Disciples of Darkness

Quite an excellent short collection of maps. The monster encounters were good and definitely required some thinking to figure how to complete in order to advance to the next segment. All in all, great work.

Played with:

GZDoom

Hurt Me Plenty

this is a generally well-done four-level set. the gameplay scales well, the monster placement is devious and encounters are made for both enjoyment and nastiness. the level design definitely echoes that of Death-Destiny, and really tough encounters with arch-viles are abound here (there's also a really close-quarters fight with one cyberdemon somewhere in the last map). the layouts are not too big either. it's actually not gonna stand up to the other mapsets with better gameplay and design, but doesn't fall into the average category by any means.

With only four levels, Paul977 managed to show his aspirations and mapping skills. Disciple of Darkness is a rather revealing title. In spite of the diversity of references according to the text, Paul977 is mainly inspired by the works of Death-Destiny and more particularly by  Disturbia, Elysion or Beesong. The wad is rather substantial by offering four levels of medium size but quite consistent thanks to the very tricky nature of his maps. The ambushes are legion, to the point of being on guard all the time. This kind of gameplay contrasts greatly with the arcade style found in Iwads for example. You're a real adventurer and Paul977 has reinforced this by adding a mystical theme with ruins and vines. Moreover, this theme is quite alien to Death-Destiny, so I think Paul977 managed to distinguish himself and offer his vision of doom mapping.

I liked this mapset very much, especially because it is a good reference in terms of effective monster placement. Each level is difficult but contains few monsters. I like mapmakers who have their own style. On the other hand, I also like mappers who try to perpetuate the style of a mapper who is no longer active and whom I like.

Favorite map : Map 04 - "Return to light"

Here are my playthrough demos done on UV , on each map.

DEMOS

Now , I'm waiting a map heavily inspired from Nochance.wad

You can read detailed reviews each map here  (in french) :

http://doomfrance.forumactif.com/t4691-review-maps-de-paul977#143924

A four level mapset utilizing heavily all the green textures and floors from the original IWADs plus an additional green tinted sky. The second level adds the black rock texture to the mix. All levels have some basetech parts here and there too but the mapset is predominantly green. I like maps that have their own visual style and consistently follow it.

Flow is pretty good, I always knew where to go and didn't have to wander around. The medium size maps helped this too.

There were some nice traps and monster fights were tough but fun. I liked the area in the first map where you got to choose which pillars to lower and see which monster were inside them. It was a bit like Monty Hall except none of the pillars had a car!

The influence of Death Destiny's works is very apparent yet it contains quite a lot modern aspects mixed together with Pauls own style. Alltogether a very delightful combination and accordingly 5 well deserved stars.

This is good. Small mapset stylistically certain may be brutal on UV in some locations and you would feel the tension be sure. Paul will try to scare you a little sometimes and warn about coming event. I enjoyed  it like a short story.

Sick wad.

I liked this quite much.  Very clean visuals an fun fights.  HMP wasn't too hard.

4 stars for 4 maps, but when going in to this, keep in mind that it indulges/awakens masochistic tendencies. Oil your F3 key well, lest it will squeak.

Visually the maps are green and based on pillars - the architecture serves the purpose of building arenas to fight the monsters in. The low monster count of each map is deceptive, as they are used in a way that maximizes hurt. Expect all rooms to contain arch-vile & cyberdemon invasion. At least on UV. I don't know how are lower difficulties.