#1Kill

This is the first amateurish work by Angelo Jefferson, a guy that shared the same fate of many others in the 90s: he tried Doom and got hooked, played the hell out of the official game, and wanted to kill more demons to his liking. When he put his hands on an editor and became aware of the online idgames archive, he felt compelled to create his own “franchise” starting with Number One Kill, a full Episode 2 replacement that aimed at challenging gameplay, elaborating on the experience of Thy Flesh Consumed and Doom II.

More of a trip down the mapper’s evolution than a fully-fledged Ultimate Doom experience, the megaWAD began with unassuming maps choosing marble as the primary texture, a typical expedient for beginners. Tech-base textures require a precise alignment for a good visual result, and I remember having the same problems when trying to use poor old WADED in 1997. Except for the weird E2M2 with its zero brightness sectors and Pinky abuse, the first chunk of bite-sized maps was breezy enough to flow smoothly. The secret exit to the imposing "castle map" E2M9 was not only hidden in an insane way, but also improperly placed on E2M4; maybe the author did not know that the destination after the secret map was hard-coded, or he considered the E2M5 skip as part of the secret level bonus for continuous players. I was impressed by the creativity of E2M6, which contained an infamous “spaghetti factory™” maze but was positively crazy in its arrangement. The E2M8 finale was well-paced and better than most Cyberdemon boss levels that I have played.

The first time I completed Number One Kill I did it on UV-fast continuous, then I replayed it on normal UV but on pistol start for the DWMC, with savegames mid-level (not during encounters to cheat the RNG or to facilitate anything). My blind run memories were quite accurate, and I navigated the maps with no need of reloading, but the length and harshness of E2M7 eventually got me. Except for that specific case, the levels were approachable on a pistol start, with ammo never being a concern as promised by Jefferson, at least if shotgun gameplay was accepted as the bread and butter. Some levels would have benefited from additional weapon variety, as exemplified by E2M6, E2M8 and E2M9.

A tad repetitive with its texture patterns and naive use of lighting, the focus of Number One Kill was the combat, which was better than what is typically found in PWADs from 1997. Still, the progress in layout complexity and ambition was constant throughout the episode, culminating in the later maps and in the “Extra” E3M1, which acted as a prequel for Number One Kill The Next Generation. Despite the minor fame that the Doom II megaWAD gained among speedrunners, this episode had been largely neglected by the community, with E2M2 being the prime suspect for early refusal, and E2M7 being more than what a casual player could chew. Continuous play surely relieves the pain on that slot, and after trying pistol start it is my recommended way to enjoy Number One Kill. This is an optional though instructive introduction to the punchy gameplay pursued by Angelo Jefferson, fully expressed in his following, more substantial mapping effort.

Best maps:

E2M9

E2M6

E2M8

E3M1 – Number One Kill “Extra” (EX.WAD)

Special mention map:

E2M7

Detailed commentary of each map can be found in the February 2023 DWMC thread.

Actual rating should be 2 1/2, but I gave 3 stars to encourage people to try this old stuff.

Good episode, the best are on the second half. Then in the same year he released a megawad of 20 much nicer maps.