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The Darkening

   (105 reviews)
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About This File

It has been 3 years since the destruction of the huge demon that masterminded the invasion of Earth. Your journey back home was almost as difficult and bloodthirsty as your journey into hell, but you made it. You had expected to be made a hero; after all, you had saved Earth and all it's worlds from a fate worse than death. But it was not to be that way.

Upon your return, you discovered that things had begun to change. The UAC, deprived of some of it's key personnel, had become more secretive and shadowy. You could swear that the Mars station's light levels were lower than you remember them. . . Instead of briefings by the top brass, troops were given datapads for their missions. Sometimes people would go missing. . . Some of the other marines decided that they would leave. Their ship blew up shortly after departure.

Recently, things have gotten worse. All remaining marines have been confined to quarters for weeks, and contact with Earth has been cut off for months. Some of your closest friends have started to disappear Perhaps hell won the fight after all. . .

Then, one night, it is your turn. Your dreams suddenly turn to nightmares, a Spider Mastermind strafing your body, it's manic laughter the only thing you can hear ... As the last bullet pierces your skin, your eyes blink open. Something is wrong. . . it seems even colder and darker than it did before. . . Suddenly, everything goes black. Fearing the worst, you reach under your bed for the pistol you always keep there. Your chaingun and shotgun are in the other room, but it is too late and too far.

Your sight begins to return to you. But where are you? You are in a tiny brick room, a silver door the only way out. Tightening your grip on the pistol, you open it and step through and prepare to discover the purpose of this ... this Nameless Project.


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I Drink Lava

   1 of 1 member found this review helpful 1 / 1 member

An 11-map episode consisting of bite-sized, not-too-difficult maps from the Doom community's transition to the modern era. Personally, I found it uneven in quality. Jan Van der Veken's and Travers Dunne's maps are full of excellent texturing, detailing, and lighting effects. However, John "Gestalt666" Bye's, Nick Baker's, and Adam Windsor's levels feel seriously below-par. They could've come from any random episode from 1995, albeit with better texture alignment. MAP04 and MAP05 were definitely the highlights for me with their Quake-esque 3D layouts. 3.5/5

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JBerg

  

I just played this for the first time in 2021 and I enjoyed it a lot! The maps are sort of old school but play very well.

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printz

  

Great classic Doom II episode in the style of Thy Flesh Consumed / American McGee / Quake.

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Endless

  

Entering with the expectations in 90s mode, I was waiting for a good quality collection, of course, but what I have found I think is something much more promising (20 years later, ups.) The Darkening is a collection full of interesting little maps made with the idea of continuing a frenetic and relentless rhythm, it reminds me quite a lot of Scythe, we could say that it is a kind of prototype of the latter, excluding the difficulty. This wad is much easier compared to modern wads or even other classic wads. Both its simple design and its reduced number of demons contribute to this fact. However, who said that chilling out a little is no fun? 

 

For me, solid 3.5/5

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P41R47

  

Pretty interesting set of maps, ranging from small to medion size, but nothing too marvelous or amazing that stood up. Its just a very good mapset in the good old style of Doom: cramped corridors, dark areas, and with a few new textures.
Storywise its kind of a sequel to the original Doom 2, starting 3 years after the demise of the Icon of Sin.
Its not bad, but i felt that its needed something else to be way better. The new midis are interesting, but a full set of them would have been better.
Aside from that, i enjoyed the maps, but the not soo much appealing environment was really a let down, because, even original Doom 2 mapset have somekind of eye candy that one can stood, look at and say: yeah thats a hell of a picture!

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Havoc Crow

  

A set of 11 fairly short, but still fun maps. The visuals are high-quality and the overall gameplay is fun, although it gets way too easy on later maps (especially when you move through narrow hallways and effortlessly mow down enemies in your way.)

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NuMetalManiak

  

that's odd, I never wrote a review for this. okay, would've honestly still thought that this is better than Darkening 2 only by sheer virtue that this set is fairly short. on the surface though, there's not a whole lot that Darkening really has to offer. it's just a standard 11-map set with short maps and decent, but not overly tough gameplay. the secrets can be really confusing, that's about all I can remember. Doomers these days yearn for more advanced stuff than this. it tries its best being a story-driven set, and it's just...well...humble I guess. that's about all this wad is though, humble. not great, not complete shit. note that you need RESOURCE.wad to get the textures right as well. there's also the DM-only set, something that Darkening 2 would also hold. all in all, it's short and can be a good quickie for on-the-go Doomers.

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Budoka

  

Mostly well-crafted, but all around forgettable content. From a total of 11 maps, there are like two or three standout fights and that's it. And all the maps look pretty much the same. Yeah, there just isn't much to say about this, even Adam Windsor's map is complete throwaway material somehow.

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Gato606

  

Cool wad to play, enjoyable, short maps with nice design.  Really interesting use of Quake I textures.  Sad it's a short mapset

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Spectre01

  

I didn't really enjoy this wad; compared to the IWADs or other 90's PWADs that I've played. The visuals were 90% brown brick/rock. Pistol Start balance sucked. And the gameplay/map progression was mostly uninteresting. I'll keep the negativity to a minimum so - overall score: 1/5.

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Obsidian

  

A nice little collection of well-made (albeit remarkably brown) maps, with a DM set coupled alongside as a nice bonus. I can't really comment on that seeing as I don't DM, but the SP maps themselves are really nice and the added textures compliment the stock ones used quite nicely. And above all, it's fun. 4 stars!

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slowtorturepukechamber

  
...not sure why anyone would want to make an exe a batch file.

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Guest

  
excelent

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Proof that they just don't make classic wads like this anymore. This wad is perfect in its simplicism and atmosphere. Certainly the best from 1999. I hate those modern wads with their over-the-top map deisgn and unplayably challenging gameplay. Oldies like The Darkening (and its sequel) shit all over them. 5/5

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Guest

Unknown date

  
I started it up in Zdoom and there are no textures showing for the first map. Otherwise, the level design is interesting and all that. 4/5 Good

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Simply amazing. Looks good, plays well, fantastic map flow, great ambiance. 5/5

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Flawless. Just flawless.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Beatiful looking, but in some places poor balanced maps. ****

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Meh. Cramped, confusing, poorly-textured artifacts from the days when "kewl" gothic detail was new and amazing. A few nice maps here and there, but prepare your idclev cannons.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Great effort, very fun to play through... 5 stars

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Guest

Unknown date

  
it sux

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Awesome mapset! It's the perfect fix for the Doomer that wants a fun map set that won't frustrate, but isn't easy either. The theme is top notch, using Quake style brown tones, but they actually fit so much better in the Doom engine, and provide an excellent basis for this episode. Favorite map is #9, which is actually an Episode One style map, but it fit perfectly.

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Guest

Unknown date

  
^ I agree, the architecture is particularly good, but is nowhere near as beautiful as my ex-girlfriends (even the fat one when I was desperate). I remember playing this back in '99 when it was new and shinny and it still glistens today (06/2007). The only fault is that is is not actually a complete megawad. Still gets 5/5 from me...

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Guest

Unknown date

  
A story to remembe as the others, its the best ya can find!

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Guest

Unknown date

  
Stands the test of time. Both episode are good but with smaller levels this one actually has arguably the lower chance of falling into repetition. I'd say anyone should play it at least once. Very solid overall.

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  • File Reviews

    • By erzboesewicht · Posted
      Really good puzzle map in a big dark metal/stone building. It catches the atmosphere of Bob Evans' Eternal Doom stuff, and I think there are even some homages to some other Eternal Doom maps as well (for example, the big two-layered outdoor area looks a bit like the "amusement park" in MAP26).   In my experience the puzzles were a bit easier than in "Silures" or "Excalibur", but it's possible that having played a lot of puzzle map stuff since I played Eternal Doom, having played through the whole canon of Bob Evans and Jim Flynn, and liking to search for Doom secrets in every map has made me recognize certain tropes better. The puzzles I liked most were (the spoilers only give minor hints):
          Gameplay is good too, at the start ammo is scarce so the chainsaw and berserk are your friend, and midtiers say hello from the start on, but hitscanners are the biggest threat. Rockets should be saved for archviles until you find the first larger cache.   9,5/10
    • By Somniac · Posted
      Fun, challenging set of maps that looks much better than you might expect for the time it was made. These maps will still slap you around a bit on HMP if you're not staying sharp. The author is fond of Chaingunner ambushes which keep you on your toes. I didn't find the SSG until around MAP05, which was cool, I like when its not given out too early. Pistol-starting the last two maps is pretty tough, but doable.   The map designs do a really good job of letting the player see crucial areas from different angles through progression and the layouts are really tidy overall, and feel a bit more modern than a lot of other 94/95 maps I've played. There are some really nice large-scale vistas (like the start of MAP06), nice uses of verticality and a good mixture of tight and more open combat.   Recommended!
    • By Darman Macray · Posted
      Spectacular visuals and engaging combat make this an absolute must play. There's a puzzle with a "Shoot the thing" answer that kind of comes out of left field and can be an easy place to get stuck if you're not on your toes, but that hardly stops the map from being a thrilling masterpiece.
    • By Darman Macray · Posted
      E3M9's refrain of back-tracking to a church for keys is a little tedious, and there are a few moments where things can become a frustrating key/switch hunt as you figure out what to do next, but aside from that, this an intense and rewarding adventure with beautiful lighting and architecture.
    • By JKWAD · Posted
      This actually Reminds of Me Epic 2
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