Most depressing WAD?

I gotta go with Swim With The Whales Map 03. It seems helpless and I can't beat it UV-Max. Ray's vid is truly an anomaly.

Suspended in Dusk

Unloved 2 is pretty goddamn depressing.

Yeah, Faded City in Unloved II.

zdctf06: Cursed

But Nostril Caverns and D2INO map07 are in the top tier as well.

Prime Directive

Whispers of Satan's ice/haunted house episode (roughly maps 16-19) is the only set of Doom levels I've played that felt like it put a knife in my gut. Might have been because I was going through a really rough part of my life when I first played it, but it still gets me. Parts of A.L.T. come close, and I'll second the mention of Suspended in Dusk.

Heretic/Hexen wads (including the original games) often have this particular forlorn feeling to them -- like it really gives you a feeling of being the last living person, which is a feeling I don't usually get from Doom. I think it's the soundtracks more than anything.

Any wad in the /themes/x-rated section. Good for that "what the fuck am I doing with my life?" feeling.

Not Jabba said:

Whispers of Satan's ice/haunted house episode (roughly maps 16-19) is the only set of Doom levels I've played that felt like it put a knife in my gut.

Yeah that's the one that comes to mind for me too. I'm not entirely sure what it is about those maps that do it, because I don't think it's just the lighting or theme. The music perhaps? Whatever it is, I love it.

Resurgence MAP31 as well evokes a similar feeling, and that one definitely owes a lot to the music, though the visual work there does a fine job of complementing it.

this stuffs right up my alley. I loved The Scientist, the whole third episode, the sacred city, that grim orange, and the buildings with their pointy crowns... music isn't that fitting, but theres always remedies to that. But man, that cloning vat thing, and the casket and flag at half mast, that stuff is downright emotional. Makes you feel bad for the guy. god i love that wad.

BTW Unloved 2 is amazing, its a shame its on hold for so long... and its weird this is the first i've heard of it.

do-it

UAC Labs. It's the combination of knowing who the creator is, and the wad itself being so banal.

Several that I made....bad, which depresses me

I honestly found that Alien Vendetta is f*cking depressing. The atmosphere, that garrish red/blue/green level... its all depressing, neurologically.

brutal doom starter pack E1 & E3 are the most depressing things I've seen in Doom tbqh

randomguy7 said:

I honestly found that Alien Vendetta is f*cking depressing. The atmosphere, that garrish red/blue/green level... its all depressing, neurologically.

That's why Alien Vedetta never gets boring, it's like theres nothing else to play.

A lot of Hellbound levels inspired such a strong feeling of desolation and futility both due to the atmosphere and the sheer scale of the levels to boot. The cities feel so real with how tall the buildings usually are, and the dark gloomy scenery sets the stage so well. Pretty much all of the early levels in the cities and urban areas fit the bill. Shame the gameplay wasn't quite up to snuff with the visuals, but it's still an awesome wad.

The hell levels in the Brutal Doom Starter Kit were some of the most sombre things I had ever seen in Doom... the marine with his eyes stitched up and he knees nailed to the ground... just wow.

Tompig said:

The hell levels in the Brutal Doom Starter Kit were some of the most sombre things I had ever seen in Doom... the marine with his eyes stitched up and he knees nailed to the ground... just wow.

That level disturbed me like no other map. Especially the screaming. All you could hear was the screaming.

Tompig said:

The hell levels in the Brutal Doom Starter Kit were some of the most sombre things I had ever seen in Doom... the marine with his eyes stitched up and he knees nailed to the ground... just wow.

I just stood there for like one minute staring at him...lol.

That part with the radio was pretty cool.

Memento Mori, during maps from 16 to 20 and 25 to 28 I felt that there was a knife on my neck forcing me to experience a crappy megawad and map 28 ended up frustrating me to no end to the point that I considered it one of the worst maps of all time,because after playing some of the crappy maps in this megawad,and they followed it up with someting that is as tedious, uninspiring , unexciting and painful to play. a freaking city maze with no shortcuts and you have to go EVERYWHERE in this map and press ALL the switches to get out to here, and I went berserk on the map and the mapper too.

Honestly, after reading some of the suggestions here it seems like 'depressing' can mean just about anything. Or maybe I'm missing something.

Protester said:

BTW Unloved 2 is amazing, its a shame its on hold for so long... and its weird this is the first i've heard of it.

Well, Blue is entirely focused on the game version of Unloved so UII will probably never be finished.

Royal_Sir said:

That level disturbed me like no other map.

So I wasn't the only one who found those maps surprisingly evocative?

I think it must be due in part to the fact that, given it's BRUTAL DOOM, we're expecting over-the-top silly action from start to finish, but it does get pretty dark. The radio thing was very effective.

The whole atmosphere just made me want to get out of that place (those maps) as quickly as possible.

Royal_Sir said:

That level disturbed me like no other map. Especially the screaming. All you could hear was the screaming.

I found that annoying after 20-30 seconds and just shot them to end their suffering....and mine. Reminded me a lot of one section in Quake 2.

Personally I can't recall having played any particularly "depressing" Doom wad yet, although in terms of depressingly bad quality I can recommend Ghosts of Pingfang.

I know its slightly off topic but I do genuinely believe that the Brutal Doom Starter Pack has set the bar for atmosphere in Hell levels... it felt like a living, breathing, terrible place.

Any one of the Gamarra maps is a depressing dive into the mind of the mentally handicapped Giulio Galassi (Glassyman)...

Or at least I think he is retarded, he might not be (which is even more depressing if you think about it after playing them).

Another depressing wad experience is playing any jump maze set on your own, what a complete and utter empty, depressing and worthless endeavor.

Suitepee said:

though in terms of depressingly bad quality I can recommend Ghosts of Pingfang.

Yeah, that wad was wank.

Tompig said:

I know its slightly off topic but I do genuinely believe that the Brutal Doom Starter Pack has set the bar for atmosphere in Hell levels... it felt like a living, breathing, terrible place.

definitely true, very few map sets can evoke that atmosphere of dread and evil... perhaps that would be a good discussion for another forum thread

Tompig said:

The hell levels in the Brutal Doom Starter Kit were some of the most sombre things I had ever seen in Doom... the marine with his eyes stitched up and he knees nailed to the ground... just wow.

When beta testing the marines used to turn into turrets... i guess they aren't disturbing to me anymore

Outrageous Videos said:

When beta testing the marines used to turn into turrets... i guess they aren't disturbing to me anymore

Autobots, deploy!

That does kinda sound disturbing, but on the more hilarious side of things.

UDTWiD. Because it ain't getting made. Ha ha ha.