whirledtsar

The first 4 levels are very fun romps with a good difficulty curve, never taking too long to get into the action. The author favors large spaces with lots of monsters attacking from multiple directions. Although there are some areas that are designed so the best option is just to snipe from a corner, which I consider a negative. The texturing is clean & consistent, and there's a lot of nice directional lighting. It also gets bonus credit for doing something Ive never seen before - torches that SUBTRACT light, creating untraditional shadows.

However, the finale map is a very jolting shift to slaughter gameplay. You're placed in a relatively small arena and have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off (no BFG) as high-tier monsters teleport in constantly from every direction. I gave up when some kind of Archvile teleported in too. Im not a slaughter fan anyways but it seems like it wouldnt even be well-designed for fans of that gameplay, as the arena is very simplistic and the enemy spawns seem chaotic/random .

So overall I would give 5 stars for the first 4 maps and subtract a star for the final map. 

A uniquely-balanced level. You don't get any weapons besides the starting Wand, but you're continually fed Tomes Of Power for it (as well as Morph Ovums and Time Bombs). This at least prevents the level from being total tedium, but it's an odd choice not to just include more weapons. You will spend most of the level rushing to avoid the Tome running out before finding the next one, so it goes by fairly fast. Not that it's a particularly large or complex map to begin with.

Some of the architecture is very impressive but most of the fights are just massive hordes that you can largely run past. Including the final encounter of 5 maulotaurs which you can easily skip. And you'll want to run past them since you don't get much in the way of good firepower or artifacts. Meh.

Lengthy, pretty, and fun map - five stars. The visuals are great, using a unique texture set with a mixed gothic/hellish/tech style (also reminds me of Plutonia brickwork). The architecture & detailing are quite appealing and also very consistent throughout (and don't interfere with movement like some 00's maps). It requires ZDoom, but you wouldn't guess it from the level design - it's all quite standard stuff besides the particle effects on teleporters. I notice a comment complaining about stealth monsters, but i dont remember seeing any such thing. The only custom monster is a reskinned SS Nazi, and they're quite rare anyways. All monsters do have new sound effects though, from PS1 Doom. There's over 500 enemies, but it never feels like a grind or a slog because you get plenty of powerful weapons & ammo for them. And the enemies are spread out over a fairly long level (the tally screen told me 40 minutes, but it's probably double that including time lost due to death). The level design is good, although some areas are a bit overly symmetrical. There are multiple times when enemies mass spawn in, but you're given a preview of who will spawn and where, so you can plan ahead, which is interesting. Overall the difficulty is medium and reasonably balanced, although there was one trap near the very end I felt was unfair (trial & error style) - you'll probably figure out what if you play it.

Pretty solid map, especially for a first level. The dark gothic style is nicely realized. Oddly it actually gets more noob-feeling as it goes along, with worse detailing and boring corridors in the latter third of the map. The gameplay is quite easy on UV, but it's still a fun little distraction.

Very consistent megawad, never failing to deliver interesting level design and staying balanced throughout. I see many reviews calling the level design "puzzley", but it's really nothing like the absurdly obscure progression of, say, Eternal Doom. It's just creative & fun. Some of the levels are just downright weird, but in a good way. For example, in the final map I was running all around trying to figure out what the gimmick was to kill the Icon Of Sin, when suddenly it just died from some random monster hitting it, ending the level. Fancy modern wads would never allow such a thing to occur. The main issue with this wad is that the custom content is a mixed bag. The textures are very quality and fit in nicely in Doom (I noticed a few that went on to be used in the frequently-used CC4 texture pack). The new weapon is extremely ugly (just a sprite rip of a poorly-textured 3D model) but it functions okay, like a combination rocket launcher & BFG. The Revenant replacements are interesting, flying around & firing extremely slow homing missiles. The pinky replacement on the other hand is very lame, ruining the holy 1 SSG = 1 dead pinky equation. The other custom monsters I could take or leave. 

Neat little tech demo of every ZDoom feature under the sun, absolutely terrible gameplay. There are too many issues to list, but the oddest is that teleporters pretty much always face you the exact opposite of the way you're intended to go. Literally why? Who would ever think of doing things like that?

And extremely grating music as well.

Pretty much the perfect Heretic map. Nothing about it is incredibly grandiose, it's just good simple fun. The gameplay is a bit tough, but totally fair. There's enough ammo & breathing room that it feels satisfying to clear out each room. The architecture & lighting are in the classic E1 style, but a bit better detailed, with some nice directional shadows. The level design is simple (just one key required), but manages to be non-linear in a rewarding fashion. Even the secrets stood out as nice. Really, its only crime is being too short.

What's done is good. The gameplay can get pretty tough, but it never feels unfair. Overall the level & hub design is good. Pretty much the whole time I was wondering just where to go next, eventually finding it each time. There are also some neat, creative little puzzles (particularly the memory test with the Ice Golems) here & there. In this way it does a good job replicating the style of the original game. The biggest issue is that a lot of areas are way too cramped. Not only physically small, but crammed full of blocking decorations that impede your movement. The other issue is its unfinished nature. You'll end up at doors that say "access denied" and eventually have nothing left to do, and the lack of resolution is a bad feeling. But I would still recommend what's there for Hexen fans to check out.

Tough Hexen adventure with great architecture/texturing. It doesn't follow the standard hub formula, with a mostly linear level progression. A variety of environments are explored, from a standard fantasy castle to a foggy swamp/canyon to a massive fortress inside in an icy cavern. The wad uses a selection of custom textures (made by the author himself I believe) that look great and fit in with the stock texture set very well, allowing for some very beautiful architecture with liberal use of arches. Each level is quite massive and elaborate (excluding the final map), with a high level of non-linearity, interconnectedness, and optional exploration. The first level will probably turn many people off due to the huge amount of enemies one must face with only the first weapon. It is challenging, but it's doable with the wise usage of items (and the wise choice of not playing as the Cleric). It's probably the hardest level, as the difficulty decreases significantly once you get your 2nd weapon in the 2nd map. The ice fortress segment is split into 3 levels, and requires some backtracking between them. The first part, Lower Tartarous, was my least favorite level (and the main reason why I didn't rate this 5 stars), as there were several annoyances like frustrating platforming, sequence-breaking, and confusing level design that made it drag on for much longer than it should've. The final level, as I mentioned, is much shorter than the others, and as such feels rushed/unfinished. It's not a bad level, but it certainly would've been nice if this was finished. Overall it's a great wad, and what's here is mostly very polished, so I would recommend it to Hexen fans.

Large and detailed industrial/tech facility. The detail is well-done and thankfully doesn't get in the way of gameplay at all. The difficulty is pretty low / moderate, with the tension rising & falling periodically, which is quite nice. The level design hinges upon a central hub that the player must return to every time they find a key, using it to open up new areas, all in a very interconnected fashion. I see one review claiming the map is focused on "puzzles", but I found the progression completely straight-forward, and there was an abundance of good action.

Don't mistake this 3 star rating for "average", because this wad absolutely is not. It's more of a "conflicted" rating. First off, the aesthetics / atmosphere of this map are fantastic. It's a single huge map set in a snowy Russian city. It uses many custom textures (including graffiti and posters) to help give the map a semi-realistic style. And the choice of music fits perfectly - very melancholy. The problem arises in the gameplay. The most noticeable issue is that all the monsters are silent. I thought this was an engine problem at first, but nope, this wad replaces all the monsters' wake-up and roaming sound effects with blank files. This is really annoying. It just makes the map more hard than it should be. And it exacerbates the other issue I had - constant teleporting monsters. Almost every fight on this map involves monsters teleporting in, typically in front and behind you. One can imagine how these two things combined lead to fights that feel unfair and trial & error. But still, I would recommend playing this wad. The level design is good, and as I said the atmosphere is great. But perhaps remove the blank sound files so you can enjoy it like a more normal wad.

Also, I noticed some commenters complaining about lag. This is true for GZDoom, but in PrBoom+/GLBoom+ lag is not an issue at all.

Ten huge and detailed maps with challenging, often slaughter-tier gameplay. The gameplay is very chaotic, having you typically surrounded on all sides by enemies in various positions, requiring you to keep on the move and find cover where you can. Most of the levels have a very cool ruined, post-industrial aesthetic and have you exploring decaying cities and facilities. In two of the levels you travel to different time periods - a European mansion and ancient Greece. I found these two to not only be very ugly, but have unfun gameplay as well (Europe for being stingy with ammo; Greece for being awkward to move in). Thankfully the rest of the maps both look and play great.

Good wad overall, but honestly the first 1/3rd was so dull it almost made me give up on it. Corridor after corridor of shooting imp after imp or grunt after grunt, with an occasional baron to really spice things up. Thankfully the level design gets a lot more creative and fun as it goes on. The finale is appropriately grand, and I like how you retrace your steps back to the very beginning of the first level.

An odd wad in which you play a Hexen class while fighting Heretic monsters in Heretic-textured levels. Surprisingly, it works pretty well, and is an interesting change of pace from either game. It retains Hexen's hub design, although it's not at all puzzley, just a "go and collect 3 items and return to the hub" quest. It's very combat-focused (there's almost 400 enemies in the final level), but unlike some Heretic maps, it doesn't end up feeling like a slog. Perhaps Hexen's weapons are just more powerful than Corvus's. The level design is very good, besides a couple of sore spots (the cramped areas of the lava level, the metal maze in the final level). The boss, D'Sparil, is much easier to kill than he was in Heretic; he probably should've been modded to have a better chance against Hexen's warriors.

Excellent wad for Hexen fans. It stays true to the style/spirit of the original game while introducing new ideas. The level / hub design is interesting, the combat is well-balanced, texturing is well-done and well-aligned, and there are plenty of interesting scripted events. The wings are used in a very smart way - you're able reach many previously unreachable items and paths. The only thing I disliked was the "boss" of the final level. I won't spoil it, but it's quite disappointing.

Unfortunately there is a bug in The Castle Of Fluft - the flame mask switch is not set to "repeatable", so if you try to use it without the prerequisite mask, you won't be able to use it again when you do. If you encounter this bug, type "puke 10" to activate the script the mask normally would.

Cool level. Very nice architecture & detailing, making good use of Heretic's limited stock resourced. The level design is very interconnected and looping, with areas gradually opening up. It's overly sparse on ammo in the beginning, but gets better as it goes on. In general the gameplay is good, although it could've been more varied/exciting (you face mostly low-tier enemies and only get the crossbow & gauntlets).

The level design isn't bad. Pretty standard Hexen-style stuff. Some of the visuals / settings are pretty cool. Although texture misalignment could have been a LOT better, considering it's for ZDoom. The new crossbow weapon was pretty cool, but the new melee weapon was useless. Also the author should've incorporated their ammo count into the HUD (you only see it when you switch to them). Most most of the new monsters were annoying (especially the poisonous golems with their poison clouds). The final boss battle really sucked, the arena was awkward to move in and his attacks / patterns were overly confusing. He constantly sends out homing projectiles that don't actually harm you, cluttering the battlefield and making it difficult to tell what's going on. I think this wad would've been solid if it just stuck to classic Hexen monsters.

Unlike the previous Urotsuki maps, I agree with the popular opinion. Not fun. For the first half there's too many enemies and not enough ammo. Plus the environment is way overdetailed (including the ground), resulting in awkward movement making the situation even more frustrating. Later you get enough ammo & weapons, but it's mostly used on tedious Cyberdemon fighting.

Very cool map, and a big improvement on the first Urotsuki map. The gameplay is more creative, with a lot more variation in weapons, enemies, & combat scenarios. The visuals are more creative as well, covering a city, a military base, a cathedral, and more - all while maintaining a coherent style. The music choice is also much improved - an atmospheric track that reminds me of Chasm The Rift. The only thing I found odd was the level exit - when you reach the exit you also open the way to a big but completely optional area. Perhaps I just happened to find a shortcut or something.

Cool map with a unique flesh-tech-hell-city theme. The level design is pretty simple and enjoyable, and the gameplay isn't bad at all. You have to fight a few mid-tier monsters with the single-barrel, but oh well, that's life sometimes. The biggest problem is the music choice (unless you enjoy annoying dubstep).

Does it have a lot of details and some creative Boom scripting? Absolutely. Is it actually fun to play? Absolutely not.

What a shame. The atmosphere and visuals of this wad are very well-done and are perfect for me, a big fan of the game Blood. But unfortunately the actual gameplay is a huge letdown. It's just not fun. You're given so little ammo that even if you begin with perfect aim, you'll undoubtedly run out and be faced with hitscan cultists and zero ammo. So you need to use the pitchfork on the poisonous enemies in the beginning (unfun) to have a chance against the cultists later on. This sums up the entirety of the mod's progression. You need to take EXACTLY the right path and make EXACTLY the right moves or you will be fucked. Which is really stupid since the city is so non-linear. It's punishing players for exploring. Just started exploring the city and feel like checking out this warehouse? Nope, here's two mini-bosses you couldn't possibly defeat at this point! How fun. And also due to this non-linearity, one is liable to get lost, trying to find the way to progress or remember exactly where to backtrack to.

Some would say "it's supposed to be ammo-starved & punishing like Blood". Well really only the first few levels of Blood are ammo-starved, for most of the game you are given a reasonable amount of ammunition. Which is good, because running past enemies like a headless chicken or making painstaking effort to melee them is not fun.

Fantastic wad. The level design is very 90s - people today would scoff at the abundance of mazes & corridors. But to me it's still fun despite not being fancy & curvy, with very large and labyrinthine (yet simple & rewarding to navigate) layouts with plenty of creativity. Most of the maps have original music, which is all great and fittingly Egypt-esque. Some of the weapons have been reskinned, and look quite nice. The weapon sound replacements are a bit hit & miss (for example the single-barrel sound is oddly... crispy), but not all bad. Almost all of the enemies have been reskinned as well, and some have been altered with Dehacked. The sprites look very cool, especially the spooky Pinky replacement. Unfortunately there is a ZDoom bug where if you gib a soldier, they will spurt out ammo endlessly. Also there is a loud sound effect used in a couple of levels that will annoyingly repeat infinitely (I had to replace the relevant sound with a blank file for my sanity). Whether that's the wad's fault or ZDoom's, I don't know. Overall a great TC, especially for its age - I'd consider it a forgotten classic.

Excellent wad. The visuals of course are very unique & colorful. And they're not just purple - there's so many vibrant colors. Purple, red, yellow, and green pulse and glow in contrast to the dark black metal architecture. But beyond the visuals, the level design is great. It's very interconnected and full of neat surprises, and progression is intuitive and rewarding. It reskins the classic Doom weapons, and all the sprites look great and are aesthetically cohesive. It also includes an MP3 synthwave soundtrack, which is very fitting to the neon colors and fast-paced gameplay, although I disliked that one of the tracks had vocals.