The /newstuff Chronicles #224

In a week of interesting developments comes a relatively uninteresting newstuff (albeit largely due to a new megawad being released with bugs, forcing a re-release sometime in the next week or two). A mere 7 maps await, 5 of which are single player and 3 of which are antiques. Still, if you like weapons you won't be disappointed, nor if you like the classic fare. And of course it won't take you long to play them all:

• The first official weapons pack of Team UnNamed! by Chronoteeth
  3460kb - Edge - n/a -
  It's...wait for it...a weapons mod! 11 weapons, bound to the first 6 slots. They are similar to the original weapons, but show some differences in speed and power (except for the kamikaze weapon 6, which fires a barrage of rocket-type things until your ammo runs out). Reloading is on some of them too. You might recognise some of the graphics, but they're nicely done anyway. Recommended if you can use Edge and like weapons mods, although I recommend playing more difficult wads with it.
  
  
• YaKu Fast DM 01 by Jan Pokrzywinski (YaKu)
  30kb - doom2.exe - DM -
  A small brick/wooden deathmatch map that is slightly reminiscent of the Brit11 series. A medium-width passage with ups and downs encircling a square outdoor arena in the middle. 3 ways into it, and there is some cover out there too. All weapons except chainsaw and bfg are present, but there are some bad spawns - not on top of a weapon, not a super shotgun or even stuck in the wall (wriggle to get free when this happens). This brings a bit of luck into play but despite this it's good for 1-on-1 matches and low-turnout FFA's, and it even looks quite good too. Recommended.
  
  
• EREBUS 2- Penetrating the Darkness by Gary Atkinson
  143kb - doom2.exe - SP -
  A brown map that has you journeying through various browny things (buildings, caves, outdoor bits etc.). Detail is mid-90's, although there are some nice parts and lighting effects. It's pretty dark throughout, and there's not really enough health for all the zombies present. Still it has a nice atmosphere, and the classic hunters will enjoy it.
  
  
• Escape from Devil's Island by Dan D. Luke
  59kb - doom2.exe - SP -
  A small city-like wad set in a bunch of buildings surrounded by water. You might be disappointed when you read the wad description but this is a 95 wad, and the atmosphere is quite good anyway. Detail is 1995-esque and it's not overly-hard to beat, although watch the ammo. It's a nice map, despite you needing a secret to reach the first key.
  
  
• Lab 01 by Brett Johnson
  84kb - doom2.exe - SP -
  Why it's called a lab is beyond me, as it's a gothic castle set in a valley with plenty of cave bits. It's actually quite confusing from start to finish as the way isn't obvious, many of the wooden poles are actually switches and you'll probably run into bits you can't reach or not know where to go next. The detail is a mixture (bare areas together with the screenie) and the action is mostly small monsters with a few bigger ones towards the end. It's not particularly that good, but there isn't much else to play this week.
  
  
• Cyber Wolf by Carmen Bellinger
  128kb - doom2.exe - SP -
  Now here's an interesting one. Take 3 cyberdemons, put them in a Wolfenstein-esque map 31, add a BFG, a megasphere and scatter plenty of cell packs throughout the corridors. You now have this map, where your mission is simply to kill the terrible trio (whereupon the map will exit, but in ZDoom only). It's an interesting challenge (particularly for the demo people) but probably won't appeal to that many outside the Hell Revealed fan club.
  
  
• No Hope for Life Epsiode II: FATE (Demo) by Andy Leaver
  128kb - doom2.exe - SP -
  A two-map demo for the aforementioned episode. As with the original episode, the theme is tech, the detail is good and it's fairly easy, although with some bigger monsters around there are some tricky moments. It is of course the beginning of the wad, so expect it to get harder throughout when the full thing is released. Not bad.