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SERENITY III aka INFINITY (v1.2)

   (39 reviews)
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About This File

This set of 8 levels has been made with the word quality in mind. It's Mind here, not Muscles! We have tried to find a good mixture of action, architecture and adrenaline. Some of the levels may be a breeze, others may be a real pain in the *ss. But remember one thing: YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE THE CHEATS!!! There are a few very though places, but they can be done. When it seems you can't get around them without using the cheats, you may be doing it the wrong way and/or you may have missed something(s). Hidden entrances to rooms can always be recognized in some way (different texture, different light-level, etc.).


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Garlichead

  

Infinity is the third chapter of the Serenity Series. Originally released in 1995 as a replacement for episode 1 of Doom. It consists of 8 vanilla compatible maps (no secret map). I played the episode on Ultra Violence using Woof on *vanilla*  compatibility setting. 

 

The average difficulty is higher than Doom 1, but for the wrong reasons. The maps relies on, such things as mandatory damaging floors (which are recurrent on this series), abundance of sergeants and a lack of armor and health all through it. The previous entry had these issues on some of the maps, with map 2 and 3 being the biggest offenders; so I guess it is characteristic of the Serenity wads.

 

Infinity follows the tradition of the previous entry with the use of copyright music. The episode includes an eclectic mix of tracks by C+C Music Factory, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson among others. The renditions are not bad, and give the wad a nostalgic feeling of early hackers coming up with maps for what was once was an emerging new video game genre

 

The maps are a little basic for todays standards but they are still fun to play. One most approach to this old wads with the mindset that you are exploring an old design.  They are not as polished as todays designs, the fun comes out of exploring them as a product from their times. 

 

1. **Switch bored?**: a short romp through a wood base. Good use of shotgunners a couple of fun ambushes. The map is a little low on health and has some mandatory damaging floors which can get you killed depending on the hitscanners fights go. *Switch bored?* has the strange habit of having secrets thrown around on the normal route.
2. **Say jazz to another excess**: a shotgunner heavy map  set on a tech installation.  The most memorable section being a maze full of elevators which makes you choose between different tunnels. The rocket launcher and the baron of hell are introduced on this level. For being such as  a hitscanner level it is certainly missing some armor or medipacks. 
3. **Beat it!:** The best level so far. Aesthetically it is all over the place combining tech sections with wood and marble, but from a gameplay perspective it much more forgiving than the last two. The plasma rifle and green armor are finally introduced here.  Similarly to the first level it is full of nonsensical secrets which are flagged as you progress.
4. **Everybody frag now:** Combat heavy scenario, simple buy very fun. The BFG is introduced on this level albeit I did not got a chance to use it. There is an interesting section near the start in which you fight enemies inside a waist level maze.
5. **Dungeons of doom:** Sewer kind of level. Very easy and combat oriented, due to the cell ammo you receive. Very nice ambient song. 
6. **Who's afraid of red, yellow and blue?:** after the triad of combat heavy maps this one is much slower paced and puzzle oriented. Doomguy explores a very abstract map while trying to find the necessary keys to get out. Did not like this one very much.
7.  **Blaze of glory:** an ok level. Not very memorable. 
8. **Stargate into infinity:** an arena shootout level. Nice design in which the main arena expands during the fight. It tricks in to believing that the bruiser brothers will be the final boss, nut once they are killed the level opens up for one final section.

 

Is it worth playing Infinity today? It depends. The levels are basic and occasionally difficult for silly reasons, while also being short and charming in their own quirky way. Compared to some other maps from 1994 and 1995 this one is not as polished as Fava Beans or Slaughter Until Death but it is certainly better than something like Serenity

 

On the other hand, if you compare this to todays maps there are some design decisions which are not expected after almost 30 years of mapping. The (ocasional) lack of health and the mandatory exploration through damaging floors can get on your nerves easily.

 

Compared to some other stuff from the early nineties this gets 4/5 stars, compare with some map sets from today it would be around 3/5.

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Argenteo

  

The last chapter was the one I had less memories, perhaps because it's tough. A good time playing.
Beat it. Everybody frag now. Vangelis. Cool midis.

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P41R47

  

The final episode of the Serenity saga, and this is Infinity for sure.

The design is excellent for the time it was made.

Awesome layout with enough action and interesting sights even.

This proves that the authors were aiming for greater challenge and they improved a lot their mapping style since the first maps of Serenity. Even though, the Eternity episode is by far the best of the saga.

And this episode awaken again in me the fear to the shotgunners, damn i never was scared of them since i was kid. 

 

Thanks for these 3 episodes that make your own Doom, Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath.

I really love it!

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aargh

  

Pros: Straightforward, lot of action, no button madness. Plays smooth. Classic Doom feeling.
Cons: Lots of invisible lines blocking monsters. Lots of hitscanners and not enough health packs.

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Meril

·

  

Overall pretty good map set. Nice design and well textured. BUT playing this wad is sometimes annoying. Many hitscanners, not much cover. Litterally each corner has own exploding barrel. Every sector in secret area is marked as secret and is average of 20 secrets per level. Some secrets are needed to progress, but they are extremely obvious. Difficulty is kinda hard. Healthpacks are rare, hitscanners are not and slowly draining your precious HP. As wad from 95' really not bad. 4/5*

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NuMetalManiak

  

definitely my least favorite of the trilogy. there's tons of hitscanners, secrets that are required to pass through the level, and if it wasn't annoying it was actually boring. the maps are thankfully not too big. really did not like E1M2's stupid maze with lifts either. and there does need to be health as well, many of the secrets lacked health in place of monsters and such.

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Tristan

  

Make a normal map, balance it accordingly, then replace 95% of medikits with sergeants and you've basically got my experience of Infinity. My overall view of this wad is that it's just annoying. It's definitely more difficult than its predecessors, but for all the wrong reasons IMO, which include the overabundance of sergeants combined with a real scarcity of health, with forced nukage runs coming later on; I had to put give health in the console at one point because there was no other way past it. E1M2's narrow corridor/lift maze was the first sign of trouble where sergeants could kill me before I even saw them, but after decent maps in E1M3 and 4, it started becoming a major issue again, to the point where I pretty much never had over 20 health and was getting increasingly irritated. Quit about halfway through E1M8 because it was just doing my head in.

 

While the progression through levels wasn't as obscure here as in some of the maps in Serenity and Eternity, some of the secrets were even more nonsensical, and the general design of this WAD felt like step back from Eternity, but still quite a way better than stuff like Serenity's E3M6 and E3M7, it's just a shame that the actual gameplay here was a royal pain in the arse most of the way.

 

Interestingly, I come away from this trilogy with the opinion that the weakest episode is the one not made in 1994. Eternity was definitely the best of the three, Serenity was ok, I could happily replay those two. Infinity? I'm glad it wasn't.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
The visplane error in E1M4 was not fixed, especially when you viewed as much of the maze as you could, but now there are source ports. Apart from that, this episode is excellent with the levels concentrating on a more wood, metal and grey theme. Some excellent design and lighting effects. Not as good as Eternity but still Pretty good. 4/5 -PC

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Guest

Unknown date

  
pretty cool wad for its age, very repetitive design and gameplay tho 3/5 - Peroxyd

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Hitherto

Unknown date

  
Maps 1,2,8 are bad, 3-7 are good. General flaws are the same as other trilogy's parts: excessive usage of monster block lines, nonsensical secrets marking and often lack of health & armor compared to amount hitscanners. So except for those who played it at the beginning of their doom experience, there is nothing special or even replayable.

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Unknown date

  
Starts with a good level, but e1m2 is annoying because of that maze lift. The rest is fine except for those windows in e1m8 where you can't see what's shooting you. The music is crap in some levels... 80s pop is not for DOOM! *** 02/12

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Guest

Unknown date

  
I didn't like this nearly as much as its predecessors. Maybe they got lazy or ran out of ideas. Still not bad. *** -sargebaldy

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Guest

Unknown date

  
^Totally wrong. This is from 1995. Give it some slack. It's not bad at all anyways, in fact it's a good cap to a classic old series.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
4/5 There's a lot of excellent gameplay here, even moreso considering the usage of OG Doom monsters. Some nice lighting, which I initially noticed in E1M5. The only decision I really feel like questioning is the elevator maze in E1M2. E1M7 is likely my favorite map - kind of rough but plays incredibly fast.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
In my opinion, it's much better than Serenity and has awesome gameplay. 3.5 out of 5 stars

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Guest

Unknown date

  
My favorite episode of the series. Level design is right up with Eternity IMO and this has even fewer truely "ugly" spots. A worthy final third of a classic series.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
i'll play this with freedoom since i have shareware doom. 4/5

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Last in the Serenity, Eternity, Infinity series
and as good a wad as its predecessors!

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Quite nice!!

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Ok, I had a storm and played all three series in a row. Now I feel very tired and I need to sleep. This is with as crazy gameplay and ideas as the others but better designs and funny music. There are some levels with great inspiring architecture too and shadows in minimalism that are so great even for today. 5/5 - Optimus

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Awful indeed. The first level is a pain, with low health and painful floors galore, including in front of doors, guaranteeing you get hurt. Very strange use of secret tag destroys motivation to look for any. almost everything's on a 90 degree angle making for dull visuals. the only nice thing is the lighting. not worth your time.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Best of the Serenity trilogy, though the theme is a little repetitive this time. The detailing and overall polish are a huge step up from Infinity, and the lighting effects were great for its time. 4.5/5

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Not bad. 4/5. My favorite wad from Serenity, Eternity, Infinity is Eternity.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Gameplay is cool and it keeps you near your computer. Levels, otoh, are too similar to eachother (thus predictable.) Much of the new music is downright stupid, especially D_E1M3 and D_E1M6 (yuck,) but there are also a few good choices (D_E1M7 reminded me of Hell Revealed MAP18's music - great last-before-last level too.) Generous 4/5 -- Ebon

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  • File Reviews

    • By Somniac · Posted
      Fun, challenging set of maps that looks much better than you might expect for the time it was made. These maps will still slap you around a bit on HMP if you're not staying sharp. The author is fond of Chaingunner ambushes which keep you on your toes. I didn't find the SSG until around MAP05, which was cool, I like when its not given out too early. Pistol-starting the last two maps is pretty tough, but doable.   The map designs do a really good job of letting the player see crucial areas from different angles through progression and the layouts are really tidy overall, and feel a bit more modern than a lot of other 94/95 maps I've played. There are some really nice large-scale vistas (like the start of MAP06), nice uses of verticality and a good mixture of tight and more open combat.   Recommended!
    • By Darman Macray · Posted
      Spectacular visuals and engaging combat make this an absolute must play. There's a puzzle with a "Shoot the thing" answer that kind of comes out of left field and can be an easy place to get stuck if you're not on your toes, but that hardly stops the map from being a thrilling masterpiece.
    • By Darman Macray · Posted
      E3M9's refrain of back-tracking to a church for keys is a little tedious, and there are a few moments where things can become a frustrating key/switch hunt as you figure out what to do next, but aside from that, this an intense and rewarding adventure with beautiful lighting and architecture.
    • By JKWAD · Posted
      This actually Reminds of Me Epic 2
    • By MeriMemesX · Posted
      I didn't enjoy this WAD at all but has good level design
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