As a mod for Doom, Ashes inherits the classic's satisfying weapon handling and high-speed movement. So as a standard, it has what we call the Doom Mod Advantage: just an incredible starting point on which it adds its own flavors. Like the world's best cheese pizza and the developers of Ashes just get to pick the extra toppings.
So what toppings does Ashes 2063 add? Well there's some nice post-apocalyptic flavoring lifted liberally from the likes of STALKER, Fallout, and Mad Max. The game manages to be fairly atmospheric. As far as level design goes it's not dissimilar to Doom—you go from set, linear level to set, linear level, progressing from M1 to M2 and so on until you beat the linear progression—but the theming adds a lot on top. The game has some great sprite work and sound design to build up this entirely new view of the Doom Engine. Enemies and weapons animate satisfyingly so it never really gets old blasting raiders and cannibals to smithereens.
And those weapons... man, they're pretty neat. Taking on the more "realistic" side of things vs. Doom, you see the post-apoc standards like revolvers, shotguns, pipe bombs and the like. The real big change to weapons is the need to reload. Unlike Doom, your weapons do run out of ammo and you will have to reload. In classic CoD fashion, swapping weapons is faster than reloading so this system means watching your ammo counts and strategizing when to swap to the next weapon in your loadout. You'll definitely be running out mid-fight so this system adds some tension where Doom's more power-fantasy playstyle doesn't always. And thankfully the weapons stay powerful throughout so you never feel like you're falling back on the "weaker" weapons—that 45 caliber magnum you get at the start is just as useful in the final hour as it is in the opening one.
This is one of the best TCs you can play. Only really held back by not fully realizing a lot of its ideas. There's a motorbike for travel, but it really only comes to into play in a handful of levels. There's a radiation system, but it really only pops its head in as an occasional obstacle in a handful of levels—think of it like Doom's acid pools. As much as it hints at this wider world of the wastes, you don't really get to explore it—it is, after all, just a Doom Style game. Not an open world RPG... But all of those ideas are there just waiting for a sequel to fully realize them. And, hey, maybe I'll have some words on that too
So what toppings does Ashes 2063 add? Well there's some nice post-apocalyptic flavoring lifted liberally from the likes of STALKER, Fallout, and Mad Max. The game manages to be fairly atmospheric. As far as level design goes it's not dissimilar to Doom—you go from set, linear level to set, linear level, progressing from M1 to M2 and so on until you beat the linear progression—but the theming adds a lot on top. The game has some great sprite work and sound design to build up this entirely new view of the Doom Engine. Enemies and weapons animate satisfyingly so it never really gets old blasting raiders and cannibals to smithereens.
And those weapons... man, they're pretty neat. Taking on the more "realistic" side of things vs. Doom, you see the post-apoc standards like revolvers, shotguns, pipe bombs and the like. The real big change to weapons is the need to reload. Unlike Doom, your weapons do run out of ammo and you will have to reload. In classic CoD fashion, swapping weapons is faster than reloading so this system means watching your ammo counts and strategizing when to swap to the next weapon in your loadout. You'll definitely be running out mid-fight so this system adds some tension where Doom's more power-fantasy playstyle doesn't always. And thankfully the weapons stay powerful throughout so you never feel like you're falling back on the "weaker" weapons—that 45 caliber magnum you get at the start is just as useful in the final hour as it is in the opening one.
This is one of the best TCs you can play. Only really held back by not fully realizing a lot of its ideas. There's a motorbike for travel, but it really only comes to into play in a handful of levels. There's a radiation system, but it really only pops its head in as an occasional obstacle in a handful of levels—think of it like Doom's acid pools. As much as it hints at this wider world of the wastes, you don't really get to explore it—it is, after all, just a Doom Style game. Not an open world RPG... But all of those ideas are there just waiting for a sequel to fully realize them. And, hey, maybe I'll have some words on that too