Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #002

Endless, what the hell is this now ?

Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures is a small project of exploration, interaction, entertainment and reviews where we meet once a week to select random WADs in search of hidden treasures, lost promises or our worst nightmares! In case you didn't know, /idgames archive has a special feature where we can search for random files, of course, sometimes they are resources or unplayable stuff, so we will focus on looking for WADs!

So, what are we going have to do ?

1. We/I try to play at least 4 (or more if you can) random WADs on /idgames. For that, I use the Random File feature.
2. We comment/review the WADs for the duration of the week. There's no set time, but one WAD every 2 days is a good measure, or 1 every day in case there's plenty.
3. Try to take screenshots of your adventures.
4. Play however you want, on any skill-level, as long as you play the WAD as intended/in working shape.
5. Avoid shitting on people's work, try to review in a respectful manner, but of course, let's all have a good laugh in case we find something odd.

What kind of WADs are we looking for ?

Mostly singleplayer WADs that work in your source-port of choice. You can skip DM WADs in case you don't have anyone to play with. Heretic WADs are also allowed. I will look for at least 4 random WADs for the week and add them here. Feel free to play them with me, or if you wish, look for your own! The point of this is to encourage you to explore this vast, random world.

Tips/recommendations for commenting/reviewing:

Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures of this week:

1. Quick and Deadly
2. The Iron Forge
3. asshole
4. A rush of blood to the head
5. kboom series

^{You can play this WADs with me or you can look for more yourself using the Random File feature.}

BONUS:

Also, all the Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures are going to be selected and collected for publishing on the Doom Master Wadazine of each month! With the best comments/review being highlighted for the articles.

Let the fishing, begin!

» Previous adventures:

Let's start this, shall we?

Quick and Deadly - Doomboy (limit-removing, 2003, played on doom2.exe and doom2p.exe on DosBox)

A quick and deadly map indeed, sets in a brick factory (with a jail at the start? Why?Is a jail for lazy workers, like the one in Doom 2 "The Crusher"?) and some nukage pool, there's a visplane when you get in the corridor at your left in doom2.exe, so it's not really that vanilla compatible as i thought initially...

Anyway, this is a short map with a good layout, some nice traps and quite a lot of cool, simple details, like it's a some sort of Jimmy map or a map from Simplicity, a type of layout that was really pretty used in that years. At counterpart of it, the monster placement is pretty thought and challenging, even not using many monster or pretty difficult monsters (expect Hell Knights, Barons, a Chaingunners group at the blue key room and the Arch-vile before the exit, overall it's a funny and short map!

That's a good project, both for community and for authors. This helps those who never got to cacowards for example but will get votes and reviews from true players. Thank you.

The random wad of today is... Investigation a Doom map from... 1994 (the page says 05/30/05, but the text file says 07/02/94) by Paul Pina.

Played on GZDoom, Doom (Strict) mode, freelook, HMP difficulty.

Nice way to start this week... This one is a big, confusing and overall weird map (just like the ones I like XD).

Supposely, this map was designed for Single player and Deathmatch in mind. After playing it for a bit, it's obvious that it was designed for deathmatch, especially for the HUGE amounts of ammo scattered around. Also Navigating around is painful, since there a lot of hidden doors, pitch black rooms, hidden doors, sectors with rising floors with repeteable linedefs that will keep rising if you pass over again and again, hidden doors, unaligned wall/floor textures... Did I say hidden doors?

Thankfully, our mapper was kind enough for hidding not ONE but TWO computer maps (for deathmatch I guess), making the map's navigation a bit less annoying. Monster count is a bit high (101 monsters on HMP), but they are pooly placed, from huge rooms filled with barrels (that could serve as a sequel of Doom 2 "Barrels of fun") to pitch black small rooms and big hallways that are behind, you guessed, hidden doors.

Something pósitive I find on this map? Hmmmm... at least has an exit. :P

While I had some fun on this one (Yeah I know it's weird, but I have a thing with maps like this one :P), I don't reccomend it, save yourelf 10 minutes and go play other maps or better, try the idgames random feature yourself! XD 

That's all I guess. Here, I'll leave you with what you all came here to see: hard-core nudity! screenshots!

Asshole - Played with GZDoom, Compatibility: Doom (Strict), UV MAX

With a name like Asshole, I expected some mid-'90s shovelware-tier shit, but this had actual thought and effort put into it, even more surprising given that the designer supposedly created this while high. It's also a speedmap because he claimed to have created it in an hour. It also managed to be quite challenging, despite having only 43 enemies. This is mainly because there's not a lot of ammo. I had to coax the monsters in the first area to infight so I would have enough ammo for the dark room with the hellknights and specters. Killing all those specters in the lava pit was quite tedious, and I really didn't like having to traverse a narrow walkway to the exit Chasm style. Other than that, this map managed to be quite fun once I figured out the routing.

The Iron Forge - Xaser and Not Jabba (Zdoom, 2018, Played with GZDoom 4.5.0)

Wow, what a wonderful map here! That was a great find, Endless! Also the first Heretic map in this random adventure reviews!

Anyway, this is a large map (i've beat it in 22:28 using cheats, yeah shame on me) sets in this castle / palace filled with lava and with lots of towers, while you are going trought inside the structure while fighting a group of enemies of random difficulty and number, mostly storms of Undead Warriors, Golem (and Nitrogolem) and for the hardest fights, swarms of Disciples of D'sparil (ah shit, that's great) and a Malotaur at the red roof outdoor. At the right top of it and appearing by teleporting, wonderful. Anyway, you'll find the Iron Forge of the title with it's switch puzzles and my least favorite part of the map with the broken Chasm-like thin corridors (not that thin, luckilly!) to reach the large lava outdoor with some ruins of a brown building.

Everything in this map is amazing from the layout, the gameplay, the texture usage, the theme... Top notch!

Day 5

I made no review because I died in the 1996 deathmatch wad "I love you, man!"

Day 6

Wad 1) Unrest by Dr. Zin (2004)

A small deathmach map with a good level of details. However , I'm not an expert about good deatmatch maps design but it definitely looks too cramped to be enjoyable. It could have been a good singleplayer map though. Also, I like the room full of barrels.

I got killed in the excellent zdoom ultimate doom episode The Phobos Directive

I played already asshole but i didn't remembered it (i didn't even make a review of it, so this means that i have played it but not finished it yet). Short, hard map. Really challenging. The spectre pit is a pain in the ass. Nothing else to say.

So, i'll give you instead a  turn to random file choice and i've got...

The Ten Thousand Ton Army - GreyMatter (2009, Zdoom, Played on GZDoom 4.3.2)

Short map for Doom 2 sets in a techbase, it includes a brand new enemy (that hanged corpse that attacks you that is present in Lullaby too), lots of nice detailing, good layout but the one-way teleport like in plutonia MAP25 is bullshit. Why do you guys just don't let people return back to a previous room that have skipped by mistake?

Also outdoor mountains with BROWN96 in it looks pretty weird, as well as the boxy skybox.

Gameplay is nice and make it's work, is not challenging but it is fun. Overall, a cool short map.

Day 7

Wad 1) Infested Factory by Martin Bazley (2014)

Infested Factory is a single limit-removing ultimate doom map made in 2006 but released in 2014. This one has pretty unusual things like the strange twisted stairs in the big red room  , small puzzles like walking on 4 marble textures in order to unlock a lift... It has decent aesthetics but is a bit too cramped imo.

Wad 2) Don's Dark Forces Pack  by Don Tello (1999)

Copy-Paste of the description : "Three (3) seperate patches, which replace certain DooM 2 weapons with Lucas Arts' Dark Forces weapons. Also, these are "new" , not the old crappy recycled DF graphics that everyone's used to."

The mod itself isn't really useful but it would be cool to create Dark-Force themed levels around this mod.

Wad 3) Frozen Time by Eternal (2012)

Well, I fell on a true classic !  

Frozen time consists of exploring a large castle lost on the huge ice floe. Like many Russian wads, ice is the central gimmick here. Eternal does not lie when it says that a good PC is necessary. My PC was pretty laggy even though it's not even 20 years old.

I had already played this map last year. It's very nice to play again. However, it's far from my favourite wad in Eternal. I think this map has aged rather badly compared to other works such as Epic 2, Gravity or Hell Ground. I find the choice of textures a bit random, or rather that there are too many different textures, which breaks the harmony a bit for my taste. As for the fights, they're not very exciting and are made less pleasant by the FPS drops.

Anyway I really like the alien base at the end. I would have liked this part to be more developed.

Wad 4) AZURE FOR HERETIC 1.2 REGISTERED by Omar Hasim (2011)

Despite being released in 2011, this was made in 1995. Azure is a simple arena where you can get all weapons by using the wings of wrath. Pretty basic but fun. The level can't be finished though because the lift which block exit, lower and rise too fast. Also I like the illusio-pit full of minotaurs.

Wad 5) Buzzard's Delight level 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Paul Busby (aka: Buzzard) (1995)

This is a level with over 450 monsters, but is very accessible due to the large amount of ammunition and bonuses. You start in a grey base with many doors to connect the rooms. The different keys will allow us to access different coloured areas, namely :
- a brown tech base, which is just a maze
- a wooden zone, which is very fun with its closets full of monsters
- a red infernal zone which is even more fun with its big monsters, BFG and invulnerability spheres.

A very good pastime where you can kill a lot of enemies with impunity despite the sometimes confusing progression.

I stop here. That's enough for today !

A rush of blood to the head - Oswaldo "Joaquin" Zonida (Vanilla, 2006, played on doom.exe with DosBox)

I'm not sure if the title is a intentional citation to the album with the same name by Coldplay or not, but this is a small level sets in a episode 4-ish apartments compund divided by a street in the middle of the map, you start in a "vent tunnel" facing backwards (why?) and then you pass trought the aftermentioned apartments with the highest bed, lots of misaligned circular toilets, lots of CEIL1_1 for ceiling usage and "new" textures straight out from Doom 2 (not signed in the new graphics, also this is "legal"? If the map has been accepted, i think so) that the only good usage imo is the PANBOOK textures but the other two taken (BLAKWAL1 and BRICK11) it used weirdly, mostly doors and a decorative panel...

Thinking about it, this map doesn't use that much of Doom textures, why not using the Doom Textures for Doom 2 pack and making this map for Doom 2, is beyond me...

Back on topic, the level is not half bad, but have some moments that aren't that great, both for progression and design, some detailing choices is pretty weird and the progression is kinda cryptic. Also the stock "At Doom's Gate" track doesn't fit well, so idmus it to a more slow track or use a external music wad like me (i used this one) with a slow music catalog...

Back from the dead! Was away from my house for some days, but I'm back and ready to explore these lovely WADs.

DAY 1 | Quick and Deadly | @DooMBoy | 2003 | Played on LZDoom +UV

Short but lethal. A small map with a good welcome balance that gives us enough juice to enjoy it. For being from the year 2000, this WAD presents a well designed map with good attention to detail that delivers entertainment with a solid quality. It's nothing special per se, but there is huge potential, and it would work very well as a starter-map in some sort of megawad. Cool map.

Asshole | @Death Egg | 2016 | Played on LZDoom + UV

The name gave me the idea that it would be a terrible map, or at least a kind of WAD joke, especially the extra description, but on the contrary... it's just a regular mediocre map that can be easily found in the huge ocean of /idgames archive. Nothing really spectacular but not bloody terrible either. Just a simple, very simple map.

A rush of blood to the head | Oswaldo``Joaquin´´ Zuniga | 2006 | Played on LZDoom + UV

Simple, entertaining and quite acceptable. This is a map that falls into the famous category of ''myhouse.wad'' kind of maps. It is a curious re-interpretation of a realistic style with touches of Doom under the simple and entertaining balance of Ultimate Doom. With a solid use of textures and an understandable layout, it's an entertaining map that manages to expand on its own merits in a decent way. Fun and fast.

Day 8 :

Wad 1) Phobos Anomaly Wars, DeathMatch for DOOM 2 by Daniel Huff (1996)

A deathmatch map replacing Map 07 because it uses the special action with mancubus. Indeed, despite being a deathmatch map , it contains few scattered monsters like imps and revenants. Nothing really stunning but I like how it adds a bit of playability for singleplayer..

According to the author, it consists to a big war zone. I suppose that the beige CRATTOP located outdoors is sand. I actually finds it really cool. Despite its symmetrical layout, the level contains a varied geometry with many hidden doors. There are two wads in the file, but the maps look very similar.

Wad 2) boring by Ruba (2007)

Boring is just a large room with some cacodemons , shotgun sheels and strange techwire pillars. It's actually a bit fun but the exit doesn't work. And it has plenty useless secrets filled with armor shards and blue bottles.

Wad 3) Hell Bound by Megaduck (1994)

Well , we don't talk about the megawad Hellbound !! Hell Bound is a single ultimate doom map described as a "huge multiplayer level".

This is actually partly untrue as it is a map that can be played in both multiplayer and single player. It's an adventure map where the three main themes of Ultimate Doom are grouped together. The wad has good gameplay with a varied layout and height variations. The aesthetics have aged well. It definitely looks like a 1990's map, but it would be hard to believe it was made in 1994.

Wad 4) Hi Jim! by Christopher Ratliff (1997)

Map made by a 13 years old beginner map for his friend Jim Nieberding. This level has nothing stunning : just some ugly square rooms of grey bricks with  "Hi Jim!" written with green slime sectors at the middle. However I had a lot of fun thanks to the many little monsters to kill and the very easy to find secrets. Not the best gift but Hi Jim! is playable.

I died in the old space station Space23 by Martin P.W. Rudolph

Today I have a weird map (just how I like them) from 95 called Mortal Kombat Pit by Joe McNally. Replaces MAP01 Doom 2.

Played on GZDoom, Doom (strict), freelook, HMP difficulty

According to map's author, this map is a take on Mortal Kombat (TM) famous stage, the pit, and this would be a part of a megawad including MK's sound and music! 
I opened the map, in hopes to see Sub-Zero and Sonya or even Kano, but unfortunately the sight I was presented was this instead...

Yep, Basically, this map consists on a pair of undetailed player-sized catwalks (or bridges if you want) on both sides of a room, there re 6 rooms. At the end these rooms, there is a central room that connects them. Enemies range from Archies (thrown just at the start! how cruel) to zombies, Barons and even WolfiesSS too! Since the "bridges" are a bit wider than the player, they make tricky to dodge attacks without doing yourself a self Fatality (TM). 

The map is too generous ammo-wise. While is a bit thgough to get past the first 6 rooms, on the central area, the mapper just gave up and thrown lots of ammo, weapons and other stuff maxing your ammo count pretty quickly, and making the rest of the fights go Flawless Victory (TM) (okay no more crappy MK jokes).
This map is clearly unfinished, since after reaching the other side of the map, it asks for a blue key, which is on an unreachable secret area, that I had to noclip to reach it. (supposely, a bridge should rise and give you access to it)

After opening the blue door, there was a yellow key and a red door. Did I mention that behind the start point was a yellow key door? No? Okay, You have to GO BACK to the start point again from there and after getting the red key, you have GO BACK to the end point... AGAIN. All that backtracking took me 3 min 40 sec, finish to start and start to finish. Nice excercise for Doomguy I guess :P

And that's all. I wonder if the planned megawad was worked further or even finished? Guess we will never know...

Here are some other random to FINISH HIM IT (TM) once for all! (Sorry for that, I couldn't resist XD)

Asshole, A Rush of Blood and Kboom3

UV | GZDoom + Dead Marine

Right, so these three were... yeah, okay I guess. I think I'll start off with A Rush of Blood since it has the most going for it. While I don't really like its cramped level design, I'd say it makes up for it with its combat and progression. It's a good laugh that makes me feel like I'm on a bloody rampage through a caravan lot, murdering vacationing demons who could only afford the cheap place. There's plenty of DoomCute couches and toilets to gawk at and the progression with hunting switches and collecting keys in closets was amusing. Not sure about that last fight with the Cyber and a cloud of Cacos since you're not given anything besides a shotgun to deal with everything so I noped right out of there lol. Definitely the strongest of the three.

Asshole, despite its name, isn't exactly that mean though it certainly tries to be. Despite some dicey combat scenarios though, there's really fuck all I can really say about it. It's a small, dismal map with very little going on. It's pretty bare-bones and feels like it was slapped together in about 15-20mins with not much of a concept to stand on. It's over as soon as it began. A big fat, resounding "meh" is the nicest thing I can honestly say about it.

Kboom3 is better, but it's one of those maps that's too big for its britches. There's a lot of wide-open space with nothing to do. It gives you practically all of your arsenal right out the gate along with mega-armour and a Soulsphere, so I was expecting more of a slaughter vibe, but no it's just a bit more meandering. It gets a tad more exciting towards the end though. It hasn't aged terribly well, it's a late 90s map, so I'll cut it some slack. It's not a complete waste of your time, but you could easily find better.

Today I have a pair of Doom 2 maps from late 90's, all of them played with GZDoom, HMP, Doom (Strict) compat mode and freelook

The first one is called MAZE OF PAIN from 1999 by Gul Dahre'el. Replaces MAP07

Well, after playing it for a bit, I agree that this absolutely IS a maze, and it absolutely IS painful. You are inside a single-textured dark maze full of narrow passages that make avoiding projectiles pretty difficult. To make things worse, this map is HUGE and you will find monsters almost at every conrner, being mostly hitscanners (your main source of ammo BTW).

There's not much to comment here since I haven't finished the map. After 20 minutes and lots of deaths (using resurrect cheat almost at the end), last one in hands of an horde of infighting Wolfies SS, I decided to quit the game. Oh and before I forget, just firing a single bullet at the start of the map will wake a Spider Mastermind, imagine the horrors that lurk on the inside this cursed maze playing it on UV (assuming the author added difficulty )...
I like bad maps, but this one was too much, even for me...

Okay, take your pics and let me get out of there...

The second map is called UPFront from 1996 by Cave Dave Johnson. Replaces MAP19

This one is a medium sized map where you explore places going from some acid filled wooden rooms to a library. There are some, as the actor clainms, some  "attractive female" custom textures on this wad, as just from the start, you are greeted by this:

Everything is average here, monster count, ammo... The map design is pretty basic and not too detailed. I have to say this one was pretty enjoyable overall (I even found all the secrets! XD). If you like old basic maps with some erotic pics nice fights here and there this one is for you!

*disclaimer: ignore my words, try those maps at your own risk*  

Have some random pics (slight NSFW warning):

Techlab by Lee "DooMAD" Wallis  04/02/05

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/s-u/techlab

Well, essentially a basic map you create when you start your modding career from zero. Nothing much more to say, it's very short, with few secrets and small. First part you start into this narrow-like laboratory (with few assets really) ending up in a semi-open area for the final fight. That's it. Some weapon sounds are edited, music too.

Day 9

Wad 1) Fraggan2.wad by Engdahl, Wm. [4-D CREATIONS] [reddawg] (1995)

Another DM map which can be also played as a singleplayer one. Fraggan2 takes place in a subterrean square wooden base with little buildings containing each a megasphere on a pillar , weapons and of course some monsters. Also , beware of the roaming ennemies located outside as the cyberdemon or the hidden revenants and shotgunners hidden behind a fake wall ! Pretty fun. Ammo looks tight at first sight but you can find a lot of hidden closets full of them.

I died in the strange Ultimate Doom episode Ultra Doom by Scott Manganello.

8 minutes ago, Roofi said:

Day 9

 

Wad 1) Fraggan2.wad by Engdahl, Wm. [4-D CREATIONS] [reddawg] (1995)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Another DM map which can be also played as a singleplayer one.

 

Lucky you, haven't found one of those so far. Is always interesting to play DM WADs that are balanced (somehow) in Singleplayer.

The Nest by Joe Cates  06/23/94

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/s-u/thenest

It's 94 so you can't really expect many things, the level has inspiration still! Very short, few enemies (just Zombiemen, Imps and Shotgun Guy at hurt me) and a lot of ammo. Three weapons actually, pistol shotgun and machinegun. Nothing else. There's a bug that makes you unable to complete the wad, if you miss that sorta of elevator you cannot call it back to take the blue key. Ah, it is designed to be a sorta of dark-nest-whatever type action, so you'll have green goggles from time to time when you explore certain areas.

kboom series (Kurt Kessler, Boom, 1998, played on boom 2.02 with DosBox)

A earlier version (the 3rd map) of the kboom series maps that i've played the last week for this random wads reviews adventure, it's a cool techbase / outdoor map, pretty large, lots of cool boom effects and with good combat scenarios, but it's not good as the previous entry i've played last week. Fun map, otherwise.

Today I have 3 maps, all of them are from '06 onwards. Two are fro Vanilla Doom 2 and one is for Ultimate Doom, made specifficaly for ZDoom.

all maps were played with GZDoom, HMP, Doom (Strict) compat mode and freelook.

The first one is called Terry Sux from 2011 by Somemong. Vanilla compatible, Replaces Doom 2 MAP01

This one is interesting. Have you ever watched a playthrough or played one of those so called Terry Wads, that, while they look good at first, you trigger a trap and your rear end gets abused on the most terrible and homoerotic ways? Well, the creator compiles some the good parts of his Terry maps, throws away all the Terry crap and join them on a nice and (very) short map. There are pretty good designs (like the ones you see on the start of Terry wad) and nice fights here and there, no cruel traps fortunately. It also is goes good with ammo. Since these segments come from Terry wads, the map gets very short and linear. Also no dickfails or GORGIASS sound unfortunately... :(

It was very fun overall XD

Here have some Spammy Spaaaam! pictures for your enjoyment:

The second map is called Hard Attack, from 2006 by Morbid DooMer. Replaces Doom 2 MAP01

As the name may hint, this map is a "remake from scratch" of Master Levels map Attack. The gameplay and base architecture is mostly the same, but with good new designs that fit the original map's flow pretty well. There's not much to say here, it's just the same good ol' Attack, but a bit more detailed. If you liked the original map, you should give it a try, you won't get dissapointed :D

Screenshot Attack! (Sorry about that...)

The last one is Cathalyst from 2013 by Jacob H. Orloff. This an Ultimate Doom map, designed for ZDoom. Replaces E1M1.

This is as, the autor describes it, "A tech-themed map for Doom to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of its release.". And what way to do it! This one was pretty difficult to say the least. While it's full of nice tech-base details, it also full of nasty traps. you name it, door traps with monsters that open at your side, bullet sponges teleporting at your back in big numbers, most of the time you have to fight on narrow passages...

Ammo wise, is below average, given the number of monsters, it gets tough at the start, you'll have to squeese your pistol, shotgun and chainsaw (once you get it) and rely on monster infighting most of the time. Later on the map it gets a bit more generous and gives you some weapons and a bit more ammo. I have to say that this one kicked my butt countless times but in a good way, like "a challenge you can overcome" thing (unlike the Maze of Pain map I played the other day), despite the difficulty, I liked it. If you are into Doom 1 hard techbase-themed maps, give it a try! :D

Here, I cathalized some pics for you (crappy joke, I know)

@LUISDooM sounds like you had a lot of fun in your exploration. Pretty decent finds. Terry Sux seems like a very interesting take on Terry tropes.

4 minutes ago, Endless said:

@LUISDooM sounds like you had a lot of fun in your exploration. Pretty decent finds. Terry Sux seems like a very interesting take on Terry tropes.

Indeed. All maps were fun overall, especially the Terry Sux map, I really liked the idea. Wish other Terry map makers did the same with their creations too... 

DAY 2 | kboom series 3 |  Kurt Kesler | 1998 | Played on LZDoom +UV

This WAD gives me the idea of being a tech-demo species for some reason, maybe because of the title. Although the title is only kboom series, the .wad is called kboom 3 of a total series of 10 maps, each created by Kurt Kesler of Team Insanity, classic creator of the 90s. What we have here is a solidly designed map that presents classic monumentalism in a simple and attractive way. For 1998, I could easily see this type of map as a kind of CP, since the overall quality of the map is not bad and I actually had enough fun with this map.

With a presentation of stock textures, as we can expect, and a layout not too difficult to figure out as well as a few extra tricks with liquids, kboom_3 is an interesting map with a simple style that stands out for being solid among the ocean of bad content that was the 90s. It makes me curious and makes me want to try the whole series. We may have some interesting stuff here.

The Cutting Room Floor: Jungle Boogie | @Cheesewheel | 2021 | Played on LZDoom + UV

3 maps created under a simple but quite effective design system that establishes its priorities well. With tight and understandable layouts that often combine traps with close combat, these maps remind me of E4M1 (one of my favorite maps) so I can say that I find them fascinating. Part of the taste I have for them comes from the type of difficulty balance it has, where the enemies are usually more than 100 but there are not usually floods of demons, on the contrary, the combat feels tactical and bloody, where every meter we advance requires good strategy and attention to the environment around us, offering a solid challenge that seeks to meet all kinds of skills in its maximum expression. My personal favorite is def MAP02.

From the first map to the last, 3 maps with modest design but excellent use of textures and good skyboxes that accompany us in bloody combat. Each map has an average duration of 5 to 10 minutes, but due to its intricate design and evolving layout, they don't feel long and the action remains constant. One of the best WADs I've played in these randomized adventures!

The Iron Forge | @Not Jabba & @Xaser | 2018 | Played on LZDoom + Bringest them oneth

Finally a Heretic map, and one made by none other than two legends! Despite being proclaimed as a medium map, I believe it is a map of superior magnitude that features incredible monumentalist architecture along with a classic fantasy design that combines excellent tropes such as ledges, lava pits and dungeons. With fantastic visuals that emanate gothic fantasy in every inch, WAD feels like an incredible adventure that immediately throws you into a world of quality. Thanks to the excellent use of textures and good layout, the map has a constant, non-stop flow that allows for exploration and even admiration of detail, bringing with it excellent design decisions that blend perfectly with the gameplay, thanks in part to the Wayfarers Tome included with WAD. The superior way to play Heretic.

A very joyful, challenging and fantastic map that delivers fully. Truly heretical.

And with this, I end my adventures for this week. Tomorrow, more to come.

Kesler is a fucking legend in my eyes! He's one of those authors from the 90's that deserves some sort of in depth and detailed article in Wadazine (or anywhere else for that matter) at some point. Also deserving of such recognition are guys like Richard Wiles, Malcolm Sailor, Jan van der Veken, Anthony Soto, Derek MacDonald, Nick Baker and Paul Corfiatis just to name a few at the top of my head. Kesler and these guys had me drooling over everything they released back then and it's hard to explain just how important they were to us newcomers back then.

25 minutes ago, Chris Hansen said:

Kesler is a fucking legend in my eyes! He's one of those authors from the 90's that deserves some sort of in depth and detailed article in Wadazine (or anywhere else for that matter) at some point.

Now you have me interested. I'll take a look more into the mapper history. And of course, feel free to make an article like that for the Wadazine and we'll take care of the rest ;)

A new adventure awaits!