Enjay returns for another Cacoward ceremony. In 2006, Operation Overlord, the thematic prequel to this project, was awarded a Cacoward for being one of the ten best releases that year. Now, two years later, Enjay's masterpiece, BGPA Missions: Liberation, takes the award for one of the best projects this year.

Everything about BGPA exudes quality, as is to be expected from playing Operation Overlord. The project is perfectly themed and all the settings mesh well: beaches, trenches, forests and enemy bases. While the two projects share many similarities, it is my professional opinion* that BGPA is a much more robust and impressive project. Each level has a set of objectives that must be accomplished, and you will be helped along by other members of the resistance. You will get to man mounted mini guns, destroy bridges, steal enemy information... as well as slaughter hundreds of Incan soldiers. With BGPA missions and Overlord, Enjay has really created his own unique world, and I could see continuous releases of projects that deal with the British/Incan conflict he has created. Let us hope Enjay has a few more projects up his sleeves.

-Scuba Steve

Chex Quest 3 - Charles Jacobi

Chex Quest was a stupid premise and a recipe for disaster. Chex wanted to cash in on the Doom craze so they hired some guys to make a Doom TC to give away in their cereal boxes. Cashing in on a fad? Major corporation? Why, then, is the Chex Quest series so good? All credit lies with its original creator, Charles Jacobi, who, years later, almost single handedly created a complete third episode for Chex Quest.

Chex Quest 3 is the final, and greatest, chapter of the saga. Jacobi captured everything that made the original commercial releases so wonderful, and added features found in a newer port. The project is filled with a plethora of new monsters, artwork, textures and new maps. The Flemoids have launched their final invasion and have sent hundreds of meteors crashing to the Chex homeworld. You will travel through slime-coated locations and defend the Chex planet from the Flemoid mother ship. The locations are (I hesitate to use this word in a Doom project) adorable... the United Nations of Cereals, Chex forest, mansions, villages... Chex Quest 3 is just a fun project, with the same professionalism found in the original, cereal box release. I doubt any Doomer would disagree, Chex Quest is just a really fun wad.

-Scuba Steve

Escape from Castle Chezcrea - Creaphis

Escape from Castle Chezcrea has all the elements I love in a map: new textures, unique secrets, and a central theme around which the entire level is built. Creaphis produced a great, single level that is worth playing.

Escape from Castle Chezcrea is a gothic techbase, built around the concept of a massive slaughtering machine. You begin seeing parts of the machine as you battle your way through the map, until you are confronted by an impressive conveyer belt, which turns bodies into bloody chunks. The screenshot on the right does not do the level justice; you have to play it to appreciate how great it looks. You will eventually travel to the sewers where pipes that leak blood flow through the water. The secrets in this map are ridiculously hard to find, but when you solve one of them, it really makes you feel like you have uncovered a real secret. Escape from Castle Chezcrea plays well and looks great; what more do you need?

-Scuba Steve

Cold as Hell - Jonaya Riley

About a year ago, I found a nifty wad hiding in the ZDoom Wiki. I played it and thought "Wow, this would be great if it weren't so broken." Of course I'm speaking of Jonaya Riley's "Cold as Hell."

I've always had a love-hate relationship with any kind of remake. I'm always edgy to sit down and watch something old made into something new. After the Ultimate Torment and Torture beat my computer into a bloody pulp, I was not ready for another wad to move from ZDoom to GZDoom. I was pleasantly surprised when Jonaya Riley came out of nowhere and released this without crashing my computer.

Set in the 1950s, the atmosphere of CAH takes you in and keeps you going. CAH is driven by the unique story of a man whose mind has taken over the wasteland and turned it into a living hell. Set in a frozen tundra, you battle creatures from the mind. The player is given bits and pieces of the story along the way, leading to a final climax that takes place inside the human mind. Aside from the changes in gameplay and setting, the maps are realistic and well designed. In all, this mod is a journey between the real and the surreal, without the pain of broken scripts.

-Patrick Pineda

*Opinion may not be professional

2008 Cacowards

Page 1

Deus Vult II
Gravity
Urban Brawl: Action Doom 2

Page 2

Eternal Doom IV
Thunderpeak
Back to Basics

Page 3

BGPA Missions: Liberation
Chex Quest 3
Escape from Castle Chezcrea
Cold as Hell

Other Awards

Best Multiplayer
Worst Wad
Mordeth Award
Mockaward
Mapper of the Year

RUNNERS UP

Remain III
Eternal

XXXI CyberSky
Eternal

Notice a trend here? That's right, both runners up are by the same author... including one that was already a winner. Last year, I questioned Deathz0r's request to name Eternal as mapper of the year, but now I would agree. Eternal continued to produce a number of great pieces this year, including Remain III and XXXI Cybersky. Each project is completely different... Remain III (particularly the later levels) appeals to more aesthetic players, while Cybersky will be adored by Hell Revealed masochists.