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Pointless crap. A small yard, empty except for a futuristic shotgun. No monsters and no exit. See my screenshot and you've seen it all.

Overall, a nice megawad with nice and entertaining maps, nice design and architecture/geometry placing, it completes with the nice futuristic new textures that gives it nice future look and the feel you're on a different game and story

Nice megawad, really tough and challenging, I enjoyed a lot the futuristic textures and architecture on the "episodes" 1 and 5. Though, it was really frustrating the pistol start for episodes 2, 3 and 4, it's impossible to beat those episodes from pistol start. Overal, a nice megawad, with many details and design.

Had a lot of fun with this mapset, which is inspired in PWADs of the Olden Tymes. The visuals are pretty ugly, but the intrincate layouts, often probably freehand drawn, compensate for that. Most maps are linear but have branches, loops and optional areas which make them interesting to explore. Only the first maps were a bit weaker in my opinion. My favourite map was probably MAP09 with the huge height differences and some cool vistas of an underground (retro)futuristic city. Gameplay is mostly easy, with some exceptions like MAP08 but which seldom really reach "Plutonia" difficulty, although hitscanners can drain the often relatively scarce health fastly and there are some surprise traps as well. However, you're often given more than adequate weaponry, like BFGs for some cover-less archviles. The "vedette" of this mapsets are the secret hunts: while some tripwire lift secrets were a bit too difficult to hear for my taste, I'm very fond above all of the tiny ledges and the shootable switches in unconventional locations. Huge LOL to the cute midis, above all map04 and map11, and "Children" sounded almost like the original (did Robert Miles use my soundfont)? Anyway, that mapset inspired me to look into really old maps and mapsets before the Memento Mori era. Deserves its cacoward (4,5/5).

The map is a pleasant, detailed and HUGE structure. On the other hand it is too labyrinthine and the fight are not engaging. Things I hated: two little buttons (too difficult to find) and the mice (they don't blend well in the futuristic/nightmarish setting of Doom). Things I loved: vehicles/aircraft and the wide variety of textures. P.S. For a first map this is absolutely stunning. My compliments...

A pleasant newbie level that suffers from autoalign abuse and abundant symmetry a little bit. There is a dynamic midi included and I like how at times the map suddenly gets more violent than you would expect. The theme is some sort of a futuristic base and it's reasonably nice to look at, with some good color and lighting contrast. I beat it in 6 minutes.

It was very nice and entertaiment to play this megawad, the maps have a very nice design, it has a good effort for creating good quality maps, also visually is very interesting, it has its own set of textures that makes it look very futuristic, also custom sounds and music that fits with the setting and despite being done by various mappers, there is coherence between maps. Only thing I didn't like on this megawad: it gets tiring some levels with so many ambushes, like, we drop you in an closed room with many and powerful monsters, go help yourself... and it becomes really annoying on map24, which turns into a real slaughterfest.

Okay, I get it, it's a megawad mainly for speedrunners who are intricately familiar with the mechanics of the game down to the nitty-gritty. A series of challenges/obstacles that, for the most part, seem to be possible but are generally ludicrous (and sometimes outright laughable, in a good way). This was is not a "pile of junk" as a few have said however it's really, really lacking in a lot of ways. I get that the wad is meant to have a fun-and-not-serious tone despite it's overall extreme difficulty but the texturing looks like the insides of a toilet bowl after a Taco Bell buffet. Seriously, these maps are jealous of how beautiful and futuristic maps like UAC_DEAD look. The DWANGO series looks like fucking Ancient Aliens compared to this. The MIDIs are lighthearted, silly and fun, which adds a layer of appeal for me personally. I loved seeing Patrick Stewart at the intermission too, rofl I had some fun with this IDCLEVing through the whole wad and giving each map a try or 2 before moving on to the next but I seriously doubt I'll ever be back. The same idea with better texturing and overall taking itself just a tiny bit more seriously would warrant a higher rating. Ass-ugly texturing, silly MIDIs and a silly titlepic/interpic are fun in their own right so don't take me the wrong way but a lot of it crossed into "looks like the authors gave 0 fucks" category and I just have to take points away for that. Also, lol wtf is this bullshit is this a terrywad or somethin i mean jeeeezus Overall, this is worth a peek just for some fun but unless you're a highly skilled speedrunner that also doesn't mind looking into a crapchute map after map, this probably doesn't really have much for you.

"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.

"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.

"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.

And there goes Sunlust, and what a ride it was. So first things first, Sunlust is a 32-level megawad consisting of challenging levels. It does not feature new enemies, but comes with a new background screen, an atmospheric, sometimes epic soundtrack, and new textures for most if not all levels making them look absolutely beautiful which adds to the overall experience. it also comes with new (non serious) intermission screens but they're just there without adding anything. The gameplay is similar to that of other megawads such as AV or HR in general, with a number of maps having only little over a hundred or a few hundred enemies and the maps rely on smart placement to offer a challenge, which applies even to some of the slaughter inspired levels, although they mostly rely on the sheer numbers of enemies in various kinds of encounters. Many levels also feature suicide exits but unlike megawads such as Ancient Aliens, Valiant, Scythe and so on which have them every 8 maps or so which usually signalize an upcoming increase in difficulty and sometimes split the megawad in episodes a la Doom 1, they're placed randomly here as a surprise element. You might run into a suicide exit and the upcoming level might feature hundreds of enemies, while others might feature little over a hundred, you never know. And yet the difficulty doesn't change, it's almost like the authors put them there just so that you have to pistol start a map every now and then but not to scare you with a spike in difficulty. It's an interesting experience nonetheless. Many of the later levels have the enemies in plain sight but in a sleeping state, with their backs facing you. This was probably done to offer the players who haven't played the megawad before (those who do a blind playthrough like I did) time to observe the surroundings and come up with a plan of sorts before jumping into the action or getting assaulted by enemies, which is something welcome for me. I've always had the impression that megawads such as Valiant and AA don't really want you to jump into the action without any knowledge of the levels, and in consequence involve quite a bit of trial and error before figuring out an optimal route. This might be a plus for some players, but not for those who just want to enjoy a new megawad from the very first playthrough, and in the case of Sunlust, I'd say it doesn't fall under the trial and error category, so if it's your first time playing it and are at least a decent player you're fine, no serious reason to worry about dying due to not knowing what lies ahead, and traps are easily recognizable most of the time as well. On the subject of difficulty, what I have accidentally discovered while watching a video of MAP30 is that the levels themselves seem to be different on other settings than UV. Considering that UV is targeted at the most skilled players from the description I had chosen to play Sunlust on HMP this time around (I might be insane but not to that degree), and one thing I've noticed is that MAP30 was different on UV. The yellow key is somewhere else, there's more teleporters in a place, and some secret areas seem to work differently, particularly the Cyberdemon room. It would seem that the deadly platform in the middle didn't instantly kill them once activated for some reason. Or maybe I ran into a bug? I don't know, but what's certain is that it did not work for me. Something else that I have noticed is that a number of maps also feature optional areas. I realized this after I finished these maps with only 50-60% kills, so if your target is maxing out everything keep in mind that you'll have to take a detour. The levels are also fair, with the exception of an Arch-Vile room in MAP29. "Go Fuck Yourself" they said. Indeed, good luck avoiding waves of Imps and a few Hell Knights while hiding behind a moving wall with a bunch of Arch-Viles behind it in a small, circular room. Ingenious, I must admit this. As about my favorite maps, well, that's a difficult question considering that the vast majority of levels are gorgeous and provide solid gameplay, but the ones I liked the most are MAP09, MAP10, MAP16, MAP18, MAP19, MAP27, and MAP28. The levels in general explore a variety of themes and locations: Some are "natural", while others are mysterious with a magic atmosphere, cavernous, hellish, surreal, futuristic, and so on. The first few levels also remind me of Requiem. As for the ones I disliked, that's going to be MAP30. The starting area looked pretty interesting, but everything else was just "alright", with a few ugly rooms before the location of the yellow key. This level doesn't feature a typical Icon of Sin boss, it's a slaughter level with almost 2000 enemies. Most certainly not bad, but not fantastic either, yet a fitting conclusion to the journey. And with this I think I've covered pretty much everything. Another solid megawad, well worth the time.

Done with these settings: - Crispy Doom 4.2 - Ultra-Violence. - Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset. Actual pistol start on the bonus maps. - Saves every 10 minutes or so. This is a massive megawad that stands for its name. Indeed, an eternal adventure through some of the most complex maps I've ever played. Quite enjoyable, sometimes, and quite suffering too. The overall visual theme is medieval castles under a beautiful dark blue sky, including a few futuristic and tech maps, plus some nice music and sounds that you'll hear repeating again and again due to the length of the levels. Textures are super neat, particularly the combination of grey and brown bricks with Heretic/Hexen windows, plus water and trees, which are not in the middle of the way!. There are tons of cool details to take a look, such as fire to indicate the presence of archviles, or a TV revealing the path to a hidden switch. The imp also suffered a few transformations, though it's still the same monkey. In addition, with the new textures there are new switches, like a camouflaged X or a wheel, and some shootable stuff like windows and walls with cracks. Eventually, these kind of details can become key for progression, so I strongly suggest not to ignore any sort of visual clue you may find on your way. Back to the progression topic, a couple of things are what make this infamous mapset an utter nightmare for the ones who played it: cryptic puzzles, and/or intricate linearity. After playing several wads from the 90's, it's clear that was the attraction in that era, but nowadays it's hard that those two features call someone's attention, specially the second one. I liked the actual puzzles of this wad, those where you have to connect the clues provided to solve it, like the hidden red switch in map 31, that was quite satisfying. Another plus was the special textures used to indicate something, map 05 has a lot of computer panels to read and understand better what's going on. Unfortunately, across the maps I stumbled upon a lot of stuff that was completely unintuitive in some way or another: unmarked walls that hid keys, unmarked lifts too, switches that opened other switches placed somewhere in the map, obligatory secrets(!). It's not impossible to find out progression when these things are involved, since areas are connected for the gameplay to be pretty straightforward, but it can be painful and distasteful sometimes, specially when you're constantly meant to explore in portions of the maps that would logically be actual secret areas. I reckon I had to use walkthroughs as guides for the later maps, because I was suffering too much with them lol, and this comes from someone who's very open to exploration in Doom. On a different side, the combat was much more palatable, incidentally a positive contrast in the majority of the cases. Despite the massive size of most maps, monster count isn't very high (for a vanilla wad it could be), and they can be found in different ways depending on the authors, for example Couleur's maps are very spacey so monsters will be wandering freely (cacodemons aplenty, woo!), usually repopulating after some exploration is done. Other maps are more trap-based in tight quarters, gimmicky setups too. You'll rarely find ambushes, though infighting is highly possible and even a "scripted" show in some cases. One of the things I really appreciated was that almost every map has berserk pack(s), which allowed me to have another weapon option for many cases. Secret-wise, well I mentioned before the existence of mandatory secrets. Clearly the mappers wanted to encourage exploration before anything else, and that's something I personally find positive, if only many areas weren't marked as secrets, because you're obligated to find the goodies inside them to exit the level. Whatever... there were also your typical optional regular secrets, behind marked walls, megaspheres on top of pillars, plasma weapons, etc. For favourite maps, I'll pick 04 (yay crates mazes), 05, 08, 12, 17, 22 and 23. I'll also include the bonus maps for an extra quote of fun. I didn't like map 13 at all, and map 30 was a nightmare, not fun when you don't know what you're supposed to do 90% of the time. Overall, not to misunderstand my review, the megawad provided an unique experience I'll never forget, confusing maps can be good sometimes. I'd only recommend it for puzzle lovers, or people who are keen to eccentric progression developed in a past era of Doom, seriously don't even think of trying it if you don't have a minimum sense of direction. Also, don't forget to check the bonus maps, Cybersweeper is really cool, and the extras that the authors provided, I didn't but you might find them useful. My rate is 6,5/10.

"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.

And here goes yet another megawad, still done on UV, and well well, what a journey it was. I must say that I expected something completely different than what AA really is, more exactly that it's not very difficult, but I jumped into the deep end and did my best. In fact, I daresay that having played and finished Alien Vendetta right before AA, AA undoubtedly puts it to shame in terms of difficulty, the standards have surely been raised since the days of the former. AV is little more than a walk in the park compared to how challenging AA is. There are some slaughter like levels towards the end, such as MAP18, MAP28, or MAP29, but these aren't the main focus of the megawad. In fact, they were among the easiest levels from my POV due to their nature and style of gameplay involved, after all the most efficient method of finishing MAP28 and MAP29 is just strafing, firing BFG blasts or rockets, avoiding damage, and nothing else. But as I said these were among the easiest levels, because the majority of the maps in AA rely on strategic enemy placements, and skillful and mindful gameplay on the player's end in order to survive, and while all maps do feature a few hundreds of enemies, none of them count on their sheer numbers to overwhelm the player, after all getting cornered by dozens of enemies is neither fun, interesting, or challenging, and the people who worked on AA understood this, although there still are instances when the player does get trapped and a significant number of enemies teleport in to crush him, more or less forcing him to take damage, same for the moments where you have little to no resources left, take an elevator, and surprise, you're assaulted by a few Revenants once you reach the top. Some of the levels also feature a significant amount of Arch-Viles as well, sometimes at the very end of the level, acting as a sort of final, deadly trap. One such example is MAP26 where a bunch of Arch-Viles (like 4) wait for the player in the final (tight) room. Oh, and if this isn't enough a small wave of Hell Knights, Barons, and Revenants will also teleport in after the (unavoidable) trap is activated. There are also some very interesting ideas regarding enemy usage as well. For instance, MAP01 has a Cyberdemon that you have to more or less use as a turret to kill the few waves of enemies who teleport in, and at the end you telefrag him. If wads such as AV were more forgiving, not to mention much more predictable, this one shares none of these traits. It's unpredictable, you never know when and what enemy is going to pop up and in what numbers, and some encounters are simply merciless. All this leads to a very simple conclusion: This megawad is definitely not targeted at average players. I actually fall somewhere around this category, but my point here is that it's very difficult, so if you do decide to take it on and are not a skilled or experienced player, and also doing it blindly like myself, your day will suck, there's no doubt about that. Expect a lot of trial and error, raging, and frustration in a few levels. Moreover, also expect a few forced pistol starts similar to what's seen in Scythe due to suicide exits, which from my own experience weren't needed as I haven't had many resources left. Always be on your guard. There isn't really any difficulty curve in AA, or not using the same traditional formula. By this I mean that it starts a bit difficult and tricky and from the very first levels you're made aware of what you're getting yourself into, and it only becomes more difficult as you progress, however by MAP18 it reaches the maximum difficulty so if you survive or do well in this level, you'll survive what follows, that's basically as far as it goes. Megawads such as AV on the other hand start very slowly and nicely increase the difficulty in steps, with a few occasional spikes. My favorite levels are going to be MAP23 and MAP24. MAP24 is also the most unique level as it's a map where the action takes place in a heavenly dimension, radically different from other maps where the action takes place near or inside ancient ruins on exotic islands, though there are some very futuristic maps present as well. The name "Culture Shock" fits MAP24 like a glove. As for MAP23, there's nothing really special about it to make it stand out of the crowd like MAP24 but simply a personal favorite due to its great size and large open area, it's epic and atmospheric, especially after clearing the outside area and spending a few moments admiring the vastness and beauty of the level and its music. Invigorating, uplifting, peaceful and soothing. There is no final boss fight at the end of the megawad. In fact, MAP29 is the last level where you face anything, MAP30 acting as a sweet thank you for playing from the authors in which you return to the same island where you embarked on the expedition instead, now inhabited by lots of scientists, presumably waiting for the hero. AA also introduces a new and amazing soundtrack along with high quality textures for all its maps, including replacements for some items, they're all beautiful and really add to the overall quality and atmosphere of the megawad. It also comes with a brand new menu, status bar, ENDOOM screen, and teleporters usually take you through a black and purple tunnel with various drawings before reaching the destination. Some enemies such as the Arachnotron and the Mancubus are also retextured or use new sounds. Moreover, there's a few new enemies introduced, a slow red flying sphere with an angry face that fires a lot of homing missiles. They are weaker or just as weak as a Lost Soul, but are especially deadly and also inflict damage upon death, so make sure you keep the distance. Another new enemy introduced is a small black trooper who turns invisible while running and fires the same plasma the Arachnotron uses. Of course, this means they're also very deadly since they are fast and also invisible while moving, on top of instantly locking on the player once spotted sometimes, but have easily recognizable sounds so watch out when you hear them. Luckily, they're also very weak, a fire from the Chaingun or the regular Shotgun kills them. But if you're careless, you think Chaingunners are bad? You'll be surprised by what they can pull off, they can be much, much worse. If there are no Arch-Viles or other dangerous enemies in a small or big wave of enemies that includes a few troopers it's best to kill them first. I'm not very sure how infighting works with those guys, yet I am pretty sure you can't turn them against each other, or I've never witnessed this behavior anyway. They're probably similar to Arch-Viles in this aspect. On the technical side of things there's not much to say, only that PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 (on which I played AA) doesn't seem to be able to run some of the levels at a constant, very high framerate. I myself noticed a decrease in performance in the outside area of MAP18 and MAP23 when a lot was going on, but it was still noticeable even after I silenced the enemies, mostly while looking in the distance from certain points. I suppose it's just the high quality assets and the large size of the levels that push the source port to its limits, but note that these performance issues are very far from something major or serious, just a mild inconvenience, and results will likely vary with each source port. All things considered, this megawad is without a doubt very solid, not to mention challenging. You're free to try your luck but remember, it's not for the faint of heart, especially if you decide to go for it blind like I did, and perhaps even if you watch a walkthrough before. Otherwise, best of luck to anyone who embarks on the journey, it's well worth the time.

Alright, here goes another skillsaw megawad, the first (or previous, if you will) one I played being Ancient Aliens. So, what is there to say? Well, starting with the beginning, Valiant is a megawad that consists of 32 new and challenging levels. The levels carry the player through various locations, starting with space bases in sometimes tropical settings similar to those seen in AA on many occasions, then medieval settings and of course, some hellish dimensions. Gameplay wise, one of the main differences between the two is the difficulty curve. Both megawads are designed in such a way they pose a challenge to the player thanks to intelligent design and enemy placement in strategic positions so that the player is required to think before jumping straight into the battle as well as observe and pay attention to his environment since there's plenty of traps involved, and reaching certain areas every now and then requires the player to be at least decent at platforming. Still, in comparison, one of the key differences is that AA was often very unforgiving. Some enemy encounters and traps were designed in such a way they forced you to take damage to some extent or even die, while Valiant is less cruel with them but not going as far as making them useless, striking a balance, giving you plenty of chances while still very much remaining a threat. AA was also rather challenging from the very beginning, starting hard and only becoming harder further down the road, but I can say Valiant definitely starts easier and the difficulty increases in steps, therefore it can be fully enjoyed by both less skilled players and the more experienced ones. The early levels still offer a challenge, but the megawad keeps its surprises for much later and allows the player to get used to it first. The levels themselves are almost exclusively inspired by Plutonia's gameplay style this time around. AA had plenty of slaughter-esque maps in its second half, whereas Valiant has almost none. Some of the maps do have close to a thousand enemies, but are designed in such a way they're still difficult without relying solely on the sheer numbers of enemies, which is something AA did try to do on a few occasions. Some of them also require a specific gameplay in order to complete. For instance, MAP07 requires the player to avoid attacking the Mancubi and, if necessary, prevent them from dying (infighting can be accidentally triggered, so keep this in mind). You don't "fail" the level if they do, but not survive it anyway. If the Mancubi die loads of Arch-Viles will be unleashed, giving you a very quick and unavoidable death. Just like in AA, forced pistol starting thanks to suicide exits still is a major element that plays a crucial role in the gameplay. Moreover, virtually all levels are designed around the philosophy of pistol starting, although only a select few feature suicide exits in order to force you into it in the next map. Playing Valiant or AA in a saves + continuous style will therefore not bring many benefits. Things get most intense around MAP19. After a suicide exit the player ends up in a different location from the space bases he's been through until that point, and the location is none other than Hell. Or, could be described as such anyway, they feature its typical style and the difficulty the name itself implies, but lack the surreal elements, blood falls, altars, sacrifices, and use new textures such as orange magma rocks and are pretty bright for the most part. Some of them seem to take place in void like dimensions where the sky is pitch black. These levels are also the most difficult and closest to slaughter-esque stuff in the entire megawad, featuring the highest enemy count, with the sole exception of some of the very last maps. Killing everything in the aforementioned MAP19 may, or may not be possible. In my playthrough I simply ran away, my top priority was survival here. They end after MAP24, MAP25 returning the player to space bases set in a different location, no more forests around. They're still fun and challenging, but a decrease in difficulty can be easily noticed. As for new things introduced in Valiant, beside some new high quality map assets it also features a new atmospheric soundtrack with a few epic touches, a new status bar, a new menu background, a different font, new weapons, or rather improved versions of the old, these being: A black, furiously fast Chaingun with the same ammo capacity like the BFG/Plasma Gun, and a black, futuristic pistol which seems to have a greater rate of fire, accuracy and damage output than the vanilla counterpart. They also feature new sounds, the ones used for the Plasma Gun are also present in AA. The megawad also features new enemies, these being a magma Hell Knight who unleashes devastating fire storms, a deadlier Mancubus who fires more rockets and has more health, a mechanical Pinky who is faster, a black Imp who moves and attacks faster, a Cyberdemon inspired Baron of Hell who fires rockets, suicide bombers, and the Arachnotrons now have a chance to leave their mechanical bodies once destroyed and fly. Other enemies such as the Lost Souls only have their appearance altered. The new enemies are used very efficiently in the game, neither underused nor overused, overusing them would be disastrous considering they are simply deadly and tricky to deal with. For instance, the attacks of the magma Hell Knights are very fast and damaging, thus requiring the player to have quick reflexes, while the cybernetic Barons can be deceiving. One would easily be inclined to think the Rocket Launcher is very efficient for dispatching them, well, I'm going to tell you otherwise: Use that weapon only if the circumstances demand it because they're pretty tough and likely aren't affected by splash damage. Use the SSG instead, they require the same amount of shots to kill the Hell Knight does, which is only 3 at close to point blank range. MAP30 introduces an entirely new boss, a giant, red Arch-Vile who is even more dangerous than the regular version primarily because it takes no breaks between attacks, so if you manage to get struck and the blast doesn't move you behind some cover, you're dead, there's no way around it. My favorite maps are among the first this time around, particularly MAP06 which is a small city. I don't find any other level surpassing the quality of this map. Despite this, a few other levels I enjoyed almost as much as MAP06 are MAP25, MAP26, and MAP27 mainly for their atmosphere, but they also play very well, MAP25 being really fun with all the explosive barrels lying around, and all share some slaughter influences here and there. However, some levels have flaws, particularly MAP14, one of the maps with medieval tones. "14 Angrier Arch-Viles" they say, well, this level absolutely wants to hurt you, which is why it has enough resources for just that, but unfortunately offers very little and feels more like a filler map. I think this covers everything, with the final question being: Is it better than AA? And my answer is simple: No, it isn't. It's a fantastic megawad which brings plenty of new ideas to the table, maybe more than AA did (after all there's no level with gameplay similar to MAP07 in AA for example), there's no doubt about this, but at the end of the day noticeably more effort was put in the other one (that's not to say Valiant is "a lazy effort", but it doesn't quite come close to AA) and it was overall a more interesting and especially intense experience. But if you're looking for megawads made by skillsaw, look no further and start here, you'll also get a solid idea about his mapping style and what to expect from him later by playing this first. It also carries far fewer slaughter influences which, depending on your preference, is either going to be a plus or not, and it's considerably easier than AA is which means much less trial and error and frustration will be involved. Yet, despite their similarities there's plenty of stuff that creates contrast between the two, each work of art standing on its own feet, so if you're familiar with AA but not with Valiant do not assume it's "more of the same but with changes", it offers much more.

Get to working on that futuristic hentai sequel!