Catacombs Pack

Many years ago, back in 2001 / 2002 i was browsing through old abandonware DOS games and shareware versions and also came across "The Catacomb Abyss" and have been a fan of it ever since. But it was impossible to buy them (and of course i could not find old Boxed copies of it) so when i was the games were finally available on GOG i instantly bought it and haven't regret it. The pack really contains everything you need. And i gotta be honest, i actually only bought it for the 3D Catacomb Trilogy but i was quite amazed and positively surprised what you all get with that pack. DOS BOX underlayer is wonderfully optimized and all the games run smooth and of course also with sound. After playing for a few minutes you can really dive down into the old texturemapped raycast 3D dungeons and more than once you get scared a bit by zombies crawling out of the ground in front of you or behind you. I always loved that creepy aspect of the game. This really is a wonderfully curated and optimized GOG version and totally worth the money. I only wish there was also a Installer pack for Linux. But hopefully that will be added soon :) 5 Stars. The pack really is a labor of love for the Catacomb Games.

Man, I remember when some of these games were new... I picked this pack up on sale but even if I paid full price, these games are well worth it. There is a LOT of game in this pack. You will spend hours playing these games. They are lengthy, fun, and easy to pick up and play. Classic good vs evil stories, tons of secret areas, nice variety of bad guys and monsters... It's just a good series. I would recommend this pack to anyone who liked the old Wolfenstein 3D games, maybe even the Heretic and Hexen games... These games are old gems, but gems none the less. You won't be disappointed.

I'm glad to see this on GOG. I remember playing it back in the day. When I purchased my first used dos computer, I got a whole bunch of floppy disks with it. Among those disks were the Catacombs games. I really enjoyed the games and eventually went on to Wolf3D, Spear, Doom, Blood, Quake and etc, but it was the Catacombs games that got me started. Yes it is very basic and repetitive, but it is still fun. Take a nostalgic trip down memory lane .. Play Catacombs.

(my video review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baXuB5VyUnQ Catacomb 3D was the first 3D or technically 2.5D iteration of John Carmack’s Catacomb series, a 2D maze crawler similar to Gauntlet (insert OG Catacomb footage here). Carmack essentially used the Catacomb 3D development cycle to supplement ray casting with his take on texture mapping, a technique he’d been inspired to perfect when he saw a demo for Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. Carmack promptly said “I can do that, but faster.” And he did! So is Catacomb 3D fun or is it mostly a technical novelty? It’s a bit of both, actually. You are Petton Everhail, an accomplished sorcerer who descends into the catacombs to rescue his friend Grelminar from the evil lich Nemesis, the classic mansel in distress story. Like the previous Catacomb games, you’ll be killing monsters, finding treasure, and unlocking ways forward by finding keys or blowing up faux walls. You get four separate attacks, all of which are accompanied by Petton’s hand rising into frame as you fire, the first time the genre ever acknowledged your avatar’s body on screen (insert “I’m a pretty big deal” meme). The attack you’ll use most is the Magick Missile which fires as fast as you can click and has unlimited ammo. The second unlimited ammo option is a charge attack that’s far too weak for how long the mushroom cloud animation takes to finish but at least it looks cool, right? The other two attacks that you’ll have to find ammo for and those are the Zappers, a rapidfire barrage of high-damage projectiles and the Xterminators, a powerful but inaccurate AOE. When not attacking enemies, you’ll use your magic as a battering ram to break through weak walls to find keys or the way forward. What sucks is how walls that can be broken--(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baXuB5VyUnQ

The Catacombs Pack includes all the Catacombs 3D FPS games as well as the original 2D Catacombs game. I only played the FPS games. The games has the same controls scheme. It is a bit outdated but not too difficult to grasp. You have forward, backwards, turning sideways, shooting and a button that you hold in to strafe. The combat is fluid but there are never a lot of envies. The graphics are great for VGA graphics. The sound is well done for its time. Recommended for anyone interested in old-school FPS games or the history of video games.