FATAL
June 18th, 2007, 12:22 PM
The Classic Episode part 2 - The Singularity Complex
Author: Jan Van der Veken
class_e2.zip (978 kb)
ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pc/msdos/games/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/a-c/class_e2.zip
Port: Doom1, Limit Removing port.
Single player
December 26, 2005.
9 maps (Full 1st episode).
Danimetal using Doom Legacy v1.42 software mode.
Score: 7.2
The Classic Episode part 2 is a wad that tries to bring back the original Doom feeling in a brand new set of maps... Well, maybe brand new isn´t the most accurate expression since you´ll find some revisitings of already released structures and some others that you´ll instantly recognise but, other than that and the fact that one level repeats constantly, this is all new. But let me explain, the instantly recognisable stuff will surprise you in the good way and the level that is constantly repeated acts as a hub between levels in wich you go exploring and finding out new places with each visit. It also matches the storyline so is a good thing.
If you dig the classic Doom feel, I´m sure you´ll feel at home while playing this and, if you do, I´m sure that you´ll be most pleased to find out that the lenght of this wad extends through a full episode: 9 levels!. O.k, o.k, there are visits to the hub so, certainly, the thing is about 5 levels long and you can beat it out in an afternoon but, trust me, it lasts long enough to provide you with a lot of fun... Then there´s the gameplay: it doesn´t exactly play like the classic Doom episodes since there are far more monsters and ambushes out there (up to the point that it irritated me when it begins to see so much opening doors with monsters inside), but well, you shouldn´t have any problems to get the hang of it and you´ll enjoy hunting the secrets (MORE TALK LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). The difficulty factor isn´t high, but it holds the biggest problem with this wad: I started playing in UV and wasn´t able to survive the first fight. Then tried Hurt me Plenty and got the same results in the first tries: this wad starts out extremely hard and it keeps it during the first couple of levels when you´ll have problems with health and ammo. Then, all of a sudden and as you build a better arsenal, the whole difficulty issue gets milder and you won´t have problems anymore. Let´s just say that I would have enjoyed it much more if the difficulty level was mantained from the begining (that would make a hard episode), started just as it ends (more accessible) or just started easy to get harder and harder later on. It may sound stupid but, really, the first visit to the hub level can make you wish not to play this wad!!.
Did I just say that the first visit would make you not wanting to play more?. Well, it would, but you would commit a big mistake not playing this ´cos you´d miss a nice load of good fighting and puzzling. First fights (pistol only) are hard and frustrating (imagine, take out zombies, imps and demons only with this bang bang pistol) until you get a shotgun. The shotgun balances the thing, but soon ammo is lacking ´cos you´ll face stronger monsters here or there. Most of the time you´ll be fighting "one-shotgun-shot-killed" monsters but here and there you fight a Baron of Hell and cacodemons while attacked by lesser creatures that come out from ambushing points: it´s really fun but, as said, the frequency of ambushes right when you start can be a little irritating. Puzzling is your classic Doom: hit switches to open door, create stairs, get keys... Most of the time you won´t have problems at all, specially at the beginning, when maps are quite linear. As you progress, the two last maps are more open-ended, admitting a lot of exploration and making you get lost easily in both the layout and the switches usage. Just take it easy and go little by little to solve the maps and, if you have problems, check the automap :).
The visuals for this episode are very nice. I don´t know why I expected a lot of 1 unit detail and stuff like that, but it ended up being much more relaxed, simple and effective that I thought. Think in your classic Knee Deep in the Dead, eliminate misalignments and odd mixes and you almost have it. It looks very much like a refinated Doom, with interesting architecture but never losing it´s original intention. You have all the classic base themes (stone, startan, tech...) with nicely chosen textures (I think I saw some Doom2 flat) and, though I could miss some lighting work, I admit that it felt really good to my eyes to go through this episode. Here and there you have nice bits of details (like lights on top of antennas) but, for the most part, it´s kept nice, clean, clear and simple, wich helps the layouts a lot.
The episode seems to be suitable for Single Player with no problems and I´d say that it would make a good Cooperative play too (no information on the txt file but the player starts are there). Deathmatch is a completely different story: some maps seem like they could play good (mainly the hub ones) but the others are a little too big for only 4 players. Maybe they could work with more but, anway, I think that the focus for this episode is the Single Player play: fights are fun, levels are fun and secret hunting is really, really fun. I´d like to insist on this: I´ve played few map packs wich had a nice way to implement secrets and this wad is one of them. Most times you get to see the secret area and just have to figure out your way in. Some other times there´s a texture that doesn´t work, switch action involved, a lift that activates out of sight but can be heard... A lot of possibilities that are moderately easy to find and makes fun to try achieving a whole 100%. If you played and didn´t find all secrets from the beginning let me tell you that this wad deserves another run to find them, increasing the replayability value. I´m also intrigued to play it in UV and see how hard it gets so, well, these maps are definitely replayable.
Overall, I found a original work in this episode (check out the progression that happens in the hub) and, overall, a very fun work. Despite the mentioned flaws, I´d say that this wad is enjoyable for most audiences (different difficulty settings are applied) once the first moments pass. If you like the classic appearance of this levels and it´s balanced gameplay deep into it you can agree in the 7.2 we´re giving.
<a href="http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=classe2010sl.gif" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2663/classe2010sl.th.gif" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Take this!.
<a href="http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=classe2024lr.gif" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2418/classe2024lr.th.gif" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Nice architecture work below the Episode 4 sky.
<a href="http://img366.imageshack.us/my.php?image=classe2037tm.gif" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/6687/classe2037tm.th.gif" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Don´t you get a warm feeling out of this screenshot?.
Author: Jan Van der Veken
class_e2.zip (978 kb)
ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pc/msdos/games/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/a-c/class_e2.zip
Port: Doom1, Limit Removing port.
Single player
December 26, 2005.
9 maps (Full 1st episode).
Danimetal using Doom Legacy v1.42 software mode.
Score: 7.2
The Classic Episode part 2 is a wad that tries to bring back the original Doom feeling in a brand new set of maps... Well, maybe brand new isn´t the most accurate expression since you´ll find some revisitings of already released structures and some others that you´ll instantly recognise but, other than that and the fact that one level repeats constantly, this is all new. But let me explain, the instantly recognisable stuff will surprise you in the good way and the level that is constantly repeated acts as a hub between levels in wich you go exploring and finding out new places with each visit. It also matches the storyline so is a good thing.
If you dig the classic Doom feel, I´m sure you´ll feel at home while playing this and, if you do, I´m sure that you´ll be most pleased to find out that the lenght of this wad extends through a full episode: 9 levels!. O.k, o.k, there are visits to the hub so, certainly, the thing is about 5 levels long and you can beat it out in an afternoon but, trust me, it lasts long enough to provide you with a lot of fun... Then there´s the gameplay: it doesn´t exactly play like the classic Doom episodes since there are far more monsters and ambushes out there (up to the point that it irritated me when it begins to see so much opening doors with monsters inside), but well, you shouldn´t have any problems to get the hang of it and you´ll enjoy hunting the secrets (MORE TALK LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). The difficulty factor isn´t high, but it holds the biggest problem with this wad: I started playing in UV and wasn´t able to survive the first fight. Then tried Hurt me Plenty and got the same results in the first tries: this wad starts out extremely hard and it keeps it during the first couple of levels when you´ll have problems with health and ammo. Then, all of a sudden and as you build a better arsenal, the whole difficulty issue gets milder and you won´t have problems anymore. Let´s just say that I would have enjoyed it much more if the difficulty level was mantained from the begining (that would make a hard episode), started just as it ends (more accessible) or just started easy to get harder and harder later on. It may sound stupid but, really, the first visit to the hub level can make you wish not to play this wad!!.
Did I just say that the first visit would make you not wanting to play more?. Well, it would, but you would commit a big mistake not playing this ´cos you´d miss a nice load of good fighting and puzzling. First fights (pistol only) are hard and frustrating (imagine, take out zombies, imps and demons only with this bang bang pistol) until you get a shotgun. The shotgun balances the thing, but soon ammo is lacking ´cos you´ll face stronger monsters here or there. Most of the time you´ll be fighting "one-shotgun-shot-killed" monsters but here and there you fight a Baron of Hell and cacodemons while attacked by lesser creatures that come out from ambushing points: it´s really fun but, as said, the frequency of ambushes right when you start can be a little irritating. Puzzling is your classic Doom: hit switches to open door, create stairs, get keys... Most of the time you won´t have problems at all, specially at the beginning, when maps are quite linear. As you progress, the two last maps are more open-ended, admitting a lot of exploration and making you get lost easily in both the layout and the switches usage. Just take it easy and go little by little to solve the maps and, if you have problems, check the automap :).
The visuals for this episode are very nice. I don´t know why I expected a lot of 1 unit detail and stuff like that, but it ended up being much more relaxed, simple and effective that I thought. Think in your classic Knee Deep in the Dead, eliminate misalignments and odd mixes and you almost have it. It looks very much like a refinated Doom, with interesting architecture but never losing it´s original intention. You have all the classic base themes (stone, startan, tech...) with nicely chosen textures (I think I saw some Doom2 flat) and, though I could miss some lighting work, I admit that it felt really good to my eyes to go through this episode. Here and there you have nice bits of details (like lights on top of antennas) but, for the most part, it´s kept nice, clean, clear and simple, wich helps the layouts a lot.
The episode seems to be suitable for Single Player with no problems and I´d say that it would make a good Cooperative play too (no information on the txt file but the player starts are there). Deathmatch is a completely different story: some maps seem like they could play good (mainly the hub ones) but the others are a little too big for only 4 players. Maybe they could work with more but, anway, I think that the focus for this episode is the Single Player play: fights are fun, levels are fun and secret hunting is really, really fun. I´d like to insist on this: I´ve played few map packs wich had a nice way to implement secrets and this wad is one of them. Most times you get to see the secret area and just have to figure out your way in. Some other times there´s a texture that doesn´t work, switch action involved, a lift that activates out of sight but can be heard... A lot of possibilities that are moderately easy to find and makes fun to try achieving a whole 100%. If you played and didn´t find all secrets from the beginning let me tell you that this wad deserves another run to find them, increasing the replayability value. I´m also intrigued to play it in UV and see how hard it gets so, well, these maps are definitely replayable.
Overall, I found a original work in this episode (check out the progression that happens in the hub) and, overall, a very fun work. Despite the mentioned flaws, I´d say that this wad is enjoyable for most audiences (different difficulty settings are applied) once the first moments pass. If you like the classic appearance of this levels and it´s balanced gameplay deep into it you can agree in the 7.2 we´re giving.
<a href="http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=classe2010sl.gif" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2663/classe2010sl.th.gif" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Take this!.
<a href="http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=classe2024lr.gif" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2418/classe2024lr.th.gif" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Nice architecture work below the Episode 4 sky.
<a href="http://img366.imageshack.us/my.php?image=classe2037tm.gif" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/6687/classe2037tm.th.gif" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Don´t you get a warm feeling out of this screenshot?.