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seed

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File Reviews posted by seed


  1. "One eternity later..."

     

    And thus, No End in Sight has endeth, played through Eternity 4.01.00 on UV difficulty. What a seemingly endless journey, but was it for the better or worse? Well, let's find out.

     

    No End in Sight is a 4-episode long megawad for Ultimate Doom with a design philosophy similar to DTWID, sticking close to it and the original Doom, but adds its own spin to the formula. It comes with a new menu background, intermission screens, status bar, and textures. The action takes place on techbases and in Hell, both incorporating open sections in various places.

     

    The difficulty curve is mostly the traditional kind, starting easier and getting more difficult as the player advances in the episodes, but shows an occasional spike on the more combat focused levels. The levels themselves are very faithful to the original game but are much more complex and look a bit more modern. The first point is probably where the biggest flaw of NEIS lies. It places its main focus on exploration and puzzles, which can easily lead to a tedious or tiresome experience depending on the execution. The latter can get quite obtuse and it's difficult to find what has actually changed in the levels as the automap doesn't help too much either. Pressing a switch does not usually do something more obvious as the are no visual or auditory clues, requiring the player to roam around the map in search for what has now changed. Additionally, there are other design choices that appear to serve to confuse the player even more. For instance, there are maps with multiple doors of the same color (up to 3, and potentially even more), some of which also featuring fake exits, only serving as more frustration and general confusion. This is primarily noticed from Episode 3 onward which starts with a pure puzzle level.

     

    The first 2 episodes have decent flow and are more straightforward, as a result it is easier to find your way through and enjoy them, but navigation simply turns into a nightmare from Episode 3 onward. Other problems include the fact that it is difficult to see everything in the levels on a first run as they appear to have many hidden or secret areas, yours truly finding himself finishing maps with as low as 40% kills, barely any items, and no secrets. Yet another design issue is related to damaging sectors. Every liquid sector in NEIS seems to be damaging on a lot of occasions, be it blue water, toxic slime, or blood. Some retexture choices are also strange, those being primarily related to the skies. Episode 1 and 3 present great takes on the originals, the first indicating that the action now takes place during the night, which works wonderfully for the atmosphere, however the sky used in Episode 2 is bizarre as the mountains are now in an almost glowing yellow color. This makes them stand out in the environments, notably in the darker sections, but not exactly for the right reasons. After all is said and done, the episodes usually end with fights that present fresh takes on the iconic originals, such as the Mastermind on E3M8 and the 2 Baron brothers on E1M8, with greatly altered environments and new tricks up their sleeves.

     

    The combat is generally satisfying, fast, and fun, but at the same time it reveals that it was not the main focus of the wad, despite the presence of various environmental traps and tricks. The puzzles are the main focus here. Some enemies are also overused, namely the Specters and hitscanners. While Barons are used sparingly, they sometimes block the path on small corridors and stairs, thus leading to awkward situations where executing them is not fun or engaging at all. Resource management also plays a crucial role in NEIS as some of the maps are punishing, where mistakes are costly, but at the same time, they are not cruel or unfair. The balancing is fairly good overall, especially if the player is paying attention to the game.

     

    To sum up, NEIS manages to capture the essence of the '90s but does not deliver its fullest. It ends up being more frustrating and tedious than fun. It does not mean that it is all bad despite some objective flaws in its design, but it is indeed divisive. If you enjoy puzzle oriented wads with exploration cranked to 11, this is going to be a perfect pick and you're going to have a blast with NEIS. If you prefer more straightforward, combat-focused wads, it will likely prove to be a struggle to beat and unenjoyable most of the time. In that case, I would recommend Lunar Catastrophe, Doom the Way id Did, Moonblood, Exomoon, and Adonis: Escape from Urania instead, the last 3 having plenty of puzzles and nonlinear progression in addition to good, fast paced combat that doesn't fall behind. Personally, I've managed to enjoy only the first episode and parts of the second, it went south after the third for me.


  2. "Madness will consume you!"

     

    And thus Shadows of The Nightmare Realm has endeth, played through GZDoom 4.1.3 on Hard difficulty. A short, fun, morbid, and deliciously gory horror themed wad, so let's see what else is there for it.

     

    SOTNR is a 4 level (+1 bonus and 1 for start) wad focused on storytelling, strong atmosphere, visuals, and fast paced action. It comes with a new background menu, intermission screens, textures, sounds, enemies, and music. The action takes place in Doomguy's nightmares which are now haunted by demons, while the UAC assumes that he is just going insane.

     

    SOTNR places great emphasis on the overall atmosphere and makes use of certain GZDoom features, notably dynamic lights which are the main source of light in the indoor areas on the maps, but other features are recommended to be enabled as well, such as Bloom. The levels are dark, but not to the point where it turns into a pain to see 2 feet in front of you. They are also architecturally impressive and bear a strong resemblance to the original Quake. This strong influence is also seen in the new enemies, one of them being a replica of the Scrag, now firing homing fire projectiles. The cast of new enemies also includes Black Wizard who use the Cultist sound effects from Blood, a Doom Alpha Lost Soul which spits fire, another, bloody skull which spits blood, by far the most disgusting enemy, but it sets a balance between gruesome, and eye candy, a different version of the Fire Baron from Valiant which now throws multiple green plasma, an anthropomorphic goat, and a final boss from Realm667, also featured in Hurt.

     

    The difficulty is interesting because it increases abruptly, the first map acts almost like an introduction and is thus not very difficult, but the second level is much more difficulty, in fact the most difficult out of all. Pistol starting is also enforced so that's the only way to play SOTNR, no traditional continuous, and the difficulty is selected by stepping into a teleport, in a similar fashion to Quake. The maps are not very generous with ammo and resources, therefore management is crucial as wasting is punished, but do not descend into cruelty when doing so. After all is said and done, the map ends with a battle against what is assumed to be the Lord of Nightmares, a flying enemy not too dissimilar from a Cacodemon/Pain Elemental which relies on shock attacks. It also appears to be voiced, and one of the finest yours truly has ever heard, regardless of the origin, the effects are brilliant. But to kill the boss, the player is tasked with taking down its four shields first, while being attacked by hordes of minions.

     

    All things considered, SOTNR manages to be a brilliant, high quality wad that proves eye candy aesthetics can easily go hand in hand without trouble. It looks great, it plays well, it has thick atmosphere and fitting music, and is reasonably challenging. It does not appear to be poorly optimized or too hardware demanding as the framerate never drops below 60fps, not even during the boss battle with all the dynamic lights from the projectiles flying everywhere, and enemies on screen, unless perhaps, it is played on potatoes. If the author of the wad proceeds to create a sequel or other similar projects, yours truly is up for more, every second of SOTNR was appreciated. It is way too short for how good it is, likely taking 2 hours at most, but it is well worth the time if you're looking for a fancy but fun and challenging wad. So beware the demons, and don't let them drive you nuts.


  3. "Nuclear winter."

     

    And thus Resurgence endeth, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on UV difficulty. A varied and challenging wad for sure from the authors of Speed of Doom, but how does it compare to it, and is it just Speed of Doom worship or is there much more going on? Is there any point in comparing the two? Well let's find out, shall we.

     

    Resurgence is a 32-level megawad designed with pistol starts in mind, by the authors of Speed of Doom, focused on fast paced and intense action with skillful enemy usage/placement. It comes with a new background menu, fonts, status bar, intermission screens, music, and enemies, namely Scythe 2's Afrit/Red Baron and Plasma Marine.

     

    Resurgence explores various themes, therefore the action does not take place in a single location, or only one theme/motif is present on all levels. It takes place on locations very reminiscent of Plutonia in terms of gameplay and aesthetics, techbases, some of which look fairly futuristic and modern, while others resemble vanilla Doom, Hell, and various places on Earth, even massive libraries. Some maps are set during different seasons, such as winter. Even remakes of Speed of Doom levels are present, MAP24 being one (originally MAP01 in SoD, which is now set during winter).

     

    The difficulty curve is interesting. This is because it's not exactly the traditional kind, but it isn't always consistent between levels. It starts easier, but it is not necessary for the following map to be more difficult, often a difficult map seems to be followed by one that is noticeably easier to finish than the previous. It also follows Scythe's pattern with suicide exits at the end of an episode, which also signifies a visible ramp up in difficulty that is noticed immediately in the maps that follow the suicide level. Since comparisons between Resurgence and Speed of Doom are more-or-less inevitable, one key difference between the two lies here. Unlike SoD, Resurgence does not force the player on quite a few occasions to do the maps in one, very specific way, namely punching everything in sight because the ammo is so tight there's no point in struggling to kill enemies with fire weapons, apart from those that actually need to be taken care of. Resurgence has plenty of resources in the levels so the player doesn't feel forced into a particular gameplay style that doesn't work for them. Should they choose not to punch everything in sight on the maps that feature Berserk packs, they can do just that, and vice versa. Another difference is the fact that Resurgence does not rely excessively on monster pop-ins. SoD put some of them to good use, as demonstrated in the open area with the SMMs on MAP01, but those are usually notorious for being cheap ways to kill the player, and rightfully so. When they can't be anticipated because nothing in the area indicates a potential ambush, they claim the lives of unsuspecting victims almost instantly, an encounter should test a player's abilities, and these traps fail to do so, requiring other things instead in order to be avoided or triumphed over, prior knowledge of the maps being the key factor. Otherwise, the gameplay is very varied, with slaughter maps, others that are tight and unforgiving to mistakes and resource mismanagement and similar to vanilla aesthetically, while others not too dissimilar to what is usually seen in wads like Valiant, with environmental traps, crushers, platforming, pretty much everything one can think of, Resurgence has most of them. Some maps are short and straight to the point, while others are long and complex, with plenty of puzzles. Others might seem generous and tame at first glance, only to have a big twist later on. The enemy count goes no higher than close to 1000 on certain slaughter maps, and is usually oscillating between 100-500.

     

    Resurgence also features 2 new enemies first introduced in Scythe 2, the previously mentioned Afrit and Plasma Marine. This time, however, the Afrit has less health, and the Plasma Marine is much, much slower than the original which was lightning fast, but also has increased health, therefore they can no longer be killed with one well-placed SSG blast to the face.

     

    The music is great and ranges between more peaceful tracks and more action oriented ones, originating from various sources and made by different authors.

     

    The final map is a bit of a mixed bag. This is because the beginning area, on a map which features a forced pistol start from a suicide exit, is very tight with low and mid-tier monsters and no powerful weapons to be picked up until the exit of the pyramid is reached, and the outside, final portion is noticeably less difficult where the player can just rely on enemy infighting to get rid of the most dangerous enemies, the big group of Afrits located where the red and blue switches are. There isn't much point in having a MAP30 that is noticeably less difficult than a previous map (MAP29 alone has some very ugly parts for instance), or doesn't try to do anything new. It is also boring visually. A bit of a lackluster finale, but, it also doesn't take much time to finish and it doesn't have overly complicated puzzles or anything of sorts. It features almost 800 enemies, less than a previous level.

     

    All things considered, Resurgence ends up as a challenging but high quality megawad. It has lots of variety for just one megawad, both in themes and gameplay, and plenty of fun, with the exception of a few very punishing sections here and there. It could be seen as a spiritual successor to Speed of Doom because some maps do play very similarly, but without its flaws/drawbacks. It is so fundamentally different that it is very much its own thing and is easily able to stand on its own feet. A perfect candidate for players looking for a challenge, and it also features difficulty settings so it can be enjoyed by a wide range of players with different skill levels. My favorite maps are going to be the ones seen in the first half, the slaughter levels, and the library one, and don't dislike or hate any of them. Lo and behold, Speed of Doom has been revived and reinvented, and is better than ever, so pick your guns and move fast, but thoughtfully.


  4. "Space all over again."

     

    Thus Doomed in Space has endeth, played through GZDoom 4.1.3 on Expert difficulty. An interesting story oriented wad, so let's see what else is there to it.

     

    DIS is a 13-level Doom wad centered around exploring space stations and story. It comes with a background menu, fonts, status bar, intermissions screen, enemies, weapons, and sounds, almost TC levels of modifications. The actions takes almost exclusively on various stations, apart from some a few open areas here and there.

     

    The difficulty curve is the traditional kind, starting easy and getting more difficult as you progress, although it never really gets difficult overall. And this is perhaps where the one major flaw lies: the gameplay.

     

    In simple words, the gameplay of DIS is very slow paced. The enemies are moving very slow, their attacks are slow, and the weapons have a slow rate of fire as well, in addition to not carrying any punch (they're all laser based, so I guess they can't really carry any). This unfortunately makes the whole experience very, very tedious, to the point it's a struggle to keep pushing forward. Everything is so slow that is rapidly turns into boredom, after just a few maps.

     

    The maps themselves also feel too similar to each other, despite contributions from various authors. Apart from a few which have open areas and also make use of GZDoom features and tricks, they have a very vanilla and cyberpunk feel but fail to impress and use the textures to their maximum. The white color is also overused, almost Doom Alpha levels of overused. They have an interesting layout and good flow, but with the sole exception of certain places on a few maps, they're boring to explore.

     

    Unfortunately, there isn't much else to add this time, so to sum up, DIS is an interesting concept but it doesn't capitalize on its ideas. There isn't much that stands out and it doesn't have a whole lot going for it, apart from the ideas and an interesting story. According to the last intermission screen, there may be a sequel, and my personal advice for a sequel is to: make the maps more impressive. As they currently are, there's barely anything that really stands out. The weapons and enemies need to be much faster than they currently are, if the action is too slow paced it is way too easy to fall into boredom, in addition to the weapons not feeling satisfying to use, their sound design is lacking. Coupled with a few peaceful music tracks, and you have a serious problem in your hands. If all these things get remedied in a potential sequel, I think it will really shine, because there are fundamental issues going on which prevent it from reaching its full potential. Is it worth a shot? I say yes, but I will also not pretend that if it fails to catch the attention of the player it is best to stop after a few maps. The formula doesn't change and after a few levels, you have pretty much seen everything. Otherwise, if you're looking for something slow, just to relax, it might be a great candidate. If you prefer faster paced combat and more impressive levels, I would recommend checking out Doomed Space Wars after/instead of Doomed in Space. They share similar goals, but have very different themes and vary greatly in execution. DSW also has much faster paced combat and is noticeably more difficult, so if you're looking for a challenge, it offers just that. So, pick up your futuristic weapons and start blasting monsters to pieces.

  5. Doomed Space Wars

       196

    "Force may be with you. Always."

     

    And thus Doomed Space Wars endeth, played through GZDoom 4.1.3 on UV difficulty. That's one interesting Star Wars themed wad, so let's see what do we have here.

     

    Doomed Space Wars is a 12-map Star Wars themed wad centered around fast gunplay and atmosphere. It comes with new enemies, textures, sounds (the majority of which originating from PSX Doom), effects, status bar, intermission screens.

     

    The levels themselves are large and complex, but fairly straightforward at the time, with plenty of exploration to do, but not mandatory at the same time, most of which can be pretty much avoided, with good flow and progression. The enemies are well placed, not too dissimilar from the likes of Plutonia or Scythe, requiring the player to act thoughtfully and especially fast. The combat itself is very fun and fast paced for the most part, showing no signs of slowing down at any point. The maps offer a decent amount of resources with some very juicy secrets in places, but managing them well is essential, assuming it is all going to be easy is a costly mistake, and mistakes are punished, but not through cruel or unfun means.

     

    The difficulty is the traditional kind, starting easy and getting more difficulty as you make progress in the wad. That being said, the wad does make it clear even from the very first room of MAP01 that some opposition will definitely be faced down the road and it won't be a mere walk in the park with fancy looking levels and poor gameplay, they both go hand in hand in DSW. The wad also make good use of GZDoom effects such as colored lightning which adds extra atmosphere to the levels, and 3D floors. Colored lightning, along with the sound design, add a PSX Doom touch, with the weapon and enemy sounds originating mainly from that port. The enemy count ranges between a few dozen at times, to a few hundred, but goes no higher than 400. After all is said and done, the wad ends with a battle against the Chaos Elemental, and especially deadly version of the Pain Elemental who fires projectiles and with much more health.

     

    Perhaps the main flaw of the wad shows in the secret levels, or rather, MAP11. This is because this level is little more than a filler, or, depending on the perspective, an easter egg. It is a PSX Doom styled level, which feels out of place when taking in consideration the rest of the SW-themed maps. Another problem is the fact that some enemies are overused, the Sentry drones are everywhere, by far the most common enemy in the entire wad. Interestingly, it also carries a System Shock 1 vibe.

     

    All things considered, DSW ends up as a fantastic SW themed wad. It is obviously a passion project that manages to capture the atmosphere of the movies very well in its base levels, and there's plenty of new things to see in each map to keep you asking for more, and more. The authenticity and detail is surprising on quite a few levels, showing that it goes well beyond simply giving a SW vibe with symbols and textures in its maps and tries to immerse the player into them as well, building an actual, believable world, all while staying 100% Doom, probably the main reason why it does not feature any new weapons, and all vanilla enemies are present, in addition to entirely new ones. It is well worth a shot, even if you aren't too much in SW, a similar story to Pirate Doom. Now grab your light saber and cut 'em droids.

  6. Legacy of Heroes

       214

    "We will remember them!"

     

    And now, Legacy of Heroes has endeth, played through GZDoom 4.1.3 on UV difficulty. A real nice little medieval/fantasy themed adventure, so what else is here?

     

    LOH is an 11-map wad designed with pistol starts in mind. It takes influence primarily from Eternal Doom and Heretic, with a fantasy/medieval theme. It comes with new sounds, textures, menu background, status bar, intermission screens, music, and one new enemy, the Maulotaur from Heretic. As suggested by its theme, the action takes place mostly inside and outside of caves, medieval buildings, and even villages.

     

    The difficulty curve is the traditional kind, starting easy and the difficulty gradually increases in steps with each map, the difficulty coming primarily from the good use and placement of the enemies as well as a lack of generosity with resources on a few occassions, meaning that if you mismanage your resources, it can be tough to fight your way through. But there are Berserk packs on various maps which can be very useful if you choose to conserve as much ammo as you can. This is further encouraged by the fact that most of the time, the players find themselves facing low and mid tier monsters, with an increased presence of high tier monsters only in the later half of the wad. No monsters are underused or overused, and the enemy count is fairly low, going no higher than 350 in the more combat intense maps, but it's otherwise below the number the majority of time.

     

    The levels are usually well designed, with good navigation and aesthetically very pleasing, full of atmosphere and magic. They also make use of destructible objects that block the progress in places, which can easily fool an unsuspecting player the first time they see such instances, as they tend to assume they might be missing a switch when the answer is right in front of them. Quite literally. There are, however, some issues with the navigation and puzzles in the last few maps. MAP08 for instance has 2 blue keys (1 keycard, and 1 blue skull) for some reason, although the card seems to be the one required for progress. This is because the way to gain access to the room of the keycard is cryptic, or unintuitive. The player needs to cross a certain line outside a building, which reveals a timed switch inside the room leading outside. Without previous knowledge, this part of the map can prove to be troublesome and frustrating. MAP09 also has a bit of a confusing layout which can lead to players running around the map repeatedly without noticing what changed, but this time around, there are clues and indications at least, unlike the blue keycard room on MAP08. Apart from those maps, there are no other major issues going on. The journey ends on MAP10 where 60 enemies are encountered, with 2 bosses from Heretic: Maulotaurs. A fitting conclusion to an epic wad. MAP11 acts as a short "Thanks for Playing" level with no enemies or items.

     

    The music used in LOH is great in itself, however it doesn't fit all the maps and there are some poor choices in places. Most of the music is fantasy themed, which makes it a fitting choice in general, but there are exceptions such as MAP09 which uses a track from Doom 64. It does not fit the mood of the map and fails to conjure up a strong atmosphere, let alone inspire any sort of horror, tension, or dread. It does not work in a clean, bright, and not-so-hostile-looking or oppressive environment.

     

    Regarding enemies, although all vanilla enemies are kept and used, some of them have new textures which do not work at all. The Imp is now dark brown with yellow eyes, but lacks any kind of organic touch, feeling like a paper enemy.

     

    All in all, LOH managed to be a solid, albeit short fantasy themed wad. It has some dick-ish moments every now and then but these instances are very rare, and some frustrating parts on MAP08 and MAP09, but shines in all the other areas. If you're looking for a fantasy themed wad, this is a very good place to start. In fact, I'm surprised that at the time of writing this it has almost 1000 views but only 65 downloads, it deserves more attention. Yours truly would be definitely interested in a sequel. But until then, pick up your sword and march to the battlefield warrior.


  7. "Deja Vu all over again."

     

    Therefore Plutonia Revisited has been finished, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on UV difficulty. A mostly pleasant surprise but could have offered more, so let's why that is.

     

    Plutonia Revisited is a 32-map megawad consisting of revamped versions of the existing levels from Final Doom's Plutonia Experiment expansion, made by various members of the community. It comes with new textures, music, status bar, intermission screens, and fonts.

     

    Unlike Plutonia 2, Plutonia Revisited does not aim to be a fan sequel of any sorts to the original IWAD, but rather aims to offer a different spin on the original maps from Plutonia while sticking to its design philosophy very closely and not taking too many liberties most of the time. Which is perhaps its greatest flaw.

     

    Although most levels bear striking similarities with the original, they are sometimes taken to a whole new level where they basically descend into rip-off territory. This is due to preserving too much from the original levels on quite a few occasions where its no longer about staying faithful to the original as these places in maps are almost identical, apart from perhaps a few changes here and there. This can be observed both early in the wad as well as later, when nearing the end.

     

    Another problem would be the music. The soundtrack is good and fits the theme, combat, and overall atmosphere of the levels, however it repeats the same mistake PL2 did, by being all over the place. Ultimate Doom, Doom II, and various sources or original works. Not particularly good for consistency.

     

    Luckily, those are also the only (major) problems of Plutonia Revisited. It does a great job at preserving the overall atmosphere, gameplay, and otherwise essence of the original while also adding its own spin to the levels, and the liberties taken are fairly big sometimes. As it was the case with PL2, it seems that MAP11 is once again the map that stands out of the crowd by being a re-imagining of the original while keeping its core element intact. This time, the player finds themselves into a city-like map, not too dissimilar from Odyssey of Noises sometimes, with an occasional PL2 vibe to it, but its much larger with wide, open areas, many enemy types, and complete lack of the door gimmick. It does keep the many Arch-Viles in place though, and they ambush the player in many ways, but usually only one or two of them is encountered at one time, apart from a few instances.

     

    Similar to PL2, the quality is fairly consistent considering the number of people who contributed to the project, but at the same time it's also easy to tell who made each map because they all play differently and have their unique play style and design. After all is said and done, the journey ends with the traditional IoS boss fight, short and straight-to-the-point, only needing to press a couple of switches to raise a platform and lower a lift, then blast the brains of the boss to pieces. It is by far a better take on the concept than PL2's effort with the awkward and hard to determine firing angles.

     

    Overall, PLR manages to be a good effort at re-imagining the original Plutonia while adding its own spin. It's fun and refreshing, despite its occasional dick encounters/traps, which are very, very few, and easy to see coming unlike the various instances seen in PL2 which were also more numerous. It could have been better if it took more liberties or at least didn't almost copy-paste parts from the original with only a few changes in places. Worth a shot for fans of Plutonia and PL2. My favorite maps are going to be the ones seen in the first half, and my least favorite level is going to be MAP20, the single and most obtuse level in the package. So, grab your weapons and prepare for the Revenant and AV onslaught.

  8. Dimensions

       3141

    "Have no mercy upon us, Lord,
    We seek no justice, only death."
    - Funeral Mist (Naught but Death, 2018).

     

    Therefore, Dimensions has been finished, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP and HNTR (MAP03). And one helluva ride it was, so let's see why that is.

     

    Dimensions is a 5 map (3 "normal", 2 secret) long slaughter wad, meaning that emphasis is placed on high enemy counts with enemies in strategic positions, and usually high difficulty that comes both from combat and from the environment itself (such as through the use of platforming sections which tests one's mastery of Doom's movement and physics). It comes with new textures and music, and the action takes place in Hell and mysterious dimensions (even the void itself on MAP02).

     

    Being only 3 maps long (5 if you decide to go for the secret levels) there isn't much to dissect. MAP01 is a very straight-to-the-point map with some notably enormous waves of Revenants, some Cyberdemons, and Barons. It is a flat map without much variety, and there's not much to explore either, just non-stop killing of enemies in stages. Fun, but perhaps too simple and besides spamming the BFG and dodging there isn't anything the player finds themselves doing.

     

    MAP02 is a very interesting idea of a map that takes places in the void, a dark map with pitch black sky and notably more difficult as environmental challenges are present this time, namely platforming sections. But perhaps it's too ambitious and works better on paper than in practice. It is surreal at times as it features upside down rooms, and some of them have platforming challenges. This is where the main problem lies. Due to the nature of the map, the upside down platforming is just tedious. There are pillars on the ceiling which help the player guide their steps, but it is so dark it's extremely difficult to tell where the player needs to step next, thus falling on the damaging floor at the bottom and dying many times until they get it right. The pillars the player is required to walk are also invisible. Otherwise, the combat itself is fun, but the platforming sections ends up as a chore rather than a fun challenge. Not even raising the gamma level seems to help.

     

    MAP03 takes place inside what appears to be a base from a mysterious dimension. The environment this time looks more refreshing and modern with a big focus on the green color and rooms of varying difficulty. It also has short platforming sections, but are very short. And this is where the biggest problem lies: the difficulty. It is inconsistent and all over the place on this map. HNTR has some rooms with as many as 4 Megaspheres and not exactly difficult encounters. Others give you an SSG and shells for them + medkits and/or armors. And then there's one very specific room that holds the red keycard which only offers some stimpacks, plasma cells, shotgun shells, and a whole lot of pain. It is basically a short sequence of pressing 4 switches which trigger the lowering of the barrier to reach the keycard and a crusher to kill the 4 Arch-Viles inside a compact room. These AVs cannot be killed and dodging their attacks is extremely difficult. This is basically where the real challenge of the whole map lies. After entering the area, the player is locked inside and waves of Imps and Hell Knights, accompanied by 2 AVs at the very end of the sequence teleport into the area. It is perhaps the most sadistic that yours truly has ever seen. It is nigh impossible to come up with a strategy t beat the room consistently, and reliably, the Megasphere at the entrance does not seem to be enough. Trying to outrun the enemies is futile as they teleport in faster than the player can activate all 4 switches, and even killing the enemies doesn't help much considering there will be 2 AVs spawning at the end which will happily resurrect everyone, not to mention the other 4 AVs inside the room with the crusher which can easily put the player down in an instant. This room is also not affected by difficulty settings, at least not HNTR or HMP, it is the same on both.

     

    To sum up, Dimensions manages to be an interesting short slaughter wad with very unique ideas in places. The upside down platforming section on MAP02 is undoubtedly genius for instance, but it fails to capitalize on the ideas when they're put into practice. The aforementioned section could work much better if the visibility wouldn't be so poor, and the red keycard room on MAP03 would also work better if either the enemies would teleport slower inside it or there wouldn't be any AVs joining the club at the end of the sequence. MAP01, while being fun, does nothing to stand out neither in terms of gameplay nor visually, apart from maybe having some enormous Revenant waves. Is it any good then? Yes, but it could also be much better considering the potential is definitely present, therefore I would only recommend this to a Doom god or veteran, the average Doomer is unlikely to have much fun with it after MAP01. The author of this wad has contributed to other projects and I would recommend checking out one of them instead if you want to play more maps made by them, notably Flotsam, which has better level design and better balancing. Otherwise, best of luck playing Dimensions, may the gods ruling these realm bless your journey.


  9. "In memoriam Ty Haldermann. "

     

    And thus, THT: Threnody ended, played through Eternity 4.00.00 Voluspa on UV difficulty. What a surprise it was, but was that for better or for worse? Let's find out.

     

    THT: Threnody is a 20-level megawad that pays homage to Final Doom's TNT: Evilution in both in terms of visuals and gameplay, but does not stick to its philosophy as closely as other projects such as Plutonia 2. It is also dedicated to Ty Haldermann, the essential pillar of the community, who passed away back in 2015, as well as his contributions to the community as a whole. It comes with new music, status bar, intermission screens, and textures, some of them even being from TNT: Evilution.

     

    As previously mentioned, although THT: Threnody is a TNT-styled/tribute wad, it does not aim to be a community sequel of any sorts. This is easily seen in the (number of) great liberties taken with the design of the maps and their themes, ranging from techbases, to medieval levels heavily inspired by Heretic/Hexen, while others carry an Epic vibe. Many of them also pay homage to TNT classics, most notably Wormhole.

     

    The difficulty curve is the traditional kind, starting easier and gradually becomes more difficult as you advance in the wad or even the same map. It does not exhibit difficulty spikes, but does very much present a challenge, especially in the later maps which feature increasingly deadlier traps. Resource management also plays a role, but not as much as it does in other, radically more difficult wads, and it's relatively forgiving with mistakes, although if you do something stupid, punishment can come very quickly in your direction. The enemy usage is also solid, and there are no underused or overused enemies.

     

    The maps themselves are beautiful, looking very modern, with good navigation and interesting layouts. Many of them use various interesting tricks, such as deep water that also slows down the player. Another notable example is the second Wormhole tribute map that appears to use some enemy teleportation trickery for enemies, making them appear and disappear in a fraction of second, as if they're constantly travelling between worlds. After all is said and done, the journey comes to an end on MAP20, a map with very aggressive areas and a punishing exit but otherwise a rather peaceful atmosphere, set during daytime.

     

    As for flaws, perhaps the only problems in THT are the fact that there are 2 Wormhole tribute maps. They're both very different in their approach, but it doesn't make any sense to have 2 maps paying tribute to the same concept in such a megawad. Both maps, and a few others, also drag on due to being extremely long, taking over an hour to finish. MAP19, which is quite possibly one of the most difficult maps, also uses cheap tactics to kill the player, namely the notorious group of monsters popping out in front of an unsuspecting target without any indication, or effects. This particular kind of trap only belongs to the darkest, coldest, and most distant black hole of the universe. Some of the earlier maps are also aesthetically unimpressive, but are very fun to play nonetheless. One of Doomkid's maps also seems to be a nod to Master Levels' Canyon, insofar as it uses its core feature, which was constant revisiting of previous areas, as monster closets usually opened there.

     

    The new music is great and comes from various sources, ranging from more atmospheric to more action oriented tracks, and some songs from the IWADs are also used.

     

    To sum up, THT: Threnody manages to be a fantastic wad inspired by the likes of Evilution, gracefully capturing its core essence while also paying homage to an important figure of the Doom community and their contributions. It's very experimental, similar to Evilution, but the quality of THT is vastly superior with much more engaging combat and far better level design. Perhaps the most curious aspect is the fact that THT ends after MAP20. Curious, because there is also a common notion within the community that Evilution is great up until MAP20, but goes downhill immediately afterwards, something yours truly personally agrees with. It's well worth the time, a very solid work of art from the community, and at least on par with fan sequels such as PL2, if not actually better. My favorite levels are going to be the medieval ones that are heavily inspired by Heretic/Hexen. So what are you waiting for, get your ass here and check THT out. Don't forget to pay your respects when visiting Ty Haldermann's grave on Fomalhaut.

  10. Plutonia 2

       16629

    "Putrid stench in your last breath,
    Seeing death is nothingness,
    Inhale the winds of punishment.

     

    Aim!
    Fire!
    Attack!
    " (Perversor - Inhale (Anticosmocrator, 2015)).

     

    And thus, Plutonia 2 ended, played through Eternity 4.00.00 Voluspa on UV difficulty. A rather interesting community sequel to the most challenging IWAD, but does it live up to its name? Well let's find out, shall we?

     

    Plutonia 2, as the name implies, is a community sequel to The Plutonia Experiment, one half of the Final Doom expansion for the original Doom II. It aims to be a continuation to the IWAD and thus it sticks pretty close to its philosophy while adding new things to the table and expanding upon the foundation of the predecessor. It comes with new music, status bar, ENDOOM screen, fonts, and intermission screens. The Schutzstaffel and Commander Keen are the only non-standard Doom II enemies to make an appearance in the levels.

     

    The design of the maps stays true to that of the original while bringing its own spin and usually taking liberties, but the essence of Plutonia is present in every map, that being challenging combat and smart enemy usage. The player is carried on various locations on Earth and Hell during the journey, both indoors and outdoors, and faces an Icon of Sin at the end.

     

    Similar to the original, the difficulty curve is traditional, starting relatively easy and slowly becoming more difficult s you make progress. Relatively, because just like the original even the first map can give the player a false sense of safety, but all it takes is a dumb mistake and everything goes down. Mistakes are costly in Plutonia, and Plutonia 2 is no different. There are also no difficulty spikes, therefore the balancing is done well for all maps, from the beginning to the end, and the enemies or maps themselves aren't the only thing to pay attention to either. Resource management plays a big role. Easy to get fooled into believing the maps are offering a bunch of ammo or health, only to discover in potentially the same map that it isn't so. Monster infighting also helps in the more punishing sections. 

     

    Although the general ideas of Plutonia are followed, certain iconic maps present an interesting take on their concept, with perhaps the most notable level being MAP11: Arch-Violence, which expands on the original's Hunted. This time around the player finds himself in a maze with 3 locked door (3 keys), and the Arch-Viles are no longer encountered one by one, facing even small groups at once.

     

    Another difference would be the lack of very tricky portions that the original had. A notable example here would the notorious Soul Bridge, an idea which isn't seen in PL2 at all, instead resorting to other creative traps and encounters to kill the player or push them over the edge. But this is perhaps were the problems arise. Despite the encounters being fair and challenging most of the time, there are a number of questionable choices. Sometimes the player is ambushed in very dark, if not pitch dark rooms, and occasionally a completely unexpected monster closet opens up, killing an unsuspecting target in a matter of moments. There are also a number of secrets that are trapped, instantly spawning enemies around you. Both are cheap ways to kill an unsuspecting target as neither of them require the player to anything other than have previous knowledge, as by the time they assess the situation they're dead. Other than this, despite some maps paying homage to other traits of their IWAD counterpart, they might go too far. MAP29 is one such scenario. Although it's a very solid map with good layout, interesting areas, great use of textures, and fun combat, it's too long for its own good, taking almost or over an hour to finish in a blind playthrough. MAP29 was also the longest map in Plutonia, but took nowhere near as much, thus this level being an example of a level taking an idea to the extreme.

     

    The final map has, unfortunately, a very anti-climatic end game battle. This is because it's one of the worst takes on the IoS out there. The player is tasked with shooting the eyes, or forehead, of an IoS from awkward angles. Awkward, because it can only be found out through trial-and-error, shooting it randomly until it starts making noises. The only clue given by the platforms that need to be raised is that it's either the left side of its face, or right, nothing else. Certainly fun to shoot rockets randomly.

     

    The music is another interesting aspect in PL2. The most intriguing part being that it's literally all over the place. It features entirely new tracks from different sources, as well as Doom and Doom II. It makes no sense. Luckily though, the tracks do fit the maps they're used it, so this becomes less of a problem, despite still being there anyway. The new tracks seem to be more action oriented, unsurprising considering that PL2 places greatest emphasis on gameplay, and then the visuals and atmosphere, although it has plenty of that.

     

    Fortunately, these are also the only problems in PL2. For a community project with contributions from various authors the quality is fairly consistent, but it's also easy to tell when you're playing a map done by someone else as they all exhibit pretty different gameplay styles, design, and enemy usage, while also keeping in mind the core aspects of the original. This is always important but sometimes difficult to nail in projects, where quality consistency can become a real problem, and it's not without precedent to run into a few, or a lot of, fantastic maps, only to end up in a real crappy map, or maps, in the same wad at some point. The opposite is also true, the maps becoming too similar to each other to the point the player has no idea whose map they're playing because there's nothing to create contrast between them.

     

    Do you miss the Chaingunners, for instance? So do they, they're back with a vengeance. So, PL2 might not be perfect, and in some cases perhaps (slightly) worse than the original, but it definitely is worthy of the title and does justice to Final Doom's Plutonia Experiment while adding its own spin. My favorite levels are going to be the ones seen in the first half, plus MAP29. Yes, it drags on terribly, but the design and gameplay is solid so calling it awful based solely on that would be foolish and dishonest. So, grab your weapons and start reliving the Plutonian experience.

  11. Kama Sutra

       887

    "The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life."

     

    Therefore, Kama Sutra has been finished, played through GlBoom+ on HMP difficulty. So what do we have here, what bizarre positions do demons take in this megawad? Or is it the player the one who performs them?

     

    Kama Sutra is a 32-level megawad with a gameplay focused design which later on features various slaughter maps of varying difficulty. It comes with new music, textures, menu background, and one new enemy, returning from Wolfenstein 3D, the Schutzstaffel.

     

    The main feature of the levels probably lies in their inspiration. All levels in the megawad appear to have been inspired heavily by the Hell Revealed duology, both aesthetically and gameplay-wise, with enemy encounters and traps generally very similar to that of the HRs. Techbases, cities, castles, caves, and hellish locations are visited in the journey. The enemy count ranges between a few dozens, hundreds, to little over 1000. At the end of the journey the IoS awaits the player for a final confrontation, following the choice of the duology.

     

    The difficulty curve is the traditional kind, starting easy and becoming more difficult as you progress, with an occasional spike. But there's more to it than that. It appears Kama Sutra has been balanced primarily for UV, although lower difficulty settings are implemented. They do not seem to have been properly tested, and as such, some maps are unusually empty or easy. Additionally, the difficulty itself is inconsistent. Towards the end in particular it's easy to run into a level that is abnormally easy, only to run into one that is exponentially more difficult immediately afterwards. Some maps also offer a ridiculous amount of resources so that you never have to worry about managing your ammo or health most of the time, if at all. This is especially obvious when played continuous, but even without playing this way, there are often a lot of Megaspheres, Soulspheres, ammo, and medkits in the maps. More than you'll ever need.

     

    Another problem with the maps would be the repeated gimmick across some of them, namely the teleporting barrels which explode right in front of you, thus claiming your life almost instantly. A cheap way to kill an unsuspecting target, as this can only be avoided with previous knowledge. Moreover, MAP20 has an inescapable trap, fooling the player to enter a cage in an attempt to gain access to the yellow keycard. Both of them are poor design decisions as they do not require the player to do anything to avoid them, unless they have previous knowledge of the maps.

     

    The soundtrack could be described as having a little bit of something for everyone. More atmospheric, action oriented, metal, tracks from various games, covers of popular songs by various artists or bands, a lot. But this does not become a problem as the music is used in levels that actually fit what's going on and the general mood of the maps.

     

    All in all, though certainly with flaws, Kama Sutra manages to be a memorable experience from the beginning to the end with its fun maps and overall decent enemy usage, and is also a worthy spiritual successor to the duology it heavily takes influence from. It is likely better than HR2 in particular, which was a disgrace, but not the first. HR2 did get better down the road, but that's about it, it was mediocre overall (particularly during the notoriously bad first half). KS also features a few maps from the duology after MAP20, but I'm letting you discover which on your own. Keep in mind that KS is best experienced on UV difficulty as most effort was put into it, HMP and potentially lower settings suffer from insufficient testing and less than ideal balancing. Now get your BFG and impress those demons with your moves.

  12. Rush

       541

    "Motto hayaku! "

     

    And there goes Rush, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. So let's see what we have here, shall we? Of course we shall.

     

    Rush is a 13-level (12 with actual gameplay, 1 bonus for end game) slaughter megawad, meaning that the enemy count is high, or in this case, relatively high, and the enemies typically assault the player in waves of varying sizes and from various positions. It comes with a new background menu, music, textures, and one new enemy, a black/dark gray version of the Mancubus, but more powerful. The action takes places on various locations on Earth, both indoor and outdoors, as well as more abstract dimensions.

     

    The difficulty curve is traditional, starting relatively easy and getting gradually more difficult as you progress, with no spikes. Considering the category it fits under, this is probably one of the more interesting aspects of the wad, as it can be described as "entry-level slaughter".

     

    Visually, the maps looks pretty good and are accompanied by fitting music, which is mostly more action oriented, and they get more impressive with their design as you advance through the wad. If the beginning may not have revealed anything particularly interesting, that's something that changes near the second half, with maps such as MAP06, and the final level MAP12, aptly named "The Destination".

     

    This is actually where a mixture of good and bad can be found. MAP06 is basically a maze, without what could necessarily be classified as slaughter gameplay most of the time, but it has a few unintuitive puzzles where a way opens on the map, but perhaps it'll take a while to locate the place. There's also what appears a small spiral of torches placed in the distance which, while enhancing the feeling of mystery of the level, doesn't seem to serve any real purpose. MAP12 suffers from a similar problem, it's rather easy to get lost in the temple since you'll be revisiting the same areas a few times, but maybe not know where to go. But being the final map, it might be fitting, making things more difficult on multiple levels, not just through resource and enemy usage.

     

    Either way, Rush might not be SF2, Sunlust, Sunder, or any other "triple-A" slaughter megawad, but it does its job well. It's fun, short, and has plenty of atmosphere if you appreciate it. Indeed, it might be the perfect introduction to the genre for a newcomer. So don't wait, but Rush.

  13. Pirate Doom

       423

    "Me key has been stolen! "

     

    And there goes Pirate Doom, played through GZDoom 4.0.0 on UV difficulty. We sure showed 'em how Doom is done, the pirate way, so let's see what we have here.

     

    Pirate Doom, as the name implies, is a total conversion for Doom II, featuring a lot of new content and vast modifications to the gameplay. It comes with new textures, sounds, music, enemies, weapons, menu background, intermission screens, and status bar. The player visits caves, ships, temples, forests, circuses, bars, castles, and various building with an architecture and design similar to that of the old days, a 19 maps long experience (18 with actual gameplay + 1 bonus for credits and epilogue).

     

    Being a TC, the modifications are extensive. All enemies are re-skinned and have new attacks, the weapons are replaced with various equivalents of that period, with the notable exception of the BFG, which is now a dynamite thrower, no chainsaw, a Cutlass replacement for the fist/berserk, and freelook is recommended. A few entirely new enemies are also introduced, namely a smaller, very weak Arch-Vile, with no hitscan attacks, ghost versions of the Imp and Lost Soul, suicide bombers, yet another version of the Imp, this time equipped with dynamite, and a final boss, the pirate Black Beard. Certain weapons also have mounted versions, such as the pirate cannon, which is the main means of destruction on a level where the player is tasked with sinking a few enemy ships.

     

    The difficulty curve is traditional, starting easy and getting more difficult as you advance, but the game never becomes very difficult, in fact the difficulty is very similar to Doom 2 and a few maps from Plutonia. Certainly, fun and immersion are the main elements at work here.

     

    The music has atmospheric, ominous, and more action themed tracks, and this would be one of the more intriguing parts of the TC. This is because it contains copyrighted music, namely AC/DC's classic Highway to Hell. No idea how permission was granted to be used in a non-commercial Doom TC, but it sure is a welcome addition.

     

    After all is said and done, the journey ends with a battle against the famous pirate Black Beard, in his ghost form and with powerful attacks, capable of summoning minions and using a variety of magic attacks, an expected and well executed final battle. Perhaps the only real problem in the TC are the underwater levels, this is because movement is very slow and difficult there, not to mention that one can barely see a damn thing. Thankfully, these maps are short and straight to the point, so they don't ruin the experience.

     

    All in all, Pirate Doom manages to create something fresh, fun, and unique with a surprising theme that fits remarkably well, in addition to preserving the core essence of the original game. It's most definitely worth the time, even if you're not necessarily a fan of pirates, I myself am not. So grab yer Cutlass and prepare to slash some demons, arrrrrrgh!

  14. Hanging Gardens

       75

    "In this garden of depraved beings... "

     

    So, Hanging Gardens has been finished, played through GZDoom 4.0.0 on UV difficulty. So what do we have here? Well, Hanging Gardens is an arena styled map with slaughter gameplay set in a tropical location. It features new textures, effects, music, and one new enemy, a deadlier version of the regular Baron with increased health and more threatening attacks. The monster count goes a little over 400.

     

    Considering that it's only one map there's actually not much else to add than that, it's very short and straight to the point considering it replaces MAP01, which also means that it's fairly easy as well, so most players would be able to enjoy it. The biggest shame here would be the unrealized potential. Hanging Gardens was originally meant to be part of one episode-long wad, but the author decided to abandon the project, this gorgeous, fun map being the only thing that was ever made, thankfully seeing the light of day and not getting canned as well. One is left to wonder how would have the whole package looked like considering the high quality of HG, but that's something we're never going to find out.

     

    Definitely worth checking out. One thing to pay attention to are the compatibility settings. Despite the gameplay style involved, it does not seem to work correctly with Doom (Strict), which makes passing under various pillars and small bridges very difficult. It appears to work correctly with the Default setting. And hopefully, you have a decent PC to handle the map because it is a bit graphically intensive with all the new effects, textures, and dynamic lights. Emphasis on decent. Now pick up your weapons and fight.

  15. 50 Monsters

       617

    Many enemies roam free around here. Or are they few?

     

    50 Monsters has been finished, played through the Eternity Engine 4.00.00 Voluspa on HMP difficulty. So fast, almost like it was never here, so let's see what do we have here.

     

    50 Monsters is a 32-level (+2 bonus) megawad consisting of short, compact, and gameplay based maps with a few puzzles but without much exploration involved, similar to Plutonia and the early levels of Scythe overall. The gameplay takes place almost exclusively on techbases, with a more hellish and natural level thrown in from time to time. It comes with new music, background menu, end level stats screen, intermission screen, textures, and enemies, with a few returning from Scythe and Valiant.

     

    The difficulty curve is mostly the traditional kind, starting easy and gradually getting more difficult as one progresses, with a spike every now and then. The final levels in particular can have a rather rough start as they require the player rather fast, or get blown away. After all is said and done the journey ends with a short map that features mid-tier and high-tier monsters, introducing 50 Monster's main boss enemy, a flying demon rather similar to the Cacodemon but with far more devastating attacks.

     

    Although the maps are generally good, there are a few stinkers, most notably MAP31. The main problem of that map is the texturing of certain assets, namely the crushers in the starting area, which look like the starry sky. This can make the exit out of the starting room pretty frustrating as it can be difficult to estimate the position of the crusher since it can't be clearly seen, taking unnecessary damage in the process. Otherwise, the map in itself is alright, and a very good candidate for speedrunning, but could have been even better if it wasn't for some bizarre design choices.

     

    There's not much else to add to it, as from the very first level it makes its point clear, and the formula never changes for its entirety. A good, short, and fun megawad that could be beaten in one sitting if one has the time, considering the maps are short and straight-to-the point. The first few levels might not be impressive, but this works in its favor as it does get better down the road, so it's not necessarily a drawback, and remains pretty consistent, apart from a few difficulty spikes.

  16. Moonblood

       7962

    "In this great solar eclipse all light shall starve and perish,
    As phantoms of the astral abyss drain the cosmic life force
    ... " - (Demoncy - Opening the Lunar Bloodgate)

     

    Therefore, Moonblood has been finished, played through the Eternity Engine 4.00.00 Voluspa on UV difficulty. Interesting to see where the so-called overhaul of old levels led to, but we'll get to that in a moment.

     

    So what's this about? Moonblood is a 32-level megawad consisting of gameplay focused maps with puzzles and nonlinear progression in mind, featuring new textures, music, menu background, status bar, intermission screens, and one boss enemy. It is divided in 6 episodes, and similar to Plutonia in terms of difficulty and enemy count, but much less generous with the ammunition, while being similar to the early levels of the original Scythe in terms of design and aesthetics. In fact, conservation turns out to pay off greatly in most maps, since, despite being pretty accessible, it's very easy to mismanage your resources and end up in awkward positions against few or mid-tier monsters. The enemies are generally placed in strategic positions, thus taking a moment to look around (or in the distance), or listen to the sounds in the environment can prevent some stupid deaths (or being sniped by a random hitscanner in the distance, be it through a window or out in the open). It takes place almost exclusively on techbases, with a more natural-looking or hellish map here and there.

     

    As implied, the difficulty curve is traditional, starting easy and getting more difficult as you progress, with a (surprising) slight increase with each episode. Surprising because, on a surface level, all of them start rather easy, but don't let the guard down as there are a few surprises on the way, likely to keep the player focused and not fall into boredom. Indeed, if it looks easy, then it probably isn't, although after a while the traps do start becoming predictable (and irritating) as the formula doesn't change. After all is said and done, the journey ends with a battle against a re-imagined Mother Demon (Doom 64), firing Mancubus and Revenant fireballs, as well as rockets. A fitting conclusion, but the maps don't really anticipate the end since the difficulty doesn't get any noticeable ramp up, and neither does the enemy count nor the landscape changes dramatically.

     

    What Moonblood appears to do very well is providing a nonlinear and generally puzzley element to its maps, and neither ever becomes an issue since the levels don't involve excessive backtracking or have cryptic progression, so you don't end up running from one side of the map to the other and still not find the way, or spam Spacebar on the walls or shoot them until some random door or switch triggers somewhere, a problem other wads/maps that offer both elements easily end up doing, becoming painfully confusing in the process, and losing all the fun they could offer otherwise. They're also not dragging on or have complexity for the sake of having it.

     

    Perhaps the biggest problem of Moonblood lies in its roots. According to the description, it began as an overhaul of the author's older maps, and this is especially noticeable early in the game. The earlier levels have a dated look, not too dissimilar from those found in Doom 2, and yet, less impressive than them, giving the impression of belonging somewhere in the mid '90s, but aging relatively poorly. The gameplay is thankfully engaging and fun, so this does not become a very apparent problem that ruins the experience, and the more progress you make, the better the maps get. My favorite maps are those from Episode 5 and 6. In conclusion, Moonblood is a fun "little" megawad which manages to deliver a fun and interesting experience that doesn't last very long, but suffers from featuring revamped levels which don't end up standing out (or even look modern) despite the author's efforts. It could have been better if they were ditched in exchange for something entirely new. Do check out Exomoon after you're done with Moonblood as it lacks the shortcomings the original had, and brings both new and old things to the table (you'll have to discover them on your own, no spoilers).


  17. "Straight into oblivion, full speed ahead!

    Forward, and demonspeed...
    This is the Ultimate Death... 
    " (Excerpt from Demonspeed, by Craft).

     

    But is it fast enough? We shall find out soon enough. Or maybe not. Speed of Doom has been finished, played through PrBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on UV difficulty. Let's see what this is all about.

     

    Speed of Doom is a 32-level megawad designed by 2 guys with pistol starting in mind, one handled the first half, the other one the second part. It comes with new fonts, status bar, menu background, music, intermission screen, and textures. SoD takes places mostly on techbases and Hell, and features suicide exits at the end of the respective episodes.

     

    The gameplay is largely skill focused, relying on the player's ability to get the best out of the encounters due to their usage and placement. Although it was designed by 2 guys, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of difference between the episodes, primarily because all maps play very similar and there isn't much in terms of design to create contrast between them, with one possible exception: The first half appears to strongly emphasize the use of the Berserk fist, as suggested by its presence at the beginning of most maps and the amount of resources placed in the level. This however, can be worked around on many occasions, as one can also rely on enemy infighting for instance and let the monsters kill each other, thus saving ammo and being able to kill the survivors with the weapon of your choice. This seems to change in the final episode, as seen on MAP21 where the player is tasked with punching a good amount of enemies after committing suicide at the end of the previous level. There are weapons, but you will not be able to kill much with them as there's very little to no ammo.

     

    This brings up the topic of difficulty. The difficulty curve in Speed of Doom is basically nonexistent. Despite starting relatively easy and getting more difficult as you progress, there are many difficulty spike down the road, so you might end up playing a map that's rather easy only to end up in an absolutely murderous map next, and then repeat. This is also the main problem of the megawad, the difficulty is pretty much all over the place. Some maps are very predictable, thus dealing with enemies does not prove to be problematic in general, while others go cheap on the player by having deadly enemies hidden in the shadows, resulting in easy and sometimes frustrating deaths as you might end up dodging projectiles and not knowing where do they even come from exactly. It doesn't help that sometimes enemies just pop up in front of you or behind you with no warning. The most frustrating maps are going to be MAP21, MAP22, and MAP27, for all the wrong reasons. In fact, all problematic parts of SoD could have easily been better if they weren't designed for a very specific gameplay style, the author thus forcing you to do them his way, not however you'd like to, sucking plenty of enjoyment out of them in the process. This sometimes works in SoD's favor, but once you're nearing the end the problem becomes apparent. Additionally, many maps can be done blind without putting a lot of effort into them, whereas those like MAP29 require previous knowledge due to the overall amount of ammo in them and nasty traps which will be very difficult if not impossible if you mismanage your resources, but by the time you realize this it will be far too late and your only choice will be to either skip the level, or redo it from scratch. After all is said and done, the journey ends with a slaughter kind of IoS map with 2000 enemies. A fitting finale, and yet, it could have done just fine without the IoS, but since it's more akin to blowing up a reactor, it presents a somewhat interesting take on the concept. My favorite parts are going to be the first 2 episodes, and MAP28.

     

    To sum up, the reputation of Speed of Doom is justified as it is indeed a high quality megawad, but due to its flaws (of which the most important have been mentioned above) it does not get a rating higher than 3/5 from me. It is worth one's time, especially for veterans and players who are into demo recording, but it proves to be pretty difficult to recommend it for players who are just looking for something fun and challenging to play as some maps are extremely frustrating with their encounters and traps. You are also forced to abandon your play style in SoD since the authors force you to do it their way, not yours. It explores many different types of maps and styles (slaughter and survival are only 2 of them), has a pretty interesting story, and it gets a lot of things right, but it could have been better. If you want to try it out, go right ahead, but know what you're getting yourself into.


  18. "Get Out of My Stations!"

     

    You heard me, demons, why are you still here? I suppose I'll have to use force, very well. Back to Saturn X E1 has been finished, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on UV difficulty. Looks like there's no more bases in sight, so let's see what this is all about.

     

    BTSX E1 is a 27-level (25 main maps, 2 secret levels) megawad built by multiple authors of the community with a gameplay style similar to that of Plutonia or Scythe. It comes with a new menu background, fonts, status bar, intermission screens, music, textures, and ENDOOM screen. The action appears to take place exclusively on techbases in various locations and it's split in multiple episodes.

     

    The difficulty curve is mostly traditional, the megawad starting relatively easy and getting harder as you progress. AV was initially used as the "guideline for difficulty", and although it is nowhere near extreme, it most definitely presents a good challenge, relying on good enemy placement to take down the player and surprising, but not unfair traps. It was primarily designed for pistol starting, but a continuous play of the megawad proves not to trivialize the experience, as it sometimes can happen when carrying your equipment from one map to the next. The maps do not offer large amounts of ammo, with the only exceptions being the more difficult parts, but even after those are finished the player isn't left with lots of ammo in their inventory. As it turns out, ammo management in very important in BTSX, as mismanaging your resources might screw you up when you really need them, particularly the plasma and rockets considering you're offered only as much as you need, therefore the instances you're left with any are pretty rare. Additionally, the backpack appears to be a rarity which is more often than not found through secrets as opposed to regular play. Despite this, it does not descend into resource starvation since a simple, mindful usage of the ammunition is enough to prevail over the enemies. Suicide exits as a way to reset the player's inventory are therefore not missed, and had no place in the megawad in the first place since other than a means to reset the player's inventory they are usually used to mark a major thematic change (ex: from Earth to Hell, or somewhere in space) or a ramp up in difficulty, none of which are present here. The difficulty is also more akin to Plutonia and the first 2 episodes of the original Scythe rather than AV. 

     

    Perhaps the most interesting thing about BTSX, particularly in the first and second episode, is the number of barrels. A lot of early maps feature large amounts of barrels, and they prove to be an efficient (and fun) method of damaging or easily taking down enemies while spending very little ammo as resource management proves to be even more important in these maps. They are, however, excessive in some cases, serving no real purpose. The maps themselves are beautiful and detailed, with a gorgeous sky that can be seen on many maps and look pretty futuristic, some more than others, although not on the same level as, say, Stargate of Deus Vult II, which was also enormous and very complex. This is vanilla compatible after all, and yet, impressive in its own right. Others seem to be slightly touched by decay, and these are also the more underwhelming maps since they can be slightly confusing at times. It is impressive to see that the quality is very consistent though, despite being built by different authors, yet this can also be a problem on its own. They somehow manage to remain a bit too consistent (as strange as it might sound) since there's not much to differentiate them. I could easily tell which maps were made by skillsaw or which ones were touched by him since I could probably recognize his signature gameplay anywhere after playing (almost) all his works, but even so, that's the only thing that stood out, since visually, they're the same. Or to be fair, MAP19 "Bingo Hall Pool of Blood" easily stood out from the crowd since the gameplay and design of that level is completely different from the rest of the maps, but it's hard to say what led to this. This is also why I can't say I have a favorite map, but don't dislike any either. The megawad ends with a final battle against Mancubi and Arch-Viles on MAP24, which also presents some slaughter influence.

     

    All things considered, BTSX E1 is a fun and challenging modern megawad that's neither too long nor too short. The only problem on the technical side of things is that some maps have a nasty HOM effect in places (under bridges for instance) when played in GlBoom+. Haven't tested in other ports to see if it's specific to some of them or not. Well worth a shot.

  19. Aeternum

       76

    "In Aeternum in triumpho tenebrarum... " (Forever in dark triumph)

     

    Over the wad, what else? Aeternum has been finished, played through ZDoom 2.8.1 on UV difficulty. A rather short, 3-level wad.

     

    So what's this... Aeternum is a short wad with skill-based gameplay, heavily inspired by the classic Alien Vendetta. It comes with new textures and energizing, action-oriented music. The first 2 maps appear to take place on Earth, while the final one exclusively in Hell.

     

    The difficulty is not high, and it would be somewhere around the end of the first half of AV, with tricky traps but nothing too intense, therefore it's pretty accessible. It's also short, being easy to beat in one sitting as it takes little over an hour or so, depending on your speed. The second map however is the longest, being noticeably lengthier than the other 2, but it doesn't necessarily drag on as it gets better as you progress, and more fun. Although the first half of the map might be a bit underwhelming. Everything culminates with a short but more intense final level with slight slaughter tendencies, and an IoS awaits at the end.

     

    There isn't much else to add, and it isn't as impressive as skillsaw's other works such as Valiant, Ancient Aliens, Vanguard, or Lunatic. His style is unmistakable but here it doesn't do a whole lot to catch anyone's attention. Thus, Aeternum can be seen as a sign of things to come, primarily due to its gameplay which would further evolve in the author's subsequent releases, in addition to his maps becoming much more impressive visually. It's a fun little wad to try out when you want to play a Doom map or two.


  20. "Get out of the way!"

     

    So that you can watch me kill your brethren before I get to you. You can't stop the killing. Newgothic Movement 2 has been finished, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. Or is that HMP? I'll get back to you in a moment.

     

    First things first, Newgothic Movement 2 is the sequel of the short slaughter megawad with the same name. It features a new menu background, end level stats picture, textures, and music. The gameplay is pretty much identical to the original, with large enemy counts, enemies placed in strategic positions, and emphasizing skill. This is pretty much all it has in common with the original, as the maps are generally very different and exploring more themes and locations, on Earth, Hell, and space, however, various ideas from the original have been recycled into the sequel, such as the tunnel sequence with the Cyberdemons underground, now taking place in a pyramid and more difficult, as it plays a much more important role as opposed being and area you could simply ignore by going straight to the right drop point. Additionally, there are no more levels that do not serve any real purpose in the megawad, unlike the original did with MAP03 and its Cyberdemon fest in the middle of nowhere. The progression between levels is also much more logical so it feels like a more coherent package and "actual" megawad, as opposed to just a collection of random slaughter maps.

     

    Compared to its predecessor, the sequel has much higher difficulty, emphasizing foreknowledge in many of its maps in order to get the full, enjoyable experience than just jumping into it and hoping everything goes well for the most part. Therefore, it involved quite a bit of trial and error in some of its maps to avoid making crucial mistakes than could bring your progression to a half. Moreover, items, such as Invulnerability spheres, are now sometimes put in secrets, some of them being mandatory if you plan on making the enraged wave of enemies calm down quicker, and with much less frustration. The difficulty curve is nonexistent as almost all levels start somewhat easy (apart from MAP02 and a few others) and the difficulty increases dramatically as you progress, but the following map with not be necessarily easier or more difficult as you'd normally expect. There are also crazy parts in some of the levels, particularly on the aforementioned MAP02, which has a really rough start with lots and lots of mandatory damage (no wonder there's health potions at every step), with waves of Imps at both ends of the tunnel and Chaingunners shooting you from their alcoves. This is going to be the only map I did not like in the entire megawad, simply because it's all about damage and challenge, but zero fun. It's best to try to speedrun this map instead of maxing it out as that needlessly complicates everything (as if it wasn't already complicated). Due to the drastically increased difficulty going in blind like I did will prove to be a challenge in itself as traps and ambushes are much less forgiving than they are in the original. I would not say you need to know the maps inside out, but it will absolutely make your life much easier in some of them if you have some knowledge before playing them, so that you at least know where the nuttier parts are. There are also no difficulty settings, so despite choosing HMP, what I actually got was UV, so you either deal with its difficulty the way it is, or skip it.

     

    When it comes to locations, it unfortunately does not explore cities. MAP13 was easily the one map that really stood out from the crowd in the original, despite not doing anything particularly mind-blowing. But it had an amazing grim atmosphere, and it was impressive both visually and gameplay-wise.

     

    All in all, Newgothic Movement 2 is a definite improvement in all areas over its predecessor, but also a significant departure, as while still preserving the core essence of the original and being much more coherent with its design, it places much more focus on difficulty and foreknowledge, something the original did not do, therefore it is going to be more challenging than it, and more frustrating in parts. As a result, it is good for veterans and demo recorders who have the time to analyze the maps carefully and fully, but not a very good candidate for more casual players who just want to play some slaughter. It's also not a good introduction to the genre for newcomers due to its high difficulty and lack of skill levels, so it's best to check this out only after you have familiarized yourself with the genre and have some experience. Otherwise, you might get your ass kicked on many occasions.

  21. Deus Vult II

       623

    "The infidels have returned... "

     

    Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Probably a bit of both. Thus, Deus Vult II has been finished, played through PrBoom+ and GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. It's back and better than ever, so let's see what we have here.

     

    Deus Vult II is the sequel of the popular challenge megawad Deus Vult, focused primarily on gameplay and difficulty and is split into multiple episodes. It comes with new textures, music, background menu, intermission screen, sounds, status bar, weapons and enemies. The new enemies include the Cleric, a small knight capable of firing multiple Imp fireballs, is somewhat tough, and moves fast, and the other one is the Red Baron, which is a flying version of the vanilla Baron but with far deadlier attacks, capable of firing multiple Mancubus fireballs and Revenant rockets, also seen in Scythe 2. It also has increased health, acting as a mini boss on its own. The new weapons are Sauron's Gantlets, originally seen in Hexen, and the pistol is replaced with a dual wielding version.

     

    In terms of level design, Deus Vult II marks a significant departure and improvement over the original. It is much more experimental and does a great deal of things, both in terms of locations and actual gameplay. The original relied mostly on techbases and Hell, whereas DVII explores a variety of places: Mars, different regions of Hell, mysterious dimensions, and space. Some Earth levels for instance have an Asian or an Egyptian setting. The Asian one, MAP03, appears to take inspiration from over-the-top kung fu/fighting movies in the design of its encounters and general aesthetic, taking place somewhere in a forest and fighting demons both in rings and small waves outside of them. As the name implies ("Crouching Demon, Hidden Arch-Vile"), the most interesting fight is the one in the dojo with the AV and the resulting assault, although it can be a bit tricky to locate it. There are 3 main teleport pads and although they can be seen clear as day on the automap, reaching them can prove to be a bit problematic due to being hidden behind trees. If you fall from the (mountain? Or whatever it is) you can either take the teleport down there to go back up, or actually climb on it as there are some very small stairs around. Whatever you do, make sure you don't play this level (at the very least) with a Software render, the performance seems to be very poor, stick to OpenGL instead. The Egyptian one on the other hand is rather similar to what can be seen in Epic 2, but more straightforward and doing some neat tricks with the portals. You also have to climb steps in order to reach it. In fact, climbing stairs to reach the main location seems to be a recurring theme in DVII: a mountain, a pyramid, a fortress/castle, but the pathway is fun as, obviously, it features gameplay. And speaking of portals, both sides usually teleport you to different locations. One side to advance, and the other side for secrets. 

     

    The levels are incredibly more modern and polished compared to the predecessor, this is obvious especially in the Hell maps that aren't just your average temple or cave, with high quality assets, complexity, and fun, same for the mysterious dimensions. Although one of them kinda bites more than it can chew. MAP21 has a bit of an obtuse progression as some switches, particularly those in the library area, are incredibly easy to miss. In fact, you can say the whole library portion of the map is one, big puzzle. Despite being cryptic, it's actually fun, and very creative. MAP21 also features some crazy traps, such as the one that leads to the blue skull where you need to step on pentagrams around a pillar to replenish your health due to being on a damaging floor, and monsters slowly teleport to your location. Mandatory damage? Yes, absolutely, but using the gantlets or the fist to destroy everyone proves to be satisfying. Similar to MAP03, only 2 keys are actually needed to finish the level. Then there's the space maps, which look very futuristic and are incredibly modern, kinda similar to Ancient Aliens. Although it can be easy to get lost on a few occasions, but having 2 of the main switches being in the same room and the other one around the corner helps. Additionally, the rooms containing the cards cannot be missed once located.

     

    I haven't talked about the difficulty and balance. Overall, DVII has vastly superior balancing compared to the predecessor, with a more traditional difficulty curve, starting (somewhat) easy and increasing gradually over time. Moreover, the actual encounters, while getting more difficult as you progress, are fair at all times, no longer giving you enough resources while at the core, the fights themselves weren't well balanced. Obscenely difficult maps are also completely gone, MAP02 of the original being the worst offender here with the insane placement of the enemies, notably the AVs. Sure, it was perfectly doable, but without previous knowledge there's just no way you weren't going to die a lot and it would immediately become frustrating, turning into a real test of patience. It placed far too much emphasis on the challenge part while forgetting the fun element almost completely. "Torture Chamber"? Yes, very much so. To add insult to the injury, the Singleplayer version of the levels was also advertised as being exceptionally balanced, but that wasn't always the case. Difficult or not, DVII is fun from the first moment up until the very end.

     

    Speaking of which, DVII features 2 different endings. Sort of. After escaping from the Red Barons on MAP22, then the slaughterfest on MAP23, the players find themselves in Heaven, where they are tasked with choosing their destiny. Going through the left gate ends the game, with a final intermission screen. This is most likely the canonical ending. Going through the right gate actually takes the player back to the original DV to play it all over again. It appears to be the single map version of DV.

     

    All things considered, DVII is a dramatic evolution and improvement over the original, expanding and correcting its flaws. The sequel takes what DV got right and expands upon it, while bringing a great deal of new, refreshing ideas to the table. It completely eclipses the original. My favorite maps are going to be MAP01, MAP02, MAP03, MAP12, MAP19, MAP21, and MAP22. The only problems of DVII would be: 1) The fact that, although the maps go up to 29 (or 32, if counting the secret levels), only 12 of them or so are actual levels, the rest are skipped through some kind of countdown to the next one, and 2) The final levels in particular are full of easter eggs. They're almost everywhere, some even in the title ("You Shall Not Pass!"). Au contraire, I shall. Quite unnecessary, especially in such large quantities, probably the result of logic going south.

     

    Looking for a fair, fun challenge? Look no further, DVII has this, and more. While there aren't a lot of maps in DVII, they can take a while to complete, so it's best to experience them when you have some spare time.

  22. UAC Ultra (v1.2)

       651

    "Evacuate area... "

     

    Nah, I'd rather stay and fight, what could possibly go wrong, right? Therefore, UAC Ultra has been finished, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. A pretty damn fun but short megawad that only gets better the more progress you make. But first, let's see what this is all about.

     

    UAC Ultra is a 12-level megawad comprised of maps which are quite similar in terms of gameplay to the first episode of the original Doom, but later deviates a bit from the formula to do its own thing while a sense of decay haunts most of its levels. It comes with new textures, background menu, status bar, music, and one new enemy. The action takes place exclusively on techbases and different regions of Hell. It is split in 2 parts, with a suicide exit acting as an end to the first.

     

    The first part, which does a surprisingly good job at emulating the gameplay of Knee-Deep in the Dead of the original Doom, is slow paced and places more emphasis on the atmosphere in order to allow the player to become accustomed to its style and different environments, while also encouraging exploration, but keeping the encounters and traps at a generally low level of danger. It culminates with a more challenging map that features a suicide exit. Story-wise, the player falls through a trash compactor, losing their guns in the process.

     

    This is where things take a dramatic turn, as UAC Ultra does not present a traditional difficulty curve (the difficulty does not increase in steps). It is somewhat similar to Scythe, but not quite there. From the first moment MAP07, which marks the beginning of the second part, presents a significant ramp up in difficulty from the previous episode which culminates with a boss fight against the new enemy, one capable of firing multiple Mancubus fireballs and moving fast. It is also a nod to Doom 2's Dead Simple in terms of design and overall gameplay. From this point onward, the enemy encounters and traps become much trickier, requiring the player to pay attention to the environment at all times, as one stupid or unintentional mistake can leave them dead. High-tier monsters are also used more frequently, and the hellish portions (which present only damaging floors) present some slaughter influences in the nature of certain encounters. This episode can be summed up as being largely gameplay focused, as while the levels are still very atmospheric and their design is intriguing, they're no longer what the player should pay attention to, and it really shines with its fun traps and enemy assaults. The last map features a boss in the form of a grotesque mass of tissues and flesh who fires good amounts of Imp fireballs from its mouth, but is incapable of spawning enemies. Afterwards, the player boards a ship and finally goes home. Needless to say the second episode is my favorite, and for good reason.

     

    The only possible problem with UAC Ultra would be the fact that the first part does not do much to remain captivating, so it's easy to get a bit bored. The levels are not exactly "beautiful" in the sense of being touched by decay, in addition to having some switches in spots that are easy to miss and thus potentially wasting some time looking around for them. And while it is entirely possible to have fun encounters while maintaining a low level of danger, it doesn't quite do that. Something that did catch my eye however, is that various parts in UAC Ultra appear to have taken inspiration from Doom 64. I'd recognize the yellow key room from Doom 64's Alpha Quadrant anywhere. 

     

    One could say the second episode is the wake up call and the "Ultra" part fits it like a glove. So wake up, duty calls. Would recommend this to anyone looking for some fun, it's fairly short as it only took me 3 hours in my blind let's play, so it can easily be completed in one sitting.


  23. "Move in!"

     

    When slaughter takes a different direction. Or is it the same but with different aesthetics? Well let's find out, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP.

     

    Newgothic - Movement 1 is a set comprised of 18 slaughter levels with a gothic, industrial, and hellish aesthetic focused on the fun part as opposed to being as challenging as humanly possible. The player is taken to various bases, regions of Hell, and Earth (including cities) to fight the demon invasion. It comes with a new background menu, music, and textures.

     

    So what is there to say? Well, not a whole lot as the gameplay is typical slaughter for the most part, with the exception of MAP16 which features a little over 100 enemies and deviates from the formula with its encounters, needing to finish off enemies in more challenging ways due to the design of the level and scarce ammo. In fact, the Berserk given at the start might prove to be the one essential power up in the entire map, with ammo and weapons offered to reach enemies you otherwise couldn't with just your fist, and places an emphasis on moving quickly with its traps. Apart from it, the other levels play generally the same, with enemies placed in strategic positions while they also come for you in medium-sized or large waves, and their counts ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.

     

    The difficulty curve seems to be nonexistent. This is because one level might end up being noticeably more challenging while the next much easier, never really knowing what to expect. The quality is also a bit inconsistent as some maps don't look like they belong in the package at all, with MAP03 and its Cyberdemons being the biggest offender. You start at the top of a tower in the middle of nowhere and you have to work your way down in order to take out a few hundred Cyberdemons, and that's virtually everything it is about. Not very challenging, but not very fun either. It also doesn't stand out visually as the tower, the ground to walk at the bottom, and the endless blue ocean is all the eyes are going to see for its entirety. A total filler and the package would've been better by simply not including it at all.

     

    Apart from a few consistency issues in terms of quality, the only other problem would be the music. While it's certainly good, its problem falls more on the technical side of things. Some tracks are either too loud, while others are too quiet, and at least one of them appears to have poor audio quality. Otherwise, no problems, just pure slaughter fun and carnage with large levels that are pretty straightforward so navigation shouldn't prove to be an issue in any level, my favorite being MAP15 with its giant city. Sheesh, never seen so much carnage on the road. Newgothic Movement 1, along with the Slaughterfest series and classics such as AV, the later portion of the Scythes, and HR might as well be a good introduction to someone who has never played slaughter before due to its more forgiving nature, even though it appears to be more like a simple collection of maps as opposed to a true megawad since there's no real difficulty curve, it has some consistency issues, and you're taken to random places. But it's still good fun, and what's solid, is solid, best to appreciate it for what it is as opposed to what it could've been. So don't wait any more and send those bastards to oblivion.


  24. Note: The description of the megawad is incorrect and so is the file, probably. Refer to the /idgames link for the correct download and description.

     

    And the Struggle is over. But was it really a struggle? That depends. Played through PrBoom+ and GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5, with the first 12 levels from RC2 and the optimized version of MAP28 on HMP difficulty. A rather surprising and fresh experience, so let's see what do we have here.

     

    Struggle is a 32-level megawad focused primarily on gameplay and atmosphere, especially in the latter half of the set. It introduces a new menu background, fonts, status bar, weapons, textures, sounds, and enemies, changing the overall tone and feel of Doom dramatically. Although it introduces new enemies, the old ones also receive a few enhancements, notably the Pinky which is now much faster, the Revenant fires rockets that are no longer capable of homing on the player's tail but are much faster and are always fired in numbers of 2, the Arachnotron is now equipped with a chaingun, the Spider Mastermind has a plasma cannon now, and the Cyberdemon has its rockets replaced with plasma but otherwise behave identically. While the Zombiemen and Sergeats do not enjoy an upgraded arsenal, they are much more aggressive and fire in rapid succession. The new enemies include the invisible Cacodemon, the Plasma Chaingunner, the Antaresia, a blue, walking serpent equipped with a trident and fires Cacodemon fireballs in addition to one, quick plasma at the end, its Elite version which has improved stats, is faster, and fires plasma in quick bursts, the Afriest, a flying wizard who fires different types of fireballs, the Leviathan, similar to the Afriest but bigger, tougher, faster, and is capable of firing multiple Mancubus fireballs rapidly, and the Spectroviathan, who is basically an invisible variant of the Leviathan, and of course, the unnamed final boss. Note, however, that due to the lightning and texturing the invisible enemies can be pretty difficult to see, particularly later in the megawad, which is why I recommend either using the Software render of a compatible port, or GZDoom's OpenGL render with the Fuzz effect set to Noise for playing Struggle in an optimal way. GlBoom renders them as shadows that lack the fuzzing effect entirely, the same way it renders the vanilla Spectre, which can be quite troublesome in certain scenarios.

     

    The action takes place mostly on techbases, Hell, and mysterious dimensions. It is split in several episodes, with pistol starts enforced through suicide exits at the end, similar to Scythe and other modern megawads. The difficulty, however, does not necessarily increase as the pistol starts are generally used to introduce new enemies to the player as opposed to the traditional ramp up in difficulty. This makes the maps more unpredictable and adds a surprise factor, as you never really know what you're going to face next. It could be worse, it could be better. It could also be a boss map.

     

    The maps are very well designed for the most part, with well placed enemies and engaging combat, however the first episode turns out to also be the weakest. This is because these maps turn out to be a bit too tight by their nature which can lead to some annoying instances, particularly when facing larger numbers of enemies. They do not really stand out visually either, so the players might feel a bit underwhelmed at first. This, however, changes as you progress and things get gradually better and more impressive, both visually and gameplay wise. The later techbase levels in particular are much more impressive, but similar to the earlier ones they share the same problem, but to a lesser degree: confusing layout. This can be particularly frustrating in the earlier levels as they involve a lot of backtracking and the same areas are visited multiple times, in addition to having a somewhat obtuse progression due to the fact that you sometimes end up pressing switches which don't always open something you notice immediately as the new routes are in less-than-obvious (or ideal) places, making you run around for a while without knowing where to go. Luckily, the automap helps in most cases so it shouldn't be that big of an issue.

     

    Some of the later maps present some slaughter tendencies, but the enemy count never exceeds a few hundred and their gameplay is generally different. You might end up overwhelmed initially on a few occasions, but it's never anything crazy, and most of the time all you need to do is to figure out the mechanics of the specific encounter or level, which remedies the problem immediately. The balancing is also brilliant, with very few surprise traps that might take you down initially, but nothing unfair and no mandatory damage crap. It is surprisingly accessible too, something that's not very common in other modern megawads, therefore, if you can beat the original Scythe on UV or a similar megawad it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll be able to blast through Struggle with relatively little effort. It also doesn't require knowing the maps inside-out to get the best possible experience, or make extensive use of trial-and-error until the optimal tactic is found. It is surprisingly accessible on HMP, and that's a great thing in my book as it opens the gates to a wider potential audience. Everything culminates with a battle against an unnamed boss, a flying, blue demon head that literally rains Mancubus fireballs. Intimidating at first, but rather easy to deal with, after you figure him out. I'm not going to spoil the fun. I do not have any favorite maps but the last 2 episodes are going to be my favorite, easily the strongest part of the entire package.

     

    The arsenal includes a new pistol that has a burst fire mode, dual-wielded pistols which replace the regular Chaingun and are more powerful, a different Rocket Launcher, a rifle instead of the Plasma, a new Shotgun, and a new BFG that fires rockets. They generally work in a similar fashion to the vanilla counterparts, with the exception of the RL, which requires the player to click the button every time they want to fire, the ability to hold it down and fire rapidly appearing to be removed. Despite being satisfactory to use, they have their own share of problems. More exactly, certain sounds, such as those of the pistols and SSG, are pretty loud and unpleasant to the ears, and as a result they tend to become irritating after hearing them over and over again for extended periods of time. They are nothing on the extreme side however. Another problem would be the fact that their sprites look really, really sharp, which can make everything look that way in lower resolutions.

     

    All things considered, Struggle has a few shortcomings but none of them are big enough to detract from the overall quality of the megawad. Not very short, and not very long, but definitely fun and engaging while managing to remain accessible. Certainly one of the best megawads the community has made in recent years (and there's a lot of high quality content being made these days). Pick up your weapon and have fun blasting everything to pieces.

  25. Vanguard

       341

    "13 Angry Arch-Viles... "

     

    I'm having a deja vu. And are they really so angry? There goes yet another megawad, played through PrBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty. That was quite the journey, as one would expect. So let's get this started.

     

    Vanguard is a megawad comprised of 13 skill-based levels (12 main, 1 bonus) and it comes with a new menu background, textures, and music. The gameplay is in the vein of the Scythe series, focusing on skill and speed. It starts easy and the difficulty increases in steps, from one level to another, but with a noticeable ramp up after each episode and their respective final maps. The maps are designed with pistol starting in mind and it is enforced through suicide exits at the end of each episode. The action takes place in 3 main areas: outdoor, natural regions across the Earth, techbases, and Hell.

     

    The gameplay is the one thing that shines through the entire megawad, as the look of the levels themselves, with the possible exception of the final episode that takes place in Hell, don't really stand out. Similar to other respected megawads by skillsaw, Vanguard makes its point clear from the very first level when it comes to its nature, telling the player that they're going to face quite the opposition later on. It starts easy, but from the first level the player faces tougher enemies such as Revenants, which rings the bell in a similar way AA did with the Cyberdemon on MAP01. If you're not up to the challenge it's best to close the game after the first level. Or so it would be the case in the author's other works, this isn't really true in Vanguard. Despite relying primarily on the player's skill, it is also forgiving for the most part and doesn't require them to know the maps inside-out to get the best out of the experience. The only exception would be the final episode as the Hell maps carry plenty of slaughter inspiration and present a noticeable spike in difficulty. But, Vanguard is fair. It does not pin players against impossible or highly unlikely odds which would kill all the fun, allowing frustration and rage to settle easily.

     

    Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Vanguard is its ideas. Indeed, certain traps and concepts were recycled and later reused in other megawads, most notably Valiant. For example, 13 Angry Arch-Viles was basically re-imagined in Valiant in the form of 14 Angrier Arch-Viles, even the trap with Soulspheres and raising platforms to hide behind was reused. Additionally, the style of the Hell levels along with their orange texturing was also recycled in the hellish portion of Valiant, including various areas. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise, after all Lunatic did the same and pretty much laid the groundwork for the lunar episode of Valiant in addition to including traps and portions that were reused in almost their entirety, it's just intriguing to see ideas getting recycled to such extent.

     

    There are no bad levels and they all manage to be both fun and challenging. My favorite levels are going to be MAP05, MAP07, MAP10 (which is slaughter), and MAP13. Although MAP13 acts as a bonus, "Thanks for Playing" level, it features gameplay. The players find themselves in a ring with a Berserk and need to beat the spawning enemies, including the Romero head at the very end. A rather fun little map that features a completely new set of textures.

     

    All in all, Vanguard manages to lay the foundation for everything that followed with its gameplay. It might not be aesthetically impressive or introduce a bunch of new things, but it doesn't have to, its focused purely on gameplay and does not try to tell any stories or amaze the players with its looks. It's pretty short and can be finished in one sitting, although the final maps can prove to be pretty intense. Well worth the time and deserves its title.

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