Danimetal
November 5th, 2005, 06:00 AM
Hello and welcome to the first issue ever of the NewDoom Wad Reviews. First of it all, please, let me talk a bit about this project: it´s has been a while and a lot of work since the idea first arose in some thread on this forums. I have been lucky to find some people willing to collaborate and take the work and we´ve also been extremely lucky to find support on these forums. Below and forth is the result of our work.
Before reading on, please, notice that this issue is a work in progress: there are lots of things that we´d like to change, but it will take some time to get used to the format and be able to actually work with it... Comment on this topic in the appropriate thread :).
All you see in this thread is the summaries of the reviews. Click on the name of each wad to go to the actual review and see everything that they offer. Also notice that we´re using some free host for our work so we would be most grateful if we found some FTP space to store it. Anyone willing?.
Finally, did you like the work?. Do you think you could do it too?. Read through the "Recruiting" part on this forums and give it a try: you could be on the next issue :).
* * * * *
In case you just want to go through the whole reviews go here (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Top-001). Otherwise you have summaries for each review below.
Jailbreak! (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html?20055#Jailbreak) by Dave Yergeau. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 5:
From the very beginning to the very end this is a shooting gallery wad. Medium sized, loads of monsters and the only goal to go forward through empty, bare and unpleasant looking rooms that are revealed without almost transitions... You will be getting to some nice points as you progress and you may have fun if you like to keep the "fire" key pressed but once finished this is a forgettable wad.
Thor (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html?20055#Thor) by Crhis Pollina. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 5:
If you look for an old wad still playable today, with not strambotic texture choosing (some exceptions, of course) and you´re not used to difficult maps, you could try this. Be warned of it´s short lenght and small variety but be also prepared to forgive it since this map is finished in a breeze and when finished, you realize it was fun and worth the 11kb downloaded.
Imprisioned (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Imprisoned) by Steve Wilson. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 7.
This is an old wad for the good and for the bad: if you consider the blocky look and lack of detail a flaw you will find several flaws more but well, this is an map where nice ideas shine and it has decent gameplay, nice balance of difficulties and a good challenge for a single player game if you are not easily frustrated. If you fit that profile of player and you´re looking for an old wad to play, you could choose this one. Otherwise you could at least give it a try and judge yourself.
Continue (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Continue) by Ondrej ? Laba. Reviewed by Fatal. Score 4.
Overall this map certainly wasn't bad. It was totally playable, didn't have any (at least noticeable) bugs, and was most of the time fun to play, with lots of different battle areas. While the lack of any kind of detail may hurt many people's eyes, those who just want to relax with a simple map of good basic doom will find this map worth playing. Also if you're looking for clever linedef actions or stuff like that, you should turn your head away.
TimJay (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Timjay) by Tim J. Ash (TIMinator) and Jason Kirby. Reviewed by Fatal. Score 7.
This set of DM maps are really great and fun to play. Since they're so varied, everyone can find their favourite within the wad. Graphical quality is doing its job well, and I don't have much to complain about it, as I'm not really a detail lover, as long as the maps not totally bare, and these aren't. Everyone who likes deathmatch, will like this wad, and those who haven't really played deathmatch, this is a nice start. Highly recommended.
Stvdm.zip (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#4Corners) by Steve Wilson. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 4.
This wad is not actually a level itself but a compilation of four different maps that don´t actually share a theme or have any conducting thread... They can work if you set small time or frag limits and if you liked the experience of Map03 you may come back to this very specific gameplay terms (ranging from "One on one" to "Madness BFG arena"). Try to host a small game on them with open minded players and it may work for a while but be warned, have some other wads to play when this gets old.
Castle of Phobos (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Castle_of_Phobos) by David G. Shrock and Sean Fugate. Reviewed by Vermil.
This is an old wad from Dec 94 (says the read me), but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of effort put into the majority of the levels. The way I played this episode (i.e. On Ultra Violence and missing near all of the secrets) proved quite enjoyable for me. But I believe the vast majority of Doomer’s won’t find anything special here.
Alsdoom (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Alsdoom) by Al Howe Reviewed by Fatal. Score 6.
This wad is definitely worth playing. It should be possible for rookies, and a nice challenge to more advanced players. The levels work well and hold to their themes rather well. While the visuals aren't superb most of the times, they aren't terrible. This is a nice basic wad, suitable for the whole family!
The all singing, all dancing God-disco road show (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#The_all_singing_all_dancing_God-disco) by Dan Sumption. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 4.
This is a rather long and chaotic wad that, in the end, does not bring all the fun that it´s expected and starts to get boring when no real challenge is in sight. Not even the final battles bring a feeling of hardness to this map and, probably, you won´t coming back to play it looking for secrets once you´ve finished it... At least, I wouldn´t do it. Anyway, if you´re new to Doom and you´re looking for a wad to test your skills it may suit you. If not, you won´t probably find anything interesting.
Prison10 (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Prison10)by Dr Fred441. Reviewed by CrashOverRide. Score 4.5.
Ah yes, the traditional(albeit slightly bland in this case) prison/holding area level. One of the cornerstones of a veteran doomer's favorite map collection......but is this one worth it? Two words: Not much. Yes, it is short and sweet in some cases, but sorely lacking several other areas. It's also too short, but given that it's part of an incomplete series, I was slightly willing to let that fact slide. Keep on reading if you want to know more!.
Before reading on, please, notice that this issue is a work in progress: there are lots of things that we´d like to change, but it will take some time to get used to the format and be able to actually work with it... Comment on this topic in the appropriate thread :).
All you see in this thread is the summaries of the reviews. Click on the name of each wad to go to the actual review and see everything that they offer. Also notice that we´re using some free host for our work so we would be most grateful if we found some FTP space to store it. Anyone willing?.
Finally, did you like the work?. Do you think you could do it too?. Read through the "Recruiting" part on this forums and give it a try: you could be on the next issue :).
* * * * *
In case you just want to go through the whole reviews go here (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Top-001). Otherwise you have summaries for each review below.
Jailbreak! (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html?20055#Jailbreak) by Dave Yergeau. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 5:
From the very beginning to the very end this is a shooting gallery wad. Medium sized, loads of monsters and the only goal to go forward through empty, bare and unpleasant looking rooms that are revealed without almost transitions... You will be getting to some nice points as you progress and you may have fun if you like to keep the "fire" key pressed but once finished this is a forgettable wad.
Thor (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html?20055#Thor) by Crhis Pollina. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 5:
If you look for an old wad still playable today, with not strambotic texture choosing (some exceptions, of course) and you´re not used to difficult maps, you could try this. Be warned of it´s short lenght and small variety but be also prepared to forgive it since this map is finished in a breeze and when finished, you realize it was fun and worth the 11kb downloaded.
Imprisioned (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Imprisoned) by Steve Wilson. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 7.
This is an old wad for the good and for the bad: if you consider the blocky look and lack of detail a flaw you will find several flaws more but well, this is an map where nice ideas shine and it has decent gameplay, nice balance of difficulties and a good challenge for a single player game if you are not easily frustrated. If you fit that profile of player and you´re looking for an old wad to play, you could choose this one. Otherwise you could at least give it a try and judge yourself.
Continue (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Continue) by Ondrej ? Laba. Reviewed by Fatal. Score 4.
Overall this map certainly wasn't bad. It was totally playable, didn't have any (at least noticeable) bugs, and was most of the time fun to play, with lots of different battle areas. While the lack of any kind of detail may hurt many people's eyes, those who just want to relax with a simple map of good basic doom will find this map worth playing. Also if you're looking for clever linedef actions or stuff like that, you should turn your head away.
TimJay (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Timjay) by Tim J. Ash (TIMinator) and Jason Kirby. Reviewed by Fatal. Score 7.
This set of DM maps are really great and fun to play. Since they're so varied, everyone can find their favourite within the wad. Graphical quality is doing its job well, and I don't have much to complain about it, as I'm not really a detail lover, as long as the maps not totally bare, and these aren't. Everyone who likes deathmatch, will like this wad, and those who haven't really played deathmatch, this is a nice start. Highly recommended.
Stvdm.zip (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#4Corners) by Steve Wilson. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 4.
This wad is not actually a level itself but a compilation of four different maps that don´t actually share a theme or have any conducting thread... They can work if you set small time or frag limits and if you liked the experience of Map03 you may come back to this very specific gameplay terms (ranging from "One on one" to "Madness BFG arena"). Try to host a small game on them with open minded players and it may work for a while but be warned, have some other wads to play when this gets old.
Castle of Phobos (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Castle_of_Phobos) by David G. Shrock and Sean Fugate. Reviewed by Vermil.
This is an old wad from Dec 94 (says the read me), but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of effort put into the majority of the levels. The way I played this episode (i.e. On Ultra Violence and missing near all of the secrets) proved quite enjoyable for me. But I believe the vast majority of Doomer’s won’t find anything special here.
Alsdoom (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Alsdoom) by Al Howe Reviewed by Fatal. Score 6.
This wad is definitely worth playing. It should be possible for rookies, and a nice challenge to more advanced players. The levels work well and hold to their themes rather well. While the visuals aren't superb most of the times, they aren't terrible. This is a nice basic wad, suitable for the whole family!
The all singing, all dancing God-disco road show (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#The_all_singing_all_dancing_God-disco) by Dan Sumption. Reviewed by Danimetal. Score 4.
This is a rather long and chaotic wad that, in the end, does not bring all the fun that it´s expected and starts to get boring when no real challenge is in sight. Not even the final battles bring a feeling of hardness to this map and, probably, you won´t coming back to play it looking for secrets once you´ve finished it... At least, I wouldn´t do it. Anyway, if you´re new to Doom and you´re looking for a wad to test your skills it may suit you. If not, you won´t probably find anything interesting.
Prison10 (http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/testing/ndr-001.html#Prison10)by Dr Fred441. Reviewed by CrashOverRide. Score 4.5.
Ah yes, the traditional(albeit slightly bland in this case) prison/holding area level. One of the cornerstones of a veteran doomer's favorite map collection......but is this one worth it? Two words: Not much. Yes, it is short and sweet in some cases, but sorely lacking several other areas. It's also too short, but given that it's part of an incomplete series, I was slightly willing to let that fact slide. Keep on reading if you want to know more!.