The Rebirth (REBIRTH1.WAD)

Bjorn Ostmann, aka "Vader", was one of ZDoom's darlings at one point, and assuming that The Shores of ZDoom are released, will probably remain one. Now, he's churning out really cool vanilla maps for Back to Saturn X. He's no stranger to vanilla Doom, though. His debut was one of those strangely coveted one-man megaWADs, The Rebirth, released in 2003. It's an interesting specimen, with a vast difference between the design of MAP01 and MAP29. You can almost watch Vader's talent develop real time as you play from level to level.

Back to Saturn X E2: Tower in the Fountain of Sparks (BTSX_E2X.WAD)

It's been a little more than a year and a half, so it's about time that we saw the Back to Saturn X Episode II beta. BTSX started out as a single megaWAD, but an abundance of contributors caused an internal split into what eventually became three "episode" megaWADs. Get Out of My Stations, the "shareware" episode, made its public debut at the tail end of 2012. It got a lot of flak for its techbase stylings, but it's one of my favorite releases of the 2013 season for its impeccable visuals and light speed gameplay. Tower in the Fountain of Sparks looks to be one of the top releases of 2014, and for good reason.

ZDoom Community Map Project: Take 2 (ZDCMP2.PK3)

ZDOOM COMMUNITY
MAP PROJECT: TAKE 2
by assorted authors

ZDoom (and GZDoom) have been firmly cemented as the modder's port of choice when it comes to changing the way Doom looks and plays. In 2004, its proponents showed off just what the engine was capable of with the ZDoom Community Map Project "Take 1", a single map with more than a dozen pairs of hands on it. Times have changed, though, and so has ZDoom, so it only stands to reason that it needs a brand new community map to show just what the port is now capable of - ZDCMP: Take 2. Essentially released in 2013 after cooking in the Realm667 crock pot for a year or so, you can play it in either ZDoom or GZDoom. You'll want to track down the most recent rev of either, though.

Back to Saturn X E1: Get Out of My Stations (BTSX_E1.WAD)

I hear whispers every month, people bemoaning a lack of output in the Doom community. It's like all the mappers have had their output drastically cut off, leaving only eager newbies to make the megaWADs of the future. Or, you know, some dastardly villain had many of the authors we know and love working in secret. But no longer! Now, we get Back to Saturn X. I thought it was going to be a slammin' Doom II megaWAD of stuff to blast through, but there's more. There's so much more. Back to Saturn X went from megaWAD to triple megaWAD, seeing release in three "episodes" filled by eager authors. This review concerns the first episode, Get Out of My Stations.