Vanguard

Starts feeling a bit sluggish, but then quickly picks up after MAP01. Just when it starts to drag, it switches it up with a few super-hard ending maps. Very good overall!

First of all the zero star reviews are a joke. In no way can this be considered bad... but I also find it to be overated, and part of those Cacoward winners that make me scratch my head.

In terms of architecture, and overal polish, this is a high quality semi-megawad, for sure... but there are a couple of big flaws here, the biggest being its general lack of consistency. It's starts super easy and simple, then goes a little bit hard, but still classic-feely, then gets a bit gimmicky (mostly in a good way)... and then goes full slaughter, with 600+ enemies, and a generic "find all three keys" mindset that gets boring way too soon.

honestly, i feel like this may be my favorite wad skillsaw has ever made. it's short, there's not a single map that i disliked, and it never manages to feel like a slog or be boring. the difficulty is on the easier side, yet its second half makes you feel like the opposition is overwhelming; it's slaughter that requires less skill yet manages to be just as fun.

i recommend this to anyone who reads this; it's a fantastic wad that'll give you pure, distilled fun and can be finished in just a single afternoon.

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"13 Angry Arch-Viles... "

I'm having a deja vu. And are they really so angry? There goes yet another megawad, played through PrBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. That was quite the journey, as one would expect. So let's get this started.

Vanguard is a megawad comprised of 13 skill-based levels (12 main, 1 bonus) and it comes with a new menu background, textures, and music. The gameplay is in the vein of the Scythe series, focusing on skill and speed. It starts easy and the difficulty increases in steps, from one level to another, but with a noticeable ramp up after each episode and their respective final maps. The maps are designed with pistol starting in mind and it is enforced through suicide exits at the end of each episode. The action takes place in 3 main areas: outdoor, natural regions across the Earth, techbases, and Hell.

The gameplay is the one thing that shines through the entire megawad, as the look of the levels themselves, with the possible exception of the final episode that takes place in Hell, don't really stand out. Similar to other respected megawads by skillsaw, Vanguard makes its point clear from the very first level when it comes to its nature, telling the player that they're going to face quite the opposition later on. It starts easy, but from the first level the player faces tougher enemies such as Revenants, which rings the bell in a similar way AA did with the Cyberdemon on MAP01. If you're not up to the challenge it's best to close the game after the first level. Or so it would be the case in the author's other works, this isn't really true in Vanguard. Despite relying primarily on the player's skill, it is also forgiving for the most part and doesn't require them to know the maps inside-out to get the best out of the experience. The only exception would be the final episode as the Hell maps carry plenty of slaughter inspiration and present a noticeable spike in difficulty. But, Vanguard is fair. It does not pin players against impossible or highly unlikely odds which would kill all the fun, allowing frustration and rage to settle easily.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Vanguard is its ideas. Indeed, certain traps and concepts were recycled and later reused in other megawads, most notably Valiant. For example, 13 Angry Arch-Viles was basically re-imagined in Valiant in the form of 14 Angrier Arch-Viles, even the trap with Soulspheres and raising platforms to hide behind was reused. Additionally, the style of the Hell levels along with their orange texturing was also recycled in the hellish portion of Valiant, including various areas. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise, after all Lunatic did the same and pretty much laid the groundwork for the lunar episode of Valiant in addition to including traps and portions that were reused in almost their entirety, it's just intriguing to see ideas getting recycled to such extent.

There are no bad levels and they all manage to be both fun and challenging. My favorite levels are going to be MAP05, MAP07, MAP10 (which is slaughter), and MAP13. Although MAP13 acts as a bonus, "Thanks for Playing" level, it features gameplay. The players find themselves in a ring with a Berserk and need to beat the spawning enemies, including the Romero head at the very end. A rather fun little map that features a completely new set of textures.

All in all, Vanguard manages to lay the foundation for everything that followed with its gameplay. It might not be aesthetically impressive or introduce a bunch of new things, but it doesn't have to, its focused purely on gameplay and does not try to tell any stories or amaze the players with its looks. It's pretty short and can be finished in one sitting, although the final maps can prove to be pretty intense. Well worth the time and deserves its title.

Vanguard is, in my opinion, the single greatest solo project for Doom ever made. With this particular WAD, skillsaw pretty much made a name for himself, and for good reason.

The WAD is split up into a few episodes (three to be exact - nature, techbase and hell). Every map looks great and the detail doesn't go batshit overboard, and nor does the difficulty. See, the thing about Vanguard that makes it so enjoyable is that it's not too hard. None of the levels - with the partial exception of Map11 - are truly challenging. They ARE, but in a very fun and very fair way. The traps are set up so that you can potentially beat them when you first trigger said trap (unlike a Ribbiks level where you'll most likely die trying).

Map01 is a nice, short, easy jog through some ruins, with a combo of Berserk and gun action. Map02 is, in my opinion, one of the weaker levels, but is by no means bad. The enemy placement is perhaps the most annoying of the WAD, but still functions well enough to be a bit tough and still very manageable. The ways you can access parts of the map is quite cool. Map03 (13 Angry Archviles) is a gimmick map done right. With its suspense-building music and interesting, engaging scenarios, this is one of the best maps of the set. Map04 is another trek through some natural ruins of some sort, like a castle ruin. The open areas make combat difficult, but never impossible of course, and if you possess maybe a braincell or two, you should still be able to conquer this map. The ending's very unexpected, but fun. Map05 is our first taste of slaughter; a Spider Mastermind, several teleporting Archviles and plenty of low-tier enemies to be killed. It's a fun rush of a level, easily beatable in a short time.

The second episode starts, obviously, with Map06, a mostly Tyson affair. Unlike other Tyson maps (I'm looking at you, Speed of Doom Map01), this is a rather relaxing take on the Berserk-only gimmick. By the end of the level, you should have enough ammo to use some shells. Next, Map07 is a take on Dead Simple, but a really fun one! Super fast-paced, dangerous if you're not paying attention and just plain fun, this is again one of the highlights of the WAD. After that, we have our obligatory crate level in the form of Map08. Navigation isn't too frustrating, and the only Archviles of the map are in the same area and easily killable. The cavern section and the ending battles are among the toughest, but the way these areas have been designed makes the fights a blast. Then... Map09 is next. It's a semi-slaughter level, and happens to be one of my favourite maps of all time. The Rise of the Triad music fits perfectly, the shift from narrow working tunnels to full-on car parks and surburbs is cool and the gameplay is fun as fuck, no doubt because of the given weapons and ammo, as well as powerups. The way you can use infighting to your advantage makes the whole affair cooler. The final level in the techbase episode - Map10 - is a proper slaughtermap, with over 800 enemies. The different areas all provide different challenges, and can all be tackled at any point, and in any order, which makes replayability more abundant (is that the right word?). Despite the fact that there are quite a few Cyberdemons (and high-tier enemies in general), the ammo and health distribution is adequate and makes for a good challenge. And then, of course, suicide exit.

Finally, we begin our hell episode with Map11, arguably the hardest map in the WAD. The orange colours are truly a great touch. On top of that, the tapestry-like design is just astonishing... as are the enemies. My goodness, the traps in this map are simply deadly, none more so than the final trap. Before that, we have a pillar room fight (the beginning, that is), a precarious battle in a rocky terrain outdoors, a claustrophobic battle with swarms of monsters in a pit of some sort and the final battle, which is again a wave-based fight. All these encounters require the utmost concentration, but with skill (rather than luck), you should prevail. Then we have our final proper stage, Map12, once again a slaughtermap. This is significantly easier than the last level, but by no means "facil". The chasm design makes it feel like you're going deeper into hell, and the increasing enemy density makes the battles more interesting, especially when the Archviles start teleporting in to undo all your hard work. It isn't annoying though, since the amount of chaos - whether it be you with your own arsenal or infighting - will either wound or kill the AVs and / or the resurrected enemies. It really is remarkable.

Map13 (Punchout) is a joke level that nicely ends the WAD, where you Tyson your way through low to mid-tier enemies before killing a Romero head. Really nice and funny.

So, all-in-all, Vanguard has super-fun encounters, great design, great progress in terms of difficulty, fantastic enemy and item distribution and brilliant choices for music. What isn't there to love?

The Good Maps: All of them!

Overall, I give Vanguard a full 4 / 4 (obviously a 5 / 5). This is classic status! Worship this WAD!!!

One of my favorites mapsets that I go to again and again when I need to remember how good can Doom be.