Lilium (LILIUM.WAD)

LILIUM
by "Lainos"

Lainos graced us with three releases in the 2016 season. Comatose was a continuation of his exploratory style, further expanding the world of Sacrament. Urotsuki 2 took the broad architecture and texture experiments of his Urotsuki trilogy and folded it into the mythology of the Object series. Lilium has something from both but belongs to neither. It is not an invitation to explore one of Lainos's very personal worlds but rather a chance  to share in something intensely personal. Granted, it's still a Doom II level, a MAP01 replacement for a limit-removing port that can play .OGG files. As always, pr-boom+ is recommended by the author and I concur since pointing yourself toward the park crushed my framerate in ZDoom.

Urotsuki 2: Cargo Cult (UR2CARGO.WAD)

UROTSUKI 2
CARGO CULT

Lainos's 2015 arc was the enigmatic Urotsuki trilogy, a series of post-apocalyptic levels that owed some amount of aesthetic inspiration to the infamous Urotsukidoji anime. The main drive was to experiment with a new style, a sort of horrific technological creep dominated by mysterious pyramids. Urotsuki 2: Cargo Cult begins his new phase in 2016, exploring the same themes but adding just enough additional information to cast deep shadows into his fascinating setting. Like the rest of the Urotsuki series, it's a MAP01 replacement for Doom II meant to be played with limit-removing ports - specifically, PrBoom-plus's -complevel 2.

Overdose 2: Comatose (COMATOSE.WAD)

COMATOSE
OVERDOSE 2
by "Lainos"

Way back in 2011, the now defunct Clan [B0S] released a Doom II adventure through a haunted, deserted world - Sacrament. Among its more visionary elements was an ornate city level titled "Doxylamine Moon". Responding to feedback, its author - Lainos - released a second version of the map, titled Doxylamine Moon: Overdose, which offered more gameplay and more of the world to explore. Now, in 2015, he's taken its spiritual sequel from the project it was in and which I haven't heard anything about until now - Pain - and released it. Thus did another Russian PWAD begot another Overdose. I guess you might call its full title Doxylamine Moon: Overdose 2: Comatose, but I'll be referring to it as Comatose from here on out.

UAC Secret (UACECRET.WAD)

UAC SECRET
by "Lainos"

Lainos is hands-down one of my favorite Doom authors of all time. I love huge levels, and I love maps that you have to twist and turn like a Rubik's Cube. He's been taking it easy since 5till L1 Complex, though, preferring to release the occasional short, experimental level. UAC Secret, released in 2015, is something of a return to form. While not the ginormous sort of map that I was hoping for, It's still pretty big, and all the secrets and switchbacks will pad the length out for a good bit. This is a MAP01 replacement for any limit-removing port that can also play back .OGG files; the author's preferred port is the port of choice for Mother Russia, that being PrBoom-Plus.

Urotsuki: Radical Way (UROTSUK3.WAD)

UROTSUKI
RADICAL WAY
by "Lainos"

Lainos started releasing his Urotsuki trilogy in December of 2014. It was an experiment in aesthetics, trying to pioneer a brand new theme for Doom II that borrowed from the works of H.R. Giger and the infamous anime movie series, Urotsukidoji. The end result is a post-apocalyptic cityscape whose war-torn ruins are being slowly overtaken by some kind of bio-technical creep. Part of the influence is marked by sinister step pyramids standing far and near. After finding a way through the insidious machinery of Dead End, the player slowly picks through a scene of urban desolation, with one sole structure standing ominously in the distance. The true nature of the evil you oppose is never made clear, but its thrust is unmistakable.

Urotsuki: Dead End (UROTSUK2.WAD)

UROTSUKI
DEAD END
by "Lainos"

Dead End follows hot on the heels of Lainos's Urotsuki: Inferno Road. Having played the former, I can't say I'm any wiser, but I digress. UROTSUK2 is a single MAP01 replacement for Doom II to be played in any limit-removing port that also supports .OGG playback. As usual, this basically means PrBoom-Plus and on up. The action of Inferno Road was bizarre; you emerged from a crate into a world undergoing a dark metamorphosis and fought your way to a skyscraper which appeared to have been surrounded by military vehicles. After a climactic battle brought on by draining an ominous contraption of its precious fluids, you drove the vehicle until reaching a dead end at a chasm, after which this level picks up.

Urotsuki: Inferno Road (UROTSUKI.WAD)

UROTSUKI
INFERNO ROAD
by "Lainos"

It seems that Lainos's specialty is post-apocalyptic urban landscapes. Where his Sacrament-derived works are transformed by pure social decay, his Urotsuki trilogy shows the influence of a darker power. Inferno Road is a single map for any limit-removing port that can play back .OGG files (prboom+ recommended) and a MAP01 replacement for Doom II. The plot is non-existent and to me it seems that Lainos is less concerned with building some kind of narrative and more feeling out a new style of detailing / texture combinations / etc..

Deneb Colony (DENEB.WAD)

DENEB COLONY
by "Lainos"

Lainos was quiet during 2013 following a flurry of activity back in 2012, a year which saw his massive Object 34: Sonar, 5till L1 Complex, and A.L.T., where he was something of a producer, finishing off with a little tribute to Doxylamine Moon: Overdose called Lost Way. In 2014, he decided to drop another morsel on our laps, titled Deneb Colony. Like most of his maps, it's a single MAP01 replacement for Doom II to be played in Boom-compatible ports, prBoom+ preferred. It has more in common with Lost Way, though, in that it isn't the kind of visionary mastodon that he's known for.

Heroes' Tales (HT.WAD)

If I know anything about the Russian Doom community, it's that they love their speedmap competitions. A year ago, this gave birth to the Christmas time megaWAD Whitemare, but back in 2009 an assortment of entries were combined with brand spankin' new material to create Heroes' Tales. It's a full-fledged megaWAD for limit-removing ports that requires the Evilution IWAD for resources in several areas. HT doesn't work as a sequel to TNT, though. Its story is more or less draped over the framework of the rearranged levels. The text is vague and could really apply to any scenario, to the point that I'm not really sure it's even worth expounding upon. Suffice it to say that you're going to fight your way through a bunch of demon infested areas until you put the hurt on the big bad that's responsible.

Lost Way (LOSTWAY.WAD)

LOST WAY
by "Lainos"

If Russian author Lainos is known for anything, it's his crop of expressive, exploratory city levels. Works like 5till L1 Complex are known for their sheer size and non-linearity, so his Lost Way - also release in 2012 - comes as quite the departure. LOSTWAY is a single map for Doom II to be played in limit-removing source ports with .OGG support, preferably PrBoom+. It's a city level, of course, the textures drawing from the same fountainhead as Overdose, but there's a little something extra poured into the pot, an Egyptian flavoring  that suggests something beyond his usual oeuvre.

5till L1 Complex (5L1C.WAD)

5TILL L1 COMPLEX
by "Lainos"

Lainos is an author of large, exploratory levels. 5till L1 Complex is no exception. Published in 2012, this MAP01 replacement for limit-removing ports with .OGG support continues the "story" of Doxylamine Moon: Overdose, itself an offshoot of Clan [B0S]'s Sacrament. Armageddon has happened, and a man who woke up from an overdose finds himself in the post-apocalyptic aftermath, where the vile members of humanity are twisted into Hellish caricatures that roam the now still earth to feed on the remaining innocents...and each other. Waking up in the ruins, you resolve to trudge through the wilderness and try to survive for another night under the blood-red moon.

Da Will (DAWILL.WAD)

Da Will is a 2009 release of Russian mapping team Clan [B0S], a ten-map episode for The Plutonia Experiment (Doom II) meant to be played in limit-removing source ports. Clan [B0S] has gone on to make more ambitious releases; Da Will should be a comparably comfortable mapset, especially for players more at home with traditional Doom II action (namely Plutonia). The plot takes the player through Central American jungles in search of the mysterious Object "33", continuing on from Lainos's Object "32". I think I've finally come to understand what the Objects are (though I'm probably wrong) – they're foreboding ruins which the UAC has foolishly constructed bases nearby. The installation by Object "33" has ceased communications, and you've been tasked with locating the ruins and finding out what went wrong.

Object "32" (32.WAD)

OBJECT "32"
by "Lainos"

Object "32" is a single map for Doom II to be played in Boom-compatible ports, authored by Lainos. It's also a large level, clocking in at around 400 monsters in this dense, dark techbase, which will quickly inflate as you take down the various pain elementals Lainos has seeded around the map. Object "32" was originally created to be part of a Russian project, Grid 32. He elected to release the final product on his own, however. The single release is the start of a trilogy of maps, followed by Object "33" (the final level of Da Will) and ending in Object "34": Sonar. His throwaway story here developed into a loose setting for the rest. Object #32 is important and headquarters lost contact with it, so you're sent to the housing base to find it. Of course, demons abound, so get to killin'.

A.L.T. (ALT.WAD)

A.L.T. is the latest release from Clan [B0S], a Russian mapping commune whose previous releases include Da Will and Sacrament. Here they have pooled their considerable talents together to create a full-fledged Doom II megaWAD for Boom-compatible ports, directed by [B0S] veteran Lainos. A.L.T.'s story is pretty simple; you begin as the sole survivor of a plane wreck, finding yourself in a strange world populated by hostile forces that resent your presence. You fight to survive, and to discover the reality of your situation, encountering a variety of worlds during your progress. The ankh is a prominent motif you'll see throughout the mapset, a nice choice of foreshadowing.

Object "34": Sonar (O34.WAD)

OBJECT "34": SONAR
by "Lainos"

"Sonar" is the third map in a loose trilogy of sorts by Russian Doomer Lainos. Objects 32 and 33 came before; 32 was a solo release and 33 was the final level of Clan [B0S]'s Da Will. The map as can be expected is for limit-removing ports that support OGG music (the preferred platform I'm guessing is PrBoom+). I'm not entirely sure what the intended story is as the description in the text file appears to be abruptly cut off. From what I can gather, you've been sent to an underwater UAC research facility. I'm guessing that communications were lost, sometime after making a discovery on the ocean floor, and you're supposed to investigate the disturbance, as well as find out what the station uncovered.

Doxylamine Moon: Overdose (OVERDOSE.WAD)

DOXYLAMINE MOON:
OVERDOSE
by "Lainos"

Overdose is Russian Doomer Lainos's attempt to make Sacrament's infamous MAP02 palatable to a broader variety of Doomers. Spoilers: If you dislike the original because it was enormous and wide open, offering little direction to the player, Overdose won't take you any higher. If you gave up because he effectively disabled the automap, though, you can rest easy. Like the original, the map is made for limit-removing ports. PrBoom+ is the recommended engine, especially given the sprite-intensive city landscape. The story takes place after the action of Sacrament (hinted at by the blood red moon). The protagonist awakes after overdosing in a museum (more like a private art gallery) and finds the apocalypse in full swing, with the twisted bodies of the unworthy clamoring for your blood. You grab a shotgun and attempt to find your way out of the accursed city.

Sacrament (SACRMENT.WAD)

Sacrament is the second collaboration from Clan [B0S], a loose confederation of Russian Doomers. It's a large episode (thirteen maps) for Doom II for limit-removing ports and features a host of new graphics as well as ingenious use of stock material. The plot isn't very clear, though I suspect it's a language barrier difficulty. From what I gather, you wake up from a nightmare (MAP01) and are contacted to proceed to your base of operations. Gradually you discover that the apocalypse is in full swing, and in some twisted form of the rapture, the worthy have ascended to heaven while the damned turn into unholy abominations and fight each other on a now-deserted Earth. Which begs the question, why have you alone retained your humanity? The mysterious voices – angels, perhaps? - wonder that themselves. It's a question unanswered when the finale rolls around, sadly.