UnknDoomer's corner of ultra silence - Short WAD Reviews / Longplays / Hints

[UnknDoomer]

8. Mr. Reed's House (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... n-idgames/

Having once heard about a movie with the same name, "The Heretic" (2024), the author of this map somewhat naively believed that it was a screen adaptation of the old shooter of the same name with a dark fantasy twist. Disappointed by the actual state of affairs, but inspired by what he had seen, the comrade decided to recreate the antagonist's house as a map in Heretic, initially taking the original E5M1 from the extended version of the game as a basis. The final goal was to try to recreate 1:1 the house that could be seen in the movie.

I haven't watched the movie, since I'm not generally a fan of horror movies and various variations on the theme like "Cube" (1997), "1408" (2007) and the like, but the concept and specifics turned out to be quite entertaining, and the level is well-tailored. Otherwise, judging by the trailer, and also, with a fair amount of desire and imagination, it is quite possible to find certain parallels, and fit the strange philosopher into the ranks of D'Sparil's high-level servants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woTkGQKl4XU (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, difficulty 4/5.
* Complete completion will take ~ 5 minutes.

[UnknDoomer]

9. Stone Face (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... rick-head/

As the name suggests, this map is a kind of stone face, promising to reflect a certain context, but what... the author did not mention, as he was interested in what other interpretations could be found on this account. In terms of specifics, this is a medium-sized cave, the emphasis in which is shifted towards mechanisms and puzzles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJDaFzB5mdY (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, difficulty 4/5.
* Complete completion will take ~ 15 minutes.

[UnknDoomer]

207. Galius (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... n-episode/

A pretty good, mostly linear, wad for Hexen, notable for several components:

* There are cutscenes on the game engine.
* Instead of three default classes, there is one that took a little from all. It is represented by a warrior who has six slots for various weapons, including magical ones.
* There are several custom monsters.
* As you progress, you can complete side quests.
* You can collect rubies for the purpose of subsequently purchasing items in two stores.

The main synopsis of the plot is not intricate - a father hires a mercenary to find his lost son. In the process of completing a simple quest, the hero gets entangled in a local tangle of passions, where it was not without demons, previously hired, subsequently killed, dead warriors, mysterious formulas and notes scattered here and there. Closer to the epilogue, the customer himself turns out to be not as simple as one might initially assume.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clikZqqMKXg (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, difficulty 4/5.
* Complete completion will take ~ 2 hours.

[UnknDoomer]

208. Purgatory (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... 64-gzdoom/

A large wad of 34 levels (3 secret, the 34th slot is occupied by the epilogue), betting on the atmosphere of horror, to some extent inspired by Quake and Doom 3 (from here, in particular, some monsters came). Textures and other components were borrowed from Doom 64 and the PSX variation, but the wad itself is oriented to work with Doom II. According to the author the PSX port has long been his favorite version, which was not least due to the fact that once, a sudden turn, his grandmother gave it to him and they spent long hours together in it. Actually, despite all the declared references, it is the atmosphere from the original PlayStation, diluted with a number of custom monsters, or rather modified monsters, that is present here in a much greater proportion than everything else. I would say the proportions are 80 to 20. As for the gameplay, it is typical for the author's works - spacious maps, a large, but reasonable, number of monsters, run & gun approach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szi-q4sOFa4 (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, UV difficulty.
* Complete completion will take ~ 10 hours.

Secret levels.

---

M17 -> M31. First, you need to get the yellow skull. You can do this by shooting the switch nearby. After that, next to the main exit, you need to walk along the curb to the teleporter, which leads to an alternative exit.
M26 -> M32. In the south, you can find a barely noticeable grimace hidden behind the columns. If you shoot it, then later you can get into the closed exit in the north, where there are similar textures.
M32 -> M33. Not far from the main exit, there is a barely noticeable switch. Pressing it will open the section nearby.

[UnknDoomer]

209. The Tower of Babel (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... n-idgames/

A wad of 46 (5 secret + 43rd slot) levels, representing significantly varying in theme and style floors (size 1024x1024) of the tower, structurally divided into four episodes. It is a community project, that is, a collective work, where a certain author was responsible for a particular map. In this case, about 40 people took part in the creation of the wad, while itself been presented by @rafael2100. In terms of specifics, it is similar in many ways to the previously reviewed "Confinement 256". In the context of wads associated with certain restrictions, or specifically in this case, the size of the game space, this work can probably be called the best of the available ones at the moment and taking this achievement away from it will clearly not be an easy task.

https://youtu.be/tFTqmVwBosA (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, UV difficulty.
* On average the number of enemies on the map usually does not exceed 40. The maximum number is 172 on M25 and 320 on M69.
* Apparently, you can only get to M43 in GzDoom by entering "map map43" in the console. It is not clear whether this hidden map, which has no monsters or items, is some kind of alternative epilogue or something else.
* A full walkthrough will take about 4,5 hours.

Secret levels.

---

M6 -> M45. Apparently, it is enough to enter the teleport symbolizing the main exit from the other side.
M8 -> M41. You need to figure out a series of switches. The first of them is hidden in boxes.
M41 -> M42.
M42 -> M44.
M30 -> M69. At the end of the level, it is enough to go / jump into the teleport on the platform, located under the "exit" sign.

[UnknDoomer]

44. Access Tunnels (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... s-tunnels/

As the name suggests, the action of this map takes place in the long and narrow tunnels of a certain location of the technogenic background. Doomguy needs to defeat about 150 opponents and find an elevator leading somewhere above. A fairly well-chosen melody serves as background accompaniment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeDcjUlZnOk (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, UV difficulty.
* Complete playthrough will take ~ 15 minutes.

[UnknDoomer]

210. Sunset Irreligion (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... -id-games/

Wad of 15 levels, logically divided into three episodes, with gradually increasing difficulty. Stylistically and structurally, which the author himself mentions in particular, it resembles the previously reviewed Fallen Leaves. As a result, lovers of the autumn atmosphere, as well as sometimes tough hardcore, should not pass by.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lckzGf6pfdg (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, UV difficulty.
* Complete completion will take ~ 2,5 hours.

[UnknDoomer]

10. Steam Quarry (2024).

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... am-quarry/

In general a single map for Heretic that has no gameplay value as such, the main task of which was to demonstrate the author's developments in the context of various technical aspects, the improvement of which, in turn, was timed to coincide with the 30th game. In short, they concern the refinement of various rough spots associated with textures and shadows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuJf85gH_WI (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, difficulty 4/5.
* Complete completion takes ~ 7 minutes.

[UnknDoomer]

211. Fallout: Vault 666. Build 1.06 (2025).

https://www.moddb.com/mods/fallout-vaul ... -vault-666
https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... l-release/

Total conversion for Doom II, that transfer specific segments of the events of the original Fallout dilogy to the Doom setting with all its inherent mechanics. As before the player will have to leave the shelter in search of the chip. In addition to obvious stylistic changes, as well as custom weapons, ranging from a modified double-barreled shotgun to a gatling laser, several components can be noted separately:

* All action takes place within the framework of one, large map, divided into two floors.
* During the course of events you can meet a dog, the image of which was taken from Fallout 4, and take it with you as a companion. It can seriously help in the battle with monsters more than once.
* A number of sound effects were borrowed from John Carpenter's films.
* You can find rare notes that shed light on some events.
* Mouse loock is forcibly disabled, which can be called a kind of reference to the two-dimensional world of the original.
* Several epilogues are provided.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdv9mFLumgY (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0 (apparently not compatible with other wad ports),
"Hard" difficulty (UV). * Complete completion will take ~ 1,5 hours.

[UnknDoomer]

212. Mists of Mauristen (2025).

viewtopic.php?t=80073

After a long lull that lasted for about 3,5 years, comrade ArgonianLord, known for a large-scale quadrology in the form of three wads for Hexen and one for Heretic, which I discussed in detail earlier (Tower of Chaos (2013 / 2021) (RU), Sitnalta (2013 / 2021) (RU), A New World (2014 / 2021) (RU), Descent Into the Abyss (prequel; 2020 / 2021) (RU)), returned with a new creation, or, more precisely, the second part in a planned prequel trilogy, the first of which was previously "Descent Into the Abyss".

Although the original concept, it seems, assumed the release of a plot sequel "A New World", the author, apparently, decided not to torture possible plot twists and instead decided to roll back even further in the context of experiments with prequels. Let me briefly remind you that the events of the aforementioned trilogy, i.e. except for one prequel, took place after the events of Hexen II. Here the picture is exactly the opposite, i.e., as far as one can judge, significantly long before the events of Hexen: Beyond Heretic.

The action, this time, moves to a kingdom where the ruling vampires and their princess, humans, necromancers and the undead coexist amicably. As is the law of the genre, not everyone is satisfied with the established idyll - two thirsty for more vampires, it must be said quite spontaneously, enter into an alliance with the second snake rider, well known to the general population under the name of Corax. Once again, one of the three heroes, represented here by a paladin, a lightwielder and a demon hunter (I chose him), will have to go out onto the ramp of hostility and put an end to the unholy alliance that has spun. In addition, the chosen hero is an old acquaintance of the protagonist from the previous prequel with mages, "Descent Into the Abyss", and has nothing to do with the kingdom itself.

All the specifics previously worked out on previous wads remained on board and did not go anywhere - custom monsters and textures, a hub system and branched locations, puzzles, variations in style, from typical for Hexen, to horror elements. In addition to this, the narrative has expanded by means of notes abundantly scattered here and there, a multiple increase in the number of cut-scenes, the ability to interact with various NPCs, the presence of side quests that shed light on various other intricate twists and turns of the local world, the presence of several shops at the main starting point and the neighboring village, where you can buy various items (I counted four).

According to the outline set earlier, the passage does not promise to be any kind of fleeting and will require quite a serious immersion, especially if the player wants to reach what can be called a happy end, and not its opposite.

To get the good ending you need to do all the side quests granted by the missionary of Pope Parias' Church, who goes by the name of Tristan. You will know him when you see him, as it is near impossible to avoid meeting this character.

https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... pg.330131/

In short, the main condition comes down to completing all three side quests, which is given by a comrade named Tristan, who has dug in one of the editions in the second location. In addition to the wad itself, a gameplay modification is supplied. All three new classes, in fact, are a modified variation of the cleric - here, in essence, an analogy can be seen with how the scheme with the mage class in "Descent Into the Abyss" was previously arranged. The complexity of this wad can be assessed as moderate in general.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tf5TACeWbw (video)

Settings and features:

* GzDoom 4.14.0, difficulty 4/5.
* Complete completion will take ~ 7,5-8 hours.