Combat Shock

Fun slaughter WAD, the last level is a little bit of an overkill though.

Prepare for contact *bang bang*.

And now, the first Combat Shock has been completed, played through GlBoom+ 2.5.1.5 on HMP. Pfew, although pretty short just like the sequel, it's just as intense, if not even more so. So let's start this thing.

Combat Shock is a wad comprised of 4 levels with slaughter gameplay. It comes with new, action oriented music that's perfect for the scale of the fights, new textures, ENDOOM screen, but no new sounds, weapons, or enemies. The levels present an influence in texturing and atmosphere from Plutonia in a number of areas, but it's not as prevalent as it is in the first few levels of CS2. The action takes place in bases as well as hellish dimensions.

As previously mentioned, the gameplay is slaughter, with large enemy counts who usually come in smaller of larger waves, mockingly attack you from platforms, and try to ambush you in all kinds of ways while encouraging the player to come up with a tactic in order to deal with them. Previous knowledge also helps, particularly later in the maps as the traps and encounters get more and more difficult as you progress, thus having to rely on trial and error every now and then. Puzzles and platforming sections also push the player's skills while still remaining fun, therefore having their place and not being thrown into the maps just for the sake of having an extra challenge which ruins the experience by making them unnecessarily difficult or tedious. In fact, there are entire areas designed with platforming in mind which most definitely have their place in the level, one such example being the blue skull room on MAP04. Others take a "high risk, high reward" approach, such as an alcove with 2 Soulspheres on pillars also on MAP04. Looks easy enough to grab them, but it's very easy to fall down too, and although you can climb back up, the damaging floor will most likely take a big chunk of the extra health you have gained before the platform lowers completely, hence the health bonuses going to waste.

The balancing of the levels is good most of the time, but compared to the sequel, it could've been a bit better. This is most notable on the last 2 maps. Although the final traps are fair and perfectly doable if you have the knowledge and/or skill, I did find myself running out of ammo on a few occasions right before reaching the said encounters. MAP04's Hell Knight army placed on the side with the door that leads to the room with the red skull was pretty frustrating as even with all the ammo the map offered, it almost wasn't enough. That side makes no sense from this point of view considering that the other one has rockets in almost/all of the alcoves specifically to deal with the HKs, but on this side, they're all empty for some reason. This didn't pose much of a problem on the way to the room with the red skull, it proved disastrous on my way back. While I didn't run out of ammo, the HKs who managed to reach the elevator gave me basically no room to fight unless I manage to save some plasma cells from the previous encounter. The RL is almost impossible to use, and the SSG is a bit impractical since chances are, they'll kill you before you're able to put all of them down. Thankfully, the red skull also gives you access to a much needed ammo and health stash, allowing you to finish them off easily. Nonetheless, I found this design choice questionable, can't find a good reason why those alcoves would not have a single rocket inside. Previous knowledge can likely prevent this major problem, but if you're doing a blind playthrough like I did, you might have a bad time there. Other than that, the final encounter can be a bit frustrating, in a similar way to the final room of MAP03. Luckily, you have a choice: stay and fight as there are plenty of resources and infighting helps tremendously on MAP04 if done right, or run, since after killing a number of enemies you'll be able to reach a switch that allows you to reach the exit teleporter. MAP03 doesn't offer many resources and the trap itself is more punishing thanks to AVs who will resurrect their fallen comrades, but since you have the red skull by that point, you can simply run to the exit.

Other times the levels will try to lure you into an obvious trap with useful power ups, as is the case of a room on MAP04. When you reach a large, square room with a mega armor in the middle, know that it is a nasty trap. Before you even pick it up a wave of Revenants and a few Cyberdemons will spawn, but it is a major mistake to go for the armor as it will trigger another trap with a few Cacodemons and enormous waves of Imps. The whole area will be flooded with enemies and you will die immediately, there is no escape in this scenario. Therefore, the Revenants and Cyberdemons must be killed first after joining the party, and only then you should go for the mega armor, triggering the wave of Imps and Cacodemons in the process.

All in all, the duology is well designed and fun. Yes, they both have their more punishing moments and I feel CS2 had fewer instances, although I could be wrong, it's been a while. But, they're ultimately well designed. Perfect for veterans, but less skilled players can enjoy them too, if they rise to the challenge. I would, however, recommend watching a few videos on MAP04, just in case you run into the same issues like I did, otherwise, have fun slaying enemies (or getting slain). Definitely recommended.

remember folks, this one needs the Plutonia IWAD or you're gonna see some shit you probably shouldn't be seeing.

these four maps will have mostly slaughter setpieces, going from easiest to hardest (read: most daunting). at the first onset, you've got the first map, which pulls its punches before the final few areas where you're gonna be dealing with quite a lot of foes teleporting in. the second ups the monster count to around a thousand, putting you in quite a few setpieces and arenas. don't get turned around with the switches needed to press things now. MAP03 feels a lot like the last area of Sunder's The Furnace, especially the easternmost area, with both indoor and outdoor combat taking precedence wholly. the final map, the biggest one, will offer the biggest arenas, with enjoyable scenarios like the hell knight onslaught in the largest room, the imp barrage to the east, and the large-scale mancubi-cacodemon-cyberdemon plus teleporting revenants in the last area. and the way things are detailed and scaled assures that these maps can be rather enjoyable for slaughtermaps. so go ahead and play this.