TNT2: Devilution | TNT2_beta6.WAD
TNT2 Team
This review was based on a beta release. When the final version is out this may be updated.
One of the lasting quirks of the Doom community is a tendency to try to recapture the vibe of the IWADs, usually in terms of design style, but on occasion you'll see that rarer beast: a direct fan sequel. Both halves of Final Doom in particular have a number of both; The Plutonia Experiment gives you the option of a stylistic followup in Plutonia Revisited Community Project, or a more direct story sequel in the form of Plutonia 2. Of course, Plutonia, being the overall more popular half of Final Doom, has a lot more followups and tributes; TNT: Evilution, today seen as a mixed bag with a checkered history, has comparatively less representation in the fanquel arena.
TNT2: Devilution is the latest -- and, perhaps, most ambitious -- fan sequel to TNT: Evilution. Beginning life all the way back in 2009, it's had a long and torturous journey. It hit a rough spot with an apparent breakdown in communication, followed by the removal of several maps designed by lead mapper Kyka, whose (admittedly understandable) tantrum resulted in him leaving the project and starting his own, with blackjack and hookers. Ironically, this spinoff, built partially on his rejected maps, came out sooner in the form of TNT: Revilution; Devilution, meanwhile, soldiered on, finally reaching a beta state in 2022. Its sixth and seemingly final beta release was in spring 2023. All but a single map are finished -- and frankly, the unfinished one has a vibe all its own.
(Where does Convilution/TNT Forever fit in? It's pretty much the Plutonia Revisited Community Project 2 of TNT, a place where all the rejects from both Devilution and Revilution eventually made their home. Thought it is complete, thanks to an agreement with the Devilution project, don't expect TNT Forever to see the light of day until six months after Devilution comes out of beta.)
Of course, as far as fan-sequels to the IWADs go -- including the ones that are themselves fan-sequels to Doom II -- Devilution is something of an odd beast. It certainly isn't a Doom the Way id Did-style megawad -- that description might better fit Revilution depending on who you ask -- but it does maintain Evilution's sense of adventure, which is arguably more important. If I had to describe, I'd say it's a combination of Plutonia's rollicking violence and high difficulty combined with the freewheeling design and variety of Evilution, a sort of best of both worlds kind of deal. But in terms of aesthetic and overall design sense, it's far closer to the likes of Back to Saturn X, which isn't a bad thing but it does firmly establish the set as a sequel and not merely a tribute, similar to the difference between Plutonia 2 and the original Plutonia Revisited.
(Full disclosure before we go any further: Like I did with Evilution, I played through Devilution using the TNT weapon set from the Final Doomer+ gameplay mod. I also reskinned the monsters using Shades of Doom, and I utilized the ColdPal palette mod as I felt it makes Devilution's frequent use of blue stand out more.)
Like the IWADs, Devilution is split into three relatively distinct acts. The first act immediately follows up from the mysterious, open-ended way that Evilution concluded, starting off with a little bit of surreality as you ultimately enter the corpse of the boss from the previous game before eventually adopting a watery techbase theme. The middle act is by far the most thematically strongest, continuing the watery theme but moving from the rocky sunset planet sky to a brighter, spacier one, ultimately moving from its dense installations and the anarchic invasion tone of the fifteenth map, "Altered State" to sprawling demonic nests in "Habitat II: the Habitatening" (the name of which might originally have been a joke on the Doomworld thread) and "The Infernal Carrier," only to spend much of the third act in a rocky, volcanic base theme... until you reach the final level, which reaches a new level of surreality that calls to mind the finale of System Shock 2.
As of this writing Devilution
isn't finished. It took over a decade from inception to an initial beta
release; the sixth and apparently final beta came out summer 2023.
There are still some things that need fixing -- the errant texture here,
the odd rendering issue there (mostly in some of Tarnsman's levels.)
MAP26, "Last Stop at the Border," was under construction for a very long
time, and it's still not done. But as a whole, the WAD is as complete
as it can be at this stage in its development -- it's just that last 2%
it needs to get over the finish line.
Devilution has quite the credits roll. Peeking at the WADINFO lump, I can see that the extensive list of mappers include AD_79, Alfonzo, an_mutt, Tarnsman, Xaser, Kyka (in spite of everything) and even a guest appearance by mouldy, among like twenty others. Music was composed by Bucket (who did the majority of my favorite tracks), Jimmy, Xaser and Paul Corfiatis. Art assets derive from a wide range of sources, from erstwhile forum superstar 40oz to the classic Gothic DM texture set, to the massive texturepack originally compiled by Kyka. With this many people working on the project, there's always the worry of a lack of focus, especially given the variety of interpretations of what "TNT-like" really means; but as the Doom community has repeatedly proven time and again, that doesn't have to be true. Devilution maintains its themes pretty consistently, with a steady dripfeed of hints at something far weirder than we're used to from megawad storylines (when they exist at all.) Time and again the vibe I got was something like the feelings Axiom Verge gave me, with its surrealist sci-fi trappings far more interesting to me than the straightforward Hell and demons theme that Devilution also plays to. Map 30 especially is so out there that its overall story had to be outlined on Doomworld.
I had a great time with Devilution. It's big, one of the biggest projects you'll play, with plenty of big maps with big action. It successfully captures a modernist sense of what TNT was trying to do all those years ago -- a design sense seen in Evilution, Icarus: Alien Vanguard, and Eternal Doom -- while still being firmly and recognizably a modern-day mapset. It has its missteps -- MAP24 and the way MAP20 ends come to mind before anything else -- and it obviously still isn't finished as of this writing... but it's worth a play, right here, right now. If you like modernist gameplay married with an old-school sense of adventure, you should plug Devilution into the source port of your choice and give it a spin.
MAP01: Obituary
mouldy, Luisinho
You start off in a weird, creepy blue version of the final boss room that seems to be in some sort of stasis. Step towards the TNT2 logo, though, and you're back in the real world, minus your arsenal, and plus a large contingent of imps and zombies. The sharp shock of difficulty is probably mouldy's fault, and you're pretty much going to be fighting for scraps until you can find the shotgun. I like the cool intestinal tunnel that uses some Doom 64-style tricks to fake room-over-room.
MAP02: Grime and Punishment
The Mionic Donut, Xaser
A significantly more sedate outing, this one is a small prison complex set in a flooded cave. While there's still plenty of resistance, you're overall blessed with more cover and more ammo, but it might help if you can find the bathroom key. Standout fight? Probably the lurkers in the computer room. I like the metallic green power doors that you can see something sinister through.
MAP03: Brimstone Labs
Alfonzo
Alfonzo gives us a slightly tricky techbase set into a hellish red stone-and-blood cavern. Hitscanners abound and health is really tight, but the super shotgun should help. Diligent explorers will find the plasma rifle, which will definitely help against the arch-viles. The yellow key secret is a little hard to find for what you get out of it. I like that the final (mandatory) fight can be managed on your own terms if you manage to not alert the mancs and archie before you get upstairs.
MAP04: Subterra Incognita
darkreaver, Adrian Hanekom, Kyka
Pretty straightforward techbase -- the platonic ideal of a techbase, even. Decently thematically varied with lots of silvers and blues amidst the greens and browns. You're pretty much forcibly gifted a soulsphere at about a third of the way through, a pet peeve of mine, but at least there's another one in a fairly obvious secret later on to grab on your way out if necessary. Standout fight is probably the one in the plasma rifle storage where the cage comes down on you and you're having to shoot between the bars. I found the chainsaw secret completely by accident because I'm always looking for ways to climb on things.
MAP05: Littoral
ProcessingControl, Tarnsman
With the music and the waterfront setting this would be a fine Doom Caribbean level. Lots of revenants and hitscanners here will have you on your toes, but the real standout to me is the teleporter that dumps you in a narrow pen forcing you to run into the nearby cave to avoid withering enemy fire. Also some seriously evil secrets, some of which are chained.
MAP06: Aquarium
ProcessingControl, Kyka, Xaser
A positively enormous undersea base adventure that starts out with a wrecked boat -- reminiscent of Duke Nukem 3D (or perhaps Shadow Warrior) before you descend into some rocky sea caves and finally into the base proper, with over 400 monsters on UV. ProcessingControl, Kyka and Xaser throw a hell of a lot at you over the course of the sprawling level, but the surprise moshpit when you grab a soulsphere in a cage is a particularly brutal encounter. But nothing compares to the finale, a big fuck-off mancubi and arachnotron showdown in a deep abyss preceded by trading rocket fire with respawning revenants as the elevator descends. Once you've cleared it the level opens up some of its secrets, and it's worth hunting them down -- you finally get the blessed BFG if you do.
MAP07: Campground
valkiriforce
Compared to "Aquarium," valkiriforce's "Campground" is positively sedate. You start off in a metal building full of pinkies; when you get outside, you can pretty safely duck into the space between it and the rock wall and have plenty of cover for the relatively sedate trickle of enemies that come your way. The standout fight is probably defending a small island in the middle of some lava while baby spiders on one side and a gaggle of trash enemies on the other try to catch you in the crossfire, and that's even before you realize that there's mancubi on the other side of the exit building.
MAP08: Hydrogenics
Tango, Kyka, Tarnsman
"Hydrogenics" is like "Aquarium" but smaller, faster, and above-ground. There's still a very high monster count, but encounters are overall a lot more manageable. It's mostly a lot of very large crowds of trash mobs that you can easily delete with rockets or the chaingun, but there are also an awful lot of chaingun snipers, only adding to the Plutoniousity of this mapset. I can't really think of a standout fight except maybe either the zombie snipers shooting at you from the waterfall edge or the sandwich of spectres and imps towards the end.
MAP09: Heterodoxical Hindrance
Tarnsman
Another techy, watery map (this is starting to become a theme) set in and around a small, flooded canyon. Punchy combat without a lot to really make you sweat, though the revenant sneaking up behind you when you open a locked door is one of those dick moves that make you paranoid the rest of the map. A cyberdemon stands watch over the canyon, but he's generally pretty harmless. Fun map from Tarnsman -- though finding the secret really requires using the ol' noodle.
MAP10: Surface Tension
Breezeep, AD_79, rd
Palutena's fat cock, where do I even begin? The Plutoniousity is off the charts with this rollicking gallery of violence, another smartly-detailed water base with lots to see and kill. This power trio of Breezeep, AD_79 and rd are kind enough to drop more rockets and cells than you'll probably ever need, and you'll probably need them anyway. Standout fights? Well, the press of barons in a narrow, barrel-filled hallway is a good start; how about the big open area with a bunch of imps, revenants, fliers and a cyberdemon who very well could trap you in the teleporter cubbyhole you enter from? Or we could talk about the SEVEN (!) arch-viles who show up in the double-stairway hall? I pretty much had to hold down the button on my BFG for that one.
MAP11: The Voyager
valkiriforce
After multiple levels with some really nice new textures this one feels curiously old-school with its mostly stock texturing job and curvy, naturalistic design. It's mostly a subterranean maze of caves and UAC installations. I like the business with the yellow key not working on the bars, but rather operating a switch that leads to a switch that leads to a linedef that upon crossing it will lower the bars for you. Not much in the way of standout encounters, just a lot of zombies, imps and mancubi.
MAP12: Ion Flux
Xaser, Alfonzo
Xaser and Alfonzo kick off the middle episode with a mostly silver-and-blue-tech base (that in places reminds me a bit of Icarus: Alien Vanguard, perhaps.) The core of the map is a large room that eventually segments itself into five pieces, and you'll be trying to navigate around the surrounding chambers. Standout encounters? Maybe the arachnotron cells towards the end of the map? It's relatively tight quarters requiring quick thinking if you want to escape unscathed. I like the way the music subtly has distant teleporter sounds in it (might depend on your soundfont) to drive up paranoia.
MAP13: Nostalgia Drive
Xaser, Alter
If the way "Ion Flux" ended is any indication, Xaser and Alter's "Nostalgia Drive" is the original TNT's "Dead Zone" by way of Back to Saturn X, a large, attractively-textured outpost built of mostly round walls set into a half-flooded canyon. At first it looks like there's no way in, but every key has a copy you can find in a secret somewhere, and if you're particularly agile you can just make a jump through a window. Lots of fighting, but the standout encounter to me is probably the one in the big flooded room where pressing a switch has a stream of enemies teleport into the center and sides, culminating in a couple of arch-viles.
MAP14: Parhelion Labs
Joe Pallai, Tarnsman, an_mutt
A sprawling techbase with a slight Shores of Hell vibe with the abundance of white concrete, dark grey computers and blue flooring. I got lost in this map several times -- it's a real maze. I really like the sense of adventure as you gradually pull this map apart, especially the big exit doors that taunt you until you can push the red-locked button in a nearby control room and fight the cyberdemon and his pals that await you within. I don't know if this is a standout encounter but I find the bit where you're running through an encaged pathway with crushers while zombies and a mancubus shoot at you to be quite memorable. Great music too.
MAP15: Altered State
Alter, Tarnsman
TNT has always had little bits here and there that felt slightly lived-in compared to most Doom maps. TNT2, meanwhile, goes full Supplice; what we have here is a violent Hell on Io street fight through an infested colony. The hints of something bigger only get more in your face -- eyeballs watch you from every other screen and the graffiti strewn across town gets increasingly unhinged (with at least two anime references I spotted.) Lots of great fights but I think the standout is the Spider arena full of hell knights and crushers. It's honestly all great, though, with a real sense of exploring the city. The music definitely helps.
MAP31: Caesar
Xaser, Whoo, Alfonzo, dt_
Time to do a little Doom Raiding. After a weird joke in the intro text about salad, you're thrown into this creepy subterranean Greco-Romanesque temple/tomb complex, at which point the groan-inducing hidden pun in the intro text will be clear. The map is split into several different, interconnected areas for a fun adventure, though the presence of several cyberdemons at various points around the map will probably put a crimp into your sight-seeing plans. Lots of great fights here, from the double-cybie showdown in the flooded outdoor ruin to the crush of baddies across a previously-broken bridge with way too many revenant rockets at once to comfortably deal with all the cacos and errant mancubus. Also some really fun secrets, including a super-spooky unofficial one that sends you into a creepy alternate version of one of the main chambers, reminiscent of "Wormhole." The secret exit has one of the coolest, creepiest effects I've ever seen in a Doom map, or really any shooter.
MAP32: Null Set
floatRand
This is a weird one. It's an Egyptian-themed map -- it's TNT2, after all -- but set in a pitch-black void and with some techbasey stuff that's seemingly merged with it. The first encounter is the toughest one: a whole mess of revenants, arch-viles, imps, knights and other trash, presided over by a cyberdemon in the middle. From there you're looking for keys to unlock the way to a mysterious, metallic pyramid. The red key fight has you running for cover from respawning revenants into a wall of pink meat, all while imps throw down fireballs at you. Compared to that, the fight for the blue key is pretty tame, especially if you can soften up the baby spiders beforehand.
MAP16: Techmine Superior
Pinchy
A map that wouldn't be too out of place in a Quake 2-themed wad, this is a cleanly designed mining complex stuffed full of hitscanners and imps with the occasional revenant, arachnotron or mancubus. Not the toughest fights in the world, here, just good clean Doom fun. I really like the way the floors in the installation areas are electric light panels. Most memorable fight? Probably when you come back to the area with the imp cage and the inaccessible elevators and a bunch of zombies have shown up, suggesting that they came from below. Yeah, I dunno, no real standouts otherwise.
MAP17: Galapagos
valkiriforce
valkiriforce gives us another old-school map using almost solely vanilla textures. It's a relatively small, rocky island fortress. You start off in a dark series of tunnels, but the bulk of the map is on the exterior. It's probably safest to jump down into the water and clear out the spiders and mancubi putting the island under seige, but there are a lot of revenants to deal with as well. Not much in the way of big fights, just a lot of kill-and-move-on, though the surprise cyberdemon to the north might make you sweat a bit. Fun, fast level.
MAP18: Forsaken Harbor
gaspe
TNT2's aquatic theme continues with a sprawling waterfront facility from gaspe. Most of the doors are locked and opened elsewhere -- only a select few actually work with a key. The end result is you'll probably be bumping around looking for ways to progress, especially if you miss the yellow key like I did. I like the cacodemon swarm in the yellow key room, as well as the weird semi-secret if you can jump the railing.
MAP19: Habitat II: The Habitatening
Tarnsman
Good gravy, this is a big one. Tarnsman's tribute to the infamous TNT level "Habitat" is a sprawling, "Shores of Hell"-esque complex at least partially in a dark void and with much of the map wrapped around a couple of vast lava lakes. With a monster count of 1006 on UV, it's a lengthy adventure with plenty of slaughter situations (though encounters are usually more sensible -- it's the ambushes you have to worry about!) A whopping thirty secrets dot the level and it's an adventure in itself to find them all. I think I found maybe half? True to "Habitat's" legacy, it's entirely possible to bypass most of the map if you just keep following the right hand path from the start, but it's worth exploring a little just for the cute callbacks to the original map -- though the sewer section is a lot easier to navigate this time around!
MAP20: The Infernal Carrier
lupinx-Kassman, Alter, Xaser, Alfonzo, rd
If MAP19 was intimidating, wait'll you see this monstrosity. It's a truly enormous starship; I think the implication is that this is the starship from Evilution's intro that dumped an entire invasion's worth of monsters onto the Io base. But little scenes here and there suggest that the Hellship is in fact a warped UAC ship, or perhaps several jammed together, Space Hulk style. Combat is slow and methodical, with lots of enemies throwing fire at you from extreme distance, lots of surprise moshpits, some pretty slaughtery moments as waves of enemies teleport in before you're even done clearing the previous bunch. It's a massive, tense adventure with lots of different sights and scenes, but eventually things start to quiet down as you approach what might be the end... only for the rug to pull out from under you and throw you into a fight with what feels like endless waves of archviles, mancubi, and imps, bracketed by four spiderdemons (at least one of which is replaced by a cyberdemon once she's down.) I think this might actually be too much -- after about 30 tries, I eventually had to devise a plan to grab the blue key, kill a spider for the invuln, throw the switch that opened the exit, and hope the archies didn't throw me around too much before my invuln ran out as I ran to safety. Cool ending.
MAP21: Star Bridge
Uni
Compared to the last map this is a real breather, a mere 92 monsters on UV in a tight little level made up of a small UAC base set into a volcanic region. Some tough fights here, like the one that ambushes you when you jump down through the broken railing, or the way the opening area becomes a battle ground after parts of the floor have been collapsing into lava as you've been working through the map, resulting in a much smaller battle space than you might have expected. Some cool atmosphere with the bodies everywhere and the finale leading to a mysterious, deep hole you jump into.
MAP22: Solitude
Pottus, Xaser
Strap in, here's a weird one. Pottus and Xaser give us a sprawling techbase in a rocky terrain that seems to be host to a large collection of demon specimens. Of course, there's more to it than that, obvious almost right away when the hallway veers off what the automap tells you and into a mapless void, the corridors twisting, turning and sometimes going upside down. Reality is out to lunch as the entire (unmarked) southeast wing of the map seems to call back to Xaser's own Lost Episode with its distorted, spacey surreality. The rest of the map is comparatively normal, but it's a sprawling adventure map as you work your way into UAC bases that are probably way above your pay grade. Some good fights here, from the surprise moshpit when you grab the yellow key to the rock-em-knock-em horde of bullshit coming at you from the holding cells to the west.
MAP23: Pulverizer
The Mionic Donut, Tarnsman
The thematic opposite of "Ion Flux," Mionic Donut and Tarnsman's "Pulverizer" is a red-and-silver techbase with some volcanic cavern sections. It's pretty much a big loop centered around the mysterious drill, likely the same one seen in the previous map (and possibly connected to the Hellship?? Questions abound...) Lots of punchy combat here, but I struggle to think of a real standout fight as the map is oddly open in some ways and you rarely have a moment's rest. The megasphere secret is an evil one, an even nastier version of a similar one in "Star Bridge."
MAP24: Tides of Fire
Alfonzo, Tarnsman
I try to be fair -- obviously, I can't be objective, there's no such thing as objective reviews of a creative work -- and I try to engage with a map on its own terms. But I'm sorry, but Alfonzo and Tarnsman have dropped a real dud with "Tides of Fire." The short version is that it's the worst sort of puzzle map: you must manage a limited supply of radsuits to navigate a confusing and difficult fire and brimstone lava maze and hope you get out alive. What this boils down to is it pretty much requires trial-and-error gameplay with slowly learning the map and figuring out the minimum amount of steps required to get the blue key and get out. I didn't bother trying to explore. What's the point?
MAP25: Hard Wired
AD_79
On to the next map. Reality seems to be disintegrating; what would ordinarily be a straightforward, brown, grey and red-themed quasi-industrial techy thing slightly corrupted by Hell is now floating in an endless sunset as even the ground seems to cease to exist. Its low-key atmosphere is punctuated by tough fights with lots of revenants and hell knights; arch-viles will frequently play spoilers to any sort of battle plan you devise. Standout fight? Probably the showdown for one of the keys; or, if you manage to get into the triple-locked BFG area, the multiple-stage scrap (including a cybie) that can be very, very tough to get through unscathed.
MAP26: Last Stop at the Border
Marcaek, Luisinho
Supposedly, this map is unfinished as of this writing -- it was actually missing completely for a long time, ultimately winning the Mordeth award for its eventual beta release. It features no monsters or secrets, there are elements that are clearly not implemented yet -- but what's there is some kind of futuristic fueling station and rest stop floating in between dimensions. There's two versions, accessed by the teleporter you arrive in, in an oddly "Wormhole"-esque vibe. Despite the lack of finishing touches, I almost feel like this map would be better without enemies, a quiet moment to rest, relax and fuel up before you tackle the finale.
MAP27: Relayer
an_mutt
an_mutt continues Devilution's fascination with the original TNT's most thematically intriguing element, that of a twisted Otherworld a la "Wormhole." In this case, you clearly have been in the Bad Universe for a while and you begin the level in it; as you progress you suddenly pop into (ostensibly) the Real World -- cleaner, in better shape, and with an emphasis on blue and silver rather than red and rust. an_mutt cleverly layers the two worlds in that changes on one side will affect changes on the other -- flood a room here and it'll be flooded there, open a gate there and it'll open a gate here, allowing the player to naturally weave their way through the map. Lots of great fights, but I think my favorite is the room in the Otherworld where you must kill enemies as a series of lifts progressively introduce more targets into the fray. Love the fakeout ending, another "Wormhole" callback.
MAP28: Lethe's Falls
gaspe
MAP28 marks gaspe's return to the lineup with "Lethe's Falls," a helltech-themed nest of demons in a watery cave. In addition to the usual lineup of revenants, chaingunners and mancubi, gaspe also throws hordes of hellknights and cacodemons at you, with encounters ranging from the hellknight ambush near a soulsphere to the gang of cacos floating around just inside the blue key area. And if that's not enough, there's a spiderdemon crawling around in the biggest pool. Fun map.
MAP29: Nexus of the Defeated
Tarnsman
A straightforward techbase that contrasts its silver-and-blue aesthetic with the black and red of the surrounding environs. Compared to some levels in this mapset it's almost placid, though it does have its tough spots. Some interesting encounters, from the string of crusher rooms circling the big central platform with chaingunners pouring into the crush zone, to the horde of pain elementals who will fill the skies with screaming skulls. I think my favorite is the switch fakeout where the floor drops into a sea of blood as arachnotrons close in.
MAP30: The New Technology
lupinx-kassman
HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE EYEBALL ZONE, that mysterious place where you'll see such incredible sights like enormous hypodermic needles that you will actually enter and jump down, blood cells as big as your head, eyeballs staring at you in the dark, a chair where you upload your brain, and a living planet with your face on it. By the time you get to the living quarters, which has been partially corrupted by the energies of hell, it seems almost quaint. Fights are mostly low-key and small, though lupinx-kassman likes to repeatedly throw a monster in your face then have it teleport behind you. What's more interesting to me is the sheer amount of creativity on display, a truly out-of-nowhere experience that has only been somewhat hinted at and even now at the 11th hour we get a mere glimpse of what's going on.
-June <3
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