Flashback to Hell

[Memfis]

http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?file=levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/fth666.zip

So this is another set of Doom 2 remakes, I don't know if the author was inspired by Doom 2 Redux or if he just had a similar idea, somewhat similar style and same texture pack. Played 9 maps, seemed decently fun for some relaxed playing, then on map10 certain routes seemed unbalanced in terms of ammo and on map11 the difficulty increased so I got frustrated and quit. The wad also feels a bit like Whispers of Satan with less polish but also with less copy-paste. The music is in typical simplistic/repetitive PRIMEVAL style, sometimes not very memorable, sometimes catchy as hell. Overall it isn't anything mindblowing but I guess it's another quality limit removing half-megawad (yeah, it's for -complevel 9 but it doesn't feel like it, didn't even notice any Boom features I think).

So what are your thoughts on this wad?

[vdgg]

I read somewhere good maps start later (map10?). I played first 4 maps and wasn't impressed. Checked map07: of course, another dead simple clone, and some higher number maps which looked better than the previous ones, but not that promising for me to keep playing. Had I more time for playing in general, I would probably play the whole of it.

I disliked railings which end without posts (beginning of map01), I liked how the exits/starts were marked.

[Memfis]

The start of map07 was definitely the worst part for me. Just a circlestrafe exercise with a bunch of mancubuses fixed on top. So silly, I didn't get hit once. The second half with spiders attacking from both sides was much better, they almost got me at one point.

I'll check out the remaining maps tomorrow probably.

[Chris Hansen]

It's a solid, high quality wad that never pretends to be more than it is. Stormwalker has worked hard on it and has been really dedicated to it. I know, that doesn't nessecarily warrant A+ ratings in itself, but I feel it's important to mention in this time of troll attacks, where we are overrun by idiots who doesn't take Doom as serious as we do.

[kmxexii]

It's cool that Vordakk kept working on this even after his ban. I haven't checked it out yet but I liked his Heretic levels and have been meaning to check out his back catalog... like pretty much every other author I play. D'oh! Still have to play this.

[Springy]

Heh, I never realised he actually finished it, about time I say I was really looking forward to it. This is definitely something that I'll be playing this weekend.

[ArmouredBlood]

"Great visuals, pretty good gameplay overall but some fights and layout design need some work, and the use of pain elementals in the last few maps reeeeeally annoyed me. Also a bit of door fighting going on. Give it a try, you might like it, but it's a solid 4 stars."

-my idgames review

I might have to try it in -solonet, I felt a lot of the maps were a bit empty.

[scifista42]

The first 4 levels I played were an incredible fun! Running the corridors, shooting low-tier foes and searching for secrets in these nice, vaguely-familiar environments was a joy for me. This is a great piece of work, Vordakk is an experienced author and I don't get why he shouldn't be praised more.

[scifista42]

I only wanted to react to Demonologist's post in the Cacowards nomination thread, where Demonologist disapproved Flashback to Hell because it's a remake mapset, which is why it shouldn't deserve to be nominated for a Cacoward. I'm addressing it here, to not bring too much off-topic to the nomination thread.

My opinion may surprise you (or maybe not). I believe there are two different points of view on this problem, which work deserves to be appreciated and awarded, and which not. The first point of view is oriented on effort, the second on results. It's kinda an old argument, which of these two actually matters. I actually don't see a reason why to distinguish between these two approaches, why to choose one right of them. When at least from one of these points of view a work appears to be award worthy, it's a valid reason to appreciate it. And no other criteria are needed.

I supported Flashback to Hell in the Cacoward nomination, because it greatly impressed me with its comfortable flow before anything else. Nothing spoiled the flow for me, ever. The familiar bits of Doom 2 seemed more like a touch-up that kept me interested on the way through, and didn't stop to pleasantly surprise me along my way.

What I wanted to say, I don't think it even matters this is a remake set, or how much originality was thrown into it. I've seen that Vordakk put a lot of effort into this work, and the results were in my opinion amazing. I hope I don't have to add anything more.