Review by Colin Phipps

Right from the start of "Warcade 5" you are under attack. The level consists of a large outdoor area with large structures in each corner and a river running through the middle, and early on there are monsters looking into this area from every angle. You have to pay good attention to the well placed enemies, think about fields of fire and cover, and make a few risky runs for ammo in the early stages of this level.

It's a very stylish level, with lots of new/modified textures imported, which are used consistenly throughout. The outdoor areas, with their vine-covered textures, looked particularly good. There is good detail like lighting, decorations, etc thoughout the level. Also there are good features like acid, and chasms.

Once you get further into the level the style of play changes somewhat; having subdued the enemies in the main vantage points, you proceed to clean up the buildings and get on with completing the level. The level progression is good, straightforward but very non-linear and uses bridges and opening chasms instead of boring old switch-opening-a-door. The fights by this stage aren't so fun though; chaingunning an archville at long range is a bit tedious, and the other enemies are fairly weak. The couple of cacodemon releasing traps make good fights, but the cacos are released a long way away so don't really get the advantage of surprise.

Alas the version of this level I played had some minor problems playing under Boom, but those should be fixed in the latest version. There are new sounds imported, mostly inoffensive; the new sound for a crushing ceiling is a bit strange, made it sound more like a cyberdemon marching around or something, but maybe that is deliberate :-O.

Overall, if you want a level with a balance of dexterity and thought required, then get this one.