The fact that ID Software equipped Doom with the official stamp of approval for any custom made Doom game is what has kept the franchise going forever! Even if Doom 4 had not graced us with its presence in 2016, there would still be a vast number of fans, even if not as many. The custom made maps and episodes known as MegaWads have been created for decades and some of them have reached the official status.
These are the maps that were not created by the original Doomsters, Romero and his gang of misfits. These are the maps that were approved by the official teams and marked for release to the general public. Evilution:TNT and Plutonia were released under the title, Final Doom. TNT was supposed to be a free mod for the game, but ID decided to release it as official. While this did garner controversy in that sense, it also garnered a reputation... I have discussed some of these expansions in my Top 10 Doom Games, but I will be covering them in a bit more detail this time.
Final Doom
When asked which is the hardest of the early Doom maps, many will point to the Plutonia Experiment. This is mostly because of the countless traps, monster closets, Chaingunners and Revenants littered throughout every single map. Even in the easiest setting, these maps are very hard to navigate while also dodging an indecent amount of Archviles. Milo and Dario Casali wanted to make maps that cut to the core of difficulty, and they did so. These maps apparently didn't take very long to make at all.
Congo, the first level, starts with Chaingunners and Shotgunners at a long distance. You need to, not only dodge these countless bullets, but also arm yourself very quickly. The traps start very quickly, but you also need to concerve your ammo or you will not be making it even close through the second map. The second map, Well of Souls, has more Chaingunners in traps, but it also has distance rooms. These distance rooms are widespread out from the door you open. You need to shoot a few of the monsters, close the door, and let them come to you. Take them out in packs with the rocket launcher and keep dodging traps.
Ghost Town is probably one of the hardest maps there is. There are even death traps of blue acid (or water I guess) that you cannot escape! The keys are ridiculous! There's a Spider Mastermind and a whole entourage of demons! The amount of Chaingunners and multiple faceted traps are dizzying in this episode, and there are levels that represent this whole-heartedly. The Super Shotgun will be your best friend. There are even Cyberdemons waiting for you at a moment's notice. By today's standards, yes, they have outdone Plutonia, but this was the difficulty standard of 1996!
Seriously, when you begin Ghost Town, you take one step and everything is not fine all at once. You are greeted with a host of Chaingunners, Cacodemons, you name it, anything short of an Archvile is on display here. At leastk, for the first part. The second part, however, starts out with this horrifying visage of a stairwell of spiked zombies. As SOON as you climb the stairs, it's all over. There's a horde, there's two Archviles, and there's my first death of the level. I was so proud of myself for making it that far. The rest of the episode is really no better. There are some ridiculous traps that exceed anything Thy Flesh Consumed was even remotely capable. The final secret maps are proof of this in spades.
Then TNT came along and decided that you don't need to actually know what to do in any of the maps. These maps, while difficult, are also very much like Hexen in that you really have no idea who made them but they obviously don't like you. The good thing about this game is that it follows a story and a theme rather well. Some of the maps are themed by their skies and others are themed by their interiors and exteriors with how it is all presented. This part of TNT was well done, but that
doesn't really excuse the fact that the levels are just not all that interesting at all. They are usually long, over-bearing and some of them you just flat out can't find where to go because you missed that one switch in that one place.
There are some gems of levels here and there, though. While the level design can become rather samey with wide open areas filled with little hiding spaces, they can also have little sparks of enetertaining genius. I came across a level called Last Call and it had quite the interesting level design. The torches at the beginning, to my surprise, was a clue as to how to progress through this section. You need to at least partially memorize these torches while also taking on a small horde of Cacodemons and Imps. Surprisingly, when I discovered this little gimmick, it took me tree tries to get through it. I felt pretty proud of myself.
These levels were not as hard as Plutonia, but do not let them fool you. They have their monster closets and their very spread out group of monsters that arrive at a moment's notice. However, one of the worst things that these levels continuously indulged, much like Plutonia, was Archviles resurrecting Chaingunners. Seriously, Chaingunners and Shotgunners just screamed "resurrect me!" and suddenly, more bullets and shells are headed your way. That's on top of the fire!
Upon inspection of walkthroughs, it's clear that they wanted to tease your brain quite a bit, but that doesn't help matters when you are looking for a second key and it's in a place that is so obvious that it's actually not. The strongest parts of this episode was great when it threw some big demon hordes after you, but that didn't happen enough to keep a whole lot of interest. It is interesting to see multiple passages to spawn enemies ad nauseum that you can cut down with your shotgun, but really, there's not a lot to cover here.
TNT has a cool technological cyberpunk theme to it, unlike many of the other episodes. This is a nice change at first, but after a while, it kind of takes away from the ambience and the theme of Doom. It feels more like a Duke Nukem 3D level set when he was in space those times. It is seen as one of the lesser levels sets, but at least TNT has some good material here and there. The levels are difficult, and there is a lot of creativity on show with both of these iterations. Though, the overreliance on Revenants are ridiculous at times, and the Archviles are always a pain, that's basically what we paid for.
You want some more Doom 2? Here's 20 more levels for your pleasure. There is, however, a reason why they are called the Master Levels. Much like Plutonia, these levels can be rather hard to figure out, while also being especially brutal with their number of monsters. While this WAD Pack is great, because they stuck with the Doom atmosphere. This does feel like an expansion of Doom 2 itself. The problem stems from the fact that multiple people created these maps. While this is also true for the original games, those games obviously had a direction with which to go. Sandy, John and American were on the same page for a great deal of these maps. It also helps that it's done by the OG.
The Master Levels explore more types of structures, while also sticking with the same basic ambience. While TNT kept to its own, Master Levels give you a good amount of castles and evil structures that look nice and gothic. The levels are a bit more free wielding in that they will not be afraid to have a Cacodemon pack come at you from multiple places on the map. This map pack is not without its monster closets, but they obviously didn't need to rely on them. These levels are easier to figure out and actually flow a lot better than Evilution, all things considered.
All in all, if you liked Doom 2 and wanted more maps that play like original, classic Doom, you could do a lot worse than this one. The gameplay can be very fast, run and gun, especially in the first level, the aptly named, "Attack". There are various enemies spread throughout the level in the early parts. Thankfully, the shotgun and chaingun are picked up early and you get the ammo you need to take them down. Then the second level happens and it gives you a Shotgun from the very start. So, you're well armed, but the level designs can still get overwhelming.
There's one level that I've remembered in every single playthrough, since the first around 4 or 5 years ago. While many would assume I mean Bad Dream, yes, but I actually mean a level that begins with you punching the door to get the Red Key immediately as you start the level. As you attack the door, Lost Souls will attack you immediately from both sides. Then both red doors on either side bring out more monsters upon monsters. Bad Dream, of course, is the level that many remember from the Master Levels of Doom 2. This features an entire room of Cyberdemons that, if you don't know what you're doing, will turn around and turn you into mashed Doomguy. You need to mash them first. It's imaginative, but also a little gimmicky.
The Master Levels was a good bunch of levels, although, it wasn't as well remembered as Plutonia. I consider it one of the stronger Doom expansions, but that's also noting that it has those samey level designs here and there, depending on which levels were designed by whom. Overall, this game ranks rather high on the Doom scale. That means it rocks harder than any other game under DOOOOOM!
No Rest for the Living
Nerve Software decides to throw their hat in to the ring with this modern look at Classic Doom. The levels actually play very well, keeping pace while also offering new types of level designs. The episode is short but the maps are clean and well made. Sometimes their insistance on coming at you with hidden enemies can be a bit annoying. Not only that, but some of its more experimental gimmicks with puzzles and bridges didn't really pan out that well.
One great example of a level is the final one, Tomb of Molevolence! This one takes the cake when it comes to level design in both looks and mechanics. You need to be FAST! You have to dodge an entire array of Imps while also waiting for the Cyberdemon to unleash your real artillary. Do not waste all of your good BFG ammo on the little guys, save some for the guy with the missile launcher! Very tastefully done with a good atmosphere of a dungeon beneath a bloody tomb. One great highlight of the episodes we're covering, especially when it comes to boss battles!
There is a lot of good Chaingunner and Hellknight play here, if such a thing exists for Chaingunners. There was a surprising lack of Barons of Hell. Usually, they're used ad nauseum in other custom wads. While still seen in pairs, it's on occasion.
Speaking of Hellknights, then there came the secret map! The March of the Demons is one of the better crafted levels I have seen. It works in flipped switches, but it's in an open arena area. So every time you flip a switch, a structure in the area will go down with it. One of the best things about this is that you can flip two switches and then it's actually easy for them to fight themselves. The Mancubus will gladly take down the Hellknights if they get in their way and it is a mutual agreement of hatred. Have them fight it out with some Pinky demons gnawing at them and this is not a terrible episode to get through. There is some challenge, of course, but it's a lot of fun to do with such a great arena!
There is a TON more Doom to discuss, and there will be more that the Doomverse will cover when it comes to the new Doom + Doom 2 update. If I went into every single awesome or horrible thing in every single episode, this review would take forever. It took long enough to get through some of the levels themselves. Soon, there will be more on the Legacy of Rust and maybe even some more on the other maps we haven't covered! Until then, Rip and Trousers---oh crap, CUT!
