A.L.T.

Quite simply the best MegaWad I've ever played. DooM, like any other game, piece of art or real-life situation has a certain langauge. Upon loading a map you know certain things will happen. There could be keys. Monsters, certainly. Maybe platforming. At any rate, you know certain patterns mean certain things, like a key in the middle of the room or an 'unguarded' Megasphere.

 

This WAD breaks this langauge. Some keyed doors open up...to a brick wall! Huge open areas that you'd expect to be filled with monsters never do. It brings a certain level of discomfort, but also a sense of wonder. This is not a WAD for those looking for a challenge or fluid fights (since many fights are awkward and very start-and-stop), but for those that like the bizzare and exploration aspect.

 

So good!

A.L.T. quickly emerged as one of my favourite megawads as well. With its "realistic" style maps, that more than once delve into the abstract and surreal and thus form something quite unique and... unsettling. The amount of neat ideas and gimmicks this mapset employs is really quite amazing and I think every single map surprised me in at least one aspect. Be it gameplay, design, atmosphere, or layout. No map is the same and apart from one I really did not like they all play very well. Most surprising of all did they manage to not get me confused and lost, which says a lot. The music was incredibly moody as well.

Talking about A.L.T. and it convulted development leads us to nothing. And by now, there is not much recollection of what was the original story Azamael intended for the megawad.

But that doesn't stopped Lainos, BeeWen and the (B0S) Clan to make what i can say for sure is the most deep and psychological Doom experience out there.

The storytelling details around the maps, the oppresive atmosphere, the leitmotiv used all around, the mystery, alienation, and huge sense of dread and loneliness this megawad achieved is something never seen or experienced before.

 

Storytelling megawad are somewhat the most difficult to make. Why? Well, the rudimentary engine of Doom only allows a few text screens, and so, mappers has to be smart and cunning to achieve the desirable effect... All has to be made without breaking gameplay and making it boring.

 

This megawad is one of the projects that is at the peak of storytelling megawads, and there are not much that can equal this level of storytelling.

This are the kind of megawads that i crave for.

Full of details, full of atmosphere, full of deep thinking. Works that are artistic and imaginative, breaking the standars and passing by uncomprehended on their own time.

Fortunately, history was kind with this work, and now it attained the reward it deserve.

Thanks to all that worked on this project: Lainos, BeeWen, Wraith, Azamael, Chaingunner and all the members of the (B0S) Clan.

This is truly a work of art in its purest form.

It's like walking around inside a giant diorama with three revenants cunningly concealed somewhere.

Work of pure genius.

Tons of originality and creativity. You don't play ALT, you feel it. 5/5

Doom levels from another world

Exellent, yes

I'm the only one who had no problem with the custom sounds AT ALL?! I can't even remotely understand the amount of heavy critisicm towards it. The maps themeselves are epic, atmospheric, extremely well-detailed and play very well. I can't recommend this stuff enough. 5/5 - Katamori

Superb

Excelent wad, 5 stars

Utter unplayable crap. Persisted to map 6. I am not wasting any more time on the vague hope of something actually enjoyable. If only the maps were as clever as the authors think they are. Wankers. Utter crap.

Terrible sounds

my favorite megawad ever! the way the map design reflects the story mostly all the way through is inspiring. it's kind of like Doom from a different universe: an emphasis on the dreamlike/disturbing elements over everything else. but that's not to say this wad isn't also fun in places. the puzzles, esp. in Azamael's maps, are often very clever & reflect the dreamy strangeness of the narrative well. absolute fav maps are 13 & 22. some fall flat or go on a bit too long, but i'd say 2/3rds are really good!

I'll have to agree about the custom sounds and sprites. They were largely unnecessary. Otherwise, a pretty good megawad

Great map design and gameplay. Too bad it insists on having pointless custom sounds/sprites.

I'd give it five stars except for the fact that the automap is disabled in some maps (seriously, I don't know a single person who likes having it disabled) and a few of the maps are pretty dickish (map 22 and 23 can go eat a bucket of them, by the way). Other than that, a nice megaWAD that's a real mixed bag because of the above issues.

The sounds might be awful (I find some of them atmospheric but some too loud), some maps might have too many puzzles, but I am enjoying this sooo much. I had a long time to play this kind of wad, with a very specific themed levels, broken airplane, railroad and more I haven't found. Some of the architecture are inspiring, so are the ideas for puzzles. 5/5 - Optimus

ive played wayyy better MegaWads than this -Popsicleman313

Very creative mapping but is lacking in monster count considering how massive the levels are so they seem to drag on.

^ I also have played way better wads, but this one still deserves at least 4 stars, as I have played much more worse wads too.

WOW! What an impressive work! EPIC titlescreen, epic start in an airplane on map1 that crashes at map 2, SWEET sounds, strange (in a good way) visuals and level design with a taste of "Deus Vult" at the last levels, puzzles? Awsome, they're always wellcome, ah ... I can tell: this is the first high quality 32map megawad in this year and it will certainly win a Cacoward, 4/5 - MarkAnthony

too big too mazy too shitty

Nice megawad!

It is what a twilight zone episode would look like. Put more twilight zoneness and I am sure it would be even better. Yes, time is needed for this one. ~4/5