Erick

Well it's a 1994 WAD and it is easy to know on what to expect from such early custom levels. Some can offer some decent entertainment, but this WAD isn't good for that. Confusing layout with nonsensical doors and switch hunting that gives no clue as to where to go. It took me 20 minutes to get an idea of where the last switch is because nothing indicates that behind a wall is a sector that can only be accessed if you press a switch that you would have no clue on what it does exactly. You can see through the floor, some poor texture choices and offsetting, and annoying gameplay.

And apparently this has deathmatch in mind. It's already bad enough for a single-player experience so I don't know how deathmatch would be any better. Pass.

Without some imagination during gameplay, this may come off as a generic old 90s WAD, but with the historical background behind it, it is pretty cool to know that Doom was used by the US Marines to teach quick decision making in a team, as this WAD was made for 4 player co-op.

As for the WAD itself, as I said, a bit of imagination is kind of needed to get the best out of it since otherwise it is pretty easy to approach the level negatively. Some sprites have been changed, the Pistol now a rifle and the Shotgun is now a machine gun. The SUPER2.DEH (which is required) makes some interesting changes to the gameplay, especially the weapons as the rifle shoots at a fast rate, the machine gun deals high damage, and the Rocket Launcher is now just your hand throwing grenades, although the grenades themselves are just health bonuses but nice to see them explode.

It should be noted that the DEH file is a bit bugged, where the machine gun cannot be deselected properly after firing. To fix this, the DEH file will have to be edited to have frame 22's next frame be 18 and frame 31's next frame to be 1. Other than that, the WAD isn't exactly great but it is still worth looking into nonetheless. A cool piece of Doom history!

A short fun map with decent exploration and solid texturing. It's a nice challenge and a pretty good map, a shame that the author, Espi, had passed away years ago. May he rest in peace.

Short ZDoom map that was only a part of the author's TC known as Aspects, which never seems to have a full release even today. The map involves a moving train where you have a time limit to save yourself before you meet your fate on a fast moving train. Moving train aside, you'll see some other ZDoom features like swimming under "water" and a small cutscene much like other ZDoom TCs. Not exactly a fan of the map being very linear and having to walk on the sideways carefully, but it is a moving train after all. Other than that, it's a good time waster and it's nice to see some good ZDoom maps making use of the port's features.

Functional first map, but not much more. Rooms are blocky, some straight line corridors, and common enemy closets here and there. This is nothing really bad, I hope the author behind it isn't discouraged from mapping and keeps on improving, there's always some good potential to be had.

An early 2000s map that still holds up pretty well. A short but solid map with fun gameplay and shows a nice touch of modern mapping design near the end of the level. Ammo is a bit tight and you don't get a Chaingun until later on, which is kind of a hassle when you may find yourself using the pistol at some points early on. There is a crusher trap that I find to be a neat surprise even despite using the common keycard trap. All in all, a great WAD to play.

A joke WAD, so not a lot to take seriously here. Some maps are pretty interesting, MAP29 being a honest good map and one level in particular being a reference to SilverMiner's Plutonia 3. Music tracks are unfitting enough that they become fitting anyways. Worth a try, it's a funny mapset with some decent ideas that are not so bad to play.

So with many old classic WADs not aging so well or have their gameplay styles improved by modern WADs or even WADs that came only a few years later since their initial release, I begin wondering on how TeamTNT's other megawad, Icarus: Alien Vanguard, hold up today. Of course it's hard to not bring up TNT: Evilution when bringing up Icarus so I'll try to focus on Icarus in of itself for the most part. I played through with ZDoom 2.8.1 on Ultra-Violence with no freelook, jumping, crouching, etc.

First things first, the levels in Icarus are far more consistent than that of TNT: Evilution. As much as I like TNT: Eviltuon, the levels in Icarus carry a consistent theme with them (for the most part) and they all feel put together with a design flow in mind rather than a random compilation of levels. The worst levels of Icarus aren't as bad as they seem, and given that most levels are short and quick in action, you won't feel so dreaded on a level that seemingly drags on. There are some exceptions, some levels are longer and more difficult than others, and there's the occasional "where do I go" kind of level, but for the most part, you can play this WAD casually and enjoy it for what it offers.

Much like TNT: Evilution, Icarus experiments with some of its levels, MAP20 has one part of the level be an upside mirror or an earlier part of the level, only now you walk on the "ceilings" instead of the "floor", and MAP24 includes the ghost monsters bug as an intentional part of the map, there's even a small tutorial on the start of the map to tell you how to kill them, quite nice. My personal favorite levels are MAP11 and MAP22, but there are some other levels in Icarus that have a good variety of levels, both visually and gameplay-wise. Some textures do use the same textures over and over, especially silver textures early on, but they don't distract too much from the WAD, if anything it benefits some of the levels instead.

There's also a full complete soundtrack, with every level having their own unique track, compared to Evilution's smaller soundtrack that uses the same tracks for multiple levels. The music helps in making some of the worse levels more fun to slaughter though, MAP31 being my favorite out of the bunch, it builds quite an atmosphere for a level that I wouldn't expect to have any. All in the all, the music is great, but knowing TeamTNT, that is to be expected.

Regardless, Icarus is also pretty flawed, and some little annoyances can ruin a level. One of the notable examples like MAP20 have this lift that has a very tight space to stand on and very little room to straferun to the floor to enter that teleporter to leave the upside down area of the map. You can't stand on the lift for too long as then your head will supposedly hit the ceiling and the lift will go down again. It took me far long than it should to just get up that lift but because of how it worked, it ended up making an alright map to one I don't want to play without thinking about noclipping next time I play it. Some maps seem promising but end up not being so great or even frustrating to play. MAP18 didn't have much to offer other than a ton of Barons and Hell Knights in a big crate room with a Cyberdemon at the end (also a map-breaking error with the yellow key apparently). The two secret levels, MAP31 and MAP32, were pretty disappointing and were lacking compared to the main levels, with large spaces yet not so many enemies to nor much to look at.

The final map is the weakest map out of the bunch, but I guess that's expected. Anyways, the final map is your usual Icon of Sin boss level, and it doesn't seem so bad until you find out that you can just run all away to the other side of the map, shoot a switch, and shoot a target and kill the boss in less than 30 seconds. Not even any kind of lift like Doom 2's final map, you can stand where you are no problem as it is. It's strange how despite having three people making the map, it felt like it was made in five minutes by just one person.

Flaws aside, Icarus is still a good WAD to play and managed to age well (to me) despite some design choices that won't appeal to everyone. There are some bugs (like the one mentioned for MAP18) and some maps having inaccessible secrets (MAP15's shotgun secret), but for the most part, you can play Icarus problem free. Funny how I didn't liked Icarus initially and after this playthrough it became one of my favorite megawads to play through. Overall, Icarus is solid and still worth playing through.

I originally thought this was a map made with deathmatch in mind and single-player after, but then I read the text file and looks like this map wasn't made with deathmatch in mind. Interestingly enough, there is a BFG but by the time you can get it, you probably have killed all the monsters in the map and have reached the end as it is.

While the map was made in April 1995, there really isn't much to see here.Lots of brown and pretty boxy all around. The level is supposed to be set in a jail-like building but it doesn't look like given that the "outdoor" area doesn't even have a skybox at the very least. Even so,  there isn't a lot to the map visually or in gameplay, of which you got more health than you really need and mostly human enemies to deal with, the hardest you got is a couple Revenants and some Cacodemons. Pass.

A decent level from 1994, it's a big map with plenty to explore and some alright level design. While texturing is not really good and there are those long corridors leading to big empty rooms, the level flows well enough that I don't really mind the flaws too much. An issue I have with the map though is the mandatory secret to get the blue keycard, and to spoil, the secret is your typical push on a wall secret. I never really get the idea of having to force secrets in order to progress onto later parts of the map, and while it isn't too much of a problem, it's still something I find strange. Aside of that, the map is not too bad and is lengthy enough to go through.

Pretty standard for 1994, with some big empty rooms that have some couple enemies and then some smaller rooms with a higher amount of enemies oddly enough. There are over 300 enemies on the map, most consisting of Imps and Zombiemen, and while you can alleviate that with the Plasma Rifles found on the map, the shooting isn't really all that grand. There is a teleporter maze with no clue as to where to go, so you have to figure out yourself. I'll admit, I did find it clever initially, but just that having to do some guessing to get through it is just not fun.

Might be alright if you don't mind 1994 WAD standards, but even then, better WADs came out from the era.

For the most part, a solid IWAD to have in your Doom library. Some of the levels do show off some impressive atmosphere and visuals, showing off the world of Hacx with a Cyberpunk theme infested of some nasty monsters and robots. The weapons, while nothing too spectacular, look and sound cool, with the pistol and Uzi being great fun to use. A shame that the last 4-5 levels aren't really good and are obviously rushed out (you can finish MAP16 in less than 1 second) given the game's development history. Still, an interesting IWAD with a style and backstory that holds up a strong identity for the game. I hope to see 2.0 give Hacx the long-awaited vision and execution it needs.

Pretty meh and dull with not so interesting surprises and level design. For a supposed slaughtermap, it's pretty easy not because you have plenty of ammo, but because there are no encounters where the swarms of enemies do anything to stress you out. You don't feel overwhelmed since a bit of strafing (or a bit cover, yay) eliminates any challenge there is, and you won't see any enemies like Arch-Viles or Cyberdemons at all. Oh you do have one Spider Mastermind but you can kill her no problem.

The map looks ugly even with the "Slough of Despair" influence because even then, that map has more going for it in gameplay and atmosphere than this pile of rocks and gray. I'd rather pass on this one.

A short map that had quite a history with Freedoom, that being the first map of Freedoom when it was just Freedoom (as doom2.wad) and Ultimate Freedoom (as doom.wad), then to being the first map of the Phase 1 only, and now no longer part of the project. So history aside, the map itself is short but neat, which also made it a rather nice first map when it was part of the Freedoom project.

The map resembles the Hangar from the original Doom and it's pretty easy to tell right away. You go kill some Zombiemen and Shotgunners, pick up some armor, blast your way through the short level, and done. Some Boom effects were used well here, including one where the lighting of the room changes to something more menacing. Other than that, it's nice to see this map in the archive.

A stylish but a pretty fun map. Starts off a bit slow but gets pretty chaotic quickly in the middle of it. The color palette adds to the gothic theme of the map, making it visually stunning. While it may fall on the easy side of things if you're a fairly decent player, it's still a nice map to try out and go through.

A much better megawad than 200minvr as there was more time to make the maps as well as more variety this time around. There are still some duds but fortunately, there is more good than bad here. Some maps kept me engaged with their unique themes and level design, very few levels look or feel the same. Most levels range from short to moderately long, and some provide a good challenge and exploration. It's worth killing a few hours to play this.

An open and dynamic E1M7 styled map, with a nice effect on the nukage to add. One criticism is the lack of health items as there is next to none the entire time, although not necessarily a bad thing if you play carefully. Otherwise, a fun solid map for those who are fond of E1M7 or just Knee-Deep in the Dead as a whole.

Probably the only decent maps to come out of this is MAP18 and MAP26, the rest are forgettable garbage with nothing interesting to them. You can say this is "not bad" for speedmaps, but looking at them as normal maps, you have many other PWADs to play that offer far more entertainment than a compilation of dull, ugly, and uninteresting maps.

I remember really liking Hell Revealed years back, thinking it as among some of the best megawads out there and even today it does hold up to its classic title. Now visiting this megawad again in 2018, the flaws became more apparent and honestly this megawad is half the time fun and half the time a chore to play to through. It is fun in coop given the high amount of enemies, sure, but playing on UV single-player, the quality of the levels are rather inconsistent.

In the first episode, Hell Revealed doesn't start off so bad, while it's pretty brown and green all around, the mapset does sufficiently in introducing you what kind of mapset you'll be playing, and it won't be an easy one (at least for the more casual Doom player). So overall, the first episode is good enough, I really like MAP07 with how it's shaped like a spider and you have to fight many Arachnotrons and a Spider Mastermind. Of course, while the first episodes sets forth that the WAD will be tough, that doesn't always mean it'll be tough in the sense that it'll be painfully hard. In fact the first episode is pretty easy overall if you know well what you're doing, nothing too bad though. That's where the second episode comes, where the quality starts to show its inconsistency and the not so pretty texturing of the maps. While some maps are open and allow some exploration such as MAP14 and MAP15, among my favorites of the mapset, others are just cramped and has you fighting in cramped hallways with no ammo for your other weapons. With most of your ammo being shells, if you want to be conservative with your ammo, you'll have to find yourself attacking Barons with a SSG or using a SG against Mancubi from a distance. And when you find yourself doing this for 30 minutes or more in 1-2 levels every now and then, it makes Hell Revealed a rather tedious experience. It's a shame there isn't more maps like MAP14 and MAP15 since to me they offer the best of Hell Revealed, and maps such as MAP18 pretty much comes off as tedious and annoying rather than say difficult.

Speaking of the difficulty, it's weird how some maps have plenty of Cyberdemons and other tough enemies to some maps suddenly having next to no Cyberdemons and mostly Imps instead of Barons. The third episode opens up with a fresh look and a cool skybox, of which you pretty much get supplied with all your weapons and full ammo, however instead of starting off with a difficult map, there isn't a whole lot to worry about in MAP21 as you can just go back to the beginning of the map for 200% health and armor in case you take damage, killing any sense of intensity here. Then MAP22 appears and suddenly you are back to hundreds of enemies around every corner with tons of Cyberdemons waiting to get you. There could have been so much more to the second and third episodes, I especially like MAP26 here but instead most levels are just drab and tedious to play as they don't hold up a consistent difficulty curve and even if maps do get tough, sometimes they don't have the resources you want to get through them. It doesn't help that some of the levels have nonsense encounters, which often brings more frustration than (a good) surprise. I should also mention that the secrets are nothing really clever, for the most part they're obvious push the wall for resources that you need secrets, and rarely is there any interesting ways to find them like MAP15's secret switches to get to MAP31.

Overall, while Hell Revealed isn't really a bad megawad, it really hasn't aged well 20+ years later, surpassed by more modern WADs that refine the gameplay style of Hell Revealed, with more consistent levels to boot. Hell Revealed is worth checking out for the historical factor, but if you're looking for a good series of high quality levels, you're better looking elsewhere as I don't feel motivated to play Hell Revealed again after this.

Short and sweet, although there at times the WAD can catch you off guard, like with how thin the lifts. Nevertheless, the use of voodoo dolls and shootable switches was used well here and it's overall a pleasant experience.

Faithful recreation of the first 11 maps of TNT: Evilution, with levels similar to their original counterparts but having enough differences to make it a refreshing experience. While TNT: Evilution have its flaws and this PWAD still carries some of the more infamous ones (MAP08: Metal comes to mind), this is still a solid set of levels that captured the sense of adventure and exploration that is present in the TNT IWAD.

Solid mapset with 8 levels of varying gameplay and level design. Each level stands out on their own with fun exploration and tricky but clever secrets. The levels progressively get better, keeping your interest until the end.

Incredible revision of Doom 2, with some maps that appear similar to their original counterparts but have enough differences to keep it refreshing and exciting to play. The best maps to me come near the end, where the level design is really fun to explore and pulls some tricks that might catch you off guard. The WAD packs a challenge that is far greater than the original Doom 2, but it's not necessarily so hard you'll be turned off from playing. With secrets that leads to other secrets, sandbox maps with tons of enemies and great scenery, there's something for everybody here.

My main criticism is the choice of music, while some MIDIs are great to listen to, others are just terrible and don't fit some levels. Other than that, this megawad is worth checking out!

I've seen better maps generated by SLIGE, because I find it hard to believe that these maps were made by hand. You get generic room after generic room with some possessed zombies and SS Officers scattered around. The SS Officers are common enemies too, with Wolfenstein textures and doors all over the place too. You'll be playing the first map thirty times here (as in all the maps feel the exact same), of which all the maps are long, boring, and frustrating to go through, not worth your time.

I remember playing this months back and it's still a fantastic level to me, an easy Cacoward contender if you ask me! It's nice to see a creative level with a small but nice joke that works out in the end. There's also a surprise at the end that wraps up the level very nicely. The level is open and challenging enough to keep things interesting, especially some of the secrets if you can find them. Great level and worth playing!