Return to Phobos

Needs more textures, but I'm a fan of the large military base type levels, especially E1M5. Worth a play for sure!

Episode replacement. I like e1m5 (the big columns pattern on several areas). But I reached the exit too quicky on the non-linear ones. Switch after switch. 

Crude, simple, yet surprisingly inventive for 1994. There's a lot of switches and the layout is very non-linear and sometimes quite confusing. In one level I had to idclip to the exit because I had no idea how to get there otherwise. Overall, this was a nice nostalgic experience.
Difficulty: easy. Mods: Project Brutality 3, UDV.

This mapset is a little too "switch hunty" for my personal tastes but for a WAD designed in 1994 it's actually fairly impressive. I can see why it was included in Doomworlds "The Top 100 WADs Of All Time" list back in 2003. Michael Kelsey really seems to have a "freeflow" sort of mapping style as most maps are very non-linear. But i digress, there are plenty of switches to behold.

 

Also as most people know there is a bug in Doom versions above v1.2 where the bridge for the exit in E1M2 doesn't rise. Besides that, i didn't experience any other bugs while playing through the WAD using GZDoom 4.1.2 (w/Doom Strict compat). The enemy count isn't very high in this mapset so i wouldn't go in expecting a ton of enemies (the very highest is around 180-ish). It is very much based on switches and puzzles as well as exploration, although a few maps tend to be easier and more action based then others.

 

Speaking of easy, the last map (E1M8) is a bit of a letdown challenge wise. I suppose back in 1994 it was really impressive and i did like the design/layout of it. I guess i was just expecting a little more of a challenge, especially after coming out of E1M7. 

 

Overall it was a decently designed mapset for the era that's more keen on puzzles than action but it's not one that i personally would constantly re-visit. I do think it's worth a playthrough at least once though, especially if you like non-linear puzzle/switch oriented style maps.

Very good, but E1M2 destroys good mood by bug with bridge to exit. How it's possible to not found such major problem?

couldn't seem to extract the file from the download, so I downloaded the one from DSDA. it's an okay '94 episode replacement, but it's not very well done with quite a few bugs and confusing layouts. I could probably list them from the top of my head, but in all honesty why bother, the set is actually very unmemorable and there's just nothing that sticks out. for those still interested, you're looking at low monster counts, but even those monster counts don't help make the wad seem nicer at all, it's just really boring and okay.

An excellent map set for its day - 1994. It was fun to play, and certainly worth the time to download & play!

shit. primitive

I don't know how people are managing to get this wad. The files are corrupted and can't be uncompressed.

YOU MUST PLAY THIS!!!

^^No there weren't many better wads at the time. Like anything from 1994, it holds up questionably, but you can still squeeze some fun out of it. 4/5

For 1994 wad its from the construction side very good. But its way to easy (too many ammo, health and power ups)and has some noteable errors. Exit in E1M2 is not accessable. No redkey card in E1M4 but instead a yellow that you dont need. There is also a small niche where you can stuck and a secret isn't accessable. A secret in E1M9 is also not accessable. 4/5

2/5 The Top 100 feature praised Kelsey's technical skill and his facile use of the OEM texture scheme, but I cannot agree that this has "fantastic artistic sensibility". The levels are painful to play: huge with little variety in opposition, uniform in difficulty, and reusing the same color combinations and lift sequences over and over and over. Switch puzzles in particular *merely* avoid making me actively uncomfortable despite their size, rather than being engaging plot points as Linguica implies.

A solid episode of quasi-E1 style that is worth a place in your "1994 worth keeping" collection. As usual, architecture is bland for today but it's fun to play.

not really cool! 2/5

9.9999999 out of 10

gave up on this wad when unable to find the swictch to raise the exit bridge in M2... after activating what seemed like 2 dozen switches...the maps look good but the 'logic' of the problem solving just isn't there leading to frustration and hence ruining any enjoyment

Please stop trying to compare a 1994 WAD to modern WADs; it's just stupid. I'm impressed this episode came out in 1994; no doubt my favorite from this year. ~vf

This is a solid effort... I'll give it a 5 out of 5 because it's from 1994. Yes, I agree. Lets not compare this to a modern recent level. Remember this wad was created in the early days... even before Doom II. 5/5 full respect.

This is dated August 1994. It's an E1 replacement, one of Doomworld's top 100. The design has lots of tricks that were state-of-the-art at the time. Nowadays it looks retro in a good way, and it's still fun. E1M1 is an epic opener that's a bit too switchhunty, E1M2 is a bit Death Star, and the rest is similarly good, although nowadays it feels a bit long-winded and easy. The levels are all mid-sized. E1M8 is simple (by that time you have loads of rockets).

I had a lot of fun beta testing the Level for Michael. IT ROCKS!! Watch for the secrets! If you think they're hard to find now, you should have seen the original draft!

Another timeless classic from summer '94. The author's obsession with switches was indeed legendary, but the exit on E1M2 is broken not because of that. It exploits a bug in DOOM present in versions up to and including v1.4 beta that was subsequently fixed. Either play with that or with prBoom-plus "-complevel 0". - N_A

too much frustration, too little action. but as '94 wad it certainly get a bonus star, so ****

How the hell do I get off Map 2? It's just a mess of switches.

Like I'll say to any other decently competent 1994 wad: Treat it with respect. There's little about this that I'd call superb, but nothing I'd call bad either, and you just have to add on at least one star to anything this old that's not horrid to be at all fair. I mean, episodes like these wouldn't be considered inspirational or classic if they came out yesterday, but they didn't come out yesterday. They came out in the very early times of Doom's existence, and that's why they are recognized in such a way.