After a long, long time of absence - well, it was mostly pretty much inaccessable due to some issues with the system - the review area is back online. You can access it through the main menu on the right. It looks much cleaner now and it invites for a good read if you ask me. If you are interested in contributing (that's what we hope for) simply post your review in the appropriate "Review" forum at our messageboard, add some screenshots and we are eager to add your thoughts about a certain map. Make sure to read the new review rules by the way.

Somewhere, sometime in the past, a civilization was formed around a mysterious energy source which allowed them to create technology that would not be possible otherwise. Then, when the civilization began to flourish, the animalistic species unique to the land became organized and waged war against them. And then someone shows up on the shore, carrying nothing but a note in an unknown language.

You have total conversions, and you have Total Conversions (with capital letters). Works so extensive and full of quality, they are practically their own games. it becomes even more impressive when you know that this is done by a newcomer in the community. This is what first time author Night Falls throws at you with Rise of the Abyssal, an Total Conversion worthy of the capital letters.

Still piggybacking on Doom2's WAD file, Rise of the Abyssal is completely unrecognizable from its forefather, and it is planned to be a standalone game in the future. GZDoom powered, Rise of the Abyssal tells the story of the formation of a new civilization, formed around a mysterious energy source which allowed them to create technology that would not be possible otherwise. Then, when the civilization began to flourish, the animalistic species unique to the land became organized and waged war against them.

And then someone shows up on the shore, carrying nothing but a note in an unknown language.

Rise of the Abyssal dials the action rampant gunfest of Doom down and presents a more tactically focused total conversion featuring overhauled combat, monster behaviors, new puzzle mechanics, and so forth. Already featured in the game are:

• You can now kick monsters over to leave them vulnerable or get them temporarily out of your way, and slash staggering demons with a demonic dagger to regain health.
• The combat flows kind of like a fast paced dance, dashing around things, kicking, stabbing, shooting, and slashing.
• You no longer have medkits, and must instead protect your health with vitality: armor that takes 100% of damage taken. As mentioned above, the main way to regain health is through the demonic dagger.
• You're weapons include a versatile sword which delivers a continuous series of swings and slashes, a bow that you pull back and fire, an unconventional crossbow that can fire up to four bolts in a row with dynamic reloading, triggerable explosives and bait for monsters.
• Monsters have a wide range of unique behaviors, from dodging to lobbing props at you to breathing jets of flame while chasing after you. Every enemy is unique, and most of them are much smarter than a standard Doom demon.

Night Falls has been working for several years already on this Total Conversion on his own before signing up and presenting the work. Visually it embraces low polygon models but also modern rendering features, courtesy of GZDoom. Rise of the Abyssal is still a work in progress, but its clear that we are dealing with something special here, a Total Conversion worth waiting for.

Brilliant news to all those furry-haters: The official sequel to Shadow of the Wool-Ball has finally been released: Rise of the Wool-Ball starts where the first game has left off, just with much more fun one could ever expect: "Time has passed since the events of the first game. Peace has returned to Scott and Rebecca`s home planet. Just as spring has started to bloom there, both of them awake from their hibernation slumber and start doing what they do after every winter - running happily to the nearby woods, enjoying the beautiful nature and joining some sick moshpits at their favorite metal festival after that.

Some months ago, the legend himself John Romero released his own vision of E1M8 to the community, after more than 20 years not even touching the original Doom. That was a blast, wasn't it? Recently he released a video of him playing the map itself and commenting about plans, history and all other interesting trivia that is pure gold to any of us retro Doomers. Check out the video, it's very interesting to watch and get to know more about the vision behind the map and the vision behind Doom itself.

Just spotted at the ZDoom forums that our community guide leodoom85 has posted a video showcasing my Sapphire remaster. It's quite awesome to spot these videos lately and seeing other people playing my revamped mods. It's certainly a feeling that tells me it was worth doing that. If you have some time left, I'd suggest trying it and leave him a comment. Thanks a lot to him for recording that.