Doom WAD: The Way id Did

(Posted: Monday, June 12, 2023)

tldr;

27 Maps that mimic the mapping style of original Doom levels, its very only okay compared to more modern WADs to me

Map reviews

E1M1

0 Deaths. Spent most of the time trying to find secrets. For E1M1 there’s a bit too many linedef door open secrets but I eventually found my way without trouble.

B-

E1M2

0 Deaths. Some fun height management stuff. The secret chaingun at the end almost got me to look it up, but I eventually found it (not that it’s any use to me since pistol start rules)

B-

E1M3

0 Deaths. 134 Enemy count this early! Secret exit! I think I’m a little too used to harder WADs, these secrets are all over the place and have minimal rewards for what’s inside. Still the secret where you jump over the wall was fun to find, and led to the secret exit! In E1M3!

B

E1M9

1 Death (that damn barrel right at the start…). No troubles here, except secret hunting. Nothing like running around in nukage with only one rad suit on the map :D I had to eventually “cheat” by doing an am_cheat 2 to show me actors on the map to give me some kind of hint to where the enemies in the last secret was. Another misaligned texture, of course…

B-

E1M4

0 Deaths. Nukage plant level. Ran out of ammo pretty quickly near the start, and by that I mean down to pistol. I was mesmerized by where all the secrets were until like half of them were chained together in a nukage sprint to different platforms.

B

E1M5

0 Deaths. Slightly bland. I think maybe I’m having a nervous breakdown about how I don’t like the OG Doom level philosophy. I mean that’s the whole point of this WAD, but at a certain point I don’t like humping the walls looking for secrets, and I don’t want to SIGH every time I hear a door open over a linedef I just crossed. Fun level tho.

B-

E1M6

0 Deaths. One of those maps where you need to find all the secrets to give you the “obvious” secret, little bit of a pain but I eventually got it. The thing is, is MOST of the secrets are in plain sight, so I can’t complain too much. I actually really liked the combat here, even the monster closets. A few too many nukage spots where there was no way out though, that’s never fun.

B+

E1M7

0 Deaths. Best map of the WAD so far I think. The secrets were easy to figure out too, or I’m just getting better at spotting them. This map is a Chaingun’s dream, with all low tier enemies and pinkies. There’s 2 rocket launchers but I didn’t even feel compelled to use either one, it was more fun trying to line Imps/Shotgunners up with explosive barrels.

A

E1M8

0 Deaths. Super creepy map, complete with some fun lighting effects. Really liked the dead Doomguys everywhere. A little anticlimatic with the 3 Barons, but still a fun ending to E1. Secrets were a bit obtuse but you really had all the time to find them with almost no enemies on the map. Good ending.

B+

E2M1

0 Deaths. First Cacodemon of the WAD, I think. And first Berzerk, I think. The last secret was a little much that I had to look it up on doomwiki, the switch beside the exit door. Otherwise I can feel the difficulty ramped up a bit but still manageable, lack of chaingun made this map harder.

B

E2M2

0 Deaths. Got close to dying though. Secrets were too much for me. TWO HIDDEN WALLS?! REALLY! I’ve heard that the WAD gets a little maze-like around here and I can really feel it. I didn’t really get lost, but there are very little landmarks to know where you are.

C

E2M3

1 Death. More Cacos, and 3 Barons! Picked up the Chaingun way later than I should have. I think if anything this map could use some explosive barrels just to make it more uh, explosive. Otherwise this map was only SLIGHTLY LESS mazelike. Probably helped by the lack of verticality. The secrets were better here, though I’m not a huge fan of secret chaining.

B

E2M4

0 Deaths. At first I thought this was a cool spooky/dark level, but it turned into this maze-like thing that didn’t really flow well and the secrets were pretty awful to find.

C-

E2M5

1 Death. A shotgun slog for most of the map, I didn’t find the chaingun for the longest time, and the plasma seemed like it should have been a secret compared to the rocket launcher. The nukage maze leading to the end with only ONE rad suit? Cmannnn

C-

E2M6

Too many deaths. This feels like an ammo conservation map but again its a total slog. Teleports feel totally random. I walked into a ‘secret’ that was 3 Barons, an invuln, and I had no Rocket Launcher. I dare say this level made me not finish the WAD at this point.

I think the balancing is fine overall for a Doom 1 WAD and this has a lot of great ideas, but I feel like I’ve been spoiled by Doom 2 honestly. I want to love this, I do, but I don’t feel like it has enough ‘modern fun’ in it, and that’s me saying that as someone who has grown up with Doom. If someone can convince me to keep playing I totally will, but from the sounds of it people generally have the same opinion as me. Whomp!

C