Fait Accompli (GOTHIC.WAD)

FAIT ACCOMPLI
by Christian Hansen

This level made me smile before I even played it; reading through the .TXT, I believe that this was intended to be Christian Hansen's final level, back in mid-1999. The Danish dude has of course gone on to have a long and storied authorship, releasing many beloved works, the most recent one at the time of this writing being Monument. No, I haven't played it yet, but I'm working on getting there! Fait Accompli is a MAP19 replacement to be played with The Plutonia Experiment. It's not related to the two Plutonia squeakuels he released before; it's actually something of a remake of the first level he ever released, The Revenge of Avind, but with eight levels worth of hindsight backing his imagination up.

UAC Nukage Processing Area (WASTE1.WAD)

UAC NUKAGE
PROCESSING AREA
by Christian Hansen

After cutting his teeth on a bunch of Doom II maps in 1998, Chris Hansen turned his eye toward the official Doom II expansion, Final Doom. The aptly named UAC Nukage Processing Area is a MAP18 replacement for The Plutonia Experiment released in early 1999. It's kind of part of a series along with his previous release, The Aqueous Rise and Fall, but like his Doom 3: Ad Infernos, there isn't a whole lot tying these maps together apart from the block of narrative text. I will say that WASTE1 has some stronger parallels with Plutonia as far as the combat style goes, even if a lot of it is easily bypassed. More on that later.

The Aqueous Rise and Fall (AQUEOUS.WAD)

THE AQUEOUS RISE AND FALL
by Christian Hansen

Christian Hansen made a lot of single level maps during 1998 and 1999, originally publishing them on the now defunct "Doom Zone", but uploading them to /idgames in 2000. While all of these were made for the collective experience we've come to know as Doom II, some made use of the Final Doom IWADs. The Aqueous Rise and Fall is part of this category, being a MAP13 replacement for The Plutonia Experiment released in 1999. While it uses the textures, it's actually pretty far from the Casali style of gameplay, not that that's any surprise if you've played any of Hansen's previous releases. And, like a Doomer after my own heart, he's included an in-depth narrative.

Micro Plutonia (MPL.WAD)

Micro Plutonia is one of those offshoots of the Plutonia Revisited Community Project. Most of the rejects have found their way to release one way or another, either as solo works or parts of larger mapsets. Matthias Johansson's "UAC Garden Facility" was one of the later, worked into this minisode for The Plutonia Experiment, released in 2011. The original is MAP06, while MAP04 and 05 were made to pad things to a trio. The story is about as self aware as can be - the demons have invaded some bases that are identified as "Plutonian" and you're going to make them wish they hadn't.

Combat Shock (C-SHOCK.WAD)

I've played a lot of maps I could call slaughterfests, but few of them are on the scale of contemporary difficulty, i.e. Sunder, Newgothic - Movement 1, or Deus Vult 1 and 2. Sure, there are classic "slaughter" PWADs like Hell Revealed and Alien Vendetta, but the scale of these works is usually smaller compared to the newschool slaughters and the impressive architecture that almost always accompanies them. Combat Shock, by Doomworld forum superstar Daniel "dannebubinga" Jakobsson, is my first proper experience in this genre I have so loosely defined. That is to say, I've played some isolated crazy levels in contemporary stuff, including but not limited to Survive in Hell and Doom 2 Unleashed. Thinking back, most of the megaWADs I've recently played have at least one newschool slaughtermap, so I'm no virgin. I'm also no vet, as I can attest to my difficulty with this mapset.

Nessy (NESSY.WAD)

NESSY
by Richard Wiles

Richard Wiles made a lot of maps in 1998. The DICKIE series was his most lauded work from this period, but before things rolled over to 1999 he had a go at another style of level for Doom II, using the Plutonia IWAD. It was supposed to be a mini-episode but he declared himself done with Doom and released this two-level minisode, named Nessy in tribute to his then girlfriend (and future wife). Nessy isn't consistent in and of itself - its two entries vary wildly in style - but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable.

Pitfalls (PITFALLS.WAD)

PITFALLS
by "C30N9"

The Plutonia Revisited Community Project was fortunate enough to have enough submitted maps to be able to reject a few. Well, lucky for PRCP; not so for the misfits' authors. Pitfalls, by C30N9, was one of the levels that didn't make the cut. Released on its own, it's a medium-size level replacing MAP01 to be played with the Plutonia IWAD. It's pretty abstract for a Plutonia level, which is probably one of the reasons it didn't make the cut. C30N9 plays around with a handful of interesting set pieces, but the whole package feels kind of scatterbrained as it moves from theme to theme.

skePLand (SKEPLAND.WAD)

Monakhov Vladimir, aka "Skepticist", published the first iteration of skePLand back in late 2011, adding another level to it in 2012. Currently, it's three maps for the Plutonia IWAD, though not really borrowing the style. skePLand has a nasty brand of gameplay, highlighted in the .TXT. Doomers looking for a less demanding experience are directed to play the maps on HMP, which is sound advice. Your Doom gods can try to tango on UV, but HMP is still more than the average player will be comfortable with. For an idea of just how much harsher Skepticist has set things up, compare the opening of MAP03 on both difficulties.

The Plutonia Experiment (PLUTONIA.WAD)

Dario and Milo Casali were already part of TNT's Evilution, sold to id for them to publish as their own. The Casalis sent American McGee a project of theirs and the maps so much impressed the overlords that they contracted them to make another megaWAD, which was to be sold alongside Evilution as the Final Doom package. The rest, as they say, is history. Plutonia has enjoyed a more positive legacy than its sister WAD, being the beneficiary of two unofficial full-replacement sequels and countless imitators. It's thirty-two more maps of Doom II action, but as anyone can tell you, Plutonia is a beast unto itself.

1 Day of Hellish Revenge (1DOFHELL.WAD)

In 20 Days in Hell, the Doom marine was slain while defending his wife from a mugger. Hell unjustly claimed his soul unless he could survive for twenty days, but the devil isn't known for fair bargains. In 32 Hours in Pain, his stoic wife Serena battled her way into the inferno to rescue her husband. In 1 Day of Hellish Revenge, released by Kristian Aro near the tail end of 1998, the Doom marine has recovered from his injuries, but not the mental trauma. To put his troubled soul at peace, he returns once more to the Stygian pit, meting out his particular form of retribution.

20 Days in Hell (20DNHELL.WAD)

Kristian Aro has left his own Doom legacy with partner in crime Paul Corfiatis and his critically acclaimed solo releases. What many probably don't know of is his 20 Days in Hell trilogy, released through 1996 to 1998 as part of Doomed Software alongside his friend, Lauri Kivinen. The first installment – 20 Days in Hell – occupies the latter twenty-one maps of The Plutonia Experiment. The story follows the life of the Doom marine, now a celebrity for your successes at defending Earth. While out on a walk with your wife, you attempt to defend her from a purse-snatching, only to catch a bullet in the gut and die...and wake up in Hell. The ultimate evil claims that it will release you if you can survive in its domain for twenty days. If you die, though, it's never gonna give you up. As for the map themes, Aro seems to loosely borrow the names of the original map slots (or not so loosely in some cases).

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.

Phil's Infested Compound (PHILPLU.WAD)

PHIL'S INFESTED COMPOUND
by "Philnemba"

Phil's Infested Compound is an outtake from the Plutonia Revisited Community Project. Since the map didn't make the cut for the main event, Doomworld forum superstar Philnemba uploaded it as a standalone work. As one could guess, it's a remake of Plutonia's MAP17, "Compound", whose slot this map occupies. When playing Phil's offering, I got a very familiar feeling, similar to several other PRCP works. I've played a lot of maps since Plutonia, but this homage (more or less) brings me back. I'll mention a few of the references I recalled, but looking around there are more that completely escaped me.

Plutonia Revisited Community Project (PRCP.WAD)

The Plutonia Experiment was a megaWAD created by the Casali brothers for id Software as part of the Final Doom package. In the years since, it's enjoyed a more favorable legacy than its sibling, TNT Evilution, so much so that it's had two unofficial sequels, Plutonia 2 and the WAD which this review covers, Plutonia Revisited. Plutonia Revisited's scope is a bit narrower than Plutonia 2, however, as the PRCP focused on vanilla compatibility (the trend of 2011). The only flaws you'll encounter when playing the original .EXE are a few maps that invoke the savegame buffer overflow (hooray for source ports!). In fact, this project has a few instances of mapping tricks that require vanilla emulation in source ports (notably some linedef hoodoo in MAP31). Redacted 05/01/12.