The /newstuff Chronicles #225

Hahaha, I surprised quite a few people last time I did reviews now didn't I? But that was in the past! This is the present! No wait, these reviews were written before you even see them, so they're in the past. Whatever. Now this week is a rarity. Not one 1994 or 1995 wad was brought in before me. Not one! Out of nine! However that's not to say there's wads of similar...well, 'fun'. We also have quite a few advanced source port wads too, and even one where, as .96b of Skulltag was released only days ago, there's a Skulltag CTF wad! Coincidence? Keep reading! :p

• Divine Intervention - Fiend
  EDGE - Weapons Replacement - 583k
  Well now, here we got a very fun weapons replacement. Based off magical weapons, like the holy hand grenade. Although that's one of the more comical ones, you got others like the plague staff and voodoo doll. I must say the most fun to play with was the voodoo doll. You also get an assortment of doom replacements, like the SSG, pistol, and a Chainsaw variant. Sorry for no screenshots, as Edge simply doesn't wish to work on taking them for some extremely odd reason. This weapon mod would be suited for a sort of heretic/medieval map set, so try it out. This is fun to play with and worthy of your download.
  
  
• Bay of Flames - Kyle "MasterOfPuppets" Casteel
  Zdoom - SP - 253k -
  Well here is a true gem! A great balance in difficulty, style, although not much detail there are some superb effects (mainly lighting) used in this. You start out on a rocky ridge with a teleporter ahead of you, funnily enough, this one ends the level, and you can just walk across and access it right? INCORRECT. As soon as you walk towards it the stone falls, and you're left with a shotgun. It proceeds onward from there. This map is extremely fun, as there's a good amount of ammo to last you through, although I wasn't left with enough to kill off every single monster, that's preferable for gameplay. There's also some health in the corners of the level so if you're low be sure to check the corners. A somewhat short map, but a good one. Worthy of a download. One other thing I noticed was that with jump on, you could avoid the entire level altogether and jump to the level-ending teleporter.
  
  
• Lunar Outpost - hobomaster22
  Legacy - DM - 186k -
  Here's a major eye candy DM level, and the only one of the week for that matter, so it wins by default. Be warned however that this review probably won't be complete, as i'm not the best at reviewing DM wads. And on top of that it's for Legacy so it'd be near impossible to actually playtest it properly. Oh well, here goes anyway.
  
  This level starts you out in what seems to be a base orbiting a red-ish planet, presumably Mars. The lighting is pretty dark which can be good for potential campers but not if the players turn up the gamma, although it's not needed to navigate the level. There are easily accessible invisibility powerups, which would in essence make the player near impossible to see in the dark lighting) and advanced guns like the Plasma which is in plain sight. I can imagine some good 1on1 matches going on in this map, but can't be too sure about more than that, as it does seem kind of small concerning the layout. Bottom line: Detail is great, Weapon placement is good, powerup placement is questionable. Try it out with a couple friends.
  
  
• Odium - SS-Bowen
  doom2.exe - SP - 5,197k -
  Ok. The only megawad this week and in the entirety of it, I did not have much fun. Well, unless you're into very short levels that is. These levels basically break down the gameplay in doom to just opening a couple doors, grab the key and run to the exit. Although this is simply how it is in Doom itself, it really shows here. Most doors don't even have color posts or whatnot by them to indicate what key opens them IF any. Weak. Oh but this is only the start of my complaints.
  
  In the first 3 or so levels, and even on from there at various points, you are subject to levels comprised of blocks with wolfenstein textures. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but why start out a 32 map megawad with several wolfenstein levels? Well then again why not? But whatever. Next is that there are poor sprite replacements, such as a monster from the sirens TC replacing the Imp, but when you kill it the Imp death sprites show. Also, the Demons are replaced by an Aliens TC rip, and the Lost souls are replaced by the ghoulish things that emit from your staff in Hexen. Every level here is short on ammo and health, so you get clobbered quickly by the endless leagues of SS Nazis used in the levels. Not only that, even simple walls are used as exit switches, so like....What was going through the author's mind? Oh well it's obvious the author doesn't have much experience. Try playing it, the levels go by quick, and it might be a greater challenge for many of you.
  
  
• Plz CTF - Infinite Ammunition
  Skulltag - CTF - 1,666k -
  The very first Skulltag CTF wad submitted under the brand new release of .96b, and it's very nice. Infinite Ammunition, or more well known as in the Skulltag community as Plz_Die_Kthx, has created a very wondrous map complete with strategically place runes and other items, which I admit I didn't find until I played a game with a few players myself, like the Rocket Launcher hidden near the corner of the outside part of the level. The gameplay is really intense at times and this is one map that really stresses teamwork due to the runes and guns that are somewhat easy to reach using the jump pads, as anyone can just sit there, snipe a flag carrier and return the flag. A very nice CTF map and a must download.
  
  
• Selfish5 - Paul Corfiatis
  Doom2 - SP - 139k -
  This map25 replacement starts off real nice and only gets better as you move through the first few rooms. You fight off a few monsters and that could deceive you into thinking this will ramp up the difficulty slowly. Not true, as soon as you pick up the SSG in about the 3rd room, get ready. This is no level to be trifled with, with revenants and hell knights among others abound to show up and try to ruin your life, literally. Although the map replacement number does seem a bit odd, the tough gameplay and great detail in the level offset that pretty well. The detail isn't as dramatic as most, which use every single spare unit to put in a new light or such, but this one uses just enough eye candy while maintaining the gameplay well. A great SP level and a worthy download.
  
  
• Styx - Pete_The_Padre
  Doom - SP - 86k -
  Hmm, Pete says this 5 map replacement for e1m1-e1m5 is his first wad. And you might know what that usually means. E1M1 starts you out in a dark room, well, almost all of the entire level is dark! I could barely see any monsters on the other side of the room until they fired. After getting to the exit, and going into E1M2, i realized most of this set has to be dark in one way or another, however there was an outside area, as described in the screenshot above. This level set is in no way tough, however even though the layout is simple and all the rooms are essentially blocks, I got confused on where exactly to go as there were hardly any signs of where to go next. It's not bad for a person's first few levels, hopefully we'll see more and hopefully improved work from this author in the future.
  
  
• The Biovite Project v2.0 - Milian
  Zdoom - SP - 2,397k -
  Well, this wad set pretty much sums it all up in 2 words. The first is 'Half'. The second is 'Life'. Ok well not exactly, but this certainly reminded me of it. You start in a small mountain pass and come up on a laboratory compound, where you are greeted unfriendly by a ton of fully suited guard guys with guns, of whom also have those square like de-contamination face plate things. But the variance of enemies is incredible in this. You get to fight giant fish, pterodactyls (I think?) and a stone baron, among others. What was really fun to see is a well, giant insect. That I'll leave for you to discover. This wad is questionable in terms of playability, but I got through it ok. Try it out!
  
  
• Ultimate CTF (final version) - IZM, Danny, T.U.D, Meph, 999Cop and Exl
  Zdaemon - CTF - 4,469k
  An update of the Ultimate CTF reviewed back in #219. This is supposedly the final version and it contains new maps and bugfixes from the last update.