Most Overrated and Most Underrated Megawads of all time

[NuMetalManiak]

Overrated: I'm surprised no one has mentioned NeoDoom as overrated. Judging by the comments on idgames, the vast majority of its reception is quite positive. and I don't get it. the wad's design is mostly crap excepting the city levels which were the high point. the gameplay consists of lots of custom weapons and monsters. Some of the weapons were cool, most were shit. the inventory system seems screwed up from the download on the archive, apparently a patch was necessary to even use most of the items. And the enemies, oh god, they're more overpowering than the weapons. I couldn't even beat some maps on the lowest skill level.

Underrated: Super Sonic Doom sure doesn't get a lot of praise.

[Reisal]

I think Action Doom & Doom 2 are overrated.

Underrated? Maybe Fave Beans.

[illYay1337]

Overrated: Pretty much all slaughter maps like Hell Revealed, etc... I'm more of a fan of atmosphere and level design and "story". I like some Alien Vendetta maps, while others are meh...

Story is in quotes because it's DooM after all, but a minimal amount somewhat helps and gives context to where you are and how the levels come together. Like, A space station, in hell, a nukage facility, etc... Some map packs are just random collections where one map is tech, one map is hellish, it's a bit random and not story driven at all.


Underrated: Strain.

(Wow I'm rereading some other comments, and Strain seems to be getting mentioned. I was in love with strain back in the day. Couldn't get enough.)

[T-Rex]

potnop said:

Overrated: Pretty much all slaughter maps like Hell Revealed, etc...

Hell Revealed isn't all slaughter maps. I mean, granted many of the maps contain nasty ambushes, but that doesn't make them slaughterish in my opinion. Some of them contain strategically-placed heavyweight monsters, while some like Last Look at Eden, Hard Attack, Resistance is Futile, Ascending to the Stars, and especially Post Mortem, are real slaughtermaps. Even so, yeah, it's pretty much as overrated like Plutonia and Alien Vendetta, though I think they kick ass since they got awesome level design overlooking the intense gameplay.

Speaking of which, has anyone looked at One Bloody Night and the Europa series? Erik Alm made such gems that are underplayed and not as recognised as his popular Scythe megawads.

[Pedro VC]

Underrated: Hellbound, NeoDoom
Overrated: BTSX E1, Unloved, Scythe 1

[A.K.]

It is hard for me to say for which single/multiplayer WADS are overrated because to me they're still quite interesting.

For deathmatch however...

Dwango5, judas23... both are HIGHLY overrated, but somehow everyone likes playing on cramped, boring box levels.

Underrated in general purpose/single player:

Claustrophobia: The Walls Close In
http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?file=levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/claust.zip

Seriously, this is great and all special boss monsters had their own programmed ACS attacks. Simple and straight forward. Developed before DECORATE was a prominent use in ZDooM.

[vtm]

Underrated...probably duum 2 super, only heard about it twice.

Overrated none IMO.

[Varis Alpha]

i find Alien Vendetta and Icarus to be overrated. the former people seem to fawn over while i hose no strong feelings for it, whilst the latter is RIDDLED with design-problems that makes it a pain to go through, even though it remarkably has a complete soundtrack with no repeats in it, which is the wad's strong suit.

underrated... maybe Fragport? it's not the best or the prettiest mapset, but i found it to be quite a fun romp and not many people seem to mention it when talking megawads.

Getsu Fune said:

Overrated: I'm surprised no one has mentioned NeoDoom as overrated. Judging by the comments on idgames, the vast majority of its reception is quite positive. and I don't get it. the wad's design is mostly crap excepting the city levels which were the high point. the gameplay consists of lots of custom weapons and monsters. Some of the weapons were cool, most were shit. the inventory system seems screwed up from the download on the archive, apparently a patch was necessary to even use most of the items. And the enemies, oh god, they're more overpowering than the weapons. I couldn't even beat some maps on the lowest skill level.

a "gold" release was silently released on the Zdoom forums a couple of years ago that remedies some of the mod's problems, most prominently the vixen enemies got a massive HP nerf so it's actually possible to kill them without god-modding a BFG up their asses. maybe it's overrated by the people who've played it, but i don't really know many people that actually played it. then again, maybe that was years ago.

[Astral-Doomer]

Overrated, Hell ground. I thought it was okay but there's a lot better out there. :-)

Underrated, happy time circus 1 & 2. The first was okay, but the second one really grabs you atmosphere-wise. I give props to the maker of that. The black teddy bears caught me off guard, same with the other fun carnival surprises as well. B-)

[Budoka]

Based on archive ratings, I would have to consider Scythe X and Suspended in Dusk overrated. I mean, they're very good, but having them stand next to Vanguard ? They're not nearly as refined a Doom experience as that. Not even close.

As for underrated, I want to say Aeternum. Yes, it's tougher than Skillsaw's usual fare, and very slightly messier, but it's still amazing. Yet almost no one ever plays it.

And don't you dare diss Hell Ground, Astral Doomer. Well, okay, MAP07 has problems I guess.

But wait, none of those are Megawads. Fine then. Requiem is probably the most overrated Megawad in existence, but we've been through this discussion already.

Hell Revealed is definitely not overrated, and in fact is often misunderstood. Considering some of the regular criticisms thrown at it, you'd forget that the people behind it are first and foremost famous for being world-class speedrunners (Quake done Quick anyone ?) and that they made most of HR with the very same mindset. Donner sure doesn't play it slow in his demos, so from my window those who find it slow have no excuse. I also realize I'm far from the first one to say this, but HR as whole is much more varied and subtle that often given credit for. There's a lot of imagination at work here.

I'm not sure how to feel about Alien Vendetta. I suppose you need to play it front-to-back in order to understand why it's so highly regarded, but that's much easier said than done. Some of the things I already know about it I certainly find impressive, but on the other hand some of its character puts me off in a way that I can't put into words. Rusty Rage is a good example, it's a well-crafted map with no real problems, but for some reason I can't identify I just don't like it.

[Scuba Steve]

Glaice said:

I think Action Doom & Doom 2 are overrated.

:(

[Jon]

Scuba Steve said:

:(

Don't worry, they're wrong.

(How'd you get the "home" icon in your posts? Oh wait, I have it too!)

[Bucket]

T-Rex said:

Much as I love the beautiful design and intense gameplay, I'd consider Plutonia to be overrated since it gets two sequels and homages more than TNT Evilution.

Has it been a month yet? It's about time to bump the TNT2 threads.