The pistol, given its bright blue color, looks more like a water pistol and there's something silly about bright green guards that drop absurdly large, bright blue magazines upon dying. I can't say I'm a fan of the brand new sprites. I'm not sure I agree that it sucks, at least not the first level I'm referencing, but it's certainly different both in terms of level design and how it looks and sounds.
You can exit the sewers quickly if you just move straight ahead from your starting position, but when you enter the facility/base it is absolutely full of guards and you're more or less forced to blow them away and survive off the ammunition they drop because health and ammo pickups seem to be quite rare as opposed to the rather generous portions found in the original id Software episodes. Carmack programmed 'the core' of the games engine in a month he added a few features to the Wolfenstein 3D engine from Catacomb 3-D. It's interesting how they start you off in a sewer maze full of dogs and all you have to use is your knife and pistol with just eight shots. Why don't you like them, Calavera? I haven't played through them yet but I did try the first level of Return to Danger and found it to be unique and challenging.
