Deus Vult Zero

Deus Vult Zero: The Shadowrunner Edition, commonly known as Deus Vult Zero, and further shortened to DV0, is a joke WAD based on Deus Vult for limit removing source ports created by Huy "Doom Marine" Pham (credited as "Huykuto No Pham") and released on October 22, 2009. Described by the author as "the same thing, only crappier," Deus Vult Zero is based on an unfinished version of Deus Vult sent to play testers, with additional modifications to make its gameplay frustratingly difficult. Its /newstuff review summarized it thus: "If Adam Hegyi had nightmares, this would probably be one of them."

Synopsis
Deus Vult Zero and Deus Vult are highly modified versions of 1SQUARES.WAD by Costa Lappas. Most battles take place in makeshift "arenas" with cliffs, teleporters or hallways separating each area. This is also true of 1SQUARES.WAD, with doors being the "separators" between rooms. The first battles feature monsters at the player's eye level, with increasing height differences as the player progresses, as well as the areas and monster counts growing ever larger with each wave. Deus Vult Zero relies more on teleporter traps than Deus Vult, with its gameplay largely unpolished. It attempts to remedy this with a large helping of powerups, even if collecting them triggers near-lethal teleport traps.

Version differences
There are two versions of Deus Vult Zero: a 2003 prototype of what would be Deus Vult, and the released version. The original version was given only to a handful of people, including the /newstuff reviewer. The released version changes the Player 1 Start room texture with an image macro, adds/removes monsters, modifies monster placement, and includes additional powerups. The Easter eggs may also be different.

Version differences between DV0 and DV are numerous, including outright removal of several areas and heavy modification of others. Some of the level progression was also modified, including the sequence of areas visited. DV0 also has a noticeable 3x3 square layout inherited from the original 1SQUARES.WAD level.

Reception
Deus Vult Zero was released to mixed reception. As of this writing, it has a 2.75 rating on idgames with reviews such as: "this is a good example of trying too hard", and "a big-ass monster spamfest." The /newstuff review was humorously negative, saying that DV0 "possibly ascends into whole new levels of wrong. In fact, this requires a new word for wrong."

File
The released version of DV0 is contained in a zip file called dv-zero.zip. It is 3,898,594 bytes in size and contains 2 files.

Trivia

 * The textfile contains a nonsensical backstory of a marine on Mars named "MooMoo the JooJoo" who suffers a trauma-induced coma, implying Deus Vult Zero is not canon.
 * Humorous references to Deus Vult play tester Shadowrunner would continue in Deus Vult II, the most notable being the following phrase etched into a concrete wall: "BLOODSKULL, I KNOW YOU'RE SHADOWRUNNER, YOU CAN'T HIDE!"