Reviews - ReaperAA

Already posted my review for this on Simplici7y, but gonna post it here as well:

"Although Apotheosis is "technically" a Total Conversion mod for Marathon/Aleph One engine, the quality and work put into it (graphics overhaul, new weapon/enemies + tweaks to existing ones to make gameplay punchier, full game's worth of levels) make it much more than just a mod for Marathon and more like an entirely professional indie game.

For anyone who is a fan of Boomer/retro shooters, I absolutely recommend to check it, even if you aren't a fan of original Marathon games. Like the og Marathon games, it is completely free to download and play and IMHO, its a lot more enjoyable than a good deal of retro FPSes out there.

Although its story is linked to Marathon games (it's story acts as a side story), you don't need to play Marathon to get into the story. And the story itself isn't all the necessary to enjoy it either. The gameplay makes up for it.

As for my specific experience with Apotheosis, I can say that the few gripes I had with original Marathon's gameplay are no longer an issue here. The levels here pretty complex looking, but yet pretty straightforward in terms of progression as I seldom got lost at where I needed to go. And the maps made great usage of incidental and setpiece based combat situations.

Another issue I had (with Marathon 2 specifically) was the over abundance of swimming and water based combat. Thankfully no boring water melee combat in Apotheosis. Instead Apotheosis uses the vaccum/oxygen mechanic to create arguably one of the most memorable levels in the form of "Sky Burial" where we carefully traverse in the dark semi-destroyed space station at low gravity.

About the only thing that comes close to being less than excellent is the storyline, which seems like a rehash of Marathon 2's story. But it's still well done overall."

Probably the best retro fps made in recent history.

The asthetics and level design are top notch. There are tons of cleverly placed secrets and references/easter eggs just like the tradition of build engine games. Infact, Ion Fury takes a lot of inspiration from the big 3 build games and yet it has its own unique feel and charm.

The gameplay/combat is also really good. There is no 1 or 2 overpowered weapons. Instead, every weapon has its own use. The enemies are also interesting with each one filling a niche role. The encounters are also well designed.

Overall, its a must-play game for fans of old school fps players.

Without a doubt this is among the best megawads ever created (if not THE best). The maps are extremely polished and beautifully eye-candy detailed thanks to the OTEX texture package. The maps are divided into 6 episodes(of 5 maps each) with each episode having its own distinct theme.

Maps contain wide variety of combat scenarios emulating various mapping styles of Doom. The difficulty levels are adjusted to cater to both newbies and pros alike. And on top of this its contains 4 new Dehacked custom monsters (plus an entirely new boss) which add new depth to the combat.

Truly it is a mapset worth playing to celebrate 25 years of Doom. It truly deserves a cacoward.

One of the best breakout/arkanoid clone. IT is the most content rich(over 70000 user levels) and script heavy breakout game.

This is arguably the best doom WAD in years. It is a 5 episode (32 levels) megawad of awesomeness. The maps are well detailed (especially EP5) and balanced (and thankfully they are not slaughter maps). The addition of new monsters is IMO very refreshing (if u dont like this, then there is a vaccinated edition as well).

It is a must play WAD for DooM lovers.

The only thing I would say about Firestorm is that it is slightly more balanced and complete version of TS.

While tiberian sun is not the best c&c game, it is still better than tiberian dawn and red alert 1 by leaps and bounds. It has the best atmospheric setting of all the c&c games. Its downside is that it has 2 factions as opposed to a promise of 3 factions.

A job well done by bringing back tiberian sun to its glory. New skirmish options + harder AI really increases replayability of TS. Only thing I miss is Random map generator, but then again its a small sacrifice for huge benefits.

A truly classic mod. Really enjoyed it. It really improved the balance the replayability of tiberian sun. And as a bonus, u can also play the singleplayer after applying the campaign fix (though it has some bugs).