final room very annoying and a potential final fuck you if you make it there with low health. The map does have some cool looking areas, particularly the aforementioned crater, and a heart-pounding Cyberdemon encounter to get the red key, but is an otherwise average map that gets dragged down greatly by the aforementioned problem areas.

E6M5 Wrathful Reckoning: 8✪|5☠|4 deaths - Normally I dislike heavy damaging floor usage, but it's executed well here as a way to limit movement and backtracking, while not being too punishing and mandatory treks through it are very limited. The Baron use is exquisite, with some high pressure situations featuring them. Particularly the first Baron that is released behind you once you get out of the acid pool into a tight corridor, as it forces you to quickly progress forward into danger as you don't have the ammo yet nor space to comfortably stand your ground against it. But you also get a Berserk less than midway into the map, so you have a means to kill most of the Barons at a reasonable pace without expending an unhealthy amount of ammo. Then the two Cybers may not pose that much of a threat if the map is played correctly, but the one that is hidden in the central area for most of the map is sure paranoia-inducing when you keep hearing it but can't see it, and the other one can be difficult to kill if you don't find the telefrag secret (which I didn't find my first time until after I already killed it, at which point I just killed myself and restarted, which ended up being the right call as I needed those cells later). Speaking of secrets, they are very useful in this map, and without them, I could see this map getting very difficult, though most of them aren't too hard to find; even the timed secret at the start isn't as obnoxious as they usually are. Overall a map that is great looking with several memorable areas, and executes Sigil's trademark gameplay in a very fun manner. Maybe the map is a bit too reliant on its secrets and unkind to blind players, but I was enjoying the map more than enough to not mind dying a few times figuring it out.

E6M6 Vengeance Unleashed: 5✪|7☠|9 deaths - This map is long, this map is hard, and it will kick your ass if you don't tackle it properly. It got all the Sigil hallmarks of tough Cyberdemon fights (having three of them here), nasty Baron ambushes, and tight resources. Proper routing and resource management is essential, and much of the secrets may as well be mandatory. If you miss the secrets or are the slightest bit wasteful, you WILL run out of ammo trying to kill everything, and will certainly not be able to kill all the Cyberdemons if you do not find the BFG and get good shots on them with it. I'm torn on how to rate it; I did have fun with most of the map, and the red key maze and yellow key lava cliffs were memorable areas, but the blue key elevator is such a tremendous slog that slows down the map so much. What the hell was Romero thinking with having you ride a long ass elevator while you slowly whittle away at enemies in the rooms you pass by, that you can't just enter because they're blocking the way (I learned later that you can just BFG blast through them after watching Decino's video of the map, but if you're not good at two-tapping Cybers such as myself, you don't want to use plasma in a map with three Cybers and limited ammo unless you absolutely need to). I also found the hot start a bit overly frustrating, being such a large open area with several Shotgunners, and even if you get to the timed secret without dying, there's just a medkit in it, not a Berserk, so if you take too much damage you may as well just reset when health is not plentiful for a map this size. Without those two problem areas, this map would be great or even amazing, but they bring it down so much for me.

E6M7 Descent Into Terror: 7✪|5☠|7 deaths - This map is even bigger than the last, but certainly not quite as hard. For a big surprise in Sigil, this map is very generous with health and ammo, the latter of which I learned way too late as I clung on to over 400 cells to the end of the map thinking it would spring multiple Cybers on me at any moment, especially after the last map. Speaking of Cyberdemons, despite the last map having three Cybers, this map has only one, and while it's awkwardly placed, it is easily cheesable without putting yourself at risk, if you're willing to Shotgun it down (which given the aforementioned surplus of ammo, you can safely do, and you are given a radsuit later in the map to safely fight it in the more open lava pool it resides). The map does look absolutely stunning, it is easily the most visually impressive map that Romero has put out; the hell fortress surrounded by a large lake of lava is imposing, and there are several memorable locales within it, such as the creepy dark computer room, and the unsettling flesh room at the end. Combat was engaging throughout, but given the aforementioned surplus of health and ammo, it won't have you feeling quite as pressured like the other Sigil maps did, unless it's your first time through and you're paranoid that the map is gonna rip the gloves off at some later point. Your death count on this map is probably going to be inflated rushing to the timed secret in a very hot start, or falling into the several inescapable pits, as was the case with all my deaths. The map is overall very good, but falls short of greatness for me, while it gets dinged for the surplus of resources that makes it lack that signature Sigil tension, the inescapable pits that could have easily had a teleporter in them, and the subpar Cyber that is more of an annoyance than an engaging threat.

E6M8 Abyss Of Despair: 5✪|4☠|6 deaths - This may be the final map, but it's certainly the easiest of Sigil 2. The fight against the two Cyberdemons and Spider Mastermind while you're surrounded by them in a completely open arena can get you, and you're sure to die multiple times trying to find the timed secret blind, which yet again inflated my death count, otherwise the map doesn't have much to threaten you with. The map is pretty banal for the most part, though getting the Cybers and Spiderdemon to infight while you dance between the rockets and lack a BFG to blow through them is somewhat interesting. Not an exciting finish by any means, but you can do a whole lot worse for a final map than this, and at least it has some cool visuals.

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OVERALL AVERAGE: 5.22✪|5.33☠|51 deaths total (5-6 per map)

Well Sigil 2 was decent, but definitely a step down from Sigil 1 in my view (whose maps averaged a whole star higher in my ratings), with the quality being more clearly mixed and not reaching the same heights (Abaddon's Void blows away every map here, and Nightmare Underworld left a much bigger impression on me than any Sigil 2 map). Difficulty-wise, it's certainly a noticeable step up over the already tough first Sigil, I beat all of Sigil 1 with fast monsters but I definitely will not be trying it with 2. While I was ok with the difficulty, I really disliked the constant combination of brutal hot starts and timed secrets you had only 30 seconds to get, which often weren't even worth the mad dash to. Sigil 2 in general was hostile to UV Maxing and playing blind; maps don't need to cater to maxing or blind playthroughs, sometimes a map's vision would be compromised by doing so, but it seems like Sigil 2 went out of its way to spite maxers and blind playthroughs (with the E6M1 post-exit secrets and the E6M2 Cyberdemon being the most egregious examples). I also thought Paddock's work on the soundtrack took a step back, with none of the midis sticking in my mind, and sometimes they sounded a bit too much like... generic rock? It's hard to describe why I don't like any particular piece of music, but at the least, Sigil 2's soundtrack failed to set an oppressive atmosphere like most of Sigil 1's midis did, which played a big part in making maps like Abaddon's Void, Unspeakable Persecution, and Nightmare Underworld so memorable to me. I think Doom music is at its best when it strongly aids in setting the appropriate atmosphere for the given map, rather than just being rock and metal. At least aesthetically, Sigil 2's maps consistently looked great and Romero certainly hasn't declined there, the only criticism I could levy on that front is that the maps seemed to lack a unified distinct theme, unlike Sigil 1 and the rest of the Ultimate Doom episodes, but it's not like the maps were aesthetically disjointed either, so it's a minor point of contention.

So overall, if you're looking for an Ultimate Doom wad or just want to see some more Romero maps, Sigil 2 can be an enjoyable time. Just maybe don't play on UV if you're not a hardcore player, and perhaps just look up the secrets too, at least looking up where the timed secrets are could save you some frustration if you care about maxing. Regardless of Sigil 2 falling under expectations, I look forward to Hellion, I am curious to see what Romero can do with a Doom 2 megawad that he makes all the map for rather than just six of them.

To close things out, these were my favorite maps of Sigil 2:
Gold : E6M5 Wrathful Reckoning
Silver: E6M3 Twilight Desolation

And these were the maps I found most difficult:
Gold : E6M6 Vengeance Unleashed
Silver: E6M9 Shattered Homecoming