Portals of Shiva aka SHIVAPORTAL by Bung Fluff is a middle-sized Free For All map, which the name speaks for itself. The level is dedicated to Shiva - one of the principal deities of Hinduism, and numerous portals that are featured here.

Note: It is stated that in order to be able to play the map without any missing textures, you will need the following archives: awg2.pk3, awg3.pk3, excalibur.pk3, hikeeba1.pk3, map-themote-wfa.pk3, mapmedia.pk3, map_court.pk3, meatpak_two.pk3, phix.pk3, runstolfer.pk3 and sinners_prayer.pk3.

The reason for it might be the fact that while creating this level, the author was originally aiming for experimenting with "complex organic environments" in order to "see how the Quake [3] engine would handle the FPS", as he stays in the readme file. Bung Fluff also claims that he did not have a multiplayer experience in mind and "focused on single player with a lot of eye candy" instead. I think that despite the unusual approach, SHIVAPORTAL turned out to be very interesting and definitely bore fruit, although it is hard not to notice the peculiarity of the map, and the author even says that "the levels are schizophrenic in nature". Here is why.

Portals of Shiva has two main or central areas with an opportunity to get from one to the other. One of them will hospitably greet you with a giant wingless dragon filled with ginger plasma/lava/light and sticking out of the wall, but no need to worry - it is not real. Because of the muzzle shape and because of the fact that the dragon has spines, two legs and no wings, it can be seen as something in between the Chinese dragon, Japanese dragon and Lindworm. Some of its parts even consist of dynamic futuristic blue energy. Around the creature you will find four jump buttons, two on each side. If you are careful enough, you will be able to land right on the dragon with a Rocket Launcher and a PlasmaGun as a reward! Besides this and some minor bonuses (such as a box of cells or rockets), what you will find in this area is some comfortable and very shallow water to walk in and the head of the Doom II's antagonist Icon of Sin.

The character is heavily based on Baphomet. Later he reappeared as the final boss in the official pair of stand-alone Doom II (1994) modifications Final Doom (1996), in both its parts or WADs (more precisely, IWADs) TNT: Evilution by Team TNT and The Plutonia Experiment by Dario Casali and Milo Casali. The correspondent maps are MAP30: Last Call and MAP30: The Gateway of Hell. 24 years later, in 2020, the character came back as the very final boss in Doom Eternal; however, this 5th game in the major line of Doom games was built on id Tech 7 in the 20s of the 21st century which is way ahead of Quake III Arena's id Tech 3. In addition, SHIVAPORTAL was originally released in 2000, so it could only be inspired by Classic Doom's Icon of Sin, but I think it is good to know the history behind this giant evil creature.

Despite the presence of a mythological character, the dragon area is also somewhat unholy and seems to have been infected with demons - the dynamic demonic skybox, Icon of Sin's head and two torches on the sides of it, as well as the two red skulled flags under them with the Quake 3 logotype on each, is what points on it. Besides the aforementioned things, the zone also has a fortress wall (which basically makes it a box) with blue torches and two portals. The first one leads to the other main area and the second to a very special room.

The room will test your minimal platforming skills with some simple basic paths, and if you fall, you get hit by some shallow lava. From the 2D perspective, there are 3 vertical platforms and 7 horizontal ones, at which the third vertical and middle horizontal platform is the place of their crossing. The orange glass on the sides hides some dead behind-the-fire bodies impaled on jagged walls. On the left there is a MegaHealth and on the right there is a Red Armour. In order to grab both items and proceed further, the player will need to make 20 potential jumps. Among other things in this room there are four large Olympic-style torches and a teleporter on the other end. Behind it there is a giant demonic crystal and in front of it there is the almighty BFG10K. This area is impressive both visually and gameplay-wise: the orange glass, fire, lava and torches give it a bright illumination in the shades of orange, and the MH, RA and BFG make you want to return here to pick up all or some of these very valuable items. The teleporter serves as the only exit and brings you to the top of a Japanese-styled roof of a very interesting building in the other main zone.

One of the reasons why this central building is a mascot of the second principal area is the fact that it is designed using several architectural destinations neighbouring each other: Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Roman, Japanese and futuristic. The construction has three vertical levels, and if you jump off the roof on the topmost one, you will be able to land on a platform on the second. The platform will meet you with a couple of valuable items: the Railgun, two +25 Health, a Yellow Armour and a box of slugs. That is also where you can see the four futuristic, possibly holographic spheres on pedestals; they are all made of the same dynamic blue energy that some of the parts of the dragon and seem to involve sacred geometry. The columns of the roof are decorated with classical orange and blue torches, and from the inside the roof itself is filled with the same ginger plasma/lava/light that the giant dragon. The ground floor of the building has two entries made in the Ancient Egyptian style which lead to a rhubarb purple room illuminated with two tall skull torches. In the very center of the room there is a pool-like water tunnel leading down, and if you take it, you will eventually find yourself in a tiny room next to a teleporter with the Regeneration power-up. If you go through the teleporter, you will be spawned into the first main area, with your back to the dragon's legs, right next to it.

As for other decorative elements that the central building in the second principal area can raise the player's mood up with, there are four identical but very aesthetical constructions in the corners. Each of them consists of two dark-yellow-to-light-brown Roman columns on a pedestal and with a triangle-shaped roof above. The other two colors used for the constructions are silver and light-burgundy. The silver surface of the pedestals even appears to reflect light, and they provide the player with either a +50 Health or a box of shells. The items in the correspondent constructions are distributed symmetrically - there is one with a +50 Health and one with a box of shells on each of the two sides.

Next to one of the entries to the water tunnel room, more precisely near the "Perfect portal" that will be mentioned later in this review, there are two identical torches on the sides which somehow manage to look both medieval and futuristic. The medieval part is conditioned by their very creative and peculiar design: a green fire inside a very small light-burgundy hexahedral cabin with a grey two-story roof with a dome and six horizontal beams in the form of a slope. As for the futuristic part, what makes the torch look even more original is the decorative curved concave footboard that it stands on. Next to the side walls of the building there are two even more architectural elements that bring some sweet eye candy to the map - tiny identical torches similar to those mentioned above in this paragraph. While the light-burgundy hexagonal cabins of the same size are also present here, the rest of the construction and design is somewhat different. Each of them stands on three legs and has a conic roof, and the torches are significantly smaller. However, all the four torches might make you think of the Chinese architecture and can give a feeling that you are supposed to know them, but from what I could figure out, they are the result of the pure and rich imagination of the author. The top of the "hat" of one of the smaller torches (the one near the "Frags portal") is slightly disjointed, but that is a very minor issue and can only be seen if you look at it closely at a particular angle.

Among other interesting features of the arena with the central building there are two Shotguns, two jump pads in corners which will deliver you to the platform with the Railgun, an even more shallow but still very comfortable water to walk on and another fortress wall around the perimeter. However, the area also serves as an excellent connection point, because besides the water tunnel that leads to the teleporter, it has four more portals that are labeled with medals' names: Excellent, Gauntlet, Perfect and Frags. The Excellent portal just brings you to the dragon area.

The Gauntlet portal will spawn you into an almost empty swimming pool with a Battle Suite inside and fans above. While the pool is very far from the most attractive visually, there is a Lightning Gun with a box of lightning, six +5 Health balls and six Armor Shards that can be found on the borders around it. However, to get there you will need to do a trickjump (plasma jump / rocket jump / BFG jump) or use the jump pad that can be found in this area. The same jump pad can help you get to the exit portal, and if you go through the latter, it will bring you to the dragon zone.

When it comes to the Perfect portal with a dragon sign above it, it delivers you right to the mighty and powerful Shiva. If you have found the design of this map to be peculiar so far, you should wait until you discover this room, as the design of its main character is even more unusual. The gigantic metallic statue of Shiva stands on two pedestals and meets you as soon as you are spawned from the Perfect portal. Instead of the regular attributes, trident and damaru, here he has a futuristic sword in all his four hands. The sabers are made of... guess what? You got it right! The futuristic dynamic blue energy! Considering the date of the first release of the level (2000.08.31), it could arguably serve as an inspiration for the third episode of Season 1 of a television cartoon series My Life as a Teenage Robot by Rob Renzetti titled Raggedy Android (2002.10.25). In this episode the main character Jenny demonstrates her superpowers to her creator, and one of them is called Shiva Swords.

Practically everything in this statue looks extremely specific, peculiar and sometimes even odd, but it has some unique charm in it. As a headdress here Shiva has some kind of a light-absorbing shield/helmet? I am really not sure. He also has some kind of dragon spines or mustache and hair that consist of ginger plasma/lava/light. Shiva's eyes here are made of blue energy and look both glassy and robotic. His head is green, transparent and somewhat dynamic, so you can see a mask inside that resembles the one of Visor. The statue's nose is made of what seems to be a carrot consisting of the ginger plasma/lava/light. In fact, the shield/helmet on the top of Shiva's head here does look similar to a bucket to me, so along with the nose, it makes me think of a snowman. Inside the statue's chest, I would even say 'body', there is a deep window with a thick and wide dark green border which has a large green fire inside. The fire is identical to the ones in torches around the central building in the second main area, but its size is bigger. On the metal belt Shiva has a large dragon flag, very similar to the one above the Perfect portal, so I assume it could serve as an introduction to the statue's flag. However, above the portal that helps you get from the room of Shiva back to the second main area there is an icon of a demon. Could it mean that the soul loses connection with God, and thus, becomes an easier target for dark entities? Who knows, maybe. One more thing to note is that the arena also has a gameplay purpose: Shiva can give you some of his power in the form of a Quad Damage! And oh yes, if you decide to parkour in the Perfect area, be careful not to get softlocked behind the statue's left leg.

Finally, there is a Frags portal that delivers you to another peculiar area. For the most part, this rather dark but illuminated with torches and tight arena consists of living-flesh pipes - there is a wider one in the center and two others on the sides. Between the pipes there are hellish gaps or abysses that you certainly do not want to fall into, as it is technically considered as a 'wrong place'. If you keep crossing them, switching sides with careful jumps, you will be able to pick up a Grenade Launcher with some Armor Shards on the right part, some grenades and Health balls on the left part, and an Invisibility power-up in the very center of the room. So, grab all the useful items, do not let the low demonic ceiling made of living flesh fool you and continue right to the face on the other end of the middle pipe which will teleport you away, back to the second main area!

The map has such a good connection between specific arenas and opportunities for diversified movement that it gives you a desire to keep going, even if you have "surfed" throughout the entire level several times in a row. It makes the flow of the match faster and improves the gameplay. As for bots, they go to every room except the one with the BFG and tend to camp in the place of spawning of the Quad Damage next to Shiva's statue in the Perfect room. The player load is not recommended, but the default bots for this map are Anarki, Bones, Klesk, Tank Jr. and Major, so I suppose with 6 players it should be just fine; I can tell from my personal experience that with from 4 to 6 bots it is fun and with 6 it gets quite tensive.

In addition, Portals of Shiva presents for the player 3 skyboxes at the same time, and all of them are dynamic! The demonic skybox in the first (dragon) main area, overcast in the second (central building) main area and the smoggy one in the Perfect room of Shiva. This is allowed by the fact that players and bots get teleporterd between several areas.

Bung Fluff also took care about the abundance of weapons on the map and, as a result, the player never runs out of weapons on such a thoroughly interconnected level. It gives you everything from Shotgun to BFG10K, and yet the game still does not become overwhelming. Speaking of the BFG, the duration of the Battle Suite in the Gauntlet portal is set to a value that is high enough for you to be on time to get to the MH + RA room and use the power-up to grab the weapon and both valuable items without having to do any platforming.

The fact that in this review I am using a word containing peculiar- for the seventh time tells a lot about Portals of Shiva aka SHIVAPORTAL - the map is literally filled with creative architectural decisions, atmospheric and smoothly flowing lighting (often from green to purple) and numerous carefully distributed power-ups, weapons and other items. The way I see it, while creating this map the author was inspired by cultures of at least 4 Asian countries (India, China, Japan, Egypt), and by at least 8 cultural fields (adding Roman and Gothic architecture, futurism and satanism). To bring even more difference, the level brings for you differently styled torches and castle gates.

It is hard to believe that this map was first released in 2000! Incredible attention to details, smoothly put together architectures of different movements and cultures, multiple skyboxes, so-called Quakecute, proper item placement, all weapons and amazing interconnections between individual arenas landmarked with medals' names is what awaits you in this release! Download this piece of art right now and be sure to keep it on your hard drive forever for some more fun Deathmatch rounds!

Reviewed by Geniraul