Curse of the Catacombs

Overview

The Catacomb Armageddon (also known as The Catacomb Armageddon 3-D) is a high-fantasy first-person shooter developed and published by Softdisk Publishing in 1992. It also received a boxed retail release by Froggman (as Curse of the Catacombs).

The second part of the Catacomb 3-D Adventures, and the sequel to The Catacomb Abyss, Catacomb Armageddon continues the adventures of renowned wizard Petton Everhail after venturing into the lich Nemesis's crypt and defeating him again, forcing Nemesis into retreat. As Petton hunts him down, he'll encounter a variety of new foes and locales, including a colony of giant ants, a civilization of serpentine warriors, and a forest with treants and killer rabbits.

It later received a sequel, known as The Catacomb Apocalypse. Its source code was later released under the GNU GPLv2 license, and can be found here. The game was also included in the 2013 modern compilation Catacombs Pack by Catacomb Games.

Enemies

Similar to the previous game, the Novice difficulty reduces each enemy's HP to 25% while reducing their damage output by half.

Each enemy also has their own Gem affinity, which shows their location in the Crystal Sphere when that Gem is collected.

• Bats (1 HP, None) - Similar to the previous game, these weak creatures try to swarm around the player, rather than chase in a straight line. Revealed to the Crystal Sphere from the start.

• Zombies (8 HP, Purple) - Similar to the previous game, zombies burrow up from the ground after a random time has passed and deal double the normal melee damage.

• Rabbits (10 HP, None) - Appearing only in the Garden of Forgotten Souls, rabbits are normally encountered in their harmless normal selves and cannot be attacked. However, they can transform into a killer humanoid rabbit after a random time has passed. Revealed to the Crystal Sphere from the start.

• Goddesses (10 HP, Green) - Serpentine warriors who deal substantial melee damage (quadruple the normal amount) and are initially encountered as invulnerable stone statues.

• Fat Demons (10 HP, Green) - Similar to Trolls from the previous game, these fat demons deal stronger melee damage (double the normal amount). They also explode when defeated.

• Trees (12 HP, Yellow) - Appearing only in the Dark Forest, these treants lie in wait before ambushing the player with strong melee attacks (double the normal amount). Once the players kills it, it remains perpetually on fire, causing continuous damage to the player when they cross it.

• Mages (12 HP, Red) - Similar to the previous game, mages do not deal melee damage, instead launching fireballs (with half the melee damage) at the player. They are also the fastest-moving enemy in the game and are now tougher to kill.

• Skeletons (12 HP, Yellow) - Similar to the previous game, reanimated skeleton warriors are tough, dealing 150% of the normal melee damage, and can sometime be encountered as a trap (shackled against the wall or ceiling, only to awaken after a random time has passed).

• Succubi (12 HP, Blue) - Appearing only in the Lair of the Succubus, these demonesses function similar to Mages, only with more aggressive and deadlier "flaming heart" projectiles.

• Ants (15 HP, Yellow) - While they deal low melee damage (half the normal amount), these mutated giant ants are tough to shoot. They are commonly encountered in their invulnerable eggs, which hatch after a random time has passed.

• Eyes (15 HP, Red) - Similar to the previous game, these evil eyes are slow, floating eye monsters who launch barrages of weak lightning balls at the player.

• Water Dragon (20 HP, Blue) - Found only in the Subterranean River, these sea serpents regularly submerge in the water (making themselves less vulnerable) before rising and spitting highly-damaging fireballs at the player.

• Demons (50 HP, Red) - Similar to the previous game, these hulkish demons are very tough to kill (requiring lengthy barrages of fireballs), and deal quadruple the normal melee damage. In this game, they are two-headed.

• Nemesis - Similar to the previous game, the Nemesis is the final boss and a unique, tougher version of the Mage with deadlier fireballs. As the player progresses through the game, they encounters doppelgangers (or clones) of Nemesis that have less HP and deal less damage, which get progressively harder towards the final boss fight. He is only revealed in the Crystal Sphere once all five Gems are collected.

New to the series are electrical "force fields", which deal significant damage to the player when touched and can be disabled by shooting it.

Levels

• The Towne of Morbidity
• The Dark Forest
• The Garden of Forgotten Souls
• The Lost City of the Damned
• The Temple of Vipers
• The Torture Chambers
• The Demons Hold
• The Ant Colony
• The Hall of the Wretched Pox
• The Lair of the Succubus
• The Chamber of the Evil Eye
• The Flaming Inferno
• The Subterranean River
• The Crystal Maze
• The Ramparts of Nemesis
• The Fortress of Nemesis
• The Passage to the Surface