FATAL
June 18th, 2007, 11:07 AM
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pc/games/idgames/levels/doom/g-i/goddisco.zip
RATING: 4.
137kb.
The all singing, all dancing God-disco road show.
by Dan Sumption.
September 1994.
Doom.exe, Single player, Cooperative and DM, 2 maps.
Reviewer: Danimetal.
REVIEW:
Before starting to play a wad I always try to read through the corresponding txt file. This wad was something special since it came with more than one text file filled up with amusing, annoying and delirious "information" of all sorts... Anyway, it´s not neccesary that you read through it but I thought it was worth mentioning that the author spent a lot of time writing it (the content being worth or not it´s up to you).
Now with the wad itself: to be honest, after reading through the file I expected much more from this wad. O.k, it features two new texures (apparently it had some more in an earlier version), it has fun part and some linedef action aside from the classic doors, some nice architecture like curved stairs, a decent lenght and a two-map structure that seems and looks almost logic when playing, but maybe it´s not enough. At least it´s not enough for me to tear it up apart from the other wads I´ve played. It may be something with me but I found this wad monotonous.
Right when starting, the player is trapped in a pit with some weak monsters in the upper level. It doesn´t take long to find a way out from the pit and be prompted with the first choose from two opposite pathways. They lead to different places in the map that the player will have to visit in order to complete the tasks (get keys) but they had a significant impact on the gameplay: depending on the path you choose you will find the biggest flaw on this map early in the map or later. What´s this biggest flaw?. A maze. To be exact, a 64x64 grid wolfensteinish maze with annoying wall textures and monsters roaming around that proves to be quite boring although neccesary to play the map. Of course, that´s only one of the ways. You can be lead to a nice tech looking room, a room with some sort of bridges that reminds a lot to the original Doom architecture, or some sort of random-changing themes developed in small detail. All them are connected to, at least, two of the other areas and all are set up sorrounding the start zone. There´s no particular order to visit the areas although you may find some closing doors and grates behind you that can leave no other way out than forward... Still, the whole map doesn´t seem like it had a plan to it... Eventually you will reach an outside area that leads to the second level, where you will be able to play "Over" the previous map in a battle that was easy and dissapointing for me.
The visuals aren´t stricking as well: the new texture looks quite disgusting and the sky has the funny .gif dots all over it. There aren´t great or original structures (maybe there are two blocks in the tech room that look nice enough) and the detail is almost nonexistant so you will be recognising each area from its theme. Lighting work is also scarce and, when done, it really makes things worse (check the outer area, from example)... Anyway and to be faithful to my opinion on this wad, the south parts of it look better than the northern ones (wich doesn´t mean that the southern areas look great). Also, can someone explain me the meaning of 23 and 32 in the north areas???. All I noticed was walls opening up when I crossed through them so they must have some gameplay meaning.
Speaking of that, gameplay-wise this map was nothing special. Most battles were really easy (even in the maze) and ammunition and health are found in extreme amounts (I never had to use the BFG I found) so you can beat this on your first try on about 20 minutes if you don´t get lost. In case you do, check your automap and try to visit any place you haven´t since you may find a required key there (extremely annoying in the maze area)... The lack of interesting fights and puzzles make for a boring play and, while there are some highlights (interesting fights in the "Bridge" area or nice linedef actions that may trap you inside some places), they don´t last long enough to make any of the two levels memorable. Definitely, this is not a map I would play again in single player and I don´t think that it suits multiplayer well: the corridors are narrow for coop and as long as there exists a maze as the one here, Deathmatch is non fun. Don´t get me wrong, the maze is not that big but being about a quarter of the whole map you´ll understand it´s not fun.
To sum things up, the combination of gameplay, visuals and mood of this wad wasn´t good enough to grant a satisfactory experience.
<a href="http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=goddisco015ar.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8584/goddisco015ar.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
"One of the themes to be found on this wad".
<a href="http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=goddisco026oq.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5512/goddisco026oq.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
"Original Doom resemblance and aligned walls... Not the overall look of the wad though".
RATING: 4.
137kb.
The all singing, all dancing God-disco road show.
by Dan Sumption.
September 1994.
Doom.exe, Single player, Cooperative and DM, 2 maps.
Reviewer: Danimetal.
REVIEW:
Before starting to play a wad I always try to read through the corresponding txt file. This wad was something special since it came with more than one text file filled up with amusing, annoying and delirious "information" of all sorts... Anyway, it´s not neccesary that you read through it but I thought it was worth mentioning that the author spent a lot of time writing it (the content being worth or not it´s up to you).
Now with the wad itself: to be honest, after reading through the file I expected much more from this wad. O.k, it features two new texures (apparently it had some more in an earlier version), it has fun part and some linedef action aside from the classic doors, some nice architecture like curved stairs, a decent lenght and a two-map structure that seems and looks almost logic when playing, but maybe it´s not enough. At least it´s not enough for me to tear it up apart from the other wads I´ve played. It may be something with me but I found this wad monotonous.
Right when starting, the player is trapped in a pit with some weak monsters in the upper level. It doesn´t take long to find a way out from the pit and be prompted with the first choose from two opposite pathways. They lead to different places in the map that the player will have to visit in order to complete the tasks (get keys) but they had a significant impact on the gameplay: depending on the path you choose you will find the biggest flaw on this map early in the map or later. What´s this biggest flaw?. A maze. To be exact, a 64x64 grid wolfensteinish maze with annoying wall textures and monsters roaming around that proves to be quite boring although neccesary to play the map. Of course, that´s only one of the ways. You can be lead to a nice tech looking room, a room with some sort of bridges that reminds a lot to the original Doom architecture, or some sort of random-changing themes developed in small detail. All them are connected to, at least, two of the other areas and all are set up sorrounding the start zone. There´s no particular order to visit the areas although you may find some closing doors and grates behind you that can leave no other way out than forward... Still, the whole map doesn´t seem like it had a plan to it... Eventually you will reach an outside area that leads to the second level, where you will be able to play "Over" the previous map in a battle that was easy and dissapointing for me.
The visuals aren´t stricking as well: the new texture looks quite disgusting and the sky has the funny .gif dots all over it. There aren´t great or original structures (maybe there are two blocks in the tech room that look nice enough) and the detail is almost nonexistant so you will be recognising each area from its theme. Lighting work is also scarce and, when done, it really makes things worse (check the outer area, from example)... Anyway and to be faithful to my opinion on this wad, the south parts of it look better than the northern ones (wich doesn´t mean that the southern areas look great). Also, can someone explain me the meaning of 23 and 32 in the north areas???. All I noticed was walls opening up when I crossed through them so they must have some gameplay meaning.
Speaking of that, gameplay-wise this map was nothing special. Most battles were really easy (even in the maze) and ammunition and health are found in extreme amounts (I never had to use the BFG I found) so you can beat this on your first try on about 20 minutes if you don´t get lost. In case you do, check your automap and try to visit any place you haven´t since you may find a required key there (extremely annoying in the maze area)... The lack of interesting fights and puzzles make for a boring play and, while there are some highlights (interesting fights in the "Bridge" area or nice linedef actions that may trap you inside some places), they don´t last long enough to make any of the two levels memorable. Definitely, this is not a map I would play again in single player and I don´t think that it suits multiplayer well: the corridors are narrow for coop and as long as there exists a maze as the one here, Deathmatch is non fun. Don´t get me wrong, the maze is not that big but being about a quarter of the whole map you´ll understand it´s not fun.
To sum things up, the combination of gameplay, visuals and mood of this wad wasn´t good enough to grant a satisfactory experience.
<a href="http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=goddisco015ar.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8584/goddisco015ar.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
"One of the themes to be found on this wad".
<a href="http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=goddisco026oq.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5512/goddisco026oq.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
"Original Doom resemblance and aligned walls... Not the overall look of the wad though".