Li'l devil

As an AI language model, I don't have personal opinions or feelings, but I can provide you with a general ranking of Doom games based on their popularity and critical acclaim: 1. Doom (2016) 2. Doom Eternal (2020) 3. Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994) 4. Ultimate Doom (1995) 5. Doom 64 (1997) 6. Doom 3 (2004) Please note that this is just a general ranking based on popularity and critical acclaim, and opinions may vary among different players.

My server for discussing old maps and mods: https://discord.gg/XV9yKN7vxq Originally this was nothing more than a private hugbox, but after most original members had left, I decided to rebuild it now to be strictly about discussion of old wads, and other games as an off-topic. However, all other forms of offtopic aren't allowed, for that you can go pretty much everywhere else, heh. Right now it's empty, so if at least a few people interested in this topic join, it'd already be great.

Tell me if you like these reviews. Hopefully, I'll keep reviewing more wads. However, I'm not sure how to go about this thread. It can either be my personal review thread, or you can leave reviews on wads you find nostalgic here too! In case you do, make sure to follow these guidelines: - the wads have to be pretty old by now, preferably over 10 years old; - try to review more obscure stuff; - review wads that are at least decent or interesting in some way, don't review boring shovelware; - post pics!

I decided to review various old wads I stumbled upon as a kid, mostly on Doom Power, which I feel nostalgic about. I actually haven't played most of these before (I kept playing the same few wads), but the reason I feel nostalgic about them is because I saw screenshots and descriptions of them and wanted to play them, just didn't get around to. The reason why I chose to review them here and not in the Downloads section like I did before is because I think reviews in the Downloads aren't as visible, and I kinda want people to know that these wads exist, even if they aren't necessarily great. Beyond Kadath A single map, released in 2005 by Chad Noles. From the name, you probably expect this map to be heavily inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos. Well... it is, but only a bit. For the most part it's actually a just a techbase. Only in the end you finally reach an ancient temple, which houses a cyberdemon fight. This map certainly isn't horror though. I really like this map's intro: you start in an apartment, then you get to a lobby which displays cool information about the excavation and the temple that you'll need to get into (see screenshots). Cool exposition! Overall this map is average, not hard, a bit mazey, standard stuff. Screenshots: Antichrist Doom The main reason why I remember this wad and wanted to try it out is because of its name. It's pretty awesome! This wad was released around year 2000 by Danny Despres, and it's not really a map pack as much as what I would call a «mod»: most maps in it are redone versions of maps from Doom 1/2, but there are some original maps sprinkled inbetween. All original maps received a visual overhaul that made them look very hellish. The wad features mostly red and black color palette, which is pretty cool, except there are some areas that are very bright red, which really strained my eyes. All maps were also repopulated with stronger monsters, however this repopulation is a bit questionable: a lot of places were repopulated with hordes of pinkies, which brought more annoyance than challenge. Some monsters received darker redesign. My biggest gripe, however, are the monster sounds replacement: most hellspawn now have dinosaur sounds from Jurassic Park, and problem is, they get repetitive very quickly. As for the new maps, I only played one and design-wise it was very different from the remixed stock maps: it was an arena-type map with lots of monsters surrounding the player. This brings inconsistency to the wad. The reason why I only played one new map is because I just got really bored by the time I reached map 06 and quit the wad. Overall, this is a pretty edgy wad and it's definitely not for everyone. I personally don't recommend it. This wad isn't on idgames. Here where download. Screenshots: Cold as Hell: Special Edition Right now there's a lot of talk about how myhouse.wad completely subverts people's expectations. I don't know about that wad since I haven't played it, but Cold as Hell sure did subvert mine. I didn't know almost anything about it, so when I began playing it I thought it's some horror TC, but by the midpoint I realized it's an elaborate action-packed adventure, and by the end I realized it's almost its own game. Released in 2008 (the Special Edition) by JonnyFive, Cold as Hell is a wad with tons of new features, the biggest of which are: - non-linear hub-like progression; - a variety of tasks that you need to complete, which are tracked in objectives menu (replaces the automap); - notes and even audiologs that you can read and listen to. I mostly skipped them because I didn't wanna read in the middle of action, but at some points I had to, because without reading some of the notes it's very difficult to figure out what to do, so yeah, reading notes is quite important; - weapons from Call of Duty 1. For me it's pretty cool since I like CoD1 a lot. Importantly, you need to reload them! These weapons fit well the year the wad takes place in – 1954; - most monsters are redesigned or tweaked, and most of them are noticeably stronger than the vanilla ones: they're faster, their projectiles are faster, and most dangerous of all, the projectiles are very transparent, so they're difficult to dodge; - it also has allies who will fight monsters for you! I want to specifically mention the level design: it's very realistic, and there's a lot of attention to detail. There are a lot of things that people call "doomcute". One other thing I found awesome is that there's a lot of breakable glass everywhere. It really adds to the fights. I should mention here: jumping and crouching are pretty much necessary. The plot of the wad is pretty simple, pretty standard action horror stuff. However, the plot may start pretty humble, but it sure gets epic by the end! It's best you experience it yourself. Difficulty. I played on the easiest as I usually do, and it was challenging in a few places, but always manageable, and some difficult moments can be cheesed. One thing of note: higher difficulties introduce important changes to gameplay, for example, they disable auto reloads and auto healing from medkits. Realistic! Also, this wad features a plenty of autosaving which is very helpful. What I didn't like: some monsters spawns are BS. They sometimes spawn right in your face, it's annoying. There's also this segment where you need to escort some guy, but problem is that he, just like monsters, mostly goes in random zig-zags, so you need to just hope he reaches his destination and maybe try to obstruct his path to guide him. That's not good. Overall, I highly recommend Cold as Hell. It features horror, it features great action, exploration, quests, very well done story, and is very memorable. I'd say it can even be comparable to Half-Life and System Shock 2 in terms of gameplay and plot, so if you like this stuff, you should check it out if you haven't already. Screenshots: Tuning Contest#5 (aka Freakmapping) This was one in the series of contests where mappers tried to modify a trash map generated by OBLIGE and turn in into something good and competed for the best one. Released in 2010, it features maps by 7 competitors, each is their own wad (as well as the original OBLIGE-generated map for reference). Despite all maps being based on the same original map, they all feel very different and I didn't start noticing similarities until I played half of them. I'll review the maps from my favorite to least favorite. But one thing I have to note for all of them: all maps are pretty confusing in terms of design, and it probably has to do with the original OBLIGE map itself being confusing, which isn't surpising. Also, since all maps except the last one are for GZDoom, jumping and crouching are necessary (except for the first map where they're locked). BeeWeen's map (fm5_bwn.pk3): my favorite. It's a beautifully-designed techbase! It's also pretty short, easy and features really cool music. Unfortunately, I got stuck at one point for a while and I honestly don't even know what exactly I did to progress further. Other than that I had zero issues. Slavius's map (fm5_slav.wad): another beautifully designed techbase (though looks very different from the previous map), and features music from Resident Evil 2's saferoom. Exactly like the previous map, it was a fun breeze to play through, until I got stuck. But this time I got stuck completely. I had no clue what to do, and I think it might even be some kind of softlock, idk. Anyway, still very good. Shadowman's map (fm5_shad.wad): I like this map's idea: you start in a snowy peaceful palace full of women doing magic, you go around collecting weapons and observing beautiful medieval level design, but then you pick up the alien flower, and suddenly hell is unleashed! The palace turns into hellish temple, sky becomes infernal, there's lava everywhere, and a ton of monsters is spawned. And I have to say, the opposition is really strong even on ITYTD: not only there are a plenty of high caliber monsters, but also a lot of archviles, and most importantly, ghost monsters. Yeah, they will give you trouble, especially higher-caliber ones. You see nothing, then suddenly they appear in front of you and you take damage. The map is challenging, and as it often happens, it features a cyberdemon boss fight in the end, and, as it often happens, I died to it, but! the map was kind enough to autosave right before it, which is great. After you kill it, the map becomes peaceful again, but this time it's summer and there are cats everywhere. Overall, another really good map. Archi's map (fm5_arch.pk3): I remember when I played it for the first time. It started me in a dark techbase, I walked a bit and found a human eye on the floor. It was really cool, and it stuck with me. So yeah, it's another techbase, but unlike the previous ones, this one's dark, features dark ambient (from PSX Doom) and features a lot of custom monsters and weapons. New weapons are cool, new monsters are also cool, and also pretty hard. One of them especially: it seems to be invulnerable to player's weapons and the only time I got it killed was by another monster that spewed fire at it. The monsters are definitely harder than the stock ones, and at some point I was overwhelmed and died. I didn't retry, but I got the general idea of the map. It's pretty good, I just wish it was easier, at least on ITYTD. Nil's map (fm5_nil.pk3). Another techbase, but again, very different in style than the previous. This maps features objectives, and a variety zombies with different weapons like rocket launcher and plasma rifle, which gave me Enjay's Marine Assault vibes. Just like the previous map, this one also kicked my ass. For some reason it doesn't feature difficulty selection, and when I played it I had severe shortage of ammo and health while facing lots of monsters coming from everywhere. This map also seems to have the thing similar to Shadowman's map where once you do a certain thing, the map design changes to darker one and new monsters spawn. I didn't get to experience much of that because I got killed very soon. But I still think this map's pretty good, and I especially liked how some areas are neatly designed with 3d floors. Guest's map (fm5_gst.wad). For some reason the author decided to make all monsters have spectre's partial invisibility. Yes, all of them, including revenants, chaingunners, etc. On top of that, the map is filled with enemies wherever you go. It also has lots of liquids which are wonky to navigate. Needless to say, the map is really hard. I tried it two times on ITYTD and both times I died quickly. I don't know what to say about it. DragonHunter's map (fm5_dh.wad). The only non-GZDoom map, and the only map I hated. I don't know how much the author changed the base map because I didn't play it, but this map certainly feels like it's generated by AI: its design is a mess of everything, and it's very confusing and difficult to navigate. I gave up after playing it for over 25 minutes and still not finding the exit. It was not enjoyable. Overall, I recommend playing all maps from this contest except the last one, and maybe the second to last one too. They're all very different, so there's probably something for everyone. Screenshots: I also reviewed other interesting old wads in Downloads section before. I don't want to repost them here, instead I'll link some of them: Bloody steel 5till L1 Complex Balls 1 Monster Megawad

I like TNT Evilution because it's kind of weird and interesting. Sometimes its level design is just strange (mostly gameplay-wise) and I admire that. It also feels so unpolished, and again, I'm a fan of that in some way too. So basically, it requires specific taste to like it. What I don't like is people comparing Evilution to Plutonia. I think they shouldn't be compared. They have very different appeals.

Wow, I didn't even know the camera is at the chest level in Doom. Why is it though? Is Doomguy amogus or something? lol

So much for that grandiose comeback, lol

If Doom weren't made, something else would've been made in its place, and all things Doom invented and popularized would've been invented and popularized by other games. Of course, the gaming world would've been different now, but I doubt it'd be too much different.

Good picks. I'm not gonna post any, instead I'll post a thread on the same topic I started years ago (and it has some of my own picks of course). :) https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/86998-creepy-videogame-music/ Edit: lol, realized one of my picks in there is the same as roadworx's.

I fell into an inescapable toxic pit on E1M3 and died.

Both Half-Life 2 and STALKER were going to be much darker, atmospheric and with 2-3 times more content each than what we got. It's no wonder that they both have entire modding communities centered around just restoring the unreleased content. Personally I can't appreciate final versions of these games anymore because I keep thinking about their early designs.

My post wasn't serious either. I just thought the thread devolved into seemingly pointless praise of the game, so I did this sarcastic jab of sorts.

What's with all this mindless Doom praise? That's elitism, yikes. Why do so many people on this forum think that Doom is an exceptionally good game? I can't believe you all share the exact same opinion, to the point of this being an echo chamber... To have a proper forum discussion we need more people who think that Doom is a bad or mediocre game.

Square Enix should sue them.

We need more threads like these. Preferably one every hour.