Past few days I’ve been working my way through the meaty innards of Flashback to Hell, a megaWAD by Stormwalker, a name I admit I’m not at all familiar with. There’s some Cacoward talk surrounding it already, so you can pretty safely assume it’s good, but all I knew going in was this: it’s a classic-styled WAD. 15 levels. And with a story — something that a lot of WAD-makers leave out but I really appreciate when it’s there. I dove in with some definite expectations. I knew what I was getting into; I expected your standard oldschool WAD. All
Tag: Doom
High/Low 5
It was up in the air whether I would even write one of these thingies about High/Low 5. It’s no secret, I guess, that I wasn’t a huge fan of the later entries in Chris Hansen’s long-running WAD series. (Really, it’s been seven years since the first one!) And it just so happens that, despite my thinking High/Low 4 was the last of the bunch, a fifth and for-real-this-time final offering came out just two months after I played the other four. That may have been the reason I didn’t play it immediately; I don’t want to take up your
STRAIN (And Why It’s A Good Idea to Double-Check Your Research)
There’s a little Doom WAD called STRAIN. It’s pretty great. If you’re like me, you might even call it The Greatest. I’ve been pondering what I want to say about STRAIN for a long time. There’s a lot to be said. So I’ve been pondering a whole lot but not writing much of anything. Not much of substance, at any rate, and the deadline I’d set for myself was creeping closer and closer: September 14 — you’re going to post that essay on STRAIN before then, you bum, and you can’t weasel your way out of it! Don’t think I
Deus Vult
Slaughter maps aren’t really my cup of tea. I like more of a slow burn — a steady build to an epic climax. I like an even distribution of enemy types and a WAD that gives you reason to use the whole array of weapons at your disposal. Slaughter maps, by their nature, tend to be the opposite of that. They consistently throw dozens, if not hundreds, of enemies at you — battles that necessitate the use of Doom’s high-end weapons almost exclusively. Anything weaker than the super shotgun collects dust. It’s also hard to ramp up the tension and
900 Deep in the Dead
I’ve done a small amount of modding across a few games in the past and found that one of the most rewarding things is seeing what you can do within that game’s limitations, to see how far you can push it and what tricks you can come up with to fudge it the rest of the way. In the Doom community, this is high art. Actually, they take it a step further. The Doom engine is already pretty confining, but Doom people like to take it to new heights by imposing their own artificial limitations. The limitations of Doom aren’t
Reverie
I’ll admit right from the get-go that I’m probably a bit biased when it comes to Michael Jan Krizik’s Reverie. If you take a look in the readme, you might see why: I did a little playtesting for this WAD back in the day, when the pieces were still coming together. I’m not sure my feedback was all that helpful, but just being able to play a WAD before it’s released publicly has a way of endearing you to the final product more than you might have been otherwise. That’s not to say Reverie is bad and I’m giving it
The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here: In Which I Somehow End Up Talking Mostly About Doom
I admit this without shame: for me, Alice in Chains is — like a disturbing number of things in my life, come to think of it — forever tied to my experience with Doom. Everything comes back to Doom. It is the great wellspring from which all nerdlove flows. When it comes to Alice in Chains specifically, Doom was that pushy matchmaker friend, pestering both parties despite all protestations, dragging them closer even against their will — until Alice in Chains and I came to realize we’d loved each other all along. That was sort of a weird metaphor. Okay, let
High/Low 2, 3, 4
Hey there! Welcome back to the program. In case you missed it, on the last episode, we talked about a little gem called High/Low 1. And I did intend to take a break from that series this month, but… well, I couldn’t stay away. Chris Hansen’s bite-sized maps make them really easy to tackle, and his light, airy style honestly is difficult to resist. So this month I’m back with the remaining three entries in his High/Low series instead of the megaWAD I was intending to show off. I’ll get to that next month. (It starts with an R!) Anyhow,
High/Low 1
I’m trying to keep a good balance on here between the kind of short, sweet WADs that can lure in new Doom players who aren’t sure if they want to get their feet wet yet, and the sort of massive epics that I live for. Chris Hansen’s High/Low 1 is firmly in the first category. This is the kind of WAD I probably should have started with: finely tuned and straight to the point — wonderful for testing the waters if you’ve ever been interested in Doom mods but haven’t taken that first step. I’ve never worked in a place
Back to Saturn X Episode 1: Get Out of My Stations
A great Doom WAD is an emotional experience for me. I feel more invested in a good WAD than I do in 90% of videogames. The minimalistest story, some level design that makes me feel like I’m progressing and accomplishing something, a strong soundtrack — that’s all I need. The last one most of all. Really; music will make or break a levelset for me, and when is makes it, it makes it. If you’re not a big Doom person, I wouldn’t blame you for not believing me here, but I honestly think the world of Doom WADs hides behind