Review: A Touch of Nazi

Details 
Title: A Touch of Nazi
Creator: John Bucksnort
Dos Version Released: 07/08/2000
SDL Version Released: 23/06/2012
Length: 9 Levels (1 secret) from John, Barry Christian, Harry Mass Snr. & Schabbs.
Level Format: Episodic
Story: None
Graphics: Original plus some from DOOM & The Lost Episodes
Sound: Original (Changed Order)
Special Features: None
Dos/SDL: Dos/SDL

Initial impressions: I wasn't overly impressed to read that this mod has very little new work from John in getting up to this mod to review. There are 10 levels, which are made up of 2 from original Wolf 3d, 2 from Harry Mass Snr, 2 levels from Wolf 3d_60 by Barry Christian, A new level from Schabbs, and 1 new and 2 reused levels from John, plus a bonus challenge level made by John. I don't particularly like this type of mod, as I feel that you are playing off someone else's work, John does however credit each person accordingly. I just feel that when you are as a prolific mapper and mod creator as John was, then there's just no need for this type of thing, especially when your mod prior to this (Tragedy at Istanbul IV - Footsteps to Despair) was the best and most creative you've made and released so far. At least John has modified the level from Wolf 3d (E3L9) and added some more parts in to make it a bit more individual.

Gameplay: The Gameplay is fairly standard from a Bucksnort mod, although it does vary through the other author's levels. John is quite heavy handed here, especially on Level 1 where you meet several guards, officers and SS in the very first few rooms throwing you straight into action, unfortunately it's a fair struggle as there's also little health or ammo lying around to use and it's pretty easy to run out of both quite quickly.

Mapping: The mapping varies, but seeing there is maps from a number of other people included in this set that's no surprise. There is some good mapping (Levels 1, 6 & 9) but there is also some very bad (take the maze on Level 8 for example).
One thing though that I was disappointed about was that the hidden elevator to the secret level, which is accessed through a secret pushwall, is unfortunately not behind any locked doors meaning the player can simply head there, almost completely unchallenged, from the start elevator and flick the switch. From my experience, secret elevators are usually a fair bit harder to access than this, and in my honest opinion should be.
I also found that the trees didn't look right. I understand they were meant to represent that the player was outside but unfortunately none of the textures or sprites really helped relay that so it basically just made the rest look like they were growing in the middle of passageways. What made it worse was that there were often hanging skeleton sprites used nearby. These are designed to look like they are hanging from the ceiling but yet the tress are trying to give the player the impression that they are outside?

Likes: There is some good levels here and the ones John has added from others work do fit relatively well with John's levels, although it is somewhat clear when you aren't playing a Bucksnort level. John has made some nice revisions to level 3 which was an original Wolfenstein 3d Boss level as well as the other levels receiving a bit of a make over with the wall set John has chosen for this.
There has been some use of what appears to be some Lost Episodes walls. They are quite nicely done and, when used correctly, fit in rather well here.
 
Dislikes: I know that they are iconic of John but I don't really like the changed ammo clips sprite to the SoD ammo box, it's obvious that it's been reduced in size but to me it just looks ridiculously big still. I'm also not a fan, as I have pointed out before, of the mish-mash of walls and the way they are used. There are many occasions where wall textures change or are used where they clash quite badly with others. There are many mapping techniques one can use to have neighbouring rooms have different textures rather then to show through into the next room.
Level 8, oh my...
I was also rather disappointed at first that John released a mod like this but they while playing it I started to look at it a bit differently, more like when a music artist releases a Greatest Hits album half way through their careers and then goes on to release more standard albums after that. I think this would have worked better if it had only been John's work but amongst the others maps we do still get some new levels from John as well as a new level from Schabbs and 2 previously unreleased levels from Harry Mass Snr.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 6/10
Difficulty: Most levels are rather difficult, much more so than the original Wolf 3d.
Best Level: 6
Worst Level: 8 - Maze Hell!

Wrap-up: Not a mod that is synonymous with John and probably fairly too. I have no problems with other people contributing to your mod but when those levels have been previously released in their authors own mods I just think it's a bit of a cheat. There is however some decent work and some new levels to keep everyone interested.

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod HERE (Which includes both Dos and SDL versions) or by clicking on the screenshot at the top of this post.

I will be reviewing all of John's releases (most likely in release order) over time as Andy_Nonymous has now updated each to SDL. Keep an eye out for more coming soon in the future!

Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.

Review: Tragedy at Istanbul VI - Footsteps To Despair

Details 
Title: Tragedy at Istanbul VI - Footsteps To Despair
Creator: John Bucksnort
Dos Version Released: 23/07/2000
SDL Version Released: 23/06/2012
Length: 9 Levels (1 secret)
Level Format: Continuous
Story: New
Graphics: Original plus some from DOOM
Sound: Original (Changed Order)
Special Features: None
Dos/SDL: Dos/SDL

Initial impressions: This is the 6th and FINAL part in John's 'Tragedy at Istanbul' series. All 6 parts were made, mapped and released within 57 days of each other, quite an effort! This again uses John's modified black statusbar and Menu screens along with many of his familiar sprites along with some DOOM walls and sprites (especially the weapons).
This has one of the most difficult starts to a mod that I've ever played, I think I died about 10 times while making sure I got 100% kills. It's not the most difficult start to a mod, that honour easily goes to Dark_Wizzie's original version of 'This Spear', but still quite difficult, especially if you are a 100% of everything type player like I am.
John has again stayed true to his style by over using the crown treasure item, in fact there are 2 in the very first room of the mod, and has also made things quite tough for the player early on with a heavy use of guards, including SS, while the player is still trying to find their feet, as well as gather health and ammo with which to rebuild after the quite difficult beginning.

Gameplay: The gameplay is quite difficult as there are a high number of guards used in most levels. The player needs to take great care as there always seems to be another guard just lurking somewhere for a sneak attack. Simply, you will take damage, often, but it all comes down to how smartly you use the health and ammo lying around. I found I was quite often having to do a sweep of the level to find more health and ammo to top up with before jumping into the exit elevator.

Mapping: Level 2 is definitely one of the best laid out and mapped levels in the game, however I can't give it it's due credit because there are some major mapping mistakes in it also. The walls John uses are just all over the place and a lot simply just look wrong and plainly don't go together;

There are other errors like items you can't access due to sprite placement but worse of all, there are several rooms placed after the exit elevator meaning if you take the exit there and then, you miss a secret room, lots of health and treasure and even a Boss challenge! Yes a Boss challenge you don't need to fight! For some reason John gives you the Boss's key earlier on so there's simply no need to fight the Boss to end the level, why have the Boss in there then? Because this is one of those mods where there's a Boss on a lot of levels, just because...
John then does show the player, in Level 4, that he does know how to make a mazey type level that is fun to play and not just a winding catastrophe. This level is smartly laid out with a fluid path to follow, not just random passages laid all over the place. Overall the mapping in this is very good and has improved dramatically over the 6 parts of this series.

Likes: The levels are of a very good quality in this, although some of the wall usage is questionable, this is a good collection of decent levels unlike a lot of John's earlier sets where the levels were of varying quality. This makes the game of a higher level throughout and a much more enjoyable experience. Level 3 is the only real exception but 1 out of 9 isn't too bad really, it's hard to find any Wolf mod that hasn't got at least 1 average level.
I'm one that's not to good with music in levels so I've no idea if John has changed the order in this or not, but for some reason the music does seem to match the type of level you are playing which helps enhance the playing experience.
 
Dislikes: One thing I haven't mentioned before in any of John's reviews, but it has been bugging me, is the refusal to update Par times. Level 1 is still set at 1:30, which is just simply impossible to achieve. I know there are players out there who specifically try to finish levels, and indeed mods, as quickly as they can. Not taking the time, and extra effort, to update Par times can run the risk of reducing some of the enjoyment factor for some players and something that I would like to see more people include, not just in full blown TC's, but also in basic mapsets. I understand this really shouldn't affect how good a mod is, and it certainly doesn't affect any of my ratings, but for me, it's just something that makes a mod, of any quality, a bit more of a complete release.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 8/10
Difficulty: A lot harder then original SoD
Best Level: 4
Worst Level: 3

Wrap-up: For mine, probably the best of John's mods I've played so far and a great way to wrap up the 'Istanbul' series. If you're only going to play 1 of the mods in the series, I would strongly suggest playing this one. It's challenging to play but also a fair representation of the series and the design and creativity John has used throughout.

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod HERE (Which includes both Dos and SDL versions) or by clicking on the screenshot at the top of this post.

I will be reviewing all of John's releases (most likely in release order) over time as Andy_Nonymous has now updated each to SDL. Keep an eye out for more coming soon in the future!

Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.

Review: Odds And Ends

Details 
Title: Odds And Ends
Creator: Thomas Weiling
Release Date: 28/04/12
Length: 32 Levels (1 Secret)
Level Format: Continuous
Story: Nil
Graphics: Original Wolf
Sound: Original Wolf
Special Features: Mapset names on Get Psyched screen
Dos/SDL: SDL

Initial impressions: Although none of these levels are new or haven't previously been released in some format or another, I highly applaud what Thomas has done here with this release. In essence, this is one big Thomas fix by bringing a whole selection of Thomas' levels that have appeared in other mods and mapsets together in one collection. This set contains levels from the following releases (You can download any of them by clicking on their names);

- 2 levels from Escape from Castle Holle
- 3 levels from Thomas Map of the Month Contributions (June '07, July '07, Oct '07)
- 1 level from the Team Aardwolf mapset
- 6 levels from the Super Haven mapset
- 10 levels from the DHW Wolf 3d mapset
- 5 levels from Thomas' mod Hard Cell
- 3 levels from the DHW SoD mapset
- 1 level from Operation Mutant Strike 3
- 1 level from Thomas' mod Kilroy Was Here

The mod doesn't necessarily work as a mod in itself as the levels were all designed for different mods, as it wasn't designed to work like this, but if you look at it as a set of collective levels and play each one on it's merit then you will be certain to get some enjoyment from this set. The Levels are of differing quality and size as well as some have been designed to stand on their own, like the MotM submissions while some come from differing places within other peoples mods.

Gameplay: There is some really great gameplay and difficult challenges in amongst these levels, especially from Thomas' MotM submissions. These were designed to be stand alone levels and to be quite challenging. The remaining levels are certainly at the usual levels of Thomas' levels and most of them are a nice challenge.

Thomas can be a little too harsh about his older work at times and has plenty of times where levels have been scrapped or removed from various mods or releases but it's nice to see these all added together in one place and given the promotion of work they deserve. Sometimes it's not always fun to play a full mapset of work if all you want to do is play one person's work. 

Mapping: The mapping is a little mixed here, as previously discussed, as some levels have been designed as stand alone while others have been made to fit into a set either surrounded by either other peoples levels or abutting Thomas' own. Unfortunately there have been some forced changes to most levels as not all sets that these levels appeared in were made using the original wallset, meaning that walls in some levels were re chosen from only the original Wolf set. There aren't any glaring walls that don't fit but some that are used are a fair bit different to the type, colour or theme they were originally designed to work with. This is also true of sprites and in also in the case of one of the MotM submissions a switch operated push wall was removed so that the level could be included in this set, unfortunately the room it led to has also been edited out of this release. What's also been a problem is the use of more than 2 keys in some sets. The most these levels use is 3, and that's what that strange grey square is doing over by itself to the right of the weapon image on the status bar. This looks a little odd, and I think would have looked better if a 4th empty key spot had been added, even if there's no 4th key in the mod.

Likes: For starters, the fact that a lot of these have never been available in SDL is a great start meaning these levels can now be played by everyone. The concept behind the release for me, is the most outstanding thing to like about this though. The fact that someone has brought all their levels from various sets together is an outstanding idea and certainly something I hope others also decide to do. I can imagine getting the chance to play fantastic new mapsets from people like AReyeP, Schabbs, RonWolf and many others.

Dislikes: I'm not sure that the Kilroy was Here and Hard Cell levels needed to be included as they'd been released in their own mods already, and the key thing looks a little weird but I guess necessary. I also read that Thomas didn't really know how his Operation Mutant Strike 3 level turned out or plays. This seemed surprising to me as how could a mapper not? Thomas explains that he just gave a level to someone else and they modified it to fit for him... hmm, I think we all should take a little more care in our work that we release and then maybe we won't be upset later on and want to either withdraw or change things, I know I've learnt from this myself in the past.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 8/10
Difficulty: Varying but most are harder then original Wolf
Best Level: 5
Worst Level: 42

Wrap-up: This is a real treat for fans of Thomas' work and is a great way to enjoy his levels rather than having to play through multiple mapsets to play them. This is a great idea to release a compilation set like this and something that I hope others will do in the future themselves, I may even look at doing a set myself similar to this when I feel I have enough levels to put together to release. Lots hope that Thomas keeps contributing to community mapsets and others mods so that there's a Volume 2 of these!

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod HERE or by clicking on the Title screen at the top of the post.
 
Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.

Review: Beyond Mutantstein SE - 10th Anniversary Edition

Details 
Title: Beyond Mutantstein SE - 10th Anniversary Edition
Creator: Wolf 3d Community
SDL Version Released: 25/12/2012
Length: 19 Levels (1 secret)
Level Format: Continuous
Story: Same as original
Graphics: Same as original
Sound: Original (Changed Order)
Special Features: Mutants can open pushwalls 
Dos/SDL: SDL

Initial impressions: This is a nice looking set and with the availability for the mappers to use almost unlimited amount of sprites and enemies, it gives the set great possibilities and scope to see what can be done. There are nice new title screens and things run very smoothly in SDL. The opening level by Arielus sets the tone nicely and also gives a nice nod to the original (made by MCS) with the mod starting off with a mutant pushing a pushwall similar to how the original tribute set did 10 years earlier.

Gameplay: The gameplay is of varying quality and intensity. Some levels are fast paced, some are slow and methodical and some are just a bit dull. There has been some nice scenarios but very little surprises. Outside of Ack's level I don't think I was killed in any level, and rarely challenged or felt in danger of dying in any others. There was a fair use of secret areas, health and ammo and treasure, but not too little to make the player have to be overly careful.

Mapping: The mapping was of mixed quality in this, like the level sizes and features used. I'm aware there was a big range of experience amongst the mappers involved in this but I only really found there to be a couple of what I would call, top quality levels. Thomas produced the best map of the set in my opinion, making a level which was not only challenging and entertaining to play but also tributes John in it's style, look and functionality. Ack produced another high quality level that was visually beautiful to play, as did Poet, Arielus and AReyeP. There was also some great design and creative mapping from the likes Hair_Machine, Bobby Bucksnort, Harry Snr. and Daniel Whalley.
It's not that the mapping was bad or the game not challenging, I just found some of the mapping to be not very inspiring. Some levels felt like they were made the size they were to fill the full mapping grid for no reason other then because there was no limits on the use of sprites and enemies. This however, left some levels with areas that were completely unnecessary to the map and seemed only to exist to fill in space.
Poet's secret level is certainly one level that deserves mention. This is insanely difficult and complex, similar to some of his own releases, but thankfully a quite detailed walkthrough is included in the game files, as well Poet has put up a YouTube video that can be viewed HERE.

Likes: Some mappers got to show what they can do as well as we got to see some new work from some people that haven't been heavily involved in the Community for a while like Harry, Daniel and Bobby. While it's always great to have the Community come together to produce a combined work I was a little disappointed that the full 21 levels weren't utilised, especially when there are some people in the Community who have been around for a long time producing good quality work that weren't asked and could have easily have made one of the 2 levels the set ended up being short. I do understand why the mods administrators decided to go that way but I can see how the set could have only been strengthened by allowing more people to contribute.
I was happy to see the number of mappers that returned to make a map for this Anniversary edition that did for the original release 10 years earlier.

Dislikes: I found a lot of the mapping to be a little formulaic, dull and not really made as a tribute like the set was supposed to be, and of less quality than what I was hoping for in this release and ultimately I was left a little disappointed. While there were some good maps from people that I was pleasantly surprised to see, I was a little disappointed from some of the efforts from some other more seasoned mappers. I feel that most mappers didn't really follow the mutant theme and even though only mutant enemies were used, didn't really try to make things in a style that John would have enjoyed playing or was in tribute or replication of his style. I understand that when so many different mappers come together to produce a set you are going to get some very differing styles and designs but overall I just think it was still possible to have stuck a bit closer to the intended theme for the set.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 7/10
Difficulty: Harder than original SoD, easier then original tribute set.
Best Level: 15
Worst Level: Ummmm

Wrap-up: It's always good to see a new Community set released and with a great list of mappers included the set had a lot of potential to be an outstanding set. Unfortunately, I found it didn't quite reach those heights, maybe my disappointment is based on a too high level of expectation but I guess all I can do is review how I see it and feel at the time of writing it.

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod HERE (Which includes both Dos and SDL versions) or by clicking on the screenshot at the top of this post.

You can download the original Beyond Mutantstein SE Tribute set (in SDL) HERE.

Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.

Review: The Black House

Details 
Title: The Black House
Creator: Majik Monkee
Released: 26/10/2012
Length: 1 Level (0 secret)
Level Format: Continuous
Story: New
Graphics: New and some from other MM releases
Sound: New Music and Sounds
Special Features: Additional weapons, ambient sounds
Dos/SDL: SDL

Initial impressions: This is intended as a survivalist Horror themed mod and from the first glimpse you get inside 'The Black House' that's exactly what appears to be what you are in the middle of. The music is ominous, the ambient sounds are made up of creaking doors and screams and it all sets the mood very nicely.
The walls looks to be modified versions of Blood walls, similar to those used in MM's earlier release Halls of Stonehenge, but look clearer and sharper then they did in HoS. There are great use of ceiling lights, pictures, furniture, spiderwebs and other 'scary' house types of things also.
The player starts with a gun, but with little ammo, and is advised via the BH manual to conserve ammo as it will be required later on... There are an interesting mixture of enemies, some we have met in other MM releases in different guises, but initially from the look and feel of the game the player is met with a whole lot of "What is going on here?".

Gameplay: The gameplay is well, methodical I guess. The player is required to search from room to room, accumulating ammo and wiping out any thing else evil looking as you go along. You meet the main baddie somewhere early on and are basically spend the rest of the time trying to avoid him hoping to find some type of weapon that may assist you in defeating him. The mod is one where you can basically proceed at your own pace but there are a lot of areas that you must traverse to continue onwards with.
It is different as you must not always just blast away but you need to be more strategic, especially as your ammo levels will ultimately decide your fate. I still feel like I may not have experienced everything and that there was more I should of seen or done but especially done in a more clever and obvious way.

Mapping: The mapping is fairly straight forward but suits the 'house' theme perfectly. It gives you plenty of places to run away to as well as obvious central areas where you start to get an idea something may be lurking. There are a few secrets, for which the player is nicely rewarded, and the mod is very well decorated, making the mod fully envelope into it's theme but also making each area detailed and more rich, even the ones just are just meant to pass through.
With any mod with so few levels I always find myself asking if the mod could of functioned better/the same/less with more levels and I feel that although this didn't need them, it could certainly have used the additional scope and chance to tell an even grander story. I would think no more than 5 (maybe 4 plus 1 secret) would have still worked just as well and given the player more chance to enjoy the hard work that has been put into creating the mod.

Likes: MM again uses a female as his lead character, again a refreshing change from all the Male dominated leads in almost every other mod ever released.
There's no denying that Majik has been a pioneer in Wolf 3d with a lot of his mods and does things not seen before. You'll not see just a random collection of sprites thrown together for no reason here. There is evidence of deep thought and usually a very deep involved storyline to accompany the mod which helps fully immerse the player into the mod and gives you a reason to play the mod, not just for your own enjoyment. You almost feel like you are letting the maker (and the character in the mod) down if you don't help them find their way to safety!

Dislikes: Well I know it goes against design of the mod, but I would of liked the mod to have been longer then 1 level as for a lot of it there isn't just much going on. Sure, you are exploring and there is certainly some trial and error as to the best way to navigate the level. While this isn't necessarily something i disliked in the mod, it's more of a wish, especially when so much effort has been put in to create a fully immersive environment and storyline to have it all be over after only 1 level.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 6.5/10
Difficulty: A lot of the level is very easy but the Boss is extremely difficult.

Wrap-up: This is another creative effort from MM and one that, although is only 1 level is well worth playing. It's hard to review this mod without discussing some of the main parts of it or the ending but I don't wish to give away any spoilers or risk affecting anyone else's enjoyment of the mod. All I can suggest is to play it yourself and find out what happens!

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod HERE or by clicking on the screenshot at the top of this post.

Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.

Easy speedrun finished; new video (Episode 6)!

I have completed the easy difficulty speedrun with Episode 6. You can view it here. As usual, all relevant information regarding the video should be in the description below it.

Enjoy! :)

Review: Tragedy at Istanbul V - The Schabbs Connection

Details 
Title: Tragedy at Istanbul V - The Schabbs Connection
Creator: John Bucksnort
Dos Version Released: 07/08/2000
SDL Version Released: 23/06/2012
Length: 9 Levels (1 secret)
Level Format: Continuous
Story: New
Graphics: Original plus some from DOOM
Sound: Original (Changed Order)
Special Features: None
Dos/SDL: Dos/SDL

Initial impressions: It's very easy to see John's DOOM influence here with a large amount of the walls and graphics having been imported from there. Some of them walls and door fit quite well into Wolf;

Where as some others really do clash with Wolf walls and just shouldn't be used together;

This has a nice array of Doom textures and sprites that have been (mostly) used well, including the Chaingun and 25 health item. This does give the mod an individual look for the time (although it's been done to death by a lot of modders since) and makes things look just a little darker and more sinister. 

Gameplay: The gameplay is fast moving and quite well done in this mod with John again going with less mazey tight areas. Most rooms are a different shape and size and his room layouts have become less and less predictable with each mod he releases. John has never been one to fill the whole 64x64 mapping grid, and with the way he design his levels there's just no need. I see too many modern day maps that have used nearly the whole map with large portions of it there for little or no reason that just aren't important to the map.
John has incorporated different elements into his maps and continued to use more sprites in a constructive way than his earlier sets that were quite barren. John has also chosen well with his contributing mappers as their styles match quite well with John's and the both also understand John's style well to make maps that fit with the direction John takes his mods.

Mapping: John again has guest mappers with Harry Snr. making Level 2 and Schabbs (seems fitting) making the secret level. Both mappers levels fit fairly well with John's levels and without reading the 'Read1st' file you might not have even known.
The mapping is done in John's usual style with heavy amounts of guards and excessive amounts of crowns. I really don't have a problem with how much treasure a mapper uses in their levels but when the score clocks over the 1,000,000 point mark in the 5th level and the score counter goes back to 0 then for me it just looks a little untidy. Also there are a couple of areas where secret walls move under or over sprites as well which just makes things look a little strange and something I feel shouldn't be done if it can be helped. I think a player is going to notice this more than there being no light or sprite at all in the secret area.
Harry has used the Ghosts in a secret area in his level but with only one problem, they can't move! You can just run around them in circles with them posing no threat at all. Sure you get caught the first time but when you realise you aren't being followed it makes for more of a novelty that any type of threat.

There's no denying that John does things his own way, with him breaking another of the 'unspoken' rules of mapping by placing a Boss in the very first room of a new level! If you start this level with little health or ammo, or a person who starts each level again with the bare minimums if you die then you are going to be in some trouble! The shot below is from the elevator door, at least you have some ammo, but the nearest cache of health is behind the Ubermutant in the next room, in a secret area, something you just don't have time to open and get while he is chasing you. I died a few times checking this out and really, unless you know he's there and become well prepared there's pretty much no chance of surviving this battle in the small area you are given to fight him in.

 
Likes: The gameplay is fast paced as usual and you know you are always going to get a good challenge from one of John's mods. In most levels, although there is usually some ammo and health amount balancing issues, you will take damage, be surprised by some of John's better guard placements and get caught by a hidden guard (most likely SS) while going for what looks like, some safe treasure or health.
I did enjoy some of the tricks that Schabbs brings to the table with his mapping, especially the shot below where the player can fully see a key but is unable to get to it because of some sort of 'invisible type forcefield' blocking you. I got sucked in, as I'm sure most others would have!

  
Dislikes: In some levels there is is just way to much ammo and health. Level 2 has such an abundance that there is basically one, or both, at almost every turn and along every few steps that one never has any worry or need to backtrack or search for ammo. The secret areas (all 10 in the level) are chock block full as is the main room leading to the Boss battle. With such a large amount laying around everywhere it really made the Boss challenge easy. You just stand yourself in front of health and ammo and start firing, if you get hit or start to run low just take a couple of steps back while still firing to top up, this makes for an VERY easy Boss battle.
While it's great John is adding new walls to change things up a bit, some of the Doom walls just don't fit with the Wolf 3d walls and should not have been used together.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 7.5/10
Difficulty: A lot harder then original SoD
Best Level: 4
Worst Level: 2

Wrap-up: Another strong mod from John with good level design and challenging scenarios. This is another good part of the Istanbul series but again could have worked quite well as a stand alone mod.

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod HERE (Which includes both Dos and SDL versions) or by clicking on the screenshot at the top of this post.

I will be reviewing all of John's releases (most likely in release order) over time as Andy_Nonymous has now updated each to SDL. Keep an eye out for more coming soon in the future!

Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.

Episodes 4 and 5 in super-speed!

Just posting to inform I've done the super-speedruns on easy for Episoes 4 and 5 and the video is up! You can view it here and I hope you enjoy. :)

All that's left is Episode 6 before I move on to Spear. It's not easy, especially the second half, and I'm probably going to end up with the speedrun on easy first. I've been doing some work getting prepared for the hard under par/from scratch challenge, and E6L6 has me stuck on finding a safe strategy for speed - so many enemies and so many different directions!

After Episode 6 I'll probably try to do the same challenges for Spear - now that's likely to be even worse, especially at double the length of a Wolfenstein episode!

Note that I'm quite busy with work and college and probably will be for a while so these videos may become less frequent at times. As I said, I do these time permitting and there's no fixed schedule.

And by the way thanks to Dean for adding me to the YouTube channels section on the right. Very appreciated. :)

Mobile App: Wolfenstein 3d for Android

I recently downloaded, and paid the princely sum of $0.99c (Now $1.83 for some reason), for an 'unofficial' release of Wolfenstein 3d for the Android operating system. While the Ios (or Apple) version is the official ID release, unfortunately there hasn't been one ported across to Android yet, effectively cutting out about 1 billion users or so... This is released on Android by a company called 'Touch Fun' who also have released an unofficial port of 'Doom' as well as the ever popular 'Chinese Paladin' (?) and whatever the Hell this is;

The port looks fairly normal and actually behaves like normal Wolf 3d does, including having to wait a second of two at the initial start up screen for the available memory to self fill before being able to "press a key" as with the PC version. We then have the usual Wolf 3d music as well as the normal blue PG-13 screen. If untouched the screens will cycle through the credits, ID games screen and even the Demo's before stopping on the Options screen, at this stage all seems as normal. At this point it starts to dawn on the user as to how one is going to actually play the game. Upon the screen are the fairly obvious additional arrow type things used to play the game as there is no keyboard or mouse attached that is usually what PC players use to operate the game. The additional operating icons are used in the following way;

1. Directional Arrows
2. Select Weapon as well as keyboard option, to type in save names
3. Strafe Keys
4. Fire Button
5. OK Button (Same as Space or 'use' button on a keyboard)

One of the only main problems in being an unofficial port of the game is that there has been no change to the functional options from the original game, so you can actually go in and change the sound, mouse and even the keyboard options, without being able to use them! This just seems silly to have superfluous options that can't be used, but when your app isn't official and you are just trying to make a few bucks out of it then I guess you don't really care!

Personally I'm not sure how this type of obvious infringement on someone else's work can even be added to the Google Play shop as surely they are a breach of Copyright, especially being that the makers, the aforementioned 'Touch Free', who would already be raking in the big dollars from their 'Chinese Paladin' release... (lol), would in no way have the legal permission to release this or , as I suspect, be paying any royalty fees to ID games.

Once you start the game the mod looks normal, all the guards are in the right place and make the right noises, dogs bark and do their silly sideways running thing and all the secrets are where they should be. The onscreen buttons used to navigate yourself through the levels aren't overly smooth and do take some getting use to but the strafe keys do function quite nicely.
The change weapon icon brings up a series of numbers from 1-9 across the top of the screen when pressed, even though there are only 4 weapons, plus a little keyboard icon on the far right. Now I don't know if in some way you can actually plug a keyboard into your phone but in my opinion, that kind of defeats the purpose a little. What it can be used is for writing your name for your save games. There are are also, obviously no short keys, so saving and loading needs to always be done by returning back to the main menu.

Things run as normal, that is until you get to the Episode 1, Level 10 secret level, where for some reason it's raining... Now while I have seen this used in Wolf 3d mods (in outdoor areas) I have no idea how this has appeared in a supposed full version of a port of the original game, unless they are of course getting around copyright somehow by not using an original Wolf 3d release, but some type of modified version (Which I still believe you can't charge for unless you change absolutely everything and created it yourself).

There ar 6 episodes each with 10 levels including a Boss level and a secret level and from playing through a fair bit of it I haven't noticed anything else glaringly different, although after the rain on E1L10 I wouldn't be shocked to find some more obvious inaccuracies.

This is, obviously, far from the proper version but as an Android user, the only option you have until ID decide to service the other half of the World who use Android phones and release their version. I can't say I'd really recommend this as the PC version is always going to be much better but as a novelty or a bit of fun to fill in some time occasionally while away from a PC and you just have that inkling to play Wolf 3d wherever you are, then it's at least better then nothing. 

More to watch!

Well I'm taking classes again now so things are busier but I managed to get two new videos up today:

1. I have completed Episode 5 in the under par on hard difficulty challenge. You can view it here.

2. I've done a super-speed playthrough, sort of a fastest route walkthrough video, of the first three episodes on the easy skill (Don't Hurt Me). No secret levels or secret shortcuts, otherwise the goal is just blast each level down as fast as I can. In fact I finished all 24 times levels (each Floor 1 thru 8) in under a minute per level, and my full episode times come in just shy of five minutes! You can view this video here.

As always I hope you enjoy the videos and all commentary is highly welcome! :)