Review by Colin Phipps

"Death Tormention (V1)" is a compilation of 9 levels by the author into an episide for Ultimate Doom. It's in the same marble and rusted metal style as the original. There is a dehacked file included for Boom users to set the level names on the automap right but Boom isn't required.

There is a lot of good architecture around, especially in the later levels; arches (crude but the best Doom can do), lighting effects and windows between areas were all present in the later levels. The early levels were maybe not as good but there were no major defects and they were still in the style. One odd thing though was E4M6, which looked out of place with it's high-tech style, though it was amng the better levels so it wasn't a big problem.

Gameplay was good; the Doom 1 style of fighting is still the best for me, and weak enemies like sergeants are used well. In particular there were a lot of troopers mixed in, which are suprising annoying and effective when combined with more potent enemies like cacodemons (normally I try to pin cacos down or dodge their shots, but neither plan does anything about the supporting troopers).

On the down side there was too much health and ammo, especially too many cells (though I always seem to say that :P, but here it is true). there are a lot of good secrets in the episode, including a secret level, if you do need them.

The level progression was good generally, keydoors were visible before you needed them, keys and switched to release them were marked, everything as it should be. However I have a major problem with the secret level of this episode: it is misplaced, so you go to it from E4M6, play it, and end up back at E4M4! This is a serious oversight, and a very annoying one since I didn't have any savegames handy to contniue from where I had reached. Very frustrating :(.

As I said above, things vary through the episode, so here are my comments per level:

1. Aztec - A small level, with fairly basic but not bad architecure. The action varies a lot - some places are hardly defended, others have some mean traps.
2. Slayer - Again the architecture sticks well to the style; there are some good decorations and features, though I thought the outdoor area could be better. There is some good use of shutgun men to give some pretty brutal fights, and plenty of action throughout the level.
3. Compound - This level was mostly done in wooden textures, which was mostly OK but for a few areas which used the hideous ceiling with the bright lights, making things too bright and showing up the pixelation. There are some nasty moments but most were easily escaped or offset by the masses of health around.
4. Bunker - Another hellish style level, again with some nice tricks and fights. The central room is good architecture but some of the side areas aren't as good.
5. The Omen - This is a great level. Strangely it reminded me of Computer Station (Doom 1 E1M7), except that this level sticks with the Ultimate Doom textureing and decorations of the rest of this episode of course. There are lots of windows, outdoor bits and interconnecting areas later in the level. There is a lot of variety of monsters and fights, and quite a few secrets too. Unfortunately it was a bit spoilt at the end by having to grind through 6 barons with a rocket launcher one-by-one. There was also a lot of excess ammo lying around, mainly cells.
6. Habitat - This level changed to the Knee-Deep style. There is a lot of good architecture at this level, with box rooms, computer panels and acid areas. Interestingly the main junction of this level is covered in acid, but this isn't a pain since you don't have to go past often. There are lots of traps at this level, it really keeps you on your toes; save often. A pretty fun level to play, and some good secrets too.
7. The Crypt - Back to the marble-and-wood style with this level, with some nice architecture, in particular some nice outdoor bits. There are good fights especially early on, where there are a good mix of monsters which take advantage of the interesting design. Later on there's a maze and several big badies to just gun down with plasma.
8. Caughtyard - The final showdown, and a pretty good one; you have to face 4 spiderdemons in a not-too-large courtyard with little cover; the trick is getting them fighting each other of course, but you'll need to plan what happens when they finally do come after you ;). Finally there is a rather futile cyberdemon who is easily gunned down - I didn't get that bit. Nice final-level architecture.
9. Oasis - A gloomy level with a good theme, though probably a bit too brown overall. Lots of monsters to grind through but there's plenty of ammo and weapons, as usual too many cells though.

There are various misc things included, like modified end screen graphics, new music, and a demo.

Overall I enjoyed playing the later levels of this episode. I'm still not sure whether I'm letting it off lightly for the problems, but provided you remember the secret level problem then this is a good fun episode to play.