The Oldstuff Chronicles #4 (or New Oldstuff Chronicles, whatever...)

Wahoo! Well folks, it’s wacky, it’s crazy, it’s totally insane, and it’s a total waste of my time! Anyway, I reviewed 17 levels out of the “A” category – yes, anymore than 17 and I might not be writing this right now. Well let us get down to the dirt, shall we?

AAAR20 – Well this level is interesting! It really isn’t everyday where I find out that the yellow key card can only be picked up once inside the yellow door! Now how original is that? Oh my, these crazy hooligans. Aside from that, this level looks like something I vomited; basically, it’s just a blast fest as you go around killing hordes of monsters – and in the middle of the level when you first start, there is a cage – expect to be killing about 60 teleporting sons’a’bitches in that very cage as you progress through the level. The score? A tragedy, really – 3.5 out of 10 - let’s continue.

Aak_waq - This is just plain bad… it seems so sad too – it’s a fairly large level, but none of it is fun. You start on a lift and you’re able to travel to different sections of the map that seem to be irritatingly designed with horrible textures and don’t even ask if they’re aligned correctly – you know the answer is, “No”. Aside from looking down right ugly, it’s no fun. Well – I take it back, some people enjoy fighting off former humans then a horde of those Nazis that sound like Kermit the Frog – sadly, this ends off with the ultimate low; 1.5 out of 10.

Abattoir – Yippee! 3 levels that play the same and have one ear-bleeding thing in common – go ahead and walk a few spaces… you’ll begin to hear the Icon of Sin voice. Step again… it’ll keep on playing. Wow – what kind of person does this sick form of torture amuse? Now aside from that, it seems the whole layout of level 3 was done very weirdly – check out your auto map to see what I mean. I did enjoy a few parts of level 2, but it wasn’t enough to save this from pissing me off from that damn Icon. A final of 4.5 out of 10 and no, that does not apply for the first map (if you choose to play this, skip past that… it’s bad… real bad…).

Abdelaze – Finally, a good map! The overall design here is pretty good, putting in a good themed gstone/ashwall/metal/blood level. To tell you the truth, I was afraid of more crap when I first started it up; I saw lots of stone2 – perfectly aligned stone2, but nevertheless, stone 2 (and detail wasn’t high). Then I entered through a teleporter and everything became cool! However, like any level, this isn’t without flaws. The enemies you fight seem to follow a repeating pattern; some weird textures are used for doors; and the ending is really disappointing – you’ll see why. Overall, it’s a good recommendation, not to shabby to check out – a 7.5 out of 10.

Abigjob – What a great looking level! Architecturally, this is great! Textures flow right too, but there is a big downside to this map – game play isn’t all that great. It is for a while, but it gets so repetitive – sometimes, I just like going into small areas and fighting. The open outside scares me – also, note the random quake sounds – even revenants sound like those pesky enforcers. Oh – and just to save you the trouble, it’s map 27. 8 out of 10.

Abigor – Besides looking horrible, being small, and well… kind of sucking… I thought of something that I was going to say that would be nice about this one, but I forgot. Oh well – I guess I’ll just throw in a 2.5 out of 10; I mean, I am tired after all…

Abiosis – Wow, I really thought this level had great potential – that is until I got more than 3 minutes into the map and realized what a rush job it is. Lots of empty and ugly rooms here, along with crappy duels with monsters. At first you’ll think there’s a good chance this map might do well, seeing a few cool lighting techniques; heh, it changes quickly my friends, it goes to crap. 3.5 out of 10.

Abuvbelo – Hey, hey! It’s another episode where a level starts out looking great and ends up sour. I honestly think this person copy and pasted sectors; see the level for yourself – those sectors look copy/pasted. Aside from the look, the game play was just annoying me – this may have been because it was level 16 tested and by that time, I was getting tiresome of these levels. Ah well, the level could have been much worse, but then again, it could have been much better – 5 out of 10.

Accursed – From the same guy who brought you Abattoir, comes, “Accursed”. Now these levels generally suck – expect for map 5, which was well done. It also contains some cheesy sprites – I like the demon replacement, which is an almost white arch vile that’s slower and tries to claw at you. *Sigh* I could see this whole wad doing better if it was zdoom-i-fied; 5 out of 10.

Achron22 – This level must have been, “da bomb”, back in 1995! Compared to today’s standards however, this level may be looked down upon. I know I degraded it, because I got sick of all the teleporters and lifts – oh the lifts… so many lifts… an exciting adventure if you play it, having in mind that it’s 7 years old – I give it a 6 out of 10.

Acidarea – Heh, I liked this level a lot – no, it didn’t look the greatest nor did it play the greatest. It reminded me of a show called, “American Gladiators” where contestants ran around trying to out-smart those gladiators by ducking behind things and trying to eliminate them (this is of course, assuming that not everyone knows of the famous show). It brought back memories in my mind, so I’m going to give it a 7 out of 10, although many may disagree with me on that.

Acidfall – Oh this poor, poor level – it looks nice and it probably took the person a long time to complete, but I hate it – you know why? Because everything in the map is one big freakin’ maze! I hate mazes! First you go through a maze of crates, then through a sewer maze, meanwhile you pass through a few gothic looking areas. Meanwhile, I wasn’t having any fun – me no like; 4 out of 10.

Acidhell – Well, acid suits the name all right – I think the person who made this level was having some sort of weird acid trip. It plays like acidfall – that’s my real prejudice. It may not be as “a-maze-ing” as acidfall, but it’s still annoying! Sewer mazes are not fun! Mazes in general are not fun! I didn’t even have the patience to finish this – 4 out of 10.

Acity101 – Um… this map looks incomplete. At first I thought that maybe it was a death match mix up, but everything about looks like there should be key cards and switches. Oh, did I forget to mention the 0 monster count? Also, you should note, I don’t think it’s much of a city. 1.5 out of 10.

Ad_demo – Oh man… was I ever bored playing this… some areas looked cool, but I was falling asleep as I played through it. It’s a 3 level wad; a boredom induced 3 level wad. I was seriously fading out in my good’ol tag sale chair, then the screw came un-loose and I fell on the floor. Ouch. It hurt, but I’m ok – oh yeah… ad_demo… I’ll give it a 4 out of 10, as 4 (being just below average) seems to be the lucky draw tonight.

Aday2die – from the same person that brought you, “Abigjob”, comes, “Aday2die”. So there are some things you can expect – an awesome looking level, some-what annoying game play, and of course, quake sounds! In my opinion, not as good as abigjob, but still up to par with tonight’s hit list; I give it a 7 out of 10.

Adieu – As much as I hate doing this to my reviews, I have to for this one : “Large, empty rooms, boring, I forgot what was going on the whole time I played it – ‘nuff said.” 3.5 out of 10.

There ya have it! More to come for tomorrow… until then, this has been Black Void, the dude that has been here longer than Doomer4ever but still doesn’t quite have that 250-avatar post count. Damn. Looks like spam…

This is cool! I hope you will continue your work with me reviewing the wads, a bit strange that you didn't start from 0-9 folder though. Anyway there is an issue I have to ask from you.

Bloodshedder from Doomcenter asked me to write the reviews for Doomcenter. I wasn't very keen on the idea, but now that you have joined the (new) Oldtuff crew the decision is not mine. So what do you think, Doomcenter features section or Doomworld forums? I would like some comments from other Doomworlders as well.

This is very cool. Imo though you should mention the author's name.

I still say stick it in the forums... oh, and Magikal - it was really late when I wrote everything and posted it, so I didn't think to much to put the author's name. I will next time. Oh and uh... - 0-9 folder... should I go back to it or continue along with the A?

Black Void said:

I still say stick it in the forums... oh, and Magikal - it was really late when I wrote everything and posted it, so I didn't think to much to put the author's name. I will next time.

Looks like we both want to stay here, so there's no problem. Nice reviews btw, I hope mine would be as colorful as yours.

Doomer - you're doing fine with the reviews man! And I think you're accurate with how you judge your levels too. As for me, I'm about to do another 17 levels very soon - expect it coming on, because I'm bored today!

Black Void said:

Doomer - you're doing fine with the reviews man! And I think you're accurate with how you judge your levels too. As for me, I'm about to do another 17 levels very soon - expect it coming on, because I'm bored today!

Great! There's more reviews coming from me too, possibly tomorrow or monday. Btw, do you think we should change the name to The New Oldstuff chronicles or something else?

Considering the the (old) Oldstuff Chronicles have never been part of this forum, I don't think it matters.