SERENITY III aka INFINITY (v1.2)

Infinity is the third chapter of the Serenity Series. Originally released in 1995 as a replacement for episode 1 of Doom. It consists of 8 vanilla compatible maps (no secret map). I played the episode on Ultra Violence using Woof on *vanilla*  compatibility setting. 

The average difficulty is higher than Doom 1, but for the wrong reasons. The maps relies on, such things as mandatory damaging floors (which are recurrent on this series), abundance of sergeants and a lack of armor and health all through it. The previous entry had these issues on some of the maps, with map 2 and 3 being the biggest offenders; so I guess it is characteristic of the Serenity wads.

Infinity follows the tradition of the previous entry with the use of copyright music. The episode includes an eclectic mix of tracks by C+C Music Factory, Miles Davis, Michael Jackson among others. The renditions are not bad, and give the wad a nostalgic feeling of early hackers coming up with maps for what was once was an emerging new video game genre

The maps are a little basic for todays standards but they are still fun to play. One most approach to this old wads with the mindset that you are exploring an old design.  They are not as polished as todays designs, the fun comes out of exploring them as a product from their times. 

1. **Switch bored?**: a short romp through a wood base. Good use of shotgunners a couple of fun ambushes. The map is a little low on health and has some mandatory damaging floors which can get you killed depending on the hitscanners fights go. *Switch bored?* has the strange habit of having secrets thrown around on the normal route.
2. **Say jazz to another excess**: a shotgunner heavy map  set on a tech installation.  The most memorable section being a maze full of elevators which makes you choose between different tunnels. The rocket launcher and the baron of hell are introduced on this level. For being such as  a hitscanner level it is certainly missing some armor or medipacks. 
3. **Beat it!:** The best level so far. Aesthetically it is all over the place combining tech sections with wood and marble, but from a gameplay perspective it much more forgiving than the last two. The plasma rifle and green armor are finally introduced here.  Similarly to the first level it is full of nonsensical secrets which are flagged as you progress.
4. **Everybody frag now:** Combat heavy scenario, simple buy very fun. The BFG is introduced on this level albeit I did not got a chance to use it. There is an interesting section near the start in which you fight enemies inside a waist level maze.
5. **Dungeons of doom:** Sewer kind of level. Very easy and combat oriented, due to the cell ammo you receive. Very nice ambient song. 
6. **Who's afraid of red, yellow and blue?:** after the triad of combat heavy maps this one is much slower paced and puzzle oriented. Doomguy explores a very abstract map while trying to find the necessary keys to get out. Did not like this one very much.
7.  **Blaze of glory:** an ok level. Not very memorable. 
8. **Stargate into infinity:** an arena shootout level. Nice design in which the main arena expands during the fight. It tricks in to believing that the bruiser brothers will be the final boss, nut once they are killed the level opens up for one final section.

Is it worth playing Infinity today? It depends. The levels are basic and occasionally difficult for silly reasons, while also being short and charming in their own quirky way. Compared to some other maps from 1994 and 1995 this one is not as polished as Fava Beans or Slaughter Until Death but it is certainly better than something like Serenity. 

On the other hand, if you compare this to todays maps there are some design decisions which are not expected after almost 30 years of mapping. The (ocasional) lack of health and the mandatory exploration through damaging floors can get on your nerves easily.

Compared to some other stuff from the early nineties this gets 4/5 stars, compare with some map sets from today it would be around 3/5.

The last chapter was the one I had less memories, perhaps because it's tough. A good time playing.
Beat it. Everybody frag now. Vangelis. Cool midis.

The final episode of the Serenity saga, and this is Infinity for sure.

The design is excellent for the time it was made.

Awesome layout with enough action and interesting sights even.

This proves that the authors were aiming for greater challenge and they improved a lot their mapping style since the first maps of Serenity. Even though, the Eternity episode is by far the best of the saga.

And this episode awaken again in me the fear to the shotgunners, damn i never was scared of them since i was kid. 

Thanks for these 3 episodes that make your own Doom, Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath.

I really love it!

Pros: Straightforward, lot of action, no button madness. Plays smooth. Classic Doom feeling.
Cons: Lots of invisible lines blocking monsters. Lots of hitscanners and not enough health packs.

Overall pretty good map set. Nice design and well textured. BUT playing this wad is sometimes annoying. Many hitscanners, not much cover. Litterally each corner has own exploding barrel. Every sector in secret area is marked as secret and is average of 20 secrets per level. Some secrets are needed to progress, but they are extremely obvious. Difficulty is kinda hard. Healthpacks are rare, hitscanners are not and slowly draining your precious HP. As wad from 95' really not bad. 4/5*

definitely my least favorite of the trilogy. there's tons of hitscanners, secrets that are required to pass through the level, and if it wasn't annoying it was actually boring. the maps are thankfully not too big. really did not like E1M2's stupid maze with lifts either. and there does need to be health as well, many of the secrets lacked health in place of monsters and such.

Make a normal map, balance it accordingly, then replace 95% of medikits with sergeants and you've basically got my experience of Infinity. My overall view of this wad is that it's just annoying. It's definitely more difficult than its predecessors, but for all the wrong reasons IMO, which include the overabundance of sergeants combined with a real scarcity of health, with forced nukage runs coming later on; I had to put give health in the console at one point because there was no other way past it. E1M2's narrow corridor/lift maze was the first sign of trouble where sergeants could kill me before I even saw them, but after decent maps in E1M3 and 4, it started becoming a major issue again, to the point where I pretty much never had over 20 health and was getting increasingly irritated. Quit about halfway through E1M8 because it was just doing my head in.

While the progression through levels wasn't as obscure here as in some of the maps in Serenity and Eternity, some of the secrets were even more nonsensical, and the general design of this WAD felt like step back from Eternity, but still quite a way better than stuff like Serenity's E3M6 and E3M7, it's just a shame that the actual gameplay here was a royal pain in the arse most of the way.

Interestingly, I come away from this trilogy with the opinion that the weakest episode is the one not made in 1994. Eternity was definitely the best of the three, Serenity was ok, I could happily replay those two. Infinity? I'm glad it wasn't.