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Maps are ok, some of them are really cool, along with some extremely cruel and punishing set-pieces (supposedly harder than swtw!) Though map06 and map07 have some design choices that I really really don't like. From today's perspective it's a good wad, but I can't recommend it over stuff like Fractured Worlds or Occula.

I'm not really a reviewer so I'll be brief. Dark Covenant is an underrated classic, perhaps best known for inspiring Erik Alm of Scythe fame to map. No really, check out MAP07 if you doubt me. 25 years later, it still holds up in my opinion - sure, it's raw but manages to keep your attention for the entirety of your journey, which is a rare quality not found in many wads, let alone wads of the past millennium. An oft-overlooked gem, recommended!

Hell Ground is a really damn solid WAD. It's got atmosphere dripping out of every pore, the music and sound effect changes are welcome ones for me, and the level and combat design are a lot better than I was expecting them to be. Some of the levels can get a bit long and needlessly confusing (lookin' at you, "Mystery of Hell"), but it's not that big of an issue. Alright, let's stop beating around the bush - "Warp of Time" kind of wipes the entire rest of this WAD. The rest of Hell Ground is really damn good, don't get me wrong, but to pretend like "Warp of Time" isn't easily the most notable thing about this levelset and the only reason I'm bothering to write this review would be disingenuous and silly. "Warp of Time" alone dramatically raises my overall rating of the WAD. It is, put simply, one of the greatest Doom maps ever created. It's a masterclass in pacing, setpiece design, signposting, visuals, worldbuilding, and good ol' fashioned ATMOSPHERE. It shows that Doom can be so much more than simply shooty-shooty bang-bang if you invest in your presentation enough. Seriously, if you haven't played "Warp of Time" yet, it makes Hell Ground worth the price of admission all on its own. OVERALL RATING: 8/10 FAVORITE MAP: MAP04 - "Warp of Time" (obviously) LEAST FAVORITE MAP: MAP07 - "Mystery of Hell" (exasperating) HARDEST MAP (for me at least): MAP07 - "Mystery of Hell" (seriously why is this level so confusing to navigate) MAP YOU SHOULD PLAY FIRST IF YOU WANT A SAMPLER: MAP02 - "Blood Runner"

Solid wad with a purple color scheme and new enemies. Music choices are enjoyable, difficulty starts off low and ramps up considerably towards the end. MAP07's end was a total beef wall, though. Make sure you find all the secrets in that one if you want to stand a chance. All around, no bad maps in this wad. Four stars.

I loved every second of this wad, even the slaughterfest that was MAP08 (and I don't usually care for slaughtermaps) The medieval themed textures, sounds, and monster replacements really set the mood of a medieval hell. By far my favorite map was MAP07, I believe that map alone could take home it's own Cacoward, and if this wad doesn't win anything this year I'll be shocked. EDIT: It didn't win. I'm shocked.

Another complex and pretty good (and long to complete, i took something like 45/50 minutes to complete it!) map from Sphagne after Avengers (that i played long time ago), pretty classy in design, very cool theme and layout (especially the grey buildings in the canyon), but kinda hard to navigate, lots of backtracking and (is most probably like to waste them) not enough ammo for passing this, founding myself with chainsaw baron and arachnotrons and this not totally fun. But there's lot's of interesting design choices and trickery (especially the tag 667 usage here, it was unexpected! At first i thought this was just a normal map using the MAP07 slot for some reason), also the monster usage and the starving of ammo make this a challenging wad! Maybe that 4 reverant in sequence when i was short of ammo in the second gray building it was too harsh, but overall pretty enjoyable stuff!

Old Doom wad, which plays in map07. Very short and straightforward, but way too cramped in some places. It has some nice visual touches and interesting way to use tag 666, but that's it.

LOCAL DINGUS PLAYS EVERY SINGLE DOOMER BOARDS PROJECT PART 2: CIRCLE OF CAINA SP (if you don't know what the Doomer Boards Projects are, here's the Doom Wiki article on them) The next installment of the Doomer Boards Projects, April 2018's Circle of Caina SP, helmed once again by 40oz, is a notable step up from its predecessor. Inspired by FraGMarE's "icy deathmatch map" of the same name (y'know, minus the "SP"), it's a set of eight levels based around a wintry theme and it single-handedly got me excited for the rest of this series. First and foremost, this WAD looks incredible. Every arena feels very distinct from the last - none of these fights blend in with one another and they're all the better for it. 40oz chose an amazing resource pack for that month, with the textures being perfectly suited for the cold, jagged landscapes. Normally, I either wouldn't notice the blockiness of the terrain because I'm so used to it in Doom or I'd dock points for it, but here, it works so well with the vibes of each map that I honestly love it. I'm already partial to ice/snow levels in video games for a ton of reasons, so this WAD going all in with the lighting and icy aesthetics makes me so happy. The music choices are also perfect (other than Hell Revealed MAP16's MIDI for "Cold Shoulder" for some reason but it's not that out-of-place), with a lineup of classic MIDIs that also happen to evoke that chilly feeling. That's not to say it's all style and no substance, though - even if the fights do feel like they have a less intense bite overall than MoM, there are a lot more tricky "gotcha!" moments here that really keep you on your toes for longer. Each new arena feels dynamic and well thought-out (even the random pop-up monsters in MAP08 that feel a bit forced in but still work somehow even though you got a free BFG (the only BFG in the set, if I'm not mistaken) in the first room and plenty of cells along the way so it doesn't even really matter but whatever). The whole WAD flows super well, too, and lends itself very well to marathon sessions. Each map has a degree of momentum that keeps everything moving at an enjoyable pace. I found the ammo balance to be a lot more generous than Monuments of Mars for this one too. I don't know if I'd necessarily say that means this WAD is "easier," but it feels a lot more beginner-friendly (as in, me. that's me. I'm beginner) and makes fights feel a lot fairer. Outside of MAP07, "Below Zero," being WAY harder than every other map in the set (and almost every map in DBP1, for that matter), the difficulty stays pretty consistent throughout. MAP01 starts out really simple and minimalistic, MAP08 is a bit of mini-slaughter, you know, the usual. For me, the show-stealer is MAP05, "Frosty Cream Glade." It is maybe one of the greatest Doom maps I've ever played. It doesn't look like much when you first see it, but the way everything is so interconnected and how clever yet simple the encounters are and how pretty the visuals are and how the nonlinearity of the map lets you tackle the encounters in almost any order you want so it feels a lot more personalized and how the map's layout means that part of the puzzle is figuring out how to get where you want to go and the indirect signposting is so well-done that you're probably guaranteed to find it but it still feels satisfying AAAAAAAAA I love this map it's so good. If there's one's map you need to play from this set, it's "Frosty Cream Glade." The AUDACITY of supercupcaketactics to use the MIDI from Scythe 2 MAP21 and somehow completely justify its placement is something I aspire to. This WAD's far from perfect - 40oz's maps can be underwhelming, some of the levels' freeform nature greatly hurt their pacing ("Cold Shoulder"), they take FOREVER to give you a rocket launcher (you don't get one until MAP04, that's annoying), MAP04 and MAP08 use the exact same MIDI which is really jarring when you play MAP08 for the first time, and for whatever reason MAP05's exit is tagged as a secret even though it's not hidden at all and is required - but I'm getting nitpicky. Circle of Caina SP is a fantastic set of levels from some highly talented people working with a theme that I'm already a huge fan of. Definitely a WAD to check out if you've got a few hours to spare. OVERALL RATING: 8/10 FAVORITE MAP: MAP05 - "Frosty Cream Glade" (by supercupcaketactics) LEAST FAVORITE MAP: MAP03 - "Some Other Circle" (by 40oz) (it's not terrible by any means but it feels kinda meh compared to the other maps) HARDEST MAP (for me at least): MAP07 - "Below Zero" (by 40oz) MAP YOU SHOULD PLAY FIRST IF YOU WANT A SAMPLER: MAP01 - "The Chill Before The Thrill" (by noisyvelvet)

This is a series of short/medium hellish-like adventure that starts in a sort of cave, you get out of the cave to reach a hellish temple / cemetery with it, you reach the last open tomb hall (with a lot of healthy goodies!) and move to the next zone of hell that it could be a little castle, another caves and at last a earthly city that is the "hardest" map of the set, with its 104 monsters, but the monsters usage is never really that hard (the hardset monsters used here is the mancubus and a arachnotron used in the most inoffensive way possible in MAP03), the real challenge here is the fact that this mapset is almost a "Reality/No Health" gameplay with it's really scarce usage of health expect for the ending room, the tomb hall that the author copied and pasted for the exit room. In addiction, there's also a search of special "Hell Key" that will be needed at the end of your adventure in MAP07 for opening the portal that takes you out from hell. Layout is basic but is also nice looking, including some little doomcute sections in it. Overall, not a completely horrible wad like the idgames reviews will may you think about this. Maybe more health in it will make the map more enjoyable.

Cool new WAD that like its predecessors makes good use of custom monsters and powerups to enrich the gameplay but still very much feels like a classic Doom mapset. Recommended to everyone who likes to grab their rifle and kick some ass! Map07 is my favorite.

this is the kind of wad that is like if Doom 2 Meets ZDoom meets Doom II: Hellscape, with some Switcheroom dashes to it (especially since there are some Switcheroom 2 maps that are made to be hellish). mostly good maps, EXCEPTING MAP06 and MAP07. god, MAP06 was unbelievably fucking frustrating to play through. the crusher doesn't even work right when i was there, and i spent the good time believing i was stuck. also, there's a number of permanently missable secrets too, and the ambushes are EVIL. MAP07 for some reason glitched out with one of the 667 tags, meaning i had to cheat my way out of that one, oh and fuck that cyberdemon. but otherwise, the rest of the maps played out just fine.

so I cheated with this one due to not figuring out exactly how to start it laziness by playing each wad individually with the resource pack... this is definitely abstract art in a way that would seem as if Pablo Picasso was a Doom modder. distortion is key for what it offers, every single thing from the menu screen to the level design to the sprite replacements to the apparent game crashes on MAP03, everything is made in an elitist fashion, preventing the use of more common source ports and limiting it to a specific ZDoom software rendering port. while the glitches are the main name of the game and the artistry is there, the gameplay is not, which prevents this from being a truly good Doom mod as a whole. sure, there's bound to be some good combat every now and then, but only in a few areas, MAP07 and MAP08 having the best gameplay overall. but the rest is kinda lame gameplay-wise. it has just enough levels to show the glitch gallery, but from a gameplay standpoint many often are over quick (at least in my gameplay style, I'll run through areas as fast as possible). the scripting only makes things weirder. gameplay matters more than artistry in my opinion. great wads have both. this mostly has artistry and elitism.

Most of the maps are better than the original Doom 2. The gameplay and level design are really similar (success!), wad is smoothly changing theme from tech to hell, cool puzzles and tricks here and there. Some of the maps can be called rip-offs of some of the original Doom 2 maps for their obvious similarity, for example Map07 (Dead Simple) - a small fortress filled with mancubi and arachnotrons (another one would be Map29, also there is one that really resembles Gotcha!). But that could be expected of this wad. The secret levels are very well done. The boss fight in Map32 is excellent and unique in Doom.

Quoting the description: False. It should say "The first 11 maps", which are also all the maps. This WAD is like a bizarro Doom 2, an alternate universe Doom 2 where the maps are the same, but different at the same time. Like strangely mangled versions of themselves. You will recognize all elements of all maps because the similarities are striking. Up to and including MAP07 the WAD feels like a bootlegged version of Doom 2. Only since MAP08 the WAD begins to feel like it stands on its own, despite still paying homages and still using familiar elements. However, for what they are, the maps play well, with some difficult moments happening here and there. Looks are barren, but true to Doom 2. In overall, the WAD is not bad, but it's head-scratchy with its bootleggy-weirdness.

From the get go, one just notice the impressive mood that this mapset offers. And solely for that this leaves a watermark of how mood maps can be made. Some of the maps here are probably masterpieces of atmosphere and mood. This large episode map has a really good start, first maps its pretty much an introductory map, and map02 is the famous Doxylamine Moon. I'm really proud of myself as i solved the map puzzle without any help, but it doesn't offer much after that. But its an impressive effort by Lainos. The subsequent maps continue to be really good and moody. And map11: Seaport seems to be the properly end of the wad... but no, there are three more maps in the set. Map12, aside for the impressive architecture, its really annoying as it abuses the darkness, making it pretty difficult to navigate. Map13 made the same mistake, but its a little more easier to navigate and it comes to be somewhat fun. Map14 its a no exit map intended as the end of the mapset. This set up makes me wonder if the Clan [B0S] intended map12 and map13 as just bonus maps. Don't know if there is answer to this (maybe @Wraith777 knows something). Returning to the review, the first six maps are glorious and i loved Doxylamine Moon for being soo different, and Lavatrazz a remake of TNT map07: Prison. The rest of the maps from ma07 to map11 are just big good maps. I didn't like much of map12 and map13 aside from the awe inspiring architecture they offer. And map14 is spooky and marvelous. Could be a really neat feature and not just and no exit end map. All in all, i liked this mapset, much more in the first part than the second part (even when map07 starts with Serial Experiment's Lain theme song, a soundtrack i love soo much). I would really like to see the story of Sacrament properly developed. Maybe someday...

on the surface, it's yet another community project, and that's just fine and dandy. on the other hand, they've certainly got a color scheme going, making these names out to be orange, theming both the levels and the sprites as orange while still managing to make fun levels. this wad has franckFRAG, WH, and JC, two well-respected authors known for some rather difficult levels, plus several more faces like Roofi, who contributed the gargantuan MAP07. indeed, MAP07 is perhaps one of two standout maps, as exploratory as the most hardened Eternal Doom maps while still feeling like a pleasurable retreat into adventure gameplay. fun to get lost in and not too difficult, except for the ending battles, which actually hint at the kind of gameplay you'll be seeing in the aptly titled Pandemonium, which is MAP08. while the patrons of the cathedral serve as a warmup, the abomination to come involves an extremely difficult climb through thick and thin while a monster continuously spawns in new spawns. it's a challenge only the battle-hardy can conquer. and the bonus level MAP10 has at least two encounters designed around maximum pain as well. you'll certainly find Tangerine Nightmare to be a thing so go ahead and try it out. there's a few rather difficult secrets (some of the non-secret ones even have the Levelord easter egg "You're not supposed to be here"), and the gameplay is always good.

this is supposedly a faithful recreation of Wolf3D's egregious episode 3, and the only one of the WolfenDoom wads to not be featured in NightFright's ZDoom compatibility pack, so I played it from the download here. what this is more than a recreation, it's basically Doom-ifying the levels in this set by giving some extra attention to stuff that would be more prevalent in Doom like random crates, tables, fountains, stuff that would be more than just Wolfenstein sprite decorations. there's even enemy closet traps, ambient sounds, and light dimming (this I don't really like that much). of course, the problem of the maps being oversized is still prevalent, and Laz would think it's just too easy with the default enemy setup, so there's more enemies to fight in all these levels. have fun on the maze in MAP07 for instance, getting 100% kills is gonna be real hilarious, right. luckily for this wad, the gameplay is fairly average even with the bigger enemy counts. for some reason you don't get a machine gun in the first map, if you go to the secret that had it, you'd find a chaingun which I guess is okay to have here. the secret exit in MAP07 doesn't actually take you to a secret map, while MAP09 (the boss map) doesn't feature the fake Hitler's for some reason. they're in MAP10, along with the unkillable ghost enemies which basically function like lost souls now. overall though, as faithful as it is, it's oversized maps aren't really as fun or tense as playing the original Episode 3 of Wolf3D, although it's certainly not on the worst side of the scale at all. a bit of trivia, it seems that all the WolfenDoom sets were created entirely in Macintosh, which makes me wonder exactly how well they would play on that platform instead of PC.

Completed on GZDoom 3.6.0 on Ultra-Violence in a continuous playthrough. Solid set of levels that are visually great and just as great to play. The first episode is an excellent revision of the original Doom II levels with some added challenge, secrets that are more than just secret walls, and familiar areas given a fresh new look. In these levels you'll see the level themes are intact, so something like MAP07 would still have segments similar to its IWAD counterpart. However, what makes this episode so enjoyable is the creative layouts with new music and textures to help make each level feel new again. The new music for the first episode is also nice. The real highlight of this WAD are the Hell levels, which make up the last three levels of the WAD, not counting the actual last level which I won't spoil. The Hell levels are big, open, and are fairly difficult, showcasing the WAD's greatest strengths and makes you want to reach the end sooner or later. Being original levels themselves, their layouts standout the most in the WAD and the scale here is just amazing. MAP13 is probably my favorite level in the WAD, there are many traps, stunning atmosphere, and encounters that leave surprises at every corner. I would play the WAD again just to go to the Hell levels, they are that great to me. The WAD also has sound effects for weapons and monsters, some sounding more punchy and others just not that great. Personally I am okay with these, just not a big fan of them. Sprite changes to the monsters are mainly just recolors of the monsters, so Imps are more brown and Arachnotrons shoot red plasma instead. Again, not much of a gameplay changer, though you may or may not like them. Overall, Flashback to Hell is a great WAD with a solid first episode and even better Hell levels, so you get both a stellar revision of the first episode of Doom 2 and original Hell levels that open things up. Not all levels are great, MAP14 has a cruddy boss fight that seems to be done out of obligation more than anything. Other maps that fell a bit flat to me were MAP03, but otherwise, it's a good experience throughout.

many wads on the archive can seem boring after playing so many levelsets that you notice every cliche in the book by now. what Chainworm Kommando is is a set of 11 levels which are usually small and inspired by action shooters, such as our very own Doom which this set is obviously modded for. there's an abundance of detail to make some of the maps seem realistic, but at the same time the cramped nature means you gotta adapt to it. the set has a few cliches, such as MAP07 using the tags and having a death exit, plus a credits map at the end which is eh, but the gameplay is geared towards rampancy, frantic ambushes, and tough areas. there's a bit of fog in some of the maps, for the ZDoom users out there. some of the maps have unique triggers, like using a vending machine to get some health, a holy water fountain in another map does the same thing. also there's the plasma gun button of sorts and using a bookshelf to get a computer area map. the aforementioned archie in the guillotine also is there. the final level which is MAP10 even has an amalgamation of previous maps, along with Wolfenstein and Minecraft mixed in. all good and frantic fun to be had here.

TL;DR: Despite some weird graphics replacements, this WAD is mostly competent and fun, though encounters can feel a bit spammy in the final maps. So, the first thing you notice when starting this WAD is the new graphics. Most sprites have been recolored or replaced entirely. For example, the fist, pistol, and shotgun have been replaced with their Doom Alpha counterparts, the imp is now grey with green fireballs, and there are now like 4 types of barrels for some reason. One change that I enjoyed was for the SS soldier, which is a modified Doomguy sprite that allows it to be used as a standard enemy who makes frequent appearances. I'm not too keen on the other replacements since they feel unnecessary, though they don't really detract from the experience in any meaningful way. As for the rest of the visual design, it's pretty good for the most part. The overall style is techbasey with a lot of cues taken from Doom 1's visual style. Areas are generally well thought out and pretty well decorated. It's nothing mind-blowing, but the levels are generally visually coherent and have some nice looking areas for the vanilla limitation. The layouts have plenty of interesting rooms and designs which nicely avoid the "boxes connected to boxes" feeling, though they sometimes feel a bit too flat (heightwise, that is). Also Map05 has a FIREBLU/FWATER1 building which I think is fantastic. The actual combat is... interesting. The first few maps play a lot like a Doom 1 set with the occasional revenant or hell knight. This means no SSG, roaming monsters rather than setpieces, and generally attrition based difficulty. The latter half keeps that same style while turning the difficulty up considerably and focusing on the more powerful monsters (and giving you the SSG, thankfully). Unfortunately this doesn't mesh too well with the gameplay, and encounters can end up feeling a bit spammy and annoying especially in the last two maps. The combat is otherwise pretty fun for the most part. Overall, I think this WAD is pretty good. The graphics replacements don't really work for me, though the rest of the visual design is well executed. Combat is pretty good as well apart from a few annoying encounters in the final two maps. I'd say that it's worth a play, though it might be wise to play on HMP to take the edge off of some of the more annoying encounters. ... Oh, and it's weird that Map07 isn't vanilla compatible. Like it benefits from the extra detail but c'mon, "Vanilla" is in the name for God's sake!

So... this is skillsaw's first official work. Apparently, it's the only pre-2000 WAD of his that is still around. I must say that, for a 1998 WAD, this is pretty good. It's a short and sweet WAD, and is an ideal choice if you just want to play Doom for a good thirty minutes (it takes about that time to beat the WAD to 100%). With the exception of Map08 (and, to an extent, Map03), the maps aren't that long, and all have a sort of uniqueness to them. The first two maps are fast-paced bullet-mayhem style maps. I find these two levels to be well lit and have nice enemy placement (though the secret placement in Map02 is shoddy). Map03 is a longer affair, with a lot of backtracking that reminds me a lot of these earlier WADs. You can skip a lot of monsters in this map, too, which makes it a bit too easy. Map04 is the most confusing (if you're speedrunning, anyway), since it requires you to go from one end of the map to the other, and since you teleport back to the middle constantly, it can be a bit annoying. Map05 is the worst level; it's a series of gauntlets, really, most of which are just a bit agitating and / or boring. Map07 isn't your typical seventh level (Mancubi and Arachnotrons do appear, just not in an arena-like setting). It's a good level, with decent action, good music and good enemy placement. Then comes Mansion (Map08), the longest level. It involves "resource-starvation," which is something I'm not a fan of in Doom WADs generally. With that said, the music fits perfectly and the design (for the time, anyway) is really good. I like the little pool at the start and the observatory parts to the west end of the map (there's a sort of aquarium area, which is really neat). Map09 is like Map05, only better (better traps and feels harder for good reasons... well, except for that first Arch-Vile). After that, Map10 and Map11 are essentially slaughtermaps - both has a shit-ton of energy cells (especially the last level) and are super easy to complete (even easier if you're playing casually). So, all-in-all, Sector 666 is a short, yet fun affair - it's never truly annoying, the chosen music tracks (by Mark Klem and David Shaw) fit quite well and looks very good for the time of its release. Points are taken away, however, for the overall easiness of the WAD, and also Map06 - the laziest excuse for mapmaking I think I've seen in a non-joke WAD. Good thing skillsaw isn't like that now. Final Rating: 3 / 4 (rounded up to 4 / 5).