JENESIS

I was beginning to think that this might be the best Doom II megawad I'd played, certainly in the top five. Straightforward, but always challenging and hugely enjoyable.

Then I got to MAP28, which features an IoS type finale that is almost incomprehensible and largely unplayable. No idea why mappers have to resort to such gimmickry, but on a scale of 1-10 this section had an enjoyment factor of zero.

Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, yet again. (Sigh).

stunningly fun wad

Awesome wad with awesome music and a fairly balanced difficulty curve. Maps have a very vanilla (with some exceptions) feel despite not being exactly that, which is a good thing in my book.

I can't recommend this megawad enough. It's an easy 10/10 to me.

Good hard WAD. Complex level design, some very nice levels.

This was a pretty nice megaWAD to plow through. Just the right amount of challenge without feeling like total bullshit (at least for me; any death I got felt like my fault). Wasn't a fan of the use of a death exit in map 20 or the DeHacked replacement of the SS Nazi though. Still, despite these gripes, it was a fun megaWAD and I highly recommend it.

JENESIS REVIEW:

- Single Player

- UV Settings

- Pistol starts every Map

- Third time playing in about 4-5 years span

The Good:

   - Continuous Maps

   - Great architecture

   - Incredible Hellish themes

   - Excellent monster placement

   - Clever puzzles

   - Loads of secrets. Most are clever as well.

   - Great music

   - Lots of stuff to get you alive and stocked

   - Levels are just the right size. Not small nor are they huuuuuuge.

   - Not a slaughterfest, but not easy either. Difficulty is perfect for single player.

The Bad:

    - There's no Jenesis II. 

In short:

Sometimes, finding a new DooM WAD to play is like finding a decent horror movie to watch: You're going to go through a few crappy ones before you find one that makes it all worthwhile. Jenesis is one of those WADS to play that's worth going through some crappy ones first.

If you are looking for a great balance between dog fighting and puzzle solving, then Jenesis is for you. This game was fun as hell - every level. 

Anyone who plays this can easily tell that MUCH work went into this fantastic game. It's WADs like this one that keep me playing. Bravo Mr. Paddock!

You have huge shoes to fill, Jenesis - for my next WAD I play. One of my all time faves.

Well deserved Cacoward. What a game! :)

5 out of 5 Stars.

Done with these settings:

- GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 9.

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

Important thing: if you want to fully attempt each map of the megawad, load jenefix.wad which can be found here. I say this because I found myself with a few bugs I'll mention below.

Onto the review...

This wad is pretty impressive, a truly fun set that manages to be a tough and nice experience. The author did a solid job on polishing the maps to look really good, using the Plutonia resources as well as many textures from some well-known megawads like Memento Mori and Requiem. It's a set that the more you advance, the greater it is visually. I was very sold on the theme-progression, the tech/brown structures predominates in the first two episodes, but it is also mixed with sewers (lots of slime), crates rooms, caves, open highways, tombs, golden lakes omg, and much more, and it culminates inside hell, and I'm not just talking about red bricks. About details, well I couldn't be more impressed with the lightning usage in certain maps, it's mostly all bright enough for you to see where you are, but for example in map 29 there's little to no light variation, which boosts its already creepy and fleshy theme. Oh, can we talk about the skies? Every map has a different sky, my favourites are the blue one in map 12 and the red one with two moons(?) in map 22. I also loved the soundtrack, many recognizable midis from other wads as well as new ones, the one in map 26 was my favourite, and the one in map 29 that sounds like anything from Going Down. 

If you have played any of the wads Jimmy payed tribute, you can have a general overview of what Jenesis is about. Yes, this isn't a walk in the park, neither a disagreeable torture. Maps are medium-sized, typically with key hunts along with switches, linear and non-linear progression, varied in scenarios: lock-in traps or incidental ambushes right after a door or a switch pressed, or nothing at all, just a lonely key on a pedestal. I liked this as it added variety and mystery, not 100% sure if something will happen or not. For monster placement, overall it's meant to be challenging, if a bit too hitscany in some maps. There're a bunch of particular enemies that stood out in a good or bad way: chaingunners out of your aim, there are many instances of these; revenants are particularly nasty in this wad, having a lot of advantage over my movement skill, in some ways the area denies you to fully dodge homing missiles, in others it denies your accuracy, because they can be behind fake walls; archviles seemed inconsistent to me, they are either neutered by block lines or suddenly thrown with 0 cover, the "good" thing is that (on HMP) health resources are instantly given to recover, which still doesn't convince me. Regardless, there are some good archvile placement, as well as the rest of the monsters. There's a new enemy, a possessed marine, a bit stronger than a shotgunner, it's best usage is in map 29 imo. There's also a new boss, nothing you haven't seen before, well, it freaked me out a little bit. 

Secret-wise, the majority of the maps contain 4-5 in total, some easy to find and some not, a couple of secret fights too, the key is to know what the author used mostly to hide a secret (not just a misaligned texture), and then you'll easily find the rest. Nothing outstanding as they are usually a little cubicle containing a powerful item. 

For favourite maps I'll pick 06, 12, 17, 22, 24, 29. The third episode was my favourite imo as action was getting quite sharp The other maps were ok too, save 09 and the secret maps which I didn't like too much. A few bugs prevented me to max certain maps (didn't know jenefix.wad existed), in map 20 at the helipad part it is possible to block monsters to teleport in IF you press the lift's switch. In map 24 a cyberdemon may or may not teleport in at the exit section. 

Overall, it's recommendable, only for people who can bare tons of hitscanners. I think it would be better to play on continuous for a first time, as some maps have ammo for weapons that are nonexistent. My rate is 7,5/10