As assumed by the name of the level, this is yet another test level, this time focusing on various particular tricks and whatnot that can be used to make a level more involved. As a bonus we get music in a level for the first time in a while.
We start out in a room where we need to gather the Nailgun in front of us to open a Door to the right. The Nailgun itself is pointless, it is just designed to be a trigger. We have seen this trick used several times, especially in E2M4 with the pickup of the Silver Key that was similarly pointless.
The second feature is an underwater section with three Shootable Buttons. You were supposed to be told that you needed to shoot the 3 Buttons, but that feature does not function properly. We get the basic "x to go" and "Sequence Completed" messages that always appear during something similar to this.
The next section is probably the most involved as well as the most deadly. The Moving Wall to the Water will be continuously opening, meaning you will get less and less space to run across. You want to use this flooring to see over the Nail Traps to run onto a Moving Platform, one of eight, floating over a pool of Lava. The Nail Traps can be pretty painful, as can the sequence if not done properly. I stumbled at the beginning by dropping into the Lava, but I also found it an opportune time to show the Elevator and a good look of the room we were about to face.
Once we get on the moving platform, we must let it travel across and then push the Button. I advise being on the outer half, it is quite easy otherwise to be injured severely by being pushed up against the Button before falling to the Lava. Pushing the button will open up a ramp behind the Button, but the timing means you need to wait a full revolution before you can return and use it. The Moving Platforms can sometimes collide, so keep your eye out to ensure you won't end up in a problematic situation. Also note you will need to jump to the Nail Trap area to avoid getting injured since the platforms travel to the ceiling.
The final area is pretty straight forward as it just requires you to head down a hall, avoid a Small Wall Spike, and enter the Teleporter at the end to reach E1M8. Of course, the Small Wall Spike isn't the easiest of Quake's traps and thus it makes me quite nervous and sensitive to key presses to ensure I can back up before it can hit me. One time I was able to rush it, but I also have plenty of cases where that injured me heavily.
Before leaving the level, you will get a scene similar to the House of Chthon whereby three Shamblers will be gibbed. This is always a nice scene, even if we are cheated the ability to kill it ourselves. Note also that it means that there are no Enemies in this level to fight, it is just navigating through a few rooms of hazardous environments.
Overall, this level is nice as it showcases some stuff we haven't seen in a Quake level for a length of time. On the other hand, opposite what was just said, nothing is new and thus it doesn't have much of interest to offer to a player. As usual, I find it hard to rate a map designed to be a test map as they were intentionally made with less quality than a normal level, even if Aftershock would have you believe all these levels to be normal and playable.
