Meticulous. Amazing.
Brilliant. Pedantic. Painstaking. Those will probably be the key-words
in this review. Somehow I feel that I will inevitable get to those
words at some point. Why? Because this is a review of one the the most
amazing Doom wads ever created. That was the first word, 4 to go.
Now, we have all
encountered wads with good scripting, great looks, superb layout and
action packed gameplay. However, exactly how often is it that we get
all that in one download? P:AR is what we have been looking for. You
get your absolutely brilliant design, with some of the most amazing
level of detail I have ever seen in a Doom level. I dare not start to
imagine just how much time Chris Lutz has used on creating these truly
spectacular environments with the most painstakingly crafted and
inspiring use of lights, shadows and pseudo 3D structures ever seen.
And it doesn't stop there, because as you play these levels you will
also start to get the feeling that a careful plan was laid out before
work commenced on P:AR. There is a meaning with it all and you feel
like you're moving further down into some evil underworld as your
surroundings gradually shift into something more and more sinister and
hostile. Top it all off with meticulous amounts and well placed
scripted sequences either triggered by your movements or the classic
press of a switch. It is all there and the brilliant mixture of
something known and new captures the player into a unique visual
experience!
Being an Ult. Doom
episode, you will probably miss Revenants and Chaingunners or the
Super Shotgun and assume that it will be a breeze blazing through
these levels without dying. However, only if you're the total Doom II
addict. Because P:AR lacks nothing in finely tuned gameplay and
presents the player with plenty of action and challenge despite the
fact that you rarely run into monsters such as Cacodemons and Barons.
You will slaughter seemingly endless amounts of Former Humans,
Sergeants and Imps armed almost only with your trusty Shotgun. Yes,
you will get the other weapons but ammo supplies consists largely of
shells. This rises the challenge factor quite a bit as you take a lot
of hits while the Shotgun is loading from multiple sides. The Ult.
Doom gameplay is in most cases much to easy when there is too much
bullet ammo around. Not in P:AR. One thing you will also notice is
that although you can afford to miss a shot or two, it will generally
not be a good idea to waste too much ammo as the author has been very
pedantic in this area and it seems like ammo balance is literally
perfect.
A short review. Yes,
but filled with justified praise. I can only recommend this set of
levels, how could do otherwise after having used such positive words
about it. Ohh yeah, here is one I forgot: Staggering!
Score: 96%
