Aeternum

"In Aeternum in triumpho tenebrarum... " (Forever in dark triumph)

Over the wad, what else? Aeternum has been finished, played through ZDoom 2.8.1 on UV difficulty. A rather short, 3-level wad.

So what's this... Aeternum is a short wad with skill-based gameplay, heavily inspired by the classic Alien Vendetta. It comes with new textures and energizing, action-oriented music. The first 2 maps appear to take place on Earth, while the final one exclusively in Hell.

The difficulty is not high, and it would be somewhere around the end of the first half of AV, with tricky traps but nothing too intense, therefore it's pretty accessible. It's also short, being easy to beat in one sitting as it takes little over an hour or so, depending on your speed. The second map however is the longest, being noticeably lengthier than the other 2, but it doesn't necessarily drag on as it gets better as you progress, and more fun. Although the first half of the map might be a bit underwhelming. Everything culminates with a short but more intense final level with slight slaughter tendencies, and an IoS awaits at the end.

There isn't much else to add, and it isn't as impressive as skillsaw's other works such as Valiant, Ancient Aliens, Vanguard, or Lunatic. His style is unmistakable but here it doesn't do a whole lot to catch anyone's attention. Thus, Aeternum can be seen as a sign of things to come, primarily due to its gameplay which would further evolve in the author's subsequent releases, in addition to his maps becoming much more impressive visually. It's a fun little wad to try out when you want to play a Doom map or two.

Quite a large gap between the releases of Sector 666 and Aeternum, skillsaw's second WAD. For those interested, the word "aeternum" is Latin for "forever", or "to eternity".

So yes, released in 2007, the aesthetics are greatly improved this time around (well, they should be, after WADs like Alien Vendetta, Scythe, etc.) and consists of only three levels. VERY short, even for skillsaw. Well, that makes my breaking-down review a little easier.

The first level (The Boditorium) is a semi-wide-open island surrounded by damaging blood. The secrets and enemies are all positioned well enough to be highly dangerous (yep, this WAD is pretty damn difficult), and is just paced enough to be pretty fun.

The second level - Archaeolophobia - is the adventure map of the WAD; travelling down sewage systems, traversing caverns, exploring old structures, fighting in church-like ruins... it's all pretty good, except for the fact that it simply goes on and on and on and on... it becomes utterly tiring after a while, not to mention that some of the monster placement is downright annoying (the Cyberdemon guarding the lift to the Yellow Key, and the YK section itself). It's too much to bare after a while.

Fire and Grimstone - the final map - is, once again, a nice-looking level with some lethal traps (though, once again, Cyberdemons are placed is semi-bullshit spots). This level feels more slaughter-y than the previous ones, and there's a surplus of ammo, but it forces you to switch between weapons, which is nice. The final boss is easy as fuck, though.

Overall, I feel that Aeternum is honestly skillsaw's weakest effort. Skillsaw himself apparently said that a lot of the stuff he did prior to 2010 wasn't very good (that's just false). With this WAD, it feels that he was experimenting with new mapping and new design quirks (more detail and whatnot). He succeeded in the actual map design and the choice of music (isn't it all from Unreal Tournament?), but the levels - well, more Map02 than anything - should've had a few cuts to prevent it from becoming stale, and the Cyberdemon placements should've been tweaked.

The Good Maps: 01

Average Maps: 02, 03

Overall, I give Aeternum a 2.5 / 4 (rounded to 3 / 5).

despite being skillsaw's second oldest wad, I have to say, this one is still one of his hardest levelsets. I mean god damn. the first map is a real doozy with how exposed you are right from the beginning, it helps to get rid of any hitscanner over there as well as get the secret SSG. but fuck what a difficult starting map. then you got the marathon level that is MAP02, which is a little easier, but there's more meat to grind through, and then the last one with some semi-slaughter gameplay before a painfully easy IOS. these maps are killer, so make sure the best weapons are procured and used, this will still be a harsh set to get through.