#593: Chris Lutz’ Torture

Lutz’ other Heretic map of 2001 is anything but torture

Initial release: February 13th, 2001
Platform: PC (single map for Heretic)
Developer: Christopher Lutz

Chris Lutz was for a time the king of detail in the Doom mapping scene back in the early 2000s. He stated in an interview that he makes maps that he wants to look at, and doesn’t prioritize playability over aesthetics; I admire his candor, and if I’m being honest, I think my tastes in maps tend to align more with his design philosophy than most anyone in the current crop of mappers.

Of course every mapper has to start somewhere. Before Caverns of Darkness made him a household name, Lutz released a pair of maps for Heretic, both released on the same day but with file dates set a few years earlier. Torture is the more recent of the two going by the time stamp, being made in 2000 but released in early 2001. And much like its sister release Reclamation, it bears the hallmarks of a mapper whose craft is still developing. While it doesn’t have the texture misalignments of Reclamation, it has something a little more egregious: a complete absence of a crossbow, despite ammo for it being everywhere. It’s unclear if this is a result of the map being planned for an episode that never materialized — assuming Lutz planned such a thing; but either way, the map is significantly more difficult without it — not impossible, but certainly the sense that you were supposed to have access to the crossbow is pervasive throughout the map. So really, you’re better off just giving yourself one in the console, you’ll thank yourself later.

However you decide to tackle the map, the map is another example of Lutz’ thematic fixation on underground spaces. The story is another one-line blurb, something about storming an underground torture chamber to avenge your tormented comrades. Only the opening area is above ground, a gargoyle-infested balcony. Head downstairs and you’re greeted with a broken bridge into the torture chambers beyond. Beyond the entrance is a large crowd of golems and weredragons, but you’re also gifted with timebombs to help thin the herd.

The bulk of your mission will be spent in the western chambers, which seem to be where most of the torturing is actually done. This is probably the best, and best-looking, part of the map; the little torture chambers Lutz has created are quite impressive for the age, dark and gloomy with fun little details. The first chamber is a large open space with a single smaller chamber in the center; both areas are focused on burning pits into which torture victims are lowered. To get the blue key, you must solve a switch puzzle that revolves around dunking these poor souls, though there is an optional moment in the southwestern area where you can press a button to activate a crusher on some hapless undead warrior. While the area is fairly abstract (nevermind the detailing that Lutz adds to it — there’s only so much you can do with boxy rooms like this) it’s a neat place to explore that’s akin to Hexen’s own switch puzzles, requiring going back and forth to find new switches to throw. Actually getting the blue key had me stumped since unlike Hexen you can’t jump in Heretic, until I realized you could stand on the stair railings in front of the fire pit from which the key emerges, which I think might have been Lutz’ intention?

The eastern half doesn’t offer much except for a pair of big fights before the exit; the first round is a lot of golems and sabreclaws, the second round throws Disciples into the mix. Fortunately by this point you should have a Tome or two to power through.

As always with Lutz we can see his eye for detail; even though by the standards of his later work these early Heretic maps aren’t overly detailed, even perhaps underdetailed, Torture and Reclamation are still a nice-looking pair of maps that give a hint as to where Lutz was heading early in his mapping career. On balance I don’t think Torture is as good as its twin, but it’s still a really fun Heretic romp.

As far as Blasphemer is concerned, given the lack of a crossbow I would definitely suggest this level belongs in a later slot in a middle episode.

-june❤

Torture can be downloaded from /idgames.