Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Octopus, post: 285304, member: 4"] [IMG align="left" width="497px" height="329.337px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdzMe4Si2-L1LwVCxjnBamwnQe62H0lh14cRVG-wLu5h3zF9sOzZ2EmKdH5ZqdDdQEMRWpq_KkN5KMmNenJ3ExDrmXIX-5iQJOPPFm-NHLgkJy8K3KdpjZaqa-5ge0qyhkkFerqBA?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG] I’ve been going on a bit of an FPS kick lately, if my [URL='https://retrogametalk.com/threads/outlaws-a-fistful-of-boom-shoot.13169/']last article[/URL] didn’t give that away, and by FPS I of course mean their more colloquial term ‘boomer shooters’, as I love me a good ol’ boomer shooter. Like any child of the early-mid 90’s, one of my first exposures was, believe it or not, a little game called [I]Doom[/I]. Maybe you’ve heard of it, I don’t think it really caught on much or anything; kind of a more sleeper hit type thing. I’ve played more than just [I]Doom [/I]of course (and [I]Outlaws[/I]); I’ve dropped many an hour into various [I]Unreal Tournament[/I] games, [I]Heretic [/I]and both [I]Hexen[/I]’s, the two [I]Aliens versus Predator[/I] games, [I]Blood [/I]that I’m actually not a fan of, and I’ve even in fact played [I]Daikatana[/I]. I’ve played more than just those of course throughout the years, but those are just my big ones. The [I]Quake [/I]series too of course, that kinda goes without saying. Something I’ve never gotten into, despite a pretty long time casually playing boom shoots; the famously extensive [I]Doom [/I]modding scene that started almost immediately upon the first games release. I was aware there’s some impressive **** out there, and was faintly aware of how the whole thing with the WAD files and the PK3’s worked. Most of my knowledge was pretty surface level; I knew you could make or replace maps using the game’s assets and map editor, and that was about it. Basically, I knew just about nothing about the depths of the mod scene. Eventually about two or so years ago maybe I decided to finally take a look at the scene on a whim, sparked as I just started getting into source ports. I was but a [I]wee[/I] babe, it took me until 2023 or whatever it was for me to download GZDoom for the first time. Then I stumbled onto TC’s. For those not vested in the [I]Doom [/I]modding arts like I was, there’s a genre of them referred to as ‘TC’s’, aka 'Total Conversions'. These are the mods that essentially entirely convert the base game into something new, through entirely redone enemy sprites or weapon models and levels or even entire mechanics added in utilizing the [I]Doom [/I]engine. After decades of effort and technological advancements of the tools, you would be entirely surprised at the heights the scene has risen to. Not even a year ago the phenomenal post-apocalyptic borderline-RPG [I]Ashes 2063[/I] released to some unanimous acclaim as a stand-alone game; it’s legitimately a [I]Doom 2[/I] mod, using the same ([I]highly upgraded through technical modding magic[/I]) engine as [I]Doom 2[/I]. You can literally play it in GZDoom, it’s insane. I recently acquired a few such TC’s, going off of what was generally held to be some of the better ones within the community. I just wanted to experiment, basically. And, well; here they are. I haven’t played any of these mods all the way through, so these will just be some first impressions. I’ll give each their proper credits of course, as well as a link to their ModDB page; credit where it’s due, and this is the kind of stuff that people should absolutely support the developers of. [HEADING=2][URL='https://www.moddb.com/mods/aliens-eradication-tc'][I]Aliens: Eradication[/I][/URL][/HEADING] [B]Developer:[/B] Payload Games [B]Required Game WAD:[/B] [I]Doom 2 Aliens[/I] themed [I]Doom [/I]TC’s have a prestigious history evidently, with what’s considered to be the very first TC being from all the way in 1995, simply called [I]Aliens: TC[/I] or [I]Aliens: Doom[/I] by the legendary OG modder Justin Fisher. [I]Eradication [/I]is continuing that legacy, building upon another famous xenomorph focused mod that added in assets from the PS1/Saturn game [I]Alien: Trilogy[/I] into the [I]Doom [/I]engine, called[I] Aliens: The Ultimate Doom[/I]. One thing I’ve learned from my time delving into the mod scene; they can be so intricately weaved, forks and expansions upon earlier mods. All you need to know is that 2021’s[I] Eradication[/I] is sort of a continuation of [I]Aliens: The Ultimate Doom[/I], using the same groundwork assets but adding in massive sprawling maps and a custom campaign. Random fact: apparently the very first [I]Aliens: TC[/I] was a major inspiration for the (in)famous [I]Jurassic Park: Trespasser[/I], the FPS that tried to implement physics based movement and weapons the same year as [I]Half-Life[/I], and also had its health bar on the boobs of your player character. I’m not sure what to make of that, really, but now you know so take that how you will. This is one I’ve never previously played, which is amazing since [I]Eradication [/I]is absolutely ****ing unreal. I went in expecting something probably at least pretty cool, and got what’s the greatest [I]Aliens [/I]game I’ve played and that was just from the first very intricate level. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXddTHPTaDKkBbBm3x2s_7y168QCfAeNNbnEEnwcu5iDuUvNJjMXp_1naRyBQhYSsLJcX2FlQELv8-ouQFkE9Sd6a5RmoegPahcVyZ2MuNeaqgmMX2ckOhNYo-3xaOjf2YYUq-oqzA?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]I leaned pretty quickly the strategy of dropping a turret then hiding behind it. Almost never failed.[/B][/I][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] You get to choose from one of four different ‘classes’, different characters essentially with some unique things to them. They all have a different starting load-out, as well as little interactions; one of the characters is a Weyland-Yutani combat synth and is therefore immune to face-huggers and even xeno acid blood, for example. They also each have a different starting area from what I’ve seen on the map. The scavenger mercenary starts outside the base having to make his way inside to steal stuff, while the synth starts already deep in the **** in his charging station. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdUg_hk9aK1FAsvQGSqxUyP15Pa8Fu_hWpOKUTRMo2QVxy9uGWexj38ixhPV6CTN9UFhKrfw-gJZRNfnT5OaHiQwPveR-UxaTS1If4pDSaQCZObUUB7xCEP1CsqkG4YpLCG5_8TWw?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] The first level map is massive, a labyrinth colony installation that of course has critical mass of a xeno infestation. [I]They are everywhere[/I]. The sprites are taken directly from [I]Aliens: Trilogy [/I]of course so if you’ve played that before then you know what to expect here, being some absolutely phenomenal sprite work. The first level took me a good hour to work through after I spawned in as the mercenary, with my starting loadout of the iconic pulse rifle, a shotgun ([I]it’s handy for close encounters[/I]; is that reference still played out?) and my surprisingly lethal pistol. After spawning outside next to my drop ship, I worked my way in to find the horrors that skittered and crawled in wait for me… [I]Eradication [/I]is absolutely a powerhouse of atmosphere. The level design sells every dark corridor, every broken vent cover and every faint sound of something behind you. I actually forgot I was playing a [I]Doom [/I]mod, that’s how strongly this engrossed me. This competes with actual horror games from just the first level that I cleared. I’m not one to really get that unnerved by video games, and while it’s not like I had to pause the game or take a nerves break or anything, there were a few moments where I exhaled after a big shoot out and didn’t realize I was holding my breath. For me, that’s a win for your average horror game. It crams in a good amount of extra stuff into [I]Doom 2[/I]. You have the entirely unique weapons of course, along with some extra gear. You can find and throw flares (clearly taking inspiration from Rebellion’s [I]Aliens versus Predator[/I]) to light up areas more than your narrow flashlight could. There’s also deployable sentry guns you can toss out to equalize the playing field which absolutely saved my life more times than I can count, as well as room-clearing satchel explosives to throw out which also are absolutely necessary. Why are they necessary? Because Eradication is out to [I]break you.[/I] [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfEu2Osi5HmhCaBK710Vzb9BgPZEiIaFWf48AuaaU7YsFez1BYdhLClwchyisz1NxXsmrU3WVT_LqZTpkqsk2mc-sgh8AOlTrY-348iTzEjezCFztdVeJz8ZmHvR0dt1QA0cNIWew?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]The first level has some great encounter pacing. There’s plenty of more slowburn fights against a few enemies scattered around, building up to a well timed crescendo of a wave of drones bearing down on you.[/B][/I][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] This was a hard, grueling keycard crawl in all the best ways. I played on the aptly named ‘Swarms of Xenos’ difficulty, which I’m guessing is the stand-in for the base games default Hurt Me Plenty and I was definitely challenged. The swarms of drones coming at you hit at least in the two dozen range in some of the major moments, and I was definitely roughed up; I think I played at least a third of the level with actually 6% health left as I was constantly topping up before getting smacked back down again. I was tactically crouching through rooms, checking every corner and wall and ceiling and vent, constantly checking my always pinging motion sensor. It’s atmosphere and difficulty is aided by really making you save bullets. Your pulse rifle can shred enemies, but also eats up a lot of ammo; the shotgun likewise is really effective at murdering any allegory-for-sexual-assault aliens you find, but its ammo is fairly rare. The enemies are fast, and hit hard, even the lowly face-huggers and this is all aided by the fact you also have to contend with their acid blood after they die. It was the huggers I came to fear the most actually, considering they instantly kill you if they grab onto you as either of the two unarmoured human characters; no coming back from getting a chest-burster implanted in you for this game. And trust me, there were [I]a lot[/I] of huggers. They flail wildly around in a chaotic blur of unnerving flesh tone, and they are absolutely capable of ambushing you. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfMgPPCeBsSgaB_tSDLMZg8d3SYOInh0EfP-gQdxomRySdo5agkx7D-uVJm3HpvGso5dH1QG6Qf1Cd7p6FITP4n9_3ppajBDfvD95U7-mBtASAupJpCNqbAVjvaptS4lhtZA4rMNQ?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] The enemies all around are fairly smart, routinely crawling on walls and ceilings and rarely getting stuck or bunched up like you see in vanilla [I]Doom[/I]. Will I play more of [I]Aliens: Eradication[/I]? :[I] Abso-****ing-lutely[/I]. This completely blew me away in all honesty. I was not expecting this, and was entirely surprised in just about every way. How did some [I]Doom [/I]modders with presumably no real budget slap together an [I]Aliens [/I]game this good? It was well worth my time for the first level, and I’m definitely going to continue this one. Hopefully the rest of the game follows this same strong debut. [HEADING=2][URL='https://www.moddb.com/mods/wolfendoom-blade-of-agony/downloads'][I]Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony[/I][/URL][/HEADING] [B]Developer:[/B] Realm667 [B]Required Game WAD:[/B] Standalone Release So apparently I picked two really good choices right off the bat with [I]Eradication [/I]followed by [I]Blade of Agony[/I]. This again was something I’ve never touched before, and once again this mod absolutely delivered. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfFh2XEAXfwvOFygj4pfs-LVToUt8e9I_qYSrwDHaln0y5niUqCef2qW7KqLQ-Taya0eQf_478yvWvIhZXY80VkAoxutgdJmiLs0CJfI1N4W4frKhsTu0jAi2DdMUo_5TF6flk0?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] More so than [I]Eradication[/I], 2021’s [I]Blade of Agony[/I] pushes the [I]Doom [/I]engine to its absolute limits. I could hardly recognize this as being a [I]Doom [/I]mod which just goes to show how ridiculously impressive the scene has become, and I think that makes sense given how hot this made my laptop run five within five seconds of booting it up. There’s dialogue trees in this, a central HQ hub that you launch missions from, there’s scopes and weapon recoil and stealth knifing and [I]goddamn [/I]was it good. The engine has been so beefed up that you could almost mistake it for a modern Build engine game like [I]Ion Fury[/I] (or [I]Ion Maiden[/I] if you’re from before the cease-and-desist). [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfxGM4FMKBgxn_-lYrBCmRnvymqu-lQTCrPi-mhOrhDbuY8TSyMy3Zncva5baQ6aKU31yQdhxdNuli7GrR9UIuCLl6Ah8afjAJuKPOIv-uKMA80_ODKue-OZ2xe8wqqZn699uCf?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]The doors are 3D assets and there’s actual arches in the environment, how the ****. This runs on GZDoom.[/B][/I][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] You once again play as the truly immortal BJ Blaskowicz, Nazi exterminator supreme. The canon of the [I]Wolfenstein [/I]games is something of a nightmare trench of reboots, so I wouldn’t worry too much about where this fits. Nothing supernatural happened in the first level, so we can at least be sure that so far it’s pre-[I]Return to Castle Wolfenstein[/I]. The first level tasks us with infiltrating a quaint little Nazi base on the waterfront cliffside, and specifically eliminating a mad doctor who’s turning people into super soldiers; nothing new for the franchise. I cannot stress how great this mod felt to play. Weapons sound beefy, the blood spurts are gratuitous in the best ways, and the added weapon recoil really added some extra immersion without feeling too much. Again, I only played through the first mission, so my arsenal only consisted of my trusty knife, the Luger pistol, the legendary classic MP40 submachine gun that absolutely has to be in every WWII game, and a Gewehr semi-auto rifle. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfd8M7PasmBYahbQhku1jsC_qa3FoB7VZExlTJQOGxPFxZbvfm-oQ-YmcfrlPVlrxVlYdC4mXHg8D_4HutwkWyUXn97lTfjWRjFsvEvzm-jhwYyJHJkPF1AINWsMdjhpy7zTr0afg?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] Playing on the equivalent of Hurt Me Plenty (here called just Ordinary, funnily enough), the guns felt chunky and definitely let you live some serious power fantasy. The Gewehr practically one-shotted soldiers into an explosion of gibs; it was fantastic. It’s balanced out by the enemies having comparable power to yours of course, and I once again spent likely a third of my time in [I]BoA [/I]with like 15% health at the most. It’s a combination of me still trying to get used to all this technical wizardry and a pretty punishing enemy strength; like in the OG [I]Wolfenstein[/I] they’re all hit-scanners, and they have some solid reaction times. It's kinda funny that the [I]Doom [/I]engine has produced such a quality [I]Wolfenstein [/I]game, given how tightly knit the two-franchises are. If there wasn’t a [I]Wolfenstein3D[/I], then there wouldn’t have been a [I]Doom[/I] after all. I’m incredibly excited to play through more of this, as I would rate my first level demo experience as a solid 8/10. I can see the score improving even as the game goes on, so only time will tell on that. [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXchQUWipLzehJuhRtKRyFbgHyZpvQ4uTWvnTZ71i4z0Ls8gaAcYSRZWkrZKpNlD_SOs0wdc6d4lyQdxkd9J69UBBoYRKZ3w-wdwqKxOQ0U_OotAjiQxALLc1U0JOIEYCngkv8EHXw?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]Don’t mind me, just finishing up the level with a cool 3% health left.[/B][/I][/CENTER] It still follows the same formula of being a keycard crawl, but also adding in optional objectives hidden around in yet another level of ‘[I]dude, this is a Doom mod; what?[/I]’. I failed to complete any of them in my playthrough, so I assume they’re likely fairly well hidden which is definitely great to see. The game allegedly has over [I]30 goddamn levels[/I] according to the synopsis, so Jesus Christ there’s a lot of Nazi’s to gun down. [I]Just as it should be.[/I] Considering that this comes default as a standalone executable, this likely makes more sense to look at as something separate from just being a [I]Doom [/I]mod; it’s that impressive on a technical level from what I’ve seen. [HEADING=2][URL='https://www.moddb.com/mods/brutal-doom'][I]Brutal Doom[/I][/URL] + [URL='https://www.moddb.com/games/doom-ii/addons/doom-ii-reloaded'][I]Doom II: Reloaded[/I][/URL][/HEADING] [B]Developers:[/B] Sergeant_Mark_IV ([I]Brutal Doom[/I]), Andy Stewart ([I]Doom 2: Reloaded[/I]) [B]Required Game WAD:[/B] [I]Doom 2[/I] (both) This one’s a twofer eh, covering both an overhaul mod and a map pack. We got [I]Brutal Doom[/I] which is a very accurate title, and the stellar [I]Reloaded[/I] maps to inflict [I]BD[/I]’s ridiculous uberviolence onto. Let’s start with [I]Brutal Doom[/I]; this is a particularly famous overhaul TC, and one that’s been in development since 2012. It fundamentally changes almost every aspect of vanilla [I]Doom[/I]’s gameplay and weapons, changing it into a balls-to-the-wall explosion of more immersive brutality that you can hardly even recognize anymore. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe21jokHJDTVPMZbgUCVWolqS1P7RO6qm1OqlnyZeL_nRbkR178JNpEZPKxfwhEPzHUikNQxwLNTTTCa8vNZKbKSrcq6wld30qNssq_EUGl_w-5SSEfUs9LaClZREQAU66diTOt1w?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]It gets maybe a little messy.[/B][/I][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] Let’s go over the changes. Biggest one; there’s so many additional controls and maneuvers and little tricks. You have a [I]Doom 3[/I] style flashlight, power slides, a beefy front kick straight out of [I]Duke3D[/I], usable iron sights and scopes, bullet time slo-mo. … Grabbing enemies as living shields, multiple weapons per slot, dual wielding, fire modes, [I]Doom2016[/I]-style glory kill animations that are also context sensitive, dedicated button grenade throwing, and a button entirely for giving things the middle finger. It’s a [I]huge [/I]****ing TC, basically, and that’s not even including the changes to the weapons. You have an assault rifle, submachine guns, scoped semi-auto sniper rifle, rail cannon. … A revolver, flame thrower, scavenged Revenant missile pods, modern Baretta pistol, full auto assault shotgun… The standard [I]Doom 2[/I] weapons all return of course, albeit with new and chunkier sprites and punishing power scale. [I]Brutal Doom[/I] turns the violence up to 11, with chunks flying out of monsters as the beefy weapons blow through them, and the amount of blood exploding around is legitimately blinding at times. The mod is aiming for an entirely new way to play the game, and yeah that makes sense once you’re chucking around grenades and power kicking heads into mush, aiming down iron sights to turn an Imp’s head into pasta sauce with your assault rifle. It also substantially ups damage numbers across the board, on both your bullets and the enemy attacks; it’s really trying to live up to its name in that department. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXefucygbKl6INNzrZlfNJTAT9UjnWTWui7g4_UgZ5MadBtNEVjldJj-ns--7fRBJdnSX3SeDUlreDG4C2DnE31NVUrEHma6J_FtiWJ7Fn-41KR4C-DbnJnuHW3lqP5J-sXcdgx3jg?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]Alright, so I may have actually laughed out loud the first time I saw the Imp ‘human shield’ art. It’s…something.[/B][/I][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] Is it good? It’s not bad, but I think it’s often a little much. Not necessarily the overkill violence, but just the fact that it’s so unrecognizable from vanilla. I think there's a thing as too much change, and this is a good example to me. I cannot deny it’s fun as **** though, so take that what you will; it’s just with the amount of additions and changes it has made towards making it into a modern feeling stylish tactical shooter, it's not even a [I]Doom [/I]game anymore and kinda loses that legendary magic. It does also add in a smorgasbord of visual improvements through redone assets and even a fantastic lighting system, dynamic flame assets and some actually kinda spooky glowing red eyes on most of the enemies; [I]Brutal Doom[/I] is a very good looking mod, no doubt. This was a twofer as [I]Brutal Doom [/I]is a gameplay only TC, with no new levels added in; though I think that’s something the creator has started exploring recently. In lieu of playing through the same vanilla levels that I’ve run through hundreds and hundreds of times, I decided to pair it with [I]Doom 2: Reloaded[/I], a very highly rated map pack. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXefph1LCvGCzi_q__8P49MrRUiu44mJvU4k30Ow-im9pu4WQvkiadvmyfluglJZIBdOkmYU0dlRPGylbyyiZW55J0l3RTJIHJxGhAUU4C-XvBGupbRTDb0ZM-gPelG3wR94eibVJg?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] I only played through the first four maps, which sounds terrible until you learn that they are actually very long levels. Like the name of the mod implies, it’s trying to be more of a re-tooling or expansion to the style of maps found in the vanilla game, so there’s nothing ridiculous in terms of new assets or gimmicks going on here which is exactly what I’m looking for. From what I’ve seen, they are very nicely designed with clear themes going on; you can tell what things you’re looking at are supposed to be, which is something the actual original game famously doesn’t quite pull-off. The first one was a simple little romp through some sewer type area, culminating in a long open channel with multiple overlooking balconies that you need to hit some switches in to push through. My personal favourite so far was level three, which drops a massive arena fight onto you before tightening up into some multi-leveled hallways and elevators intersected by the usual poison water tunnels. [I]Reloaded[/I] definitely pulls no punches in terms of enemy spawns; on the first level on Hurt Me Plenty, a Baron spawns in with absolutely no fanfare or preparation alongside a few Specters and Chaingunners. This mod loves its Chaingunners. [I]Oh god, the ****ing Chaingunners.[/I] [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B][I][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeuZxX298CfpiOnzUVqnJWrJXuWC56Ndx1zyTCPMo054hf58z5lCGwLPC_rJiniG9zksUzrgcNG6c7gJ-5Nn4wkE02FYCyDv58XVw3MeKFoInvMsRwO-ywjsiFmkik9Smi0y4ZgdA?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/I][/B] [I][B]Oh cool, level two and there’s an Arachnotron in an open arena surrounded by both Chaingunners and Revenants. Reloaded doesn’t **** around.[/B][/I][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] The pack is aimed more towards veteran players given the amount and types of enemies flying at you, so it does away with slowly building **** up I think. You know what a Baron is, [I]get to ****ing work[/I] basically. I’d ultimately recommend both [I]Doom 2: Reloaded[/I] and [I]Brutal Doom[/I]. I don’t dislike [I]BD[/I], but like I said just how much changes have been done in it kinda makes it feel wrong to me somehow. It's maybe trying a little too hard perhaps, but I’d still recommend trying it out just for the entertainment value. As for [I]Reloaded[/I]; hell yeah, absolutely give it a go if you’re a grizzled [I]Doom [/I]veteran. I’m also going to be working my way through its maps after this, just maybe not only running it with [I]Brutal Doom[/I]. [HEADING=2][URL='https://www.moddb.com/mods/rekkr'][I]REKKR[/I][/URL][/HEADING] [B]Developer:[/B] Revae [B]Required Game WAD:[/B] [I]Ultimate Doom[/I] This is a particularly well recognized TC, having won quite a few different community awards since its launch in 2018. It’s also more or less endorsed by the Bethesda overlords themselves by being officially included with the 2019 Unity port of [I]Doom[/I]. Fairly prestigious territory again here. Is it a good TC? I may catch some flak for saying this, but I am not really a big fan of [I]REKKR[/I]. I will of course preface this by saying I’ve only beaten the first three levels, and I’m sure it likely improves with time, and I’m not giving up on the mod or anything like that. But it didn’t really hook me like others I’ve played. It's a shame as I love the Norse-adjacent aesthetic going on, it’s just the gameplay that I fail to really get behind. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdHySab3MX9PtKnffQhbWAiqgh7UctvArAB7YQ2TP0JSdR9Dv2b0cx1cDuWqLlN56sM9dzjIkedWo9r7qRkALa8cbvjlggarKfKLXXoAHb2Iret30EaLZQqvJsw-gPa4U5ryearng?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] This is the mod that changes the least on this little list, keeping the actual gameplay as a traditional [I]Doom [/I]experience unlike [I]Aliens: Eradication[/I] or especially [I]Brutal Doom[/I]. The new additions are relegated to the maps and the weapons rather than mechanics and features. You’re a ‘rekkr’, a not-Viking warrior who returns home from a war to find his village sacked by some pretty gross looking monsters and your family killed. [I]Rip and tear[/I] and all that; you know what’s up. The game changes up the formula a little bit with its weapons. The usual pistol has been replaced with a bow that shoots some sort of magic arrows, and on top of that there is one unique little gimmick [I]REKKR [/I]has going on; ammo for it. You won’t find ammo pickups for the bow, and in general ammo pickups for the other weapons seem to be pretty rare. Certain enemies drop ‘souls’ when they die that persist for only a few seconds, and these are what fuel your bow. I see the idea; the souls disappear really quickly, so you have to take risks frequently in order to get ammo for your bow after killing enemies. It also kinda prioritizes melee more than vanilla [I]Doom [/I]I think because of this combined with the basic two enemy types being melee only. It’s smart design, but I wasn’t really feeling it. The bow felt kinda weak, and even your bearded axe felt kinda dinky when I was swinging it around. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfSrDNQoxhBfA_WShmpTOQyCAY-59zD8l9S7FHhig_gHI61DvDqmxTJHrfufeleaNq7qlHHmi5VjQMryY2v9ZvzFiqfpMSD7oQE2WtAqqG-u9u3Gju5auwS6BrTXfQ3Z7kLrzuZjg?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] There are other weapons of course, but the only other one I’ve found is [I]REKKR[/I]’s version of the super shotgun being the ironshot; a giant multi-barreled cannon that you have to reload after every shot. From what I’ve seen around, there’s also a magic rocket launching staff that looks straight out of [I]Heretic [/I]as well as a rapid-fire chaingun stand-in called the soul launcher that looks kinda like two crab hands with a barrel between them; I assume they’re supposed to be little skeleton hands, but I call is as I see it. I’m assuming that it also shares the same soul ammo pool as the bow given its name, and I already feel like there’s never enough ammo for the bow. The ironshot felt like the most usable weapon I’ve found so far, having its own ammo pool and feeling like it was actually dealing damage to enemies. I’ve jumped into [I]REKKR [/I]a few times now, either on the modern KEX engine release of [I]Doom [/I]that Bethesda put out last year and also on GZDoom. Every time, I get to the third level, and by the time I’ve crawled my way through it I just don’t really feel like going any further. Something’s just not clicking for me with the experience, which again is a damn shame. Maybe I’ll try and push through it to see more of the game, or maybe I won’t; only time will tell. I will entirely admit it could just be a ‘[I]get good[/I]’ skill issue, that’s entirely possible. I can see why the mod is well regarded at least. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXclPS6pycn2MXga1QSF9oHHGYXDohXL1AOG4OB6yGfGM8VOIraUx8uqUrXztNslmbAHpkL2Uhb_984UrDHwyYqV5KA1mKzCnFPzqO5zPwFkZWiiztB0oGQchwswet6F_NUibO2x3g?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] It’s a great little TC that doesn’t go overboard with alterations like [I]BD[/I], and is therefore something new without being unapproachable. It has some good sprite-work on top of that; I love [I]REKKER G[/I]uy’s armoured hand sprites when you take out your fists, and the environments have a very distinct aesthetic of ‘arcane Vikings’ to them and I really like the various enemies I’ve seen; the zombie grunts have some great lankiness, the imp types are these gross looking bloated masses of flesh. The levels I think are also pretty well designed; the second level has a great verticality to its maze, and plays around with dark pockets of low lighting to make some genuinely cool looking atmosphere. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][IMG width="650px"]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcCHhutErH4ZUaSYB9YL5C6hOShRO9xGWBPcJ2VvB1ZIjt8-KwzIwPHKTqobRQcdJtRXmOzgyLtHPF4MxJT7SGj49NLs_axpK8nRVoJ4LUKe4D40_AByuguz1Y5nTVaEsmvtFuXJg?key=Xy1PZn6a4XmnKvxBiq9rIg[/IMG][/CENTER] [HR][/HR] Four random [I]Doom [/I]TC’s down. It was a fun little binge playing through them, with some absolutely insane highs with both [I]Aliens: Eradication[/I] and [I]Blade of Agony[/I]. I would absolutely recommend both of those to anyone, and like I said in both of their write-ups I’m definitely going back in for more. Will this little series return? Maybe. I am pretty frequently looking around for TC’s now and there’s a few more that I can think of right off the bat, and this was a pretty fun, quick little article to throw together. I even have some plans to do more boomer shooter reviews on some choice games;[I] time will tell.[/I] Until next time. [/QUOTE]

Verification

Online statistics

Members online: 108

Guests online: 1,839

Total visitors: 1,947

Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads: 11,335

Messages: 277,467

Members: 850,020

Latest member: TerminalTroll

Reply to thread

Online statistics

Forum statistics

Advertisers