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Sean Birkel and Ben Gates know how to make John Romero style tech bases and they aren't afraid to spruce it up with their sometimes questionable design choices. This is a rock solid E1 replacement as of today, but in 1995, it must've been amazing given how it was listed as the number one best wad of 1995. The subtle E1 references sprinkled across the maps are cool and memorable. My favorite level is: E1M4: ''Triton Lunar Base''. The map has a straightforward and an interconnected design to it. I't also reveals the first cacodemons and lost souls of the wad deep in blood, which I always thought was pretty badass. Fava Beans has always been one of my favorites!

A neat lunar-themed minisode from skillsaw, with a lot of nice space/rocketry visual touches. The soundtrack fits very well to the theme. Difficulty is fairly consistent throughout (save for the easier first level), enough going on to keep you satisfied but significantly easier than Valiant or Ancient Aliens. The mapset's custom monsters are introduced very well, even if they are quite simple to kill. The final map was the highlight for me, a very fun slaughter-lite map. Overall, four stars, enjoyable stuff, though I do think skillsaw's meatier more recent works are an improvement over this.

Interesting piece of doom history and an alright 1994 map. Mayan temple is a small 1994 map, another one which attempts to create a realistic setting. It's made by Paul Turnbull, who would go on to make Map23: Lunar Mining Project for TNT: Evilution. Mayan Temple comes with a surprising amount of custom textures, which are pretty interesting. Turnbull's approach to aid his realistic setting was to use photographs of real life locations and props to make textures. If you remember TNT's Map23, you'll notice the same thing, with cave textures which are photographs of actual caves. Those are originally from here. Similarly, other textures are converted photographs of Mayan Murals, which are quite similar to the egyptian murals in TNT Map31. Some of the new textures look fine, but other simply do not fit well with Doom's original ones. The visual are alright, certainly unique for the time, but they aren't as good as the best of 1994, like Galaxia. Layout is pretty simple, but thankfully much more open than most maps of the time. There are no boring mazes, which is welcome and the architecture is good for it's time. Gameplay is very basic, but the map is short so it doesn't hinder it very much. Overall, Mayan Temple has some interesting ideas and lot of effort obviously went in, especially considering all the new textures, but it's simply too short and the gameplay too basic to be comparable to the best maps from 1994. Still, worth a look. Also, it's in E1M1 slot which means At Doom's Gate is the music, which doesn't really fit. My advice is idmus18.

"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.

"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).

"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.

Done with these settings: - GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 11. - Hurt Me Plenty. - Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset. - Saves every 10 minutes or so. Top quality megawad here. Lots of incredible visuals and details, each episode has a different theme, designed with really nice custom textures. You get mountain bases, dark castles, hellish environments, huge underground caves, lunar bases, and a few secret surprises. And there's a fun adventure factor in every episode, the author not only put work into fast-paced gameplay but also exploratory settings. For example, almost all of the maps in further episodes are open spaces with platforming and walkways descending into damaging liquids, and lots of optional caves to find goodies. In addition, tight scenarios are dark and spooky, creating a real sense of suspense on what's coming. Music is really good, some of the tracks are also in Ancient Aliens. Favourite tracks are 06, 11, 22 and 27 So, like I said before, the maps are all fast-paced. Right from the beginning, you are demanded to move and find appropriate tools to get started. Nothing is overwhelming, but the usage of monsters is really well thought. Skillsaw seems to have a fetish for snipers in the form of "dead simple" enemies, because they are mostly used to harass you from different distances if you're not fast. Apart from that, he mixed incidental combat with multiple traps. From a viles+crushers maze, to a mancubus you have to guard, to a ghost town (yes, stealth monsters), or even a secret full filled with explosive zombies you'll probably panic and laugh out loud like I did. The new monsters have their ups and downs. From the get-go, imps and demons suffered a few transformations. Upgrade pinkies are fine, creepy, bite quicker. You don't want to use the chainsaw against them, which is my only dislike because I'm fond of that weapon. On the other side, the new imps are annoying... nothing else to say. Lost souls look cool. Then, spiders have red eyes, and the smaller ones can spawn arachnorbs (mostly a cinematic effect, only problematic when telefragging the spiders), which are my favourite enemies of the set, nasty but fragile, and funny. Kamikaze troopers are like explosive balloons of meat, hilarious enemies, I simply could not get mad at them for killing me. Pyro Knights are my third favourite, I recall one instance where a cyberdemon hit a pack and they scratched him to death in a matter of seconds. Super Mancubi don't add something special, they look cool though. Cybruisers are a fair replacement for the cyber/baron in the way they were used, and also look good, but just that, and poor SMMs were deprived of their boss privileges (immunity to splash damage and loud sounds). Diabolist is a great boss, although I feel like there should have been a texture showing the monster, like in Doom there's an IoS texture. As for weapons, well the pistol may shoot faster but it still aims like crap at any range. I did used it a lot more than the regular pistol. The minigun is awesome, and the idea that chaingunners don't drop them is good, makes it a higher valuable weapon. Secret wise, there is a wide variety. Hidden switches, a passage behind a waterfall, a teleport on liquid floors, those are the most common. I like that some of them provide an intense fight before you get your gifts. There's a secret easter egg I found via IDDT (of course, behind a generic wall), it has a really cool effect with the music and if you have played other Skillsaw's mapsets, you'll recognize it. Favourite maps: 06, 07, 10, 18, 22, 24, 27, 29. The rest are nice too. Overall, yeah it's obvious that this mapset has a high value for speedrunning, but if you're a slow motion player like me, you'll still love this, just don't forget to always charge your minigun first! My rate is 9/10.

Really awesome map set. No surprise as it's skillsaw here! I loved the lunar theme and the visuals of each map were executed in a very professional way. The gameplay was definite tough, but I was able to clear each map on UV with after a few tries (thought I beat MAP05 of my first try!). Without a doubt a must-see and must-play map set! -Mek

Level design is excellent! Reminded me a bit of the second Duke Nukem 3D episode "Lunar Apocalpyse". However, major difference is difficulty. Your adrenaline level will be constantly high in this action-filled mini episode. Especially the last map is a massive slaughter which gets progressively worse. Maybe it could have been a bit easier especially on the lower difficulty levels, but in general, you'll have lots of fun playing this. The only question is: Where are the other 27 maps? 5/5 - NightFright