the abandoned workshops

April 5, 2007 / Doom 2: Hell on Earth

Genesis of Descent

Author: Hobomaster22 Release Date: March 27th 2007

Gameplay
You’ll find yourself in combat throughout a majority of this wad against small packs and large hordes. Large exterior and interior locations will hold those large battles, while corridors and other small locations won’t come as tough. Although there is plenty of action about and a nice balance of flow, unfortunatly the supplies can lack here and there when needed, but health wasn’t a problem. It could have been me not being careful at some stage in the map, but I couldn’t find much when tracking backing either. Simple objectives to find keys and pressing switches, while being caught in enemy traps, respawns and other nice surprises and short cutscenes later. The wad is quite lengthy, but I found it extremely enjoyable although a bit annoyed with lack of ammo here and there.

April 5, 2007 / Duke Nukem 3D

Hidden Zone

Balanced yet simple gameplay with decent design throughout.

March 31, 2007 / Doom 2: Hell on Earth

Austerity – A Simplicity Tribute v2.0

Author: Daniel “Tormentor667? Gimmer Release Date: December 24th 2006

Gameplay
As expected, this one is challenging with a recognisable pattern of hordes and surprise attacks throughout each of the three maps in this release. As stated there will be many fights, either with a few small hordes or a large groups, they’re all varied with different enemy types mixed together. Enough room to manuever around wether you’re indoors or out, but it’s still possible to be cornered or get stabbed in the back if your not careful. Your barrel will always be smoking hot, every room and corner there will be some form of fight, or a respawn of enemies to lengthen the journey towards your exit. Ammo and other supplies are balanced quite well, but very easy to run out of in this wad if your not careful how many shells you’re firing or damage taken. Secrets are available rewarding some hard earned goodies worth looking for since they will prove useful during many areas. Typical objectives, where other than the battles you will travel from one point to the other collecting keys and backtracking to the required doors and repeated in each level.

March 28, 2007 / Doom 3

Shambler’s Castle Quake Mod

Author: Various Release Date: March 16th 2007

Gameplay
Very much like Quake, as intended from the team, however ofcourse with modern feel while playing. All the weapons and several enemies such as the Shrag, Fiend and Vore make an appearance within this short but sweet mission. Generally this one is challenging to a good point, considering it’s size so this keeps the length going at an enjoyable pace. The atmospheric hallways and rooms add tension as you explore, in fear of a fiend jumping out at you or a Vore’s attack catching you off guard. Enemies have been developed upon making them much more viscious, especially the Fiend as it will tear you up if cornered, add sense of fear torwards the enemies some games seem to lack. Elements are pretty much the same as seen in Quake, such as how the weapons and items rotate above the ground, the keys and some portals which keep the intended game atmosphere in there. Although short there is plenty to come across and try out all the good things from Quake in a more modern engine with plenty of new effects and a new music track to finish it all off, although it does get repeatitive.

March 25, 2007 / Half Life

Final Assult

It is rather just a waste of time bothering with this map, although playable to some extent.

March 24, 2007 / Blog

Themes

Some have probably noticed, when using either Sunset or Mystic themes, either the right or…

March 19, 2007 / Half Life

Idol Hunt

Enjoyable gameplay within well structured ruins, good design but lacks some form of variety in the last two maps.

March 10, 2007 / Prey

Lost City

Gameplay
Split into two small parts, your character arrives by car to a lost city and you take control soon after the introduction scene is over. Throughout the map you will come across areas that are meant to creep you out and possbly scare you in others with an interesting usage of the default sound effects and character models. Action is very light as there isn’t too many enemies to fight against with only a few weapons available to you. Ammo and health is existant and placed in reasonable locations, with a decent amount. Nothing really too difficult here, since a lot of enemies can be picked off by hiding around corners or above ledges making things a bit dull. Opening the doors was a nice touch as they didn’t automatically opened as you approached them, although minor it allowed the player to take their time to see which doors could be opened by themselves. The map is pretty much linear however, a few places to explore but no alternate paths keeping things too much straight forward.

February 26, 2007 / Unreal Tournament

Operation Na Pali

Gameplay
First of all, this is a huge mission pack that ranges across thirty seven different maps all linked together and creating a development of story through the use of voice acting, translator messages and cutscenes bringing several scenes a lot more to life. An emergency message is transfered to the Vortex Rikers 2 as it travels through space, where three members from the crashed Vortex Rikers 1 contacting for help on Na Pali and it’s your mission to track them down. Upon your arrive however, you are shot by the enemy and taken away to a Skaarj prison. The gameplay then takes place here. Once you take control, your character will start to talk about his current situation and does this quite a bit throughout each of the missions. He will sometimes say the odd corny phrase after killing certain enemies or reveal what the player must do to continue on. I found this a problem in a few places as it removed the ability to find out yourselve, giving away the answer too quickly but it’s not too common.

February 17, 2007 / Duke Nukem 3D

Alien Wipeout

Short yet enjoyable map with great design.

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