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Title : Double Impact
Filename : DBIMPACT.WAD
Release date : 03/30/2011
Author : RottKing & Ralphis
Email Address : ralphis@unidoom.org
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New levels : 9
Sounds : No
Music : Yes
Graphics : Yes
Dehacked/BEX Patch : Yes
Demos : Yes
Other : Yes
Other files required : No
* Play Information *
Game : Ultimate DOOM
Single Player : Yes
Cooperative 2-4 Player : Yes
Deathmatch 2-4 Player : Yes
Other game styles : None
Difficulty Settings : Yes
Reviewer
Zorah
Download the file
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Double
Impact is an Episode 1 replacement for Doom/Ultimate Doom by RottKing & Ralphis,
for use with ZDoom/GZDoom. I'm not gonna waste your time on this one - You
should absolutely play this episode.
Oh, right. I forgot, reviews aren't exactly convincing with two sentences. So,
let's go into why you want to play Double Impact.
Difficulty:
9
For the decades I've been playing this game, only two wads have challenged me
the way Double Impact has. Monster placement, while predictable at times, is
done in such a way that it doesn't even matter if it's predictable or not. There
are a LOT of enemies here. Not gonna lie, most of them are sergeants. Ugh, those
sergeants... Blowing my damn headoff right after I've grabbed the key, they did.
But, it's not just the sergeants. You can expect to see the heavier beasties
once you get maybe three maps deep into the episode. Cacos and lost souls at
E1M3? Yes. Barons in E1M7? Yes. Plasma rifle and BFG? No. You're on standard E1
artillery for this one. But it's cool, I'm sure you can handle it.
Oh, did I mention there are traps? Because RottKing and Ralphis love traps. And
so do I, on occasion. This was no exception - Traps aren't just placed
effectively, they're downright sadistic. Everything is going great until you get
a little too close to that yellow key, and the entire room changes on you,
unloading large amounts of Barons and sergeants into the area until it's
standing room only. But, again, if you're a badass, you laugh at barons and
teabag their broken spines. Or focus on the next one hiding right behind him.
Shit.
And let's not forget the finale. You remember that one map from The Plutonia
Experiment? You know the one. The one with the Archviles. Yeah, you know that
one. Well, okay, hear me out for a second. Take that level... Put about a
hundred miscellaneous baddies in it... Throw in four cyberdemons and two spider
masterminds. You basically have no choice but to run, watching your back every
time you turn a corner while you ready your escape. It's fast, it's brutal, and
I love it.
Design: 8
Silly me, I almost forgot about the design aspect of the review. The maps are
downright beautiful, for a hellhole on Phobos. Yes, I know, "It's just another
techbase E1 replacement." And you're right. But you're also wrong. RottKing and
Ralphis pay special attention to lighting, especially outdoors. You can tell the
authors checked what position the light source on the sky texture is going to be
in, and cast the shadows accordingly. You can tell just by the way that the
shadows cast onto the first building in E1M1 that this is going to be a very
different episode.
And different it is. The maps aren't just difficult, they're as non-linear as it
gets. The later levels are quite large, and seem to have multiple ways of
getting to and from locations. In addition to being incredibly entertaining to
romp through, you may actually end up lost a few times. On more than one
occasion, I stopped finding enemies to kill, pulled up the automap, scrolling
around for about three minutes, and later muttering, "Where the f*ck do I go?!"
Still, the non-linear design speaks volumes to the amount of effort put into
Double Impact.
Playability: 7
Not gonna lie, if you're not a veteran, you're probably gonna get turned off on
this one. But, if you're battle hardened enough, a good romp on UV might not be
so inaccessible.
Overall (Not an Average): 9
Bottom line, download this episode. Classic, fast paced, non-linear gameplay at
its finest.
See? I told you, you want to play this one. And if you don't, well... Those
cyberdemons aren't going to wait for YOU to find THEM.
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