The Beginning of the End (part 1)

The first episode seems more solid to me. But the second was much more fun. Stairway to hell seemed endless.

Then I got to the cemetery. Knowing what can happen when you get locked inside. Total insanity with strange angles, fish? and a lot of fireblu. So much fun in Bonus. Great midis also. Played pistol start in some various sessions. Tough.

A reasonably fun set of 2 episodes that's rather mixed in quality. E2 was made first and it shows, but even E1 has some stinkers like E1M5. The maps are not that pretty or complex in architecture, but there are some charming ideas sprinkled in. Gameplay leans towards cramped corridors full of weak-to-medium enemies, with occasional wide-open spaces to mix things up. The difficulty holds up surprisingly well for the era it was made in.

 

Unfortunately, enemy encounters quickly become repetitive. Multiple Barons are thrown at players in every level, often times with only the Shotgun or Chaingun to kill them with. The latter half of E2 approaches slaughtermap territory with emphasis on herding demons through chokepoints. The Metallica and Nirvana MIDIs are pretty terrible, but they do add to the "90s Doom community time capsule" feeling of END1.WAD.

vintage set, years later it still is incredibly charming. detail is not everything, the gameplay leaves everything hot and fresh. lovely stuff.

Pretty cool E1/E2 replacement. Some nasty traps in spots but nothing I felt was too unreasonable save for maybe one setup involving a Spider Mastermind in the distance with little cover on one of the secret maps. Love the ideas on display like the graveyard map in E2 and the close-quarters shootout of E2M6. Definitely felt it had more highlights than it had flaws, so I'd say it was perfectly legit Doom experience - not perfect, but certainly legit. A good place to look for some unconventional ideas and some left-field designs.

Nice old school wad. Very playable and pretty challenging, especially for it's time. This was one of the occasions where the Metallica midis were put to good use. 4/5. -TRRobin.

The good: a lot of this is 5 star good old fashioned, nuts-n-bolts Doom. The bad: its ruined by occasional annoyances like teleport mazes abd incomprehenible secrets. The really bad: descends into slaughterwad stupid, particularly late in e2. Still, better than 90% of stuff here, marked down to 4. Worth a download.

Feels more than E3 but plays like E2. I love it, its legendary -Omegamer

I had pretty much fun playing these levels a few
years back. They might not be that good by
today's standards though. The Metallica music was
a big factor in the funness of this wad.

creator: myspace.com/emil

The first episode is designed in a more or less classic style, but with a few unusual touches and with gameplay completely different from what I've experienced before. Very creative, 5 stars material. The second episode is somewhat weaker, could be described as "slaughter maps for Ultimate Doom", starting especially from E2M5. Still decent stuff, though. Overall, 4/5 stars, vdgg

Maybe I'm biased 'cause it was one of the first PWads I ever played, but I love this wad. It captures that 'classic' feel perfectly, and every level looks and plays just as good as the original Doom maps. The music fits perfectly and it's got some of the most outrageous (by 1997 standards) conflicts to be had -- multiple spiderdemons, zombies rising from their graves, "sleeping demons", and of course, the Hive. Classic Doom fans, this is a wad not to be missed. 5'd - Xaser

Not bad.

This is beautiful, people. Creativity, sadism, epic battles with hundreds of monsters. An utter classic.

A great old set of two episodes, get it if you're looking for good Ultimate Doom stuff.

Very fun, very cheesy (especially with the 90's soundpack added and the Metallica, Nirvana and Deep Purple MIDIs I recognised) and surprisingly challenging, considering its age. I'd recommend this to everyone, although there are certainly wads of higher *quality* about. 4* -Phobus

This megawad introduced me to Metallica and heavy metal in general! Automatic 5/5!

Genius. Classic architecture, innovative tricks despite the year, exceptionally balanced ammo count, your never in excess and rckts and cells are scarce. Remarkably non-linear design, a kick ass soundtrack! Best of all it's very tough! E1 contains the entire beastiary, enemies appear in groups, very unexpected monster placement and secrets are actually very well hidden for once! My only criticism is I wish it were longer! 5/5 - Bloodite Krypto