Ancient Aliens

One of the best megawads I've played in last few years. Great design, gameplay, story. 5/5

And here goes yet another megawad, still done on UV, and well well, what a journey it was. I must say that I expected something completely different than what AA really is, more exactly that it's not very difficult, but I jumped into the deep end and did my best. In fact, I daresay that having played and finished Alien Vendetta right before AA, AA undoubtedly puts it to shame in terms of difficulty, the standards have surely been raised since the days of the former. AV is little more than a walk in the park compared to how challenging AA is. There are some slaughter like levels towards the end, such as MAP18, MAP28, or MAP29, but these aren't the main focus of the megawad. In fact, they were among the easiest levels from my POV due to their nature and style of gameplay involved, after all the most efficient method of finishing MAP28 and MAP29 is just strafing, firing BFG blasts or rockets, avoiding damage, and nothing else. But as I said these were among the easiest levels, because the majority of the maps in AA rely on strategic enemy placements, and skillful and mindful gameplay on the player's end in order to survive, and while all maps do feature a few hundreds of enemies, none of them count on their sheer numbers to overwhelm the player, after all getting cornered by dozens of enemies is neither fun, interesting, or challenging, and the people who worked on AA understood this, although there still are instances when the player does get trapped and a significant number of enemies teleport in to crush him, more or less forcing him to take damage, same for the moments where you have little to no resources left, take an elevator, and surprise, you're assaulted by a few Revenants once you reach the top. Some of the levels also feature a significant amount of Arch-Viles as well, sometimes at the very end of the level, acting as a sort of final, deadly trap. One such example is MAP26 where a bunch of Arch-Viles (like 4) wait for the player in the final (tight) room. Oh, and if this isn't enough a small wave of Hell Knights, Barons, and Revenants will also teleport in after the (unavoidable) trap is activated. There are also some very interesting ideas regarding enemy usage as well. For instance, MAP01 has a Cyberdemon that you have to more or less use as a turret to kill the few waves of enemies who teleport in, and at the end you telefrag him.

If wads such as AV were more forgiving, not to mention much more predictable, this one shares none of these traits. It's unpredictable, you never know when and what enemy is going to pop up and in what numbers, and some encounters are simply merciless. All this leads to a very simple conclusion: This megawad is definitely not targeted at average players. I actually fall somewhere around this category, but my point here is that it's very difficult, so if you do decide to take it on and are not a skilled or experienced player, and also doing it blindly like myself, your day will suck, there's no doubt about that. Expect a lot of trial and error, raging, and frustration in a few levels. Moreover, also expect a few forced pistol starts similar to what's seen in Scythe due to suicide exits, which from my own experience weren't needed as I haven't had many resources left. Always be on your guard. There isn't really any difficulty curve in AA, or not using the same traditional formula. By this I mean that it starts a bit difficult and tricky and from the very first levels you're made aware of what you're getting yourself into, and it only becomes more difficult as you progress, however by MAP18 it reaches the maximum difficulty so if you survive or do well in this level, you'll survive what follows, that's basically as far as it goes. Megawads such as AV on the other hand start very slowly and nicely increase the difficulty in steps, with a few occasional spikes.

My favorite levels are going to be MAP23 and MAP24. MAP24 is also the most unique level as it's a map where the action takes place in a heavenly dimension, radically different from other maps where the action takes place near or inside ancient ruins on exotic islands, though there are some very futuristic maps present as well. The name "Culture Shock" fits MAP24 like a glove. As for MAP23, there's nothing really special about it to make it stand out of the crowd like MAP24 but simply a personal favorite due to its great size and large open area, it's epic and atmospheric, especially after clearing the outside area and spending a few moments admiring the vastness and beauty of the level and its music. Invigorating, uplifting, peaceful and soothing.

There is no final boss fight at the end of the megawad. In fact, MAP29 is the last level where you face anything, MAP30 acting as a sweet thank you for playing from the authors in which you return to the same island where you embarked on the expedition instead, now inhabited by lots of scientists, presumably waiting for the hero.

AA also introduces a new and amazing soundtrack along with high quality textures for all its maps, including replacements for some items, they're all beautiful and really add to the overall quality and atmosphere of the megawad. It also comes with a brand new menu, status bar, ENDOOM screen, and teleporters usually take you through a black and purple tunnel with various drawings before reaching the destination. Some enemies such as the Arachnotron and the Mancubus are also retextured or use new sounds. Moreover, there's a few new enemies introduced, a slow red flying sphere with an angry face that fires a lot of homing missiles. They are weaker or just as weak as a Lost Soul, but are especially deadly and also inflict damage upon death, so make sure you keep the distance. Another new enemy introduced is a small black trooper who turns invisible while running and fires the same plasma the Arachnotron uses. Of course, this means they're also very deadly since they are fast and also invisible while moving, on top of instantly locking on the player once spotted sometimes, but have easily recognizable sounds so watch out when you hear them. Luckily, they're also very weak, a fire from the Chaingun or the regular Shotgun kills them. But if you're careless, you think Chaingunners are bad? You'll be surprised by what they can pull off, they can be much, much worse. If there are no Arch-Viles or other dangerous enemies in a small or big wave of enemies that includes a few troopers it's best to kill them first. I'm not very sure how infighting works with those guys, yet I am pretty sure you can't turn them against each other, or I've never witnessed this behavior anyway. They're probably similar to Arch-Viles in this aspect.

On the technical side of things there's not much to say, only that PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 (on which I played AA) doesn't seem to be able to run some of the levels at a constant, very high framerate. I myself noticed a decrease in performance in the outside area of MAP18 and MAP23 when a lot was going on, but it was still noticeable even after I silenced the enemies, mostly while looking in the distance from certain points. I suppose it's just the high quality assets and the large size of the levels that push the source port to its limits, but note that these performance issues are very far from something major or serious, just a mild inconvenience, and results will likely vary with each source port.

All things considered, this megawad is without a doubt very solid, not to mention challenging. You're free to try your luck but remember, it's not for the faint of heart, especially if you decide to go for it blind like I did, and perhaps even if you watch a walkthrough before. Otherwise, best of luck to anyone who embarks on the journey, it's well worth the time.

Very nice maps, nice design, spaces, many details in the geometry and elements that makes it look different to other megawads I've seen, interesting work on mixing the colorful textures.  The only downside for me was the constant ambushes and slaughterfest setups, I think it looks like overdoing it, it would have been an enjoyable mapset without the constant ambushes and innecesary slaughter.

Finally got around to playing this through recently. Most of the maps were good but there were some that were especially good; Culture Shock is easily my favorite because I love sky levels and the last few levels with a fun little ending. Also liked stewboy's secret hunt on MAP31 and managed to find all of them in an hour.

Done with these settings:

- PRBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 9.

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

An amazing megawad I truly recommend for experienced players. This is a hard mapset that develops a style which I'll surely recognize from now on in other maps made by the same author, Skillsaw. I liked this style, takes some time to familiarize, in fact, the first 5 or 6 maps were some of the hardest ones (except map 02). One just doesn't expect to find a cyber as the first enemy in the entire wad lol. There are also what I've read are called "guest" maps, showing some contrasts between Skillsaw's maps. For instance, Joshy's maps are recognizable at first sight, and at first deaths.

Anyway, visuals are on point, and midis very fitting. My favourite set of textures are in the second episode, a lot of violet/indigo, not common in Doom. And also in map 24, incredible. One thing that I highly appreciated is that almost all maps provide you ways to return to previous areas, in case a secret is still missing or whatever the case. One thing that I highly appreciated is that almost all maps provide you ways to return to previous areas, in case a secret is still missing or whatever the case. 

Two new monsters: Trooper in black (or plasma trooper), fast deadly enemies but weak and easy to kill; Alien Drone, I loved this one, especially their sounds that come from the Iron Lich.

My favourite maps are 10, 15, 31, 32, 17, 22, 24, 25, 29, and of course 30, those scientists lol. The other maps vary from good to very good.

Overall, I'll give this a 9/10   

the MIDIs, the Colors, the Beautiful environments, yummy.

good maps good color good ayy lamys

noobs complaining about difficulty: 1. use small brains to read the menu before starting a new game aka 'difficulty selection menu'. 2. swallow small pride and choose something before UV (hmp is highlighted by default u have to literally select UV yourself). 3. accept worthless whiny existence (aka u r a b ! t c h) if you rate something too hard for you but refuse to choose easy mode... killsaw next time make the maps even harder for them o yea

Not a fan of the pink/pastel thing
Other than that, excellent

easily my most replayable wad as of recent. you have to really get used to skillsaw's design style in order to really enjoy this. it'll take awhile, but it is easier than Valiant in my opinion and worth a play and a replay all day every day. Ancient Aliens represents a true evolution of skillsaw's efforts. while his modernized difficulty still remains, the level layouts are significantly better, and the resources used, god damn, they are fantastic. the flow of each level is perfect, a few concepts get used, and there's always action to keep on the toes. what's also good is that there are only two custom monsters and no real need for new weapons. the new monsters are consistent with the rest of the Doom monster lineup, low HP but can still wreck unsuspecting players. the guest mappers also pull some fancy stops, the BTSX mappers do what they do best, while lupinx's work, a bit slacking in gameplay, showcases some new and phenomenal spots. I guess the one map I don't really like that much is Pinchy's MAP23, which is massive, filled with numerous teleporting enemies (some of which don't work) and just feels overblown. but it doesn't detract from the rest of the set, which I outright adore. difficulty can easily get insane if you choose even HMP, but ITYTD/HNTR is honestly just right. add to it what is probably stewboy's best music tracks to date and we have a wad that is perfect in every sense.