Reviews 4.23 star(s) 26 reviews

A little easy to get lost. However, I very much enjoyed the challenge of Nightmare and when the maps are good they are great.
Skill
Nightmare
This is a fantastic set of gorgeous maps, with very interesting ideas and a very compelling execution. The maps, as mentioned by other commenters, are quite big and sometimes is easy to get lost. however, after just a couple replays you get to understand their layout quit well I would say.
And this is another great point about the set. It is very re-playable and everytime you play it again you can find new ways around to finish each map, which provides with many rewarding strategies.

Suffice to say I had a blast with this pack. The Super Monster mode makes it more challenging without removing the "Quakeness" spirit overall.

Very recommended.

Here's a playthrough of the first map:
Skill
Hard
I'm not adding much to the many mixed reviews here - and there's several who've written longer and more detailed comments that I agree completely with.

There's, theoretically, lots to like here - the new weapons are pretty good (the railgun shoots through glass allowing for some nice integration with level design too), the design on most of the new enemies is great (I think the tridenty guys work best, the chaingunners feel slightly off), and there's tons of atmosphere about the levels, and not just from the cool rain effect in the second map. (I really like a lot about how much character and sense of place the entire episode has, in fact, it's really really strong.)

However.... yes, the later maps especially are far, far, far too long and labyrinthine. I managed to just about get through map 4 - although I got lost and turned around a lot, even with the tweaks that may have been added in the later released to reduce the need for backtracking (I'm assuming that's what those teleporters near some keys are...) - but it was really pushing my patience and engagement by the end. It took a lot of goes to manage the timed escape sequence because I just couldn't work out how to get to the second level in the first place for a long time, let alone navigating around it when being attacked - please tell me at least the time limit is longer on Easy?.
Part of this is, as others have noted, there's a strong dependance on "there's a split path for keys" in a lot of the design, which makes it harder to remember where you actually are this time, as you can see lots of motif repeated. Part is just that the levels are too big!

Admission: I didn't finish Map 5 - it's also huge, it has an even more confusing design principle yes, it's very cool that we have the parallel world maps, and I recognised that they're tonal opposites and you're probably supposed to find the tomb in the red world is not empty when you get all the gold keys but... ...but, I got to the point where I'd found 2 keys of the many I needed to, and just could not work out where else I was supposed to go, and just kept revisiting old places and getting turned around.
(It also does not help that there's a sudden increase in jumping-traversal in Map 5 - and yes, you do take damage when you fall off into the void and are teleported back - which I am not good at.)

So, I level skipped to Map 6, the Boss level which... well, again, it's lovely, the homage to START is really finely judged... but the actual boss fight is incredibly frustrating. I mean, I worked out what to do, but it was incredibly frustrating to even do the first phase (and eventually I needed to turn God on just to get past that...). The second and third phases I just kept God on for, I would not have completed otherwise.
Yes, on easy.

(In fact, the combat balance is fine on Easy - it gradually ticks up over the levels and was getting about right for me on Map 5 - except for the boss fight which is definitely too hard.)
Skill
Easy
For sure the team behind this made an effort in delivery tomb of thunder . Levels are big, complex, with lots of locations and new monsters too. But levels so big make this mapset really hard... at least from my point of view . Most of the time I feel lost in this intricated maze/base, with few clues where to go or to come back . With less complex levels I would have given 5 stars.
Skill
Easy
Rating: 4 (of 6) Trons

Warning: this review will contain spoilers because I can't be bothered to tag things.

Maps 1-3 truly blew me away with their presentation and design. The overall story and aesthetic of the mod is far and away its best aspects. There were multiple points in multiple levels where I was thinking "Damn, that's fucking sick" in a way only the best mods tend to accomplish. The way the start map bleeds into the first level already let me know I was in for something special. The early levels are filled to the brim with iconic set pieces and beautiful level dressing that really makes it feel like you're exploring a cohesive island. Additionally, each of the 3 new weapons feel incredible to use (chaingun and railgun particularly). I specified the first three levels, but there is still a lot to enjoy with the later levels. The lightworld/darkworld gimmick in the penultimate level was quite enjoyable, and the callback to the og Quake difficulty select wes absolutely sick. Also, I'm a sucker for a good self-destruct/escape sequence, so no complaints there.

Touching on the enemies, the supermonsters mode was quite a treat and offered a fun challenge. Considering the changes also made to nightmare (which I do not necessarily mind, although you couldn't pay me to try to beat it), it offers a good harder than hard mode challenge. The new enemy inclusions were all welcome, and a personal standout for me was the chaingunner with the little particle effect for his shots. It just looked cool. Also shamblers being able to teleport was terrifying to experience for the first time, and certainly improves the shambler gameplay loop from constant corner peaking or melee baiting.


But this is now where I begin my complaints. Level 3 showed slight hints of it, but like many others said, level 4 and onward are simply too labrynthine for their own good. I don't mind maze-esque levels, but there needs to be more unique setpieces and landmarks to tell areas apart (something that the earlier levels did). Too many rooms look the same, or have little to no defining features, making backtracking a bit of a pain at times. The levels also do drag. (In my opinion) the best levels are ones that shoot for the 20-30 minute mark in completion time. You can certainly make longer levels, but there should be a lot of diversity in gameplay and setting for it to not get stale. Also placing split paths for keys was interesting the first 3 times it was done. By the bajillionth time I was getting kind of sick of it. I was excited to try the secret level because of how visually unique it was and the potential challenge in mega health being the only healing item, but once I saw it was yet another split path design for keys, I couldn't be bothered to finish it.

Now, regarding the final boss fight.... I suppose I'll talk about each of the phases individually. Phase 1 - not too bad. I think its a fresh take on the Chthon fight formula, requiring the player to press separate switches on separate floors to lower the electricity thingies. Took a few tries, but by no means was I put off by the design of this phase. Phase 2 - this is where the cracks begin to show. Don't get me wrong, the phase 2 reveal was awesome, and visually the final boss looks disgustingly cool. But gameplay-wise it made me want to turn my railgun around and shoot myself through my own screen. Constant inconsistencies with the stagger system, where the boss would not be staggered despite doing everything right. Also, this is where the one-hit kill attack really shines in its awfulness. I could put up with it in phase 1, in fact, I thought it proved to be a fun challenge trying to time rocket jumps across the arena to minimize the chance of being struck down, but come phase 2 it just becomes too much. There's too many areas where it's impossible to find cover in time and you just have to accept death. While I did phase 1 in one go, phase 2 is where I began save scumming to even stand a chance. Hell, multiple other reviewers admitted to using godmode for the final boss, and I can't blame them at all for it. Phase 3 - awful. Just awful. I would have never assumed to shoot the eyes multiple times with rockets by myself, and the constant barrage of lightning from every which direction is not fun to dodge. Something that most other games do, and I think would most definitely improve this fight, is simplifying and easing the difficulty of the final phase. Many games have multiple intentionally difficult phases for a boss fight before finishing it off with an easier phase focused more on spectacle, which would certainly be appropriate here. Hell, there already is an element of spectacle, but the player is too busy fighting for their life to begin to appreciate it.

Beginning the penultimate level, I was willing to consider this mod among Arcane Dimensions, Alkaline, and Immortal Lock (when it's not being Quake's version of Nuts) in terms of excellence in presentation and design. But the final boss really just beat me down until my spirit was crushed and any positive experience I had up to that point had been forgotten. There are the elements of something truly special here, but the mod is just not consistent enough to warrant anything higher than a-

4 TRONS
Skill
Hard
Beware, contains spoilers about certain set pieces and moments in ToT.

Huge levels done pretty well. Layout and signposting could use some work as many others have pointed out in reviews. New weapons, powerup and enemies are nice additions. Encounters are for the most part very simple, but proper combat settings occur as well that I appreciate. Everything looks cool from textures and geo to lighting.

Now there is a huge list of weird problems that are confusing to me since this mod has been updated so many times. My vods are gonna be up to check the playthrough of the current up to date version for more details.

There are quite a few moments where intended action doesn't happen or enemy spawns are not working correctly. Probably has something to do with older version of copper that was used as a base. Ammo is plentiful throughout the episode, but I wish more cells were given. Also the way how health and armor is given in exploration sections rather than before hard combat sections can lead into frustration. Few harmless typos also make an appearance in few locations.

Many rooms and combat arenas suffer from small details getting on your way causing you to die because most enemies require you to just move. If you can't move you are as good as dead with the low health items given in the maps. Torches are especially evil in some locations where they have these small brushes sticking on the wall, not made illusionary.

The escape sequence doesn't kill you but rather gives you permanent 100% dense fog. And speaking of that sequence you are left to wander around in few places just killing your precious time trying to find the exit. 3 minutes is not enough to get through it the first time.

Nightmare difficulty modifiers are cool when you know exactly what you need to do, but that mode is absolutely terrible experience for first time playthrough as you will backtrack empty corridors losing all of your health.

The final fight is something that on paper is really cool, but the arena and those annoyingly placed player movement blocking torch holders are in the way. There is way too heavy emphasis on rng, I would rather want to see patterns in attacks. There are locations where cover is not possible. Instakill attack is the reason why all these issues here are so bad.

Part of me really wants to give it a lower score because I know many players will not be able to get through this without getting lost for an hour or 2. However, my experience was relatively smooth in navigation. ToT is so creative yet so flawed.
Skill
Hard
incredible!!!!! this one took me a long time to get through, it's massive and i'm not great but i kept it on skill 2 anyways lol. gorgeous environments and design and well everything lol. what an unbelivable accomplishement. it's easy to take the high quality mapping for granted but this one, i did not, i was pretty imprressed!!

just not a huge fan of the final boss, i had to go easy to do it legit lol
Skill
Hard
This is an exceptionally imaginative and ambitious episode and I enjoyed my time with it. However, it has balancing issues and the complexity of the level structure makes for some confusing exploration with lots & lots of backtracking (would have preferred the maps be smaller, tighter but others love gigantic levels). I had to give up the episode, however, in Map 5 (His Still Breathing Corpse) because it forced me to cheat (code GOD) to progress past it. Even on Normal difficulty, I found the waves of enemies with no way to replenish health too much. Looking forward to the authors next maps because he's clearly talented (in fact, one of the most talented Quake mappers I've seen) but I'm hoping he dials down the difficulty in his next projects and keeps the maps tighter and less confusing. He can only get better.
Skill
Normal
Not so much to add to the other reviews. Great stuff. And not the mapper's fault that I don't like and can't stand boss fights. Soothing, to read that others also are cheating :cool:
Maybe it's a li'l bit too much with labyrinths, but for me it was fun to explore.
I never played a map with so much rain as in tot2.
The parallel world in tot5 is fascinating.
Thank you so much for hours'n'hours of fun.
Skill
Easy
One of the best mods for Quake ever made, i praise it for it's creativity and the new monsters, kudos for adding a tech railgun... thank you aDaya :)
Skill
Nightmare
Outstanding! Deserves every ounce of its praise. Fantastic work!
No mortal can pass through all these a-Mazing levels...
Masterpiece! Simple as that

What impressed & hooked me the most is environmental storytelling, and very memorable themes of each map. Lighthouse in the first map with that shore overview. Swampy partially sunken old base sewers with a lot of vines & reeds. Then we enter the snowy mountains, and snowdrift are all around. Riding on a train in general added a lot to the feeling of progression through some gameworld. Adventure! 4th map was perhaps the most samey visually without anything memorable - just some metal base; nuclear plant or something. Well and final 5th map is something - parallel dimensions concept worked just perfectly in my opinion.

The mod/episode is not absolutely flawless. If I could give it 4.5 then I do right that. For example in my opinion there could be more memorable specific "objects" like the lighthouse in 1st one in all other maps. Landmarks - that's the proper word. Each map is screaming for some landmark. Without them maps felt a little bit too monotonous and way too stretched. On replay (yeah I already replayed the mod) it felt not so long, but on blind play maps did feel stretched, too long - especially 4th one

Either way - great job. I am impressed
Skill
Normal
It's good mod, but as Anonymouse mentioned, there might be needed more navigation signs on maps. And overall, less maze-alike map-design in mind.
Skill
Hard
"Exhausting yet interesting enough to keep you moving."

I could write a very lengthy review, but i don't want to waste anyone's time. So I'm just going to stick to plus and minuses of this project.

Minus:
- Dungeon shooter, not enough landmarks
- Too much ammo for the powerful weapons like the rocket launcher. Making combat at times feel like a grind
- You can escape any arena fight. Thus you can just camp outside and funnel the enemies
- Enemies mostly appear at expected locations

Plus:
+ New weapons and enemies
+ Overall theme and story
+ Use of familiar Quake material
+ Exploration is fun and engaging
Skill
Hard
This was an interesting Experience to play through all those humongous maps. Where some contained different themed sections within, so large that for me it was hard to keep tracking the way to reach from one to another location, to deliver a key, for example.
Also this played a bit like an Open World Episode Game, with some "cinematic" moments. I really loved all such effects and Details.

The new Opponents and Weapons work well, IMHO. Playing it on hard, skill2 wasn't to difficult, whilst Monsters are placed well.
This took me 3 Evenings of having fun, exploring this rich and detailed maps. Some had a brutalist vibe to it, that I like personally.
10/10, great, thank you.
Skill
Hard
I don't get the time to play many new releases these days but this was one I absolutely wanted to make time for. As great as it is we have so many community packs/jams, there is something really special about passion-project episodes like this that are the singular vision of a sole creator; they form the cornerstone of custom Quake mapping and inspire me more than anything else, I literally dream of putting out something of this scale, consistency and quality.

That said, I am slightly conflicted. There are large parts of it that are truly phenomenal, awe-inspiring even, and it made for a really unique and memorable experience overall. But there are other parts, notably in the second half where my enjoyment levels got dragged down a bit and I finished it on a bit of a sour note. I've spent this morning ruminating on the good and bad and will try and cover as many thoughts as I can below.

General changes
I *loved* the new SSG, I possibly even prefer it over Dwell's rotary shotgun, the ability to control how many shots are fired is a great mechanic and makes it super fun to use. The minigun I wasn't quite as enthused over, although in terms of a SNG replacement that doesn't immediately invalidate the NG upon pickup, it fulfils its goal in a classier way than just spreading out the nails like in default copper. The railgun you can't really go wrong with, it did the job.

New monsters: I loved the Gladiator (well actually I hated him, he was a dick who kept killing me, but I mean that as a compliment). The nail infantry guys looked cool, although their hitscan attacks meant battling them got a bit cagey with lots of duck'n'cover play, there is little incentive to get out and run at them.

Most of the new sounds were neat, although hard exception on the weapon swap sound, which I'll be honest I replaced with an empty audio file at the first opportunity. That was one 28-year old omission that didn't need fixing.

Map 1
This was a solid first map that set the tone well. Some of the inside areas were a little on the bland side in terms of room shape and lack of visual variation, although some of that is down to the CR8 texture set, which definitely benefits from extra lighting detail (Dwell ep2 map 1 does this well).

The outdoor areas, however, were brilliant. Particularly the gold key tower section, which really stuck out as being memorable. I loved the steep climb and streetlights leading up to it, the imposing scale of the external tower view, and how the tension gradually ramped up as you ascend the stairs; great use of styled lighting. The lift down needed to be much faster though, it was quicker taking the stairs! The whole backdrop with the towering black mountains was mesmerising too, both here and in the earlier outdoor bit. Also loved the train exit. Combat difficulty felt just right on skill 1, just about enough to keep my on my toes without going too hard too soon.

Map 2
Probably my favourite, the rain was awesome! Really intrigued how you did it. I used Ironwail, there was some slowdown but it was still playable (reminded me of old times playing large custom maps on DOSquake). The sewer/swamp sections were all fantastically executed as well, really unique vibe. Only minor gripe was that some lower areas were a LITTLE too dark; I know it was by design, and it def needed plenty of shadowy areas, but a few more lights punctuating the shadows wouldn't have gone amiss.

Combat difficulty ramped up with many tricky ambushes, but always fair. Died once. The ending was really cool, finished the map on a buzz.

Map 3
This one kicked my ass a bit, I died about 5 times and occasionally got lost. That said, I still very much enjoyed it. The deaths were mostly fair, as was the layout and signposting; once I realised most routes linked back to the large open snowy area, and that area contained two colour-coded exits to each key as well as a signposted way back to the key door, I felt any loss of bearings was definitely on me. It's a well designed map.

The one 'unfair' death came when I went through a doorway with low health and got immediately greeted by three nailgunners and a vore; I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge attacks if I ran forward so immediately noped back out the way I came, only to find the door had slammed shut and I got shot in the back.

Visually the map was a treat, I loved the snow/fog combined with tall, imposing structures and the raw industrial feel. The ending was hugely satisfying too, perfectly executed horde battle that didn't overstay its welcome.

One minor complaint: too many doors. Quake's screechy metal door sound gets a bit grating when played too often, I'd have either picked a more subtle custom sound or just left some as open doorways.

Map 4 (A)
This was where I started to struggle a bit, I really want to like it because the scale and complexity of the layout is a huge achievement, each of the three floors could constitute a full-sized map in their own right. I liked the use of the large stairwell to link up the three floors, but the floors themselves seemed to lack distinctive grounding points you could easily find your way back to. By the time I'd gotten to the third room on level 1 I'd forgotten what the first one looked like, so lost all concept of there being a left and right wing for each respective keycard. I think a better approach would have been to have one gold and one silver keycard for each floor and use subtle colour-coding to distinguish each 'wing', like in the prior map. Then maybe taking the roof off in places to create epic centrepieces that link up the separate wings.

I had an issue with the circular slime pits in level 3 too, specifically that the entrance and exit pits looked so similar that given the twisty network of corridors linking them up, I didn't even realise they were two separate areas at first and thought I'd doubled back on myself. Then when I activated the biosuit chambers I found my way back to the entrance pit by mistake and wondered why no suit had appeared, I thought it was a bug. I'd definitely consider redesigning one of them to make it visually distinct.

I appreciated the little signs to the keycards, however I think placing strong visual landmarks so the player can find their own bearings and form a map in their head is preferable to actual signposts. The spawn ambush room was certainly distinctive, even if it was about the least suitable room for a spawn ambush...

Another thing that bugged me was the map felt just slightly too similar to RRP's 'Telefragged', with the vent-crawling intro, laser trap section and ending sequence. Teleragged's ending felt nicer too as the route to the exit was simpler but you had monsters to fight along the way, whereas here it was more a game of 'solve the maze quickly'. It only took me two attempts but didn't feel nearly as satisfying (ironically it was more satisfying to fail as I got to witness the great destruction sequence :D)

On a plus note, I liked the many Q2 references; tastefully done. And I know I've written a lot of negative stuff about this map but really it's not a long way away from greatness, a few minor redesigns would make a huge difference.

Map 5
This was preferable to map 4 in terms of general navigation, however it took me even longer and I did start to fatigue towards the end, which hindered my ability to grasp my bearings and I got very lost at one point trying to find the final key. I think it didn't help that 'light world' and 'dark world' weren't physically connected; I grasped there were two portals linking to separate halves of the dark world, but it took me way too long to work out where one half was in relation to the other. The light world did suffer from some repetitive/symmetrical design too, so even when I knew I had to swim underwater to find the second portal I ended up swimming for several minutes in the wrong direction first.

That paragraph out the way though... wow, this map looked AMAZING. Both worlds incredibly styled, unique and fresh looking, with some imaginative designs, a rich atmosphere, and a real sense of grandeur. The use of ambient sounds was fantastic too, so creepy and unsettling.

I could not beat the ending without cheating, I gave in after about 10 attempts. Granted this may have been fatigue, but I definitely feel it was missing a yellow armor given the number of monsters and open design of the arena, at least on skill 1.

Map 6
The steep hill intro and the start references were wonderful, really cool idea.

I can't pass too much judgement on the boss fight because I pretty worn down by this point and resorted to cheats again, however I did enjoy the arena. Having three separate sets of buttons was a cool idea to reduce repetitiveness. The eyes looked great as well, although I personally would have given them much less health, I think navigating the arena and finding them all whilst dodging lightning turrets is probably enough of a challenge in itself without having to hit each one with 3-4 rockets. At the very least I'd add damage feedback so it's more obvious you need to hit them.

Final thoughts
All in all, although there were ups and downs, it was well worth the time. And I'm still giving it five stars despite the negatives, because the scale, atmosphere, visuals and boldness of vision make up for them. I'd rather have something flawed and memorable than polished and unremarkable.

If I'm comparing it to classic episodes from years gone by I'd rank it similarly to Warpspasm, it definitely evoked some similar emotions. Possibly even slightly higher as the combat here was generally tighter.

Thank you for the release. I hope to play the commercial version some day!
Skill
Normal
Great atmosphere, definitely unique only to these maps. Good enemy placement and mobs, although at times I thought it was slightly unfair lol (usually vores and disciples encircling you). Cycle shotgun made things a bit too easy most of the time. Although I suppose it would've become boring to use the ssg exclusively. The rail gun was good fun, but way too overpowered (2 hits on a shambler for 12 cells)

The maps were hard for me to navigate. Restarting a save from an earlier session would definitely prove confusing, you need to ideally do these maps in one sitting. I understand its not particularly natural to miraculously sail through a map (get a key, loop back to start to open key door etc) but my god was it painful at times to find where I needed to go. However when I knew where to go, it was great fun. Sometimes traipsing back through the corridors to where I knew I needed to go was way too long too. I liked the flavour text from the antagonist throughout the maps, it helped flesh out the world and make it that little more immersive.

initially I was triggered you used so many q2 assets, like the CTF team logo, textures and enemy sounds. Though after a while I came to accept most of them as part of the world. One thing - one q2ish enemy idle sound just plays and plays and plays, especially during the entirity of the first level. For the first level I just took it as level ambience (lol) but it became clear was happening later on.

I couldn't play level 2 on this PC (usual one broken.,.) because the rain lagged my system out badly. I was using Ironwail, but couldn't immediatly find a way to turn the rain off. So I never played more than a minute of that one I'm afraid.

The secret level was an experience for sure. the MH thing was a good twist

for me the mod at times felt like Zelda. The temples, the blue/red theme, the switching between temples, the choir sounds and much of the aesthetic. I'm not a zelda stan so please don't take me for someone who links everything to fucking zelda

the boss initially looked cool, but i got bored/didn't want to invest time into beating it- that arch-vile style attack 'if you can see the enemy, you're dead' chafed, and I just used godmod to power through it (sorry)
Skill
Nightmare
I feel absolutely terrible giving this 3 stars, because its highs are very high, and its lows aren't bad, exactly. So much care and creativity has gone into the architecture and vibes here. The new guns and monsters feel good, the combat encounters are good, individually.

The problem is mostly sheer length. Other reviewers have remarked on how labyrinthine it gets, and that might have been surmountable for me, and I would have finished and given it a solid 4. Like a 5 star with an asterisk.

But map 4 broke me. I had what I believe was a soft lock, on version 1.011, where I was one key short somehow. (I can no longer confirm for sure it was a softlock because there don't seem to be old version downloads, and my save is screwy in the current version.)

Doing map 4 again in the latest version from a shotgun start was miserable, and even using cheats to get my arsenal back I started getting lost and running in circles again, and I don't think I want to try and finish now.

Every piece of these maps is great in a vacuum, but strung all together they're kind of exhausting, and having to start map 4 over to progress was so daunting I quit instead. I feel like all four levels I actually played would have been better at half or two-thirds the length.
Skill
Normal
Strong start to this, and also some great vibes popping up here and there throughout. Foggy/rainy ambience, mysterious towers, brooding custom music, melodramatic taunting from some invisible adversary... actually, reminiscent of the things I liked best in Zerstoerer. Love it.

The mid parts of the episode do become too sprawly and maze-y for my tastes, and I'm usually very on board with exploration gameplay. Making progress often requires "unwinding" your path wayyyyy back, which can be problematic given the similar-looking and even symmetrical areas along the route. (Sometimes tricky in having any idea at all where you need to go back to, and sometimes tricky in remembering how to get back there.)

But you know, with the help of a bit of noclipping I got through those parts. The rest was pretty great! I enjoyed the new monsters, the new weapons, and even the final boss fight as a twist on an old standard. One problem there: on hard difficulty the eyeballs each took 3 rockets to destroy, I think, but they had no reaction at all to the first 1 or 2 rockets. Given the amount of other stuff going on it took me a while to find out that they were in fact destructible and that was the solution to the fight.

And it's hard to overemphasize the vibes factor, so I'll repeat it. :-) It's so satisfying to stumble across some weird characterful area. I do like me a well-constructed Quake combat arena, but it's never a bad time when I find a place that feels like it owes more to some sketch of "here's a rad place" than it does to the rules of constructing an edges-sanded-off fightzone.