#1

Post by Catastrophe » Sat May 16, 2015 5:28 am

Note: I am not using the latest complex doom because version 24 is the one I'm most familiar with.



Project Background:

Initial Impression:

Content:

Balance:

Conclusion / tl;dr:

Rating:

8 / 10 - Must try

I figured I'd actually use this purple name and review...This project is created by Daedalus. Similarly to Hard DooM , this mod enhances your average cooperative experience by introducing new monsters, weapons, items, etc. However Complex Doom takes it a step further, by redoing almost all aspects of DooM into a more high definition tone. This means all projectiles, monsters, weapons, etc are more enhanced and it adds features such as reloading, inventory management, etc.I remember the first time I played Complex Doom, I hated it. It was on one of it's very first iterations and it was bare bones to say the least. When I decided to give it another go on Version 23, I was automatically put off by the visor hud and didn't play until I caved in months later, and tried out Version 24. My oh my, it is quite fun. The mix of new items, monsters, and weapons gave it the magic that Hard DooM desperately lacked. It wasn't simply Skulltag weapons/monsters hastily added into a pathetic excuse of a survival mod, it was more. Almost every monster, item, weapon, felt well polished and only complimented the spectacular gameplay. The mod itself isn't there to make survival harder, more so to make it interesting.Of course initially some people may be turned off by the aesthetic similarity to Brutal Doom, but trust me, they are very different mods.Every weapon in DooM has been redone in Complex DooM. They all use new sprites along with eye-pleasing smoke effects, particle effects, and vastly improved animations. On top of the standard DooM weapons, additional weapons such as Rail Guns, Automatic Shotguns, etc, have been added to your arsenal. However these new weapons can only be attained as drops from monsters with scattered rarity. Which makes it all the more satisfying obtaining and using rare guns. With more fire power comes a price; all weapons, aside from BFG-tier ones, have forced reloading which adds a greater importance into aim and ammo management.Of course you're gonna need all of Complex Doom's arsenal against its' hordes of monsters. Every monster is harder than their DooM counterparts as they either have new attacks, or stronger existing ones. The monsters also have different variants of themselves to keep maps a lot more lively. For instance, there are three different Baron variants, all differing in attack patterns, health, and difficulty. Typically, the harder they are to kill, the better items they drop. My personal favorite are the rare dark monsters which are dark versions of existing monsters, such as mancubi and cyberdemons, but areharder than their original counterparts; but if killed successfully, drop awesome goodies. Some of the monsters are INSANE and will put even the most seasoned of players on their toes. Of course no monster is unkillable. Proper positioning and patience will overcome most enemies.Along with enemy variants, it also comes with item variants such as different armours, powerups, and bonuses. A key thing to note is that Complex DooM uses Heretic's inventory system to hold certain items such as stimpacks, armor shards, etc. Things like Blue Armor, Soul Spheres, etc can't be held and are used on the spot. That way, you can't collectively grab all the strong powerups in a map to just tank a bunch of monsters in one room.Inventory management, a wide arsenal of weapons, and the variety of monsters makes this mod very Complex. Harr Harr Harr.Complex Doom relies heavily in random spawners to shape its' monsters, weapons, and items in a map. With randomization comes with a price; you can get into some bullshit situations. For instance, in most standard Doom 2 wads killing zombies, imps, pinkies, etc at the start of a map is no big deal. However in Complex DooM, you will come across rare rounds where a bunch of monsters spawned near you are in their dark variants. Which of course means you'll more than likely be obliterated by them if you are starting off with a pistol.Since Complex Doom is more of an enhancement than a stand-alone mod, the balance is dependent on the mappack. Therefore the real way to judge this would be in a generic wad such as AV, HR2, etc, under ideal circumstances. Which means having a fair start along with challenges later on in the stage. If this were the case, I'd say every stage is beatable using Complex Doom with the proper amount of caution.The weapons are fine, the items are fair, and ALL non-hitscan attacks can be dodged.A lot of thought and care was put into this and it reflects the mod well. If you hated Hard Doom but loved Plague City, then Complex Doom is a must-play. Collecting rare weapons and fighting rare monsters is what keeps me hooked onto this.Fun Factor - 9 / 10 - Fighting hard monsters for their awesome drops never gets old.Balance - 8 / 10 - Almost all monsters are well balanced.Creativity - 5 / 10 - Doesn't really bring anything new.Replay Value - 10 / 10 - Blasting through old megawads is awesome.(preferably in a small group)