Disjunction

The Good:

-          Stunning visuals - they don't come much better than this!

-          Non Linear, huge levels

-          “A bit difficult,” yet fair, for the first 9 Maps

-          Decent music

-          Tons of clever and fantastic puzzles

-          For only having 11 Maps, it will take you as long as it will for a full 32 Map Megawad

The Bad:

-          Maps 10 & Map 11 are complete slaughterfests (which I absolutely loathe)

-          To make matters worse, there's nowhere near enough ammo for Maps 10 and 11

-          Some-to-most Secrets are quite a bit difficult to find throughout the entire game

-          Hitscanners are wayyy too exaggerated. I was getting picked off by Zombieguys and shotguns from a virtual 500 yards away.

-          Hope you like fighting Revenants; they’re the most plentiful monster in the entire game

The Ugly:

-          Missing Red Key in Map 09 if playing on the 2 easiest levels.

-          Some large rooms have 4-6 Arch Viles with dozens of Cacodemons and everything else.

In Short:

Bring your itchy trigger finger to this game. It’s a great balance between puzzle solving and continuous dog fighting. I admit that I loved this WAD and had fun with it right up until Map 10 because of this. Then it turns into a complete clusterf*ck. There is no way, on single player, you’re going to get through the last 2 Maps without using God Mode AND unlimited ammo.

I completed this game initially on HMP. After the game was over, I started a new one on ITYTD and immediately IDCLEV’ed to Map 09 to see if what I read was true from other reviews and it was! :(

The Red Key is missing. I took one star off for that and one star off because the last 2 Maps being slaughterfests. “A bit difficult” is not the same as slaugherfest. You’d think the Red Key issue would be corrected by now, but I’ve seen no patch for it.

If you are into a game that has a fine balance of puzzles and shooting and don’t mind the slaughterfesty last two levels, then download and have fun. Just remember if you play on the 2 easiest levels, pull up the console and “Give Keys” on Map 09 when you can’t find the Red one in the room with the Cyberdemons.

3 out of 5 Stars

EPIC journey through 11 completely different levels. Stunning visuals: from tiny details to grand architecture.

These maps are challenging, but not impossible. Had to retreat to HMP on the two latest levels, though.

My favorite level is Felt (library). So many passage ways to explore.

Fantastic wad with some really impressive architecture that just keeps getting better with each level. Very challenging gameplay too, even on HMP!

Recommended.

One of the best mapsets I played this year.  Difficulty was challenging without frustrating.  Music gave the perfect environmental ambiance for each map.  My only quibble was the last stretch of the last map where I had no more ammo.

I remember when I first tested this. The opening level was really promising: a sweet-looking cliffside techbase with a distinct visual style and fun game play (I'm weak for some well placed barrels). Second was almost as good. Then it started to get heavier and visual style changed to temples and stone which is my least favorite so I put the WAD on hold for a second testing.

And I'm glad I tested this again now because the remaining levels are also really well made and good-looking. Some of the temple levels get a bit too switch-hunty but at least most of the buttons did something within the same area and you didn't have to wonder if something opened at the other side of the level. The library level had some nice puzzles with switches that opened other switches that lead to secrets within secrets. There was usually at least one thing in most of the levels that made them stand out. Like in MAP09 the caged circle with the toxic moat and sequentially raising platforms was a neat trick. The last map was a great finale for this disjunction of levels, a beautiful and icy outdoor map with a sky high tower you had to climb to beat the mapset. And there's always something pleasing in killing hundreds of Cacodemons in vast open areas. Seeing them dropping from the sky one by one like overripe tomatoes makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Like another reviewer said there's one showstopper bug in MAP09. Red skull key is not in the map for skill 0 and 1.

And I know this level is not designed for coop but on MAP10 you can make the middle area inaccessible in coop because of bars that raise to block entrance to the area.

My rating: 4.1/5