#gameplay mod

What caught my attention was this image:

a mod for GZDoom/Heretic that turns it into a Wolfenstein-like experience!

Vida amorosa aberta - Poliamor, Trisal, Parceiros Paralelos

ATUALIZADO: 20/03/24

Link Mod: Patreon

Link Tradução: Mediafire | Patreon

MOD OBRIGATÓRIO PARA FUNCIONAR

Br1: Diaz: Last Hours of Purity

Main author(s): Corwin Brence (WildWeasel) and Carlos Sanchez (Cardboard Marty)

Release date: October 1st, 2008

Version(s) played: Updated version

Required port compatibility: (G)ZDoom

Levels: 0 (gameplay mod)

That’s right folks. We are diving into completely new territory in terms of Doom WADs. Diaz: Last Hours of Purity is a gameplay mod that was featured on Cacowards 2008 in a special section titled This is my Boomstick (think of it as a protoplast for the Best Gameplay Mod award introduced in Cacowards 2011).

Originally released as a standalone mod in 2008, it would be re-released as part of the WildWeasel's Hits Collection the same year. From what I’ve gathered, Carlos was behind the sprites to this mod along with the character creator while Corwin took care of the rest.

This mod surprisingly has a plot, talking about the titular agent Diaz, who’s sent to UAC to check out what kind of fuck up they did this time... It’s hell, isn’t it? It’s always fudging hell!

Now, folks, let me be clear – this is not going to be a typical WAD review; As I said, I’m basically tackling a new territory. So apologies if it looks wonkier than ever.

My first impressions of this WAD are not really that great. I played it on Doom II and I wanted to finish up to O of Destruction, but the overabundance of new hitscanner enemies and jankiness of the weapon mechanics soured my taste for this mod; After I finished The Waste Tunnels, I was basically sick of it.

If you are like me and hate hitscanners, then this mod is not for you. There are many new types of Former Humans that tend to be tougher than the original ones and aside from encountering one baldie wearing a white uniform, all of them were hitscanners, so try to imagine how some of the enemies that weren’t hitscanners were replaced by the new enemies (random ones, I might add) that are.

There are four classes to play. I don’t really know the differences between these aside from one allowing you to play as a dude. All seem to have the same amount of health and use the same weaponry.

Speaking of weaponry, there are over 10 weapons from what I saw. Each being a better or worse alternative to the original weapons.

Like Zen Dynamics from 2006, almost all of the weapons have to be reloaded. But this is where most of the jank comes out. Instead of reloading by bullets, where it takes the exact amount of needed ammo to your gun, it replaces magazines AKA if you shoot once and have 39 bullets in your gun, it will throw these away as soon as you reload. Not to mention how there is no automated reloading by default (you have to manually bind the key for this function to turn it on).

Now, how do these guns function? Well, I tested them using these four gentlemen (with a tagalong Imp) along with two oversized goats.

Here is what I think of these (I don’t remember the names of the weapons so bear with me):

Your Fists are more powerful, now utilizing a combo system. It’s even better with a berserk pack (although it’s now under a time limit) where you can throw a fireball at the end of one of the combos. Perfect for cannon fodder, and mid-tier demons (if you find berserk).

Magic Orb will let you throw fireballs for 15 units that will probably instakill almost all of the zombies (Imps are immune to these) and lighting for 40 that will smite cannon fodder with ease. Not really recommended for tougher enemies since recharging takes a while and you will get hurt if you overuse it.

You have white and black Pistols. These are basically the same but the former seems to deal higher damage and the latter shoots faster. Only worth using for weak enemies.

Revolver is a powerful handgun for lesser demons and can help you with greater ones when you run out of other stuff.

Shotgun feels like it deals half of the damage of the original Super Shotgun. Good for both enemy classes, but I really hate how you have to manually eject the empty shell by pressing the fire key.

Rifle feels kind of underwhelming. Sometimes it’s as powerful as SS, sometimes it’s a joke.

Two Assault Rifles that you can carry function similarly to the previously mentioned pistols, as in one deals more damage and the other shoots faster. Both worth using for even tougher monsters.

Machine Gun can be stabilized with secondary fire for less spread shooting. A powerful weapon that can shred through the enemies.

Grenade Launcher (I think that’s what it looks like) feels like it deals at least twice the damage of the OG Rocket Launcher for the cost of the explosion spread; more useful for the singular enemies rather than crowd control.

Regular Grenades feel basically the same but they have wider damage spread along with the option to roll them on the ground.

RPG might as well one-shot every mid-tier enemy. It is that powerful.

There are two BFG replacements. The black one shoots up to 15 plasma balls that can vaporize demons below the Cyberdemon, and it’s pretty decent for siege cow.

The white one is closer to the original BFG. It can be charged three times, each charge having different attacks; the first charge shoots a powerful spread shoot of plasma (best option against Cyberdemons), two charges shoot a more concentrated attack, and three obliterate everything on its path while adding an AOE attack, pushing enemies away from you.

The text file mentions how this mod is incompatible with the Skulltag source port even though it should’ve been. I don’t know if it works in the present day, though.

Ignoring the fact that it’s full of randomized hitscanners and new weaponry covered with jank, I can’t hate Diaz: Last Hours of Purity. Sure, this gameplay mod shows its age, but if you have high resistance toward hitscanners, you can give it a chance. Besides, I’ve experienced worse WADs.

Next WAD on the list is... Oh great, another Mockaward winner. I can only wonder if it will make me laugh. But until then, I’ll see you next time.