21st of April 2025

Boxes and Doors 3 | Single | Author: Daniel Skladany | Download

The Review: After Boxes and Doors and Boxes and Doors 2 (both included in the zip above) we get, you guessed it, Boxes and Doors 3! Three maps in and Duke finds himself deeper inside a space station built on an asteroid. There isn't much of a story as to what you're doing there other than killing aliens, but then again what else do we need?
Anyway, the map is just as perfectly polished and textured as its two predecessors, and like them, this one too comes with a bunch of custom art assets that fit in so well that you just might overlook them entirely. A few details should catch your attention, including carts for moving boxes around, pulsating alien organic material and some cool underwater doorways and tunnels. Too bad the map's boundaries are ignored almost entirely, as there's nothing of interest to see outside the station (remember how cool the satellites and shuttles were in Lunar Apocalypse back in the day?). The theme is also very much like in the two previous parts - you could easily imagine all three Boxes and Doors maps forming one big map - so obviously novelty is starting to wear off. Still, the map is visually pleasing and you'll find yourself pausing basically in every room to look at your surroudings.
When it comes to the art of shooting things, Boxes and Doors 3 has a bit of that "tough but fair" going on. You never have the luxury to waste bullets and will look behind every box hoping to find something. Health too is scarce, so advance with caution. The layout is a bit unusual: First you travel all the way to the end of the map via one route, then return back to where you started via another route. It's actually refreshing and helps keeping you engaged, but you'll feel a bit weird playing it. There are also quite a few intriguing places along the way that you cannot reach, but perhaps they'll be available in part 4...

Rating: 93