Scythe X. Episodes 1-2

This is a goddamn good wads the atmosphere the level all are good 5 stars

 

 

It is a real shame that this wad never got the follow up episodes that promised so much at the end of Map10. In the end we have a moderately easy set of short and very well polished maps. Certainly worthy of playing over a long coffee break or something to relax the mind. It is perfect for what it is, but loses a star purely because of the clear fact that it feels incomplete.

I thought this was the best wad ever made in 2009, and its still up there now. Looks and plays like a middle ground between the first Scythe and the second one, but better, which is an ideal happy medium. Great music too, and the most perfect sky texture to use for "nocturnal" maps. As much as I'd love to see the full thing materialize its probably never going to happen, as it stands Scythe X is a near-perfect bookend to the work of someone who has influenced probably all of us at some point. 

I don't have anything fresh to say since comments bellow already said everything of what I wanted to say. So I'll just push you to download this gorgeous Scythe sequel.

 

It's okay guys, the rest of the episodes are just taking a while cuz they're gonna be reeeeally good!

Honestly, this is my favourite Scythe.

 

The atmospheric, upbeat MIDIs coupled with good, detailed environments, gorgeous lighting, and snappy combat with a nice difficulty curve, gradually getting more difficult as the WAD progresses. Maybe Erik will come back come specifically April 10 (Scythe's 20th anniversary) to finish this WAD, who knows? Anyways... I can't think of anything negative to say about this unlike Scythe 1 & 2, great WAD. I've always loved it. Also, MAP10's moment, you know the one... Is just... wow.

Possibly the most ambitious and best addition in the Scythe series if Erik had finished it. I love the detailing in this WAD, it hits the sweet spot for me. The map layouts themselves feel snappy, nice and comfortable to move in, which is complimented by this WAD's mild difficulty. All maps in this set are well made and fun, but my favorite map by far is: MAP10 - "The Encounter". The atmosphere in this map is impeccable, moody, unmatched even. From the opening notes of it's ominous and gloomy MIDI to the outdoor shootout with the new custom enemies. I really like the vegetation covered green cave outdoors, it really compliments the debuting monsters. The nine maps prior to this built up to the dream-like climax of the WAD, which although wasn't the intended ending, it felt like a strong note to end one's mapping legacy on. 

 

Scythe X is snappy and simple.

It's a great addition to the Scythe series with the only exception being that it's unfinished (Hope Alm is doing okay out there).

 

A lot of maps were very quick and very fun to complete, and each layout feels fresh, which helps due to the fact it's split into episodes. Scythe II is much of the same, but I feel as if Scythe X significantly differentiates from it's prequel. From the txt file, Alm seems harsh on himself for most of his maps, but I would agree that map 5 deserves criticism. The whole gameplay of it just seems unbalanced with the choice of weapons along with the sheer amount of enemies that spawn in, which makes for a mediocre response. Other than that, a lot of the maps are well designed and executed. 

 

I do wonder what Doom maps would be like if Scythe X was finished, as I am sure Alm would yet again have left a huge impact on the community.

I very much enjoyed most of these maps!

An another masterpiece from the Scythe Series. I liked the green demons, the idea to set it on a space station which is taken over by Hell's demons sounds neat and as always, I had fun and I was grateful to play it. Hope you'll return one day with Full version of Scythe X

 

Easily my favourite Megawad Series

 

And after a very short time Scythe X was finished too, played through PrBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP difficulty.

 

So, what is there to say? Well, not much this time. Scythe X is the third installment in the Scythe series, using the same formula of fun, skillful, and engaging combat. It comes with a new background menu, new intermission screen, new music, new textures, and a few new enemies accompanied by new sounds. Namely, a new green type of Imp who moves faster and fires a more powerful version of the regular fireball, and new green Pain Elemental who spawns green spectral ghosts who fire plasma. They are also encountered as separate enemy, similar to the Lost Souls of the original Pain Elemental.

 

The design follows closely the established formula last seen in Scythe 2, starting this time on techbase levels. Their location is different from those seen in Scythe 2 as they take place in space, as opposed to Earth as it would seem to be the case of the predecessor, which often descended into underground areas. This of course makes them more appealing and interesting, compared to those of Scythe and Scythe 2 which didn't really stand out of the crowd. The difficulty follows the same curve, starting very easy and then increasing the difficulty in steps with each episode. Suicide exits are also present which end the first episode. The theme does not appear to change with the start of the next episode until the very end, with MAP10 The Encounter which serves as an introduction to the new enemies of Scythe X, but unlike Scythe 2 they are not presented in a boss battle, something the predecessor did with the Plasma Marine. And it is good that it doesn't do this since the new enemies appear to be low and mid tier monsters who are more threatening than the standard counterpart, but not by much.

 

Unfortunately, this is also where the journey ends. Right after it gets very interesting and teases some things to come. It's a shame considering it ends so abruptly because it holds great potential to be even better than Scythe 2, which was already an improvement over the original with its more modern design, less risky levels (complete removal of timed maps), and much more themes and styles to explore. It is also easy to see some similarities between Scythe X and other wads such as Lunatic which reveals the influence of the first over the other. At the time of writing this Erik Alm has not visited the site since September 2015, so it's unlikely to ever see Scythe X complete. Still, it does well what it does and it's enjoyable albeit very short (the length is similar to that of the previously mentioned Lunatic, which was also very short). It's also great to see how it already made improvements over Scythe 2, but perhaps we'll never know how the final product would look like. Perhaps the only bad part would be the beginning of The Encounter where a Cyberdemon needs to be faced, and you must do this on narrow, dark hallways with poor visibility.

 

Otherwise, it's good and it does well what it does in addition to being a good place to start if you want to get an idea of how modern maps and megawads might look like since the influence is certainly there, but a bad place to begin the trilogy since you will miss how each changed and improved over the other. Best to play them in chronological order. I think that's all I can say about it.

I know I'm going to sound like a broken record at this point but, once again, the use of death exits really kills my enjoyment of this WAD. I accept and realize that the Scythe series in general just ain't for me though and that's okay. What's sad about this installment is that we'll probably never see the final product materialize. I think that's a damn shame. However, what's offered here is still good.

The final, sadly unfinished entry in the Scythe series is a WAD I enjoyed very much with the exception of the final two maps. MAP09 has slightly obtuse progression and very little health even on HMP, while MAP10 is admittedly atmospheric but represents an aggressive step up in difficulty which I found very jarring.

 

These maps aside, Erik Alm did a superb job here. These are small, intense but not excessively difficult maps with a broadly tech-oriented theme. Because this was intended as the start of a megawad the higher-tier monsters and weapons are barely used, but the encounters are all very thoughtfully designed. It's a testament to the quality of Scythe X that I almost completed it in a single sitting.

Played on UV.

 

The Good

Brilliant details & textures, challenging & fair difficulty.

 

The Bad

Sad this won't ever be completed. It's nearly 10 years old.

 

In summation

Play it! Ten maps of goodness!

Done with these settings:

 

- Crispy Doom 4.2

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

 

Echoing what Spectre01 said, this is a fantastic set of classic Scythe maps. As short as it is, I had quite a lot of fun revisiting Alm's style. The maps are all beautifully designed with tech/space ambients, small layouts for short gameplay. You can also see at the end what could have been the theme of the next episode(s). The music selection is neat, with map 10 having my favourite one (I just love mysterious tracks c:).

 

For combat and monster placement, it's obvious that the wad is unfinished, the two episodes are clearly early combat against low and mid-tiers, presenting a few instances of high-tiers, something that the other Scythe's did too. Not the whole bestiary shows up, there are even some surprises, which emphasizes the wad's absense of further episodes (Circle of Death crashes the moment you wake the arachnotrons up). It's still great quality though, provides easy to medium fights, some teleport traps and a few lock-ins in darkness. 

 

Secret-wise, Alm used mostly the same kind of textures (or similar ones) to use as switches. It's not always intuitive as to which "specific texture" opens the secret, so I had to wall-hump a bit. Regardless, always generous rewards. 

 

Can't pick favourite maps, as all play more or less the same, probably map 10 which was hilarious at first and then, the surprises. 

 

Yeah, this needs more maps! But we get what we get, and I highly recommend it, at least to encourage Alm to make the megawad... uh, whatever XD. My rate is 10/10.

Fantastic start to what could have been a legendary megawad. Hopefully Mr. Alm gets around to finish it.

*waits for new episodes and collapses* okay so Scythe X, perhaps if Mordeth wasn't still in development we'd have called this one the Scythe X award [/badjoke]. still though, we're still waiting for the episodes beyond 1 and 2, both of which handled techbases fairly well, but ultimately were standard, like Alm's first few levels in the previous Scythes. he manages to make secret finding a little bit more peculiar in this one, as well as add a new monster which is featured in the final level, but that's about it. poor Scythe X is the kind of wad we all really anticipate would truly be finished.

very good level

Pure eye candy as usual with the scythe series, although it doesn't reach the immersion level of Scythe 2. Of course, the gameplay is high quality, with one caveat: whereas the first two Scythes are known to be amongst the most grueling megawads out there (I'm ignoring super-slaughter collections like Sunder or Chillax as those target a niche audience),most of this one is two easy. Only the last 2 maps throw on brutal challenges out of nowhere (do consider that I had to utterly butcher MAP10 to clear it).

It's a shame that Erik Alm didn't end up finishing this. Feels like Scythe 1's gameplay mixed with 2's aesthetics. Great overall.

Good short (or barely medium) levels with quality gameplay/architectur e and fitting music. Erik delivers once more, good luck on future episodes! 4.5(5)/5

I'M WAITING FOR THE SEQUELS AND THEN SCYTHE LEGENDS, THEN SCYTHE BATTLE NETWORK. Joking aside, this is love in WAD form. ***** ~CSon

this was an outstanding wad had fun playing it i really like the space like feel to it and Erik should really consider making more of these great MEGAWADS there really good.

Outstanding quality levels, very fun gameplay, surprisingly tough challenges at times, well hidden and clever secrets, interesting new monsters, amazing work with themes... the list just goes on. 5*, no questions. -Phobus

awesome wad!!! erik is the master 5/5 is a shame that is incomplete

Great level design, great gameplay, nice music, and perfect pacing. It doesn't get much better than this folks! The atmosphere is great too. The last map had my heart racing! Lighting in Software mode is orgasmic.