The DWmegawad Club plays: Abscission

[Cutman 999]

MAP30 - “Abscission” (Pistol started, 6 attempts saveless, 96% Kills, 67% Items, 100% Secrets)

 

I don't know if I'm the only one, but playing in woof 12.0.2.0 I've found a weird audio bug of the imp's and shotgunner's fire sounds playing at random after crossing certain linedefs, the thing I know for certain that isn't a sourceport bug, is that I kept hitting randomly an Icon of Sin actor (or modified wolf ss as you can see in doom builder) that was invisible, he caused me to face rocket myself in one of my attempts.

 

This ending had potential but was ultimately troubled by poor enemy placement and an unnecessary beginning section that you can cut from the map and will still be the same. Like I'm mentioning, that opening part where you collect the weapons and fight mid to low tiers in corridors, doesn't have really much to build up in an epic way how the main section plays out, since the combat and number of enemies is so minimal it contrasts completely with the other half, doesn't build off absolutely anything, doesn't have a progression gimmick to justify itself, is just like that beginning section in plutonia's map30 if it made you waste your time.

 

The slaughter area of the map... It's kind of unapproachable if you don't know what you are actually doing, since most of actually useful resources are hidden, and those 300 cells you have can quickly disappear from the blockage of demons coming your way. I would like this section better if it wasn't for the sheer amount of archviles and PA's in the map, and how for the second, you need to wait in a higher area to kill at least, 7 of them. It's way overkill, and in an open space.

 

5/10

 

Final Thoughts

 

Most mixed I was with a wad since sigil 2. Abscission has many strengths that definitively makes unique and fun most of its stages and snax definitely knows what she is doing. The only megawad I can think of other than the original doom and doom 2 to make low tiers threatening in some capacity or other, is this one, respecting the hordes and enemy counts that made the original game distinctive from its antecessor. The obvious atmosphere and presentation are also really good and gives the wad its identity, a dark twist to how doom maps are supposed to look like, while also adding modern detailing that from the perspective that this is actually a vanilla compatible wad. Not to count the ost, which despite not being for my linking, it actually adds a very sinister atmosphere that the wad doesn't lack in any way.

 

Gameplay however, just like the original doom 2, is extremely hit or miss, mostly because it tries to get into the experimental gameplay style doom 2 had, but with execution that makes me rather play the original maps instead, in some instances. The combat suffers from this more or less the same, with many maps not sharing the same focus and tight design as others and relying on the gimmicky aspects to heavy lift it on some occasions, while in others, it derails by simply using enemies in annoying ways that makes the attempt to engage with them, a chore, like when the combat tries to have damaging floors or hazards.

 

Best part of the megawad are the first 10 maps, then the middle section is not as bad as og doom 2 but has some pitfalls here and there, the 10 final maps are very noticeable that they were made out of the classic "solo megawad burnup", and I don't blame it, making a solo megawad is really hard, and the fact snax did it is respectable by itself, but is just that the experience definitively suffers from it, making it's worse aspects shine a lot more.

 

I'll still recommend this wad for someone trying to enter into the custom wad world, if you finished thy flesh consumed or tnt without much issue, this mapset can build some confidence before engaging with plutonia directly, but if you are like me and you despise some of the design tropes snax relies on, is not for you.

[Snaxalotl]

Map 26: "Igneus"

Part of this map was made while I was experiencing burnout, then I came back to finish the rest of the wad once I had the right mindset and energy for it. As a result maps 26-30 are all the ones I had the most passion and motivation to make, I loved every part of making them and felt like they turned out pretty well. Map26 doesn't do anything strange or different aside from the unconventional look but the gameplay is still solid, not one of the best maps in the wad but fully serviceable.

Map 27: "Maligned Annex"

Easily the most detailed level in the wad and the smaller spaces allow for such an intricate look without hitting the visplane limit. This one took a long time to make, especially with how much time went into getting it in a vanilla compatible state. The only thing I think I might have changed was compromising visual fidelity a bit more in exchange for more space but other than that I really enjoyed the freedom of difficulty in making monster encounters with how late in the wad this is. Typically I rely on more incidental combat and randomness that can end up being perceived as random thoughtless placement but here I fully lean into the more arena oriented experience. This and map10 "Industrial Crypt" are tied for the best two maps in the wad for me.

Map 28 "Thresholds Beyond"

Darkness is often used as an obstacle or point of difficulty in abscission but this is the most extreme use of it throughout the whole megawad. The player is cast in a massive dark hellish cavern and must use the illuminated walls to navigate and target enemies, and the natural cavernous layout helps create a difficult to navigate environment until the initial waves of monsters are cleared. The environment does look random because for the most part it is, aside from the layout of progression which is handmade I try to make natural areas actually feel like they aren't perfectly made for the player to navigate like an artificial base or fortress might have. And the free roaming monsters plus incidental combat really help add to the unpredictability of the area the player has found themself inside.

Map 29 "Epiclesis"

I really didn't want to make an Icon of Sin map for map30 like so many other megawads do so I figured I'd throw a curveball and do it for map29 instead. As usual the Icon of Sin doesn't reach his full potential as the various crushers throughout the level help limit the spawn rate along with solving another problem spawners have in any slot other than 30... Since Monsters can't telefrag each other in any other slot the crushers are essential to prevent monsters from getting stuck inside one another and can even mitigate the ammo starvation before he is activated. At least this time the player has an opportunity to take revenge by caving in the entire level once reaching the exit.

 

The visuals are less intricate here than some of the other levels and that's for a few reasons. Mainly the vanilla limitations are much more pronounced when making such a massive level like this one, and the other being the aesthetic I wanted to create. We are deep underground in a deeply hell infused cavern and series of destroyed techbases, it really helps add to the chaotic and destroyed feeling and can mask the lost ability to detail in such large areas (I didn't want all of abscission to be small environments so a compromise had to be made.)

Map 30 "Abscission"

After collapsing and partially destroying the massive columns of flesh deep beneath the earth we still live to see all the destruction we caused here. The whole environment is built around the actions taken in map29 and we continue on the finish the job by climbing inside the tower of flesh we attempted to break earlier. Before the main course we take our last journey through a relatively intact techbase area to warm up before the final encounter, this part would probably become a chore if playing saveless and having to repeat it on every death but I don't create maps surrounding that play style so I don't mind.

 

The final showdown is the closest thing to slaughter the entire wad has along with a greater sense of triumph and hope than most of the other maps have which is greatly aided by the midi, a fitting end for the wad. The environment is chaotic and the monster placement is much more concentrated but there was a lot of thought going into where they were placed. I'm not a fan of blocks of a single enemy placed in various spots and instead go for a more organic feel which helps add chaos through infighting, plus it would make sense the forces of hell appear more disjointed right after their home is collapsed deep into the earth. This final level is my favorite moment in the wad and I still greatly enjoy the two maps tied together as the ending level. The dehacked shenanigans reserved exclusively for map30 really threw most players off and added greatly to the whole experience, seeing playtesters turn around in confusion repeatedly thinking they were getting shot at never got old.

 

Finally completing this map and megawad felt great at the time and had there been more slots to fill I would still have been eager to keep going, this last stretch of maps are the most fun I've ever had with mapping and I'm glad I didn't succumb to the burnout that mappers often feel when making such a large project on their own. I'm not sure if I'll make another megawad again but if I do abscission was essential in helping me learn my niche with dark oppressive and atmospheric maps, plus any future endeavors won't be tied to any iwad inspirations as Doom I and II are the only wads I have enough nostalgia for to justify such a thing.

This thread was very insightful and a joy to read throughout the month, and I'd like to thank you all for the massive amount of feedback that is available to learn from here :>

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 30: Abscission

Crispy Doom, UV, pistol-start

 

Not too much to say here. There does seem to be a Romero head here but no monster spawner. Things seem relatively sedate until the red key door at least, and yes, DON'T pick up the megasphere at the beginning. Otherwise, routing correctly is an absolute necessity here. Most likely, it'll be hard to avoid the chambers on the sides which contains valuable supplies.

 

We still need a couple of keys to get inside the core and crush it. Idk, the poetry in the end screen is nice. Although it doesn't make much sense because it sounds like everyone is still dead.

 

I don't mind slaughter at the end necessarily but this was rather difficult to approach on first go-around.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

Think of a gloomy, foreboding, and occasionally pitiless industrial character and that describes Abscission quite well. The ENDOOM basically hits on the mix of themes Doom has always been all about, between flesh and metal, between the mortal plane and the cold calculus of a force whose purpose is to check the foolishness and hubris of humanity. You're still Doomguy and this is still very much Doom but the ripping and tearing is more emotionally detached and perhaps will leave a stain on the protagonist that would last the rest of their life if they weren't implied to be trapped forever at least. I'd say more but my stomach has chosen this instant to mess with my head. heh

 

 

 

 

[Wolfgun Shootner]

MAP21: Of Flesh & Fission
Again no armor, but you can travel back to the central health supply. At least at first, later on you need to survive several fights, the Hell Knight / Chaingunner ambush can get tricky. I like the abstract architecture here. In my opinion abstract is hard to do right and this map does a fine job. 

 

MAP22: Mausoleum
What's up with the floating hell knight and how do I get the rocket launcher? It is not a secret but it remained a secret for me. I'm not a huge fan of close quarter combat with chaingunners I have to tell you. But thanks for the plasma, I did not have to punch out the baron. I like the concept of the secrets with the light switch, what I liked less is that the path is still slime. Why does it not hurt?

 

MAP23: Hazard Pay
Fun with barrels huh?! The beginning can be fun indeed when you time it right. When not you can be dead very quickly. I like the placement of the arachnotrons here, each time you kill one, another one shoots at you, have fun dodging. The spider mama at the end is just more work, at that time there's plenty of ammo so no problems here. Why is the megasphere a secret? This area is always accessible? Among all the hellscape suddenly there's an office with cubicles where the monster stash my ammo.. Hell Office Space..

[Blast_Brothers]

MAP27: Maligned Annex

 

Quote

 

This is the unfriendliest the combat has been so far. Nowhere to move and no guns suited to the fight at hand. Cryptic, confrontational, and another solid map.

 

MAP28: Thresholds Beyond

MAP29: Epiclesis

MAP30: Abscission

 

Quote

 

Grouping these all together because it's getting late and I'm tired.

 

Hell has completely subsumed Earth, and the twisted remains of humanity only serve to mock your pyrrhic efforts to stop the bleeding. What could possibly be left that's worth saving? These last few maps lose a bit of their atmosphere to the sheer density of monsters, but the result is a truly cinematic ass-kicking, and a worthy sendoff to the WAD.

 

Final thoughts

 

Abscission has an atmosphere all its own. Often it feels like it's using the player's expectation for Doom gameplay against the player, sowing confusion and uncertainty by subeverting PWAD dogma, like "maps should be fully explorable" or "inescapable pits are bad" or "The Icon is limited to MAP30". It feels uniquely uninterested in allowing the player to parse the world as a deterministic play space defined by rules and conventions, forcing you to retreat to a more reactive, primal style of play. This feeling is only enhanced by the narrative, which adds a diegetic element to the feeling of corruption and disfiguration. All the while it reimplements IWAD map concepts in a way that serves this intention. I was consistently looking forward to the next map to see what chaos Snaxalotl would manage to wring out of an old classic. Truly an example of ludo-narrative resonance.

 

It's challenging, inventive, and very cohesive. If I had to raise a complaint, it would be that it inherits Doom II's problems regarding the length of its endgame. Most of the story beats and big tonal shifts end up being frontloaded, so the last 10 or so maps look and play differently but don't have the same feeling of momentum from map to map that the first 2/3rds do. Honestly, though, that complaint only comes through in hindsight - when I was actually playing it, I had nothing but nice things to say. Guess I have to go play Stickney now.

 

Hardest map: MAP29: Epiclesis

Least essential map [front half]: MAP05: Sludge Conduit

Least essential map [back half]: MAP25: Exsanguination

Most emblematic map: MAP15: Collapse

Best map [1-7]: MAP02: Water Purifier

Best map [8-15]: MAP10: Industrial Crypt

Best map [16-22]: MAP19: Phosphene

Best map [23-30]: MAP24: Abyssal Refuge

[RICHIE B]

Absolutely digged Map 30 and is my favourite of the whole set.

 

With respect to the Icon of Shit, this Map 30 was way better.

Now playing the original Doom II because of this megawad.

 

A very interesting take on Doom. I've always been one to say it's never been all Rip & Tear for me, and I always appreciated maps like E1M5 in original Doom, because after the loud music and running and gunning previously, it felt like Doom is also serious with everything destroyed and darkness everywhere and a need to survive. So a megawad that is absolutely it's own thing with it's own levels but referencing Doom II was something very different and a cool take.

 

Loved anything with huge massive architecture like Map 11 and Map 32.

 

One thing I can say though, is that after 3 playthroughs I kinda missed some of the more fun and running and gunning stuff more than I thought, so have also started replaying Valiant again. Doom was always a mix of the two for me, but Abscission is a great experience of the survival horror and dread that was so missing from the recent official games. And done very well too. I didn't realise MtPain had given this a shoutout!

 

Abscission has made me a better player and Doom II is so SO easy now compared to this.

[Roofi]

ABSCISSION

 

Abscission is far from being the first attempt to create a terrifying atmosphere for Doom, but its vanilla compatibility and the style of its author give it a unique stature. Just by playing the first few maps, I knew this wad was going to hook me, and it hasn't failed. What also makes Abscission so disturbing is that it builds on existing maps, and seeing them further corrupted further immerses us in the dark side.

 

Abscission also stands out for being a “one-man megawad”, and this aspect alone commands respect, as it can be difficult to maintain a high level of creativity and energy across 32 maps. However, Abscission does contain a certain amount of fillers that have been counterbalanced by some incredible discoveries. Maps 11 and 32 are among the best maps I've ever played, but I could also mention map 10, map 20 and 27, which were particularly outstanding. The quality remained stable throughout, and I felt virtually no repetitiveness, which is the usual syndrome of megawads made by a single mapper.

 

I must say that Snaxalotl is now establised master of horrific art and black magic. I don't know if I can find a mapper more capable of creating a more errie atmosphere while keeping to basic resources. Between the megastructures, ornaments, light variations and deep, mysterious skies, Abscission was a much more immersive adventure than I had expected. The level of detail on some of the maps was so breathtaking I found it hard to believe that everything was running on the original EXE.

 

But all this is further coordinated by the dedicated soundtrack, which although deliberately gloomy and atmospheric, elicits a range of sensations that can vary
between mysticism, heroism (map 10) or even hope (e.g. map 14). Abscission is not designed to just frighten, but to immerse us in the darkness of a fallen world. Throughout, I felt like a lonely character in search of an uncertain goal. This made the experience much more interesting, as I didn't feel like a superhero with superhuman abilities, but more like a human being trying to survive. To sum up Abscission as just a "spooky wad" would not be to do it justice.

 

This megawad is definitely one of the more accessible ones, but the adventure turns out to be much tougher and more eccentric than what the ID software team has been able to offer. The key concepts of Doom 2 are taken up in a more sadistic, perverse and devious way.  Doom's potential for abstract layouts greatly enhances the horrific aspect of this wad. Abscission wouldn't be the same if exploration were confined to doors and corridors. Abscission features perilous paths, narrow corridors, makeshift arenas or cavernous passages , offering a certain variety that tends to be sorely lacking in other horror-oriented wads/games such as Doom 64. Asa result, some maps become quite hostile in blind mode as long you progress, but Abscission remains accessible to a fairly novice audience. This wad also has the advantage of appealing to vanilla fanatics like myself, as well as to enthusiasts of more modern ports. Abscission is a blend of tradition and modernity, making it suitable for a broad audience.

 

Abscission was one of the best discoveries I've made recently, and I'm tempted to give it an overall grade of A , corresponding to 17/20 on my numerical rating scale. A few fillers and a few favorites, but above all a masterfully crafted ambience under my fetish compatibility.

 

Overall, here are the grades I gave :

 

10 A (four A- , four A, two A+)

17 B (two B- , eleven B, four B+)

5 C (two C, three C+)

 

Here is my top 5 stand-out maps :

 

1) Map 11 “Sarcophagus” (19/20): Surely the showcase of this wad. It's brief but really sums up all the brilliance of abscission, with its devious battle involving a cyberdemon, its mysterious, despair-inducing music and, above all, its immense setting of strange, flickering concrete pillars. it was the most eerie and hypnotising moment has to offer. One of the most disturbing maps I've ever visited, and I repeat, all vanilla-compatible.

 

2) Map 32 “Bed of Creation” (19/20): Once you've figured out which path to take, replayability is practically nil, but never has the deliberate use of a glitch allowed the character to be so immersed in darkness. The fact of becoming a sort of perpetually disturbed phantom only accentuates the sense of despair that makes Abscission so captivating.

 

3) Map 10 “Industrial Crypt” (18/20): Industrial Crypt is a favorite, as it illustrates all the mysticism of Abscission coupled with a slight tone of heroism, as if I were the last mortal to visit a castle dedicated to the undead. This way of transforming old industrial sites or other modern man-made constructions into palaces and temples to be conquered is one of the most brilliant aspects of Abscission, best illustrated in this map with its ample scenery and castle-like structures.

 

4) Map 20 “Of Flesh And Fission” (18/20) : For me, this was the most sickening map of this wad. Joining map 11, finding myself at the foot of these strange concrete towers gave me the impression of being buried in a huge grave with no hope of getting out. The filth makes this level particularly disgusting, in the best sense of the word of course.

 

5) Map 27 “Maligned Annex” (17/20): A little masterpiece in terms of detailing, I had the impression throughout of replaying Sunder but now compatible with the vanilla format. This library is also full of mysteries....

 

Thanks all for reading.

 

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

Abscission - Snaxolotl:

An eeire mapset with a particular setting. Most of it is just Standard Doom II gameplay with increased difficulty, but with added spookyness. The idea Snaxolotl had in mind was to create a more suspenseful atmosphere, combining Doom II gameplay with some aesthetic/gameplay cameos from the original maps in Doom II that occupied the same slot in the main game, for example, catwalking in MAP24, tricky rooms in MAP08, or overall aesthetic similarities in some levels that straight out made a tribute to original maps, like the first five maps or MAP14.

The main thing about Abscission is both its atmosphere, full of dark corridors and rooms, and its combination with the music choice, rather than using classic heavy metal stuff for the soundtrack, Snaxolotl uses a more atmospheric soundtrack, in a Quake way. Full of string instruments, unnerving percussion and noisy ambient sounds in the background. This is what makes Abscission worthwhile. The atmosphere is possibly the best ever created with vanilla Doom II, no added textures, no additional stuff, just pure Doom II creativity. And that's where most of its praise comes from. Not gonna lie, I did not feel as frightened by playing Doom since I was playing the 32x port of the first game. Atmosphere here is so good you will enjoy playing this at night, with the lights turned off. Talking about lights turned off. One complain about its atmosphere, is the use and abuse of dim lights in rooms, most of the time, specially closer to the end of the experience, you will see nothing, you will roam around trying to search for limited ammo to mow down enemies in pure darkness. Most of your deaths will come this way. This does hurt gameplay a bit, specially when Snaxolotl forgets to contrast illuminated walls with the rest of the room/corridor, like she did in MAP28, for example.

Another thing to talk about are the maps themselves. Not going to lie here, it was really difficult do rate maps as most of them where at the same level, making the experience a little bit monotonous for me. None of them were bad, but none of them were great or memorable. You will probably forget how the first 10 maps looked like by the end of the experience. There are not so many ups and downs in quality, but I think this is in a bad way. Sometimes, bad maps are needed for the really good maps to stand out a bit more. Luckly, my choices for the best/worst maps are easy, still.

Best maps:

MAP27 - The best map in terms of layout and looks, without resigning the atmospheric touches of the megawad, it was a really difficult, but fun to play map, with several ways to tackle it.
MAP10 - In a similar vein to MAP27, this one was big, and full of stuff or places to go, just like the original Refueling Base.
MAP24 - The Chasm was really improved here, by not making it as annoying as it was, and also improving finding stuff a lot. Maybe the excesive use of backtracking hurted it a bit, but still a really enjoyable piece.

Worst maps:

MAP22 - Short, cramped, overly gimmicky and annoying to navigate, it didn't interest me that much, felt like a placeholder map.
MAP07 - Bad Dead Simple clone, annoying to play as every enemy is placed in a way you don't have that much cover other than just running and gunning. It feels kind off awkward to provoke infighting aswell, as spaces are not as wide as you would expect.
MAP31 -  Bad secret map, a filler one if you ask me. Ghost monsters are present in other maps in Abscission (intended or not), but there are not any more fun to fight here. You can finish the map by running in circles for some time as it has a time limit, but if you hurry you can get to MAP32, nothing too interesting here. 

Score: 76/100 (Good)

[Magnusblitz]

MAP30: Abscission
86% kills, 1/1 "secret"

 

Wasn't familiar with the term, but "abscission" can either refer to organisms shedding parts (plants dropping leaves/seeds, or lizards dropping their tails to avoid being caught) or more specifically the final separation of two cells during cell division. Given the storyline, I think the latter interpretation was intended (since we end up separating Earth and Hell) but I liked to think the former can work as well, in the sense of the beast shedding bits as part of its death throes. And that's what we end up doing here, after collapsing the beast at the end of MAP29, we approach and get up nice and close to finish it off for good.

 

This one has a bit of a soft buildup before the red key door opens to the substantive part of the map, a giant cavern with two keys to collect so we can finally reach the end. There's a LOT of monster meat here, usually these types of areas have plenty of room for the player to run around in, but I found myself often getting blocked off just by the sheer amount of monsters here (though it's possible I dallied too much at the red key door). Once you get past the blockage though, the areas with the keys are much less filled, so as long as you keep moving the glut of monsters won't be too much of an issue. There's a vile or two to pick off, and a couple cyberdemons to watch out for, but most of the stuff is easily handled or can be ignored. Admittedly, this is NOT an Icon map, so you can take your time and whittle everything down. There's plenty of ammo (almost an embarrassment by this WAD's standards), but health is still somewhat limited - there's one soulsphere and one blue armor in the main areas, one cavern tucked away with some medkits, and that's basically it until close to the end where there's a few more goodies, if I remember correctly.

 

The other special feature that many have noticed is the special invisible 'monster' that (falsely) makes shotgun and fireball noises, and I think also makes Icon screams when it is damaged/dies. It's an interesting feature, but I'm not sure if it quite works, as demonstrated by how many people here thought it was some sort of trigger error. I also didn't appreciate blowing myself up with a rocket on an invisible thing. It does help create some paranoia, but might be a bit too repetitive - maybe it should be a sort of thing that fires off once then dies, which would still help create the paranoia effect but without happening so often it makes the player think there's something wrong with the game. It's a good experiment, I just think there's a lot of room for iterating.

 

Like MAP28, this one was kinda meh for me. Ammo was thankfully not at all a problem with this one, but I think I've had my fill of pitch-black spaces. And Pain Elementals. Dear lord are these wide-open, high-ceiling areas bad for them, especially combined with the darkness (I'd frequently find myself knowing there was a PE in front of my face but not sure where to aim because it was too dark). Though, I might be making it more difficult that intended because my port has lost soul limit turned off, which I just looked up is only 21 lost souls! I thought it was like 200 or something so figured it never mattered much balance-wise. Still learning new things about this old-ass game. Anyways, my own pet peeves aside, I think this does work quite well as an end map, especially paired with MAP29.

 

Overall Thoughts

 

I'm usually impressed by any one-person megawad, as 32 levels is a lot to make (heck, I can barely play the damn things in a month these days), but this one went above and beyond. I really appreciate the clear vision here, with some consistent design bits and aims (reinterpretations of the Doom II IWAD themes, gloomy atmosphere with gameplay focusing on smaller-sized maps and creating pressure/danger from situations rather than just pure monster amount). To that end, I think it succeeded admirably. I'm not a personal fan of some of the choices, but those are just my own personal peeves. For example, like @RICHIE B, I do appreciate some more "ominous" Doom 1 now and then, I'm just not sure I like it over a whole 32 map level set. Sometimes it was done well, other times it had trouble striking a nice balance, such as maps where you're stuck with the single shotgun. Same for the music; early on especially it seemed to not match the gameplay (which early was not nearly as oppressive) but as the set went on it started to fit more. And while some maps felt too much like "IWAD map remade from memory", other maps really took the theme and ran off and did their own thing. Learning that everything here fits into vanilla constraints makes it that much more impressive, especially since there are some really good visuals here.

 

Favorite Maps: 6, 10, 11, 26, 27

 

Also, much thanks to @Snaxalotl, not only for making this thing, but taking the time to come in here and give developer insight level by level. Really makes the DWMC a lot more fun to get a direct look into the author's mind.

[cannonball]

MAP30 - “Abscission”

 

Another map that boils down mostly to one big messy fight. The map is fine and is a continuation of the previous maps identity. On the whole it is fine and forgoes the tradition of placing an Icon of Sin in this map slot. It is probably for the best and acts well to cement this feeling of dread and sorrow that whilst you are victorious, there is no happy ending for you. 

Of the arena styled maps, I preferred this to Map20, but prefered map28. 

 

Overall

 

This darker and more sinister retread of the IWad is an experience that I suspect I needed to be in a better place for (Mostly playing quietly whilst watching TV with my wife isn't the best way to enjoy this wad). That said the wad is solidly built and has a lot of character embedded into it. This makes this stand out compared to similar release like Nostalgia. In terms of competency, there are really any bad maps, a few mediocre ones but on the whole most of the maps were solidly designed. The visuals were really good, especially given it is Vanilla compatible. My only real complaint is that the gameplay didn't resonate with me that much, coupled with struggling to embrace the ambiance meant that my overall view was that this wad could be loved by some, but I think I sit in the like group.

Overall score - 3.5/5

Favourite map - Map10

Honourable mentions - Map11, 23 and 29. Map32 is worth a mention purely for the unique premise.

[RICHIE B]

By the way can I vote for...?

 

+++Elementalism: Phase One

 

Think everything else I've played has been covered except Voyager EP. Sad to have missed the Eviternity II month. I'd have had loads to say on that.

[Pseudonaut]

Map23:
Gimmicky and challenging, but not unpleasant. As has been pointed out, the barrels are mostly a danger to the player, not especially useful for dealing with monsters, which is fine. I like that there are so many moving parts after the first door, like those bridges that move up and down, potentially catching enemies or blocking the player at an inconvenient time; there's a lot for the player to keep track of here.

 

Map24:
I didn't finish the FDA, gave up and recorded a max demo later. There's seemingly no armor (I think I saw a green one somewhere, but didn't know how to reach it), scarce ammo/health, narrow walkways, etc. Foreknowledge helps a lot here. I appreciate it for being so uncompromising, but I wouldn't call it a favorite.

 

Map25:
Hmm, I wonder how tough that revenant at the center of the courtyard could have been. It's clear that the archvile is supposed to resurrect this revenant repeatedly, but after the first (maybe second?) kill, the poor rev was resurrected stuck on the edge of his platform and unable to fire a shot. I can only speculate about how hard this map would have been otherwise.

 

Map26:
Another roaming cyber, though it's confined to only a portion of the map this time. The chaingunners near the RL were the most lethal part of the level in my experience.

 

Map27:
Like map24, I gave up on the FDA after a few deaths, recorded max later. The fights near the plasma gun and SSG were more difficult than the final fight, which never managed to kill me. The map is fine, but I don't love it as much as many other posters, and I'm struggling to articulate why.

 

Map28:
I actually warped to this one back in May when I was deciding what to vote for, so no FDA. The AVJ is pretty annoying just because of all the resurrectable shit that gets in the way, so I killed most of it away from where I would lead out the archvile. Somehow, I collected the secret without tagging it and without noticing, so my max demo isn't max. I'm not doing it again. Anyway, what I remember from playing the map months ago is how inadequate the available equipment seemed at the start, until I found the BFG after a few deaths. The map is a lot easier when you know how early and how easily you can get the BFG.

 

Map29:
The section with three walkways is practically lifted from The Living End, a real "deja-vu" moment. The rest of the map is fine, features an uncomfortable cyberdemon encounter.

 

Map30:
Begins with a short prelude before the main event. I'm not sure how to describe the environment, but it's huge, filled with tough monsters, and the resulting fight is chaotic. The confusing random sounds are a nice touch, really unique, and the confusion it caused me should be obvious in the demos.

 

Overall:
Abscission is one of the most technically sophisticated vanilla-compatible wads I've seen. I was glad to see vanilla glitches used on purpose (e.g. ghost monsters, intercepts overflow), often to remarkable effect. Even without those, there's cool shit like map17, where you can never be free from that roaming cyberdemon. Highly recommended to fans of modern vanilla wads. Difficulty is nothing unreasonable, pretty much what you should expect from a recent megawad.

 

Favorites (in no particular order):
map13
map32
map17
map21
Honorable mentions:
Map11 (possibly the best visuals in the wad)
Map31 (cool gimmicks, but annoying to replay due to the empty elevator ride at the start)

 

ab23-30FDAs-pseudonaut.zip