You thought I disappeared? You thought the world was rid of me? Too bad, because I have returned, and I'm in the mood to... review. I'm a bit rusty though, so I might be a bit prone to aimlessly ranting. Ignoring that, this week I have unzipped 12 zips to discover 7 single player wads, two of which are re-releases (I think brosruin.wad is), 2 graphics wads and 3 example wads. Fun fun fun.
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Captain Mancubus v1.1 - Epyo and Black Void
(wad) (txt) - ZDoom 2.0 - SP/Co-op
You're a mancubus, and you want to kill Satan. Original concept, just... not executed good enough. A 6-level hub, the gameplay is quite smooth most of the time, but the layout of the levels get very repetitive and boring. So boring, that I couldn't finish the entire wad, and I'm quite tolerant with most of the wads that I have to put up with every three or so weeks. My favourite level was the Reactor though, as that had fast, furious action which gave me a nice challenge to beat. Other than that, it's mostly borderline. Maybe it was just my imagination, but health wasn't very abundant in this hub, which is weird, since you can practicly get unlimited shells and armour bonuses. The unlimited armour bonuses is more than enough, but being able to refill your shells is a bit overkill. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that fighting a cyb in a cramped area is not very fun, which is what you get to do in Dark Heart.
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Deliverance - Simon 'SlayeR' Judd
(wad) (txt) - Advanced Doom port - SP
Impressive. A very large single-level wad, presenting excellent gameplay and some very nice detaling overall. I'm sure that this would take a long time to finish (maybe at least 15 minutes?), but it has solid, hard gameplay which will make you come back for more. I didn't have the time to go through the entire level, but I noticed a few minor puzzles are around, making sure you need to use your brain a bit. Ammo and health is kind of scarce, but I guess that there probably was more further on in the level. Honestly, I can't think of any problems with the level, other than it feels more like a mini-episode than a single level.
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Doomworld Forum Adventures! - Anonymous
(wad) (txt) - ZDoom 2.0 - SP
If the Doomworld Forums were a soap opera, this would be the offical game. It is hilarious, showing off the funny side in the regular discussions, such as AndrewB being the moron that he is, Ralphis being the Loser king, Deep announcing about some useless feature in Deep$ea that will be used by exactly 0 people, and my personal favourite, the /newstuff thread war. Fun for the whole family, or something. I dunno, look at the screenies, go download and play it now, and make sure you keep those damn Newdoomers away from our precious forums.
On a sort of related note, I have a suspicion on who the real author was, but I don't wanna feel like a fool announcing the wrong person.
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fen boi's 3D Examples (Update) - Lee 'fen boi' Szymanski
(wad) (txt) - Various - SP
An update to fen boi's 3D examples wad, adding another example wad (gallows.wad) and a bit of tweakage to fenexam.wad. I must say, I'm very impressed by what is possible in doom2.exe, and fen boi has created a very simple, but effective wad. The only problem is that the doom2.exe and boom examples can only work in Single Player only, as the other player would be able to see the bugs that it causes if he stood at the top or bottom of the fake 3D trick. I don't think that it would be important, as being able to pull it off is hard enough on its own. Also, the text file is not the easiest to read, but I guess it is survivable, as I have seen worse before...
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HELLO, HELL - Leon "Mr. Bond" Kartrovich
(wad) (txt) - Doom2.exe - SP
I am speechless...
This has to be the biggest piece of shit that I have ever seen. Even if this is meant to be a joke wad, it is still something that I strictly refuse to play ever again. I don't even want to put screenshots up, because it is too worthless for anyone to see or experience.
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Judas Priest a tiro limpio or Judas Priest shooting all of them!! - Eye del Cul
(wad) (txt) - Doom2.exe - SP
This is a single level wad, with an incorrect date (April 1994? I don't think so), and over half the text file is in Spanish. Luckily, there is an english translation near the end of the file, but the author didn't translate the history section. Keeping those two minor problems aside, this wad is very good overall, with a very balanced gameplay mixed and an impressive E1/E2ish detail. Lighting is great, as it gives most of the level a dark, creepy atmosphere. The difficulty is moderately hard, but not too hard to keep the lower-skilled players away. The only problem I had with the level is that ammo is scarce near the start. Two somewhat needed ammo boxes are hidden behind the corner pillars in the start room. Without them, you won't be progressing very far in the level. In a nutshell, it is an above-average wad that should be played at least once, as I believe that the author might be able to make other great levels like these in the future.
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Moon Base Hanoi - Kara C. Rader
(wad) (txt) - ZDoom 2.0 - SP
At first, I thought that this was a serious wad. I mean, it looked like some generic spaceship control room... then there's the computer screen, with some nice ACS text colour usage there. Then there's the teleport, which leads into a semi-original joke room, full of ZDoom marines and two archviles. It's funny the first time, because of how it quickly swings from seriousness to total retardness, but then it gets somewhat boring after a few times.
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Splitdoor for DOOM2.exe - Lee 'fen boi' Szymanski
(wad) (txt) - Doom2.exe - SP
A simple, but effective way to create a splitting door with doom2.exe line specials. It does not close, therefore it is pointless to make it repeatable. Since it uses two different linedef specials, you can't use a switch with it, or you would have to activate one half at a time only. Still, it's a very nice example from fen boi, even though the text file again is unreadable.
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The Brotherhood of Ruin - Kristian Aro
(wad) (txt) - BOOM Compatible - SP/Co-op/DM
I have the weirdest feeling that someone else uploaded this, as the TITLEPIC graphic says that this wad was completed in 2001. Anyway, since it is in the /newstuff, and I do have to review it, regardless of how old it really is... let's go back to the main topic, shall we?
This 11-strong level set disappointed me. I was expecting something outstanding from a Team Insanity member, though I was frustated to find out that he cared only about architecture, and did very little work towards gameplay. Sure, it may look visually impressive and it has decent custom textures, but how the hell can anyone fight two hell knights in a square somewhere around the size of 256x256 units? I don't know about any of you, but I certainly can't, as cramped battles are a real turn-off for me. The indoor areas in this wad are packed with them, which gets very annoying after a short while, especially when most of the ceilings are about 72 in height. I'm sure there's gonna be a flamewar about how much I suck at SP, but I don't really care. Most SP levels nowadays are all about eye-candy and how many linedefs you can place in a 128x128 area, which lowers my expectations of finding a level that has top-notch gameplay. Still, I was not caring about going through every single room in the levels, and I came to the conclusion that item and monster placement is an absolute disgrace. Way too many monsters per ammo and health, which gives a negative impression towards newer and low-skilled players. It does inspire me to try harder in detailing my maps though, but it also tells me not to unbalance detailing over gameplay. Definitely a recommendation for those who don't care about the gameplay aspect of levels anymore.
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Vanilla DOOM/DOOM2.exe elevators - Lee 'fen boi' Szymanski
(wad) (txt) - Doom2.exe - SP
In my opinion, fen boi creates excellent example wads. This one shows how to make an elevator with doom2.exe linedef specials. The only catch to it is that it can only go down, and it can't be repeatable. There are two flavours included in the zip, one which has less complex detail on the elevators, and ones with some bars to prevent the player from preventing the trick to fail. Yet again, the text file was a bit of a problem, as I had to continously scroll left and right, which makes it quite easy to lose where you were reading.
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ZDoom Monster Pack 01 - Sphagne
(wad) (txt) - ZDoom 2.0 - Other
Small graphics wad replacement with a dehacked patch, changing the SS dude to the Strife soldier, and the dead Lost Soul scenary to a railgun-holding Strife soldier. Is there anything else I should say?
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ZDoom Sin Weapon Pack 1 - Sphagne
(wad) (txt) - ZDoom 2.0 - Other
Interesting weapon replacement wad, with new graphics and a spiffy dehacked patch as a side dish, changing quite a fair bit of a few weapons. I haven't tested this in DM yet, so I can't really say how good that they'd be against slaying fellow marines.
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