Back to the Doom mines again for my first proper megawad review, and I picked one of my recent favorites.
Released in the 90s by The Macintosh Team (TMT), this wad was built on Macs and made by Mac users, giving them their own full celebrity megawad to enjoy. The team of Clint Sago, Antoni Chan, Jim Bagrow, Jason Fowler, Slava Pestov, Steve Duff, and ESPECIALLY Rob Berkowitz brought this megawad to life... and then, in the years following, it kind of faded into the background.
The real excitement, though, comes from the 25th anniversary remaster by Cammy. Every map was given a sprucing up, from aesthetic touches to gameplay tuning, and most importantly, an original soundtrack for the whole thing.
I found out about this wad from MtPain27's Dean of Doom show (which is sadly ended now) and after playing it I love it to bits. It's the perfect blend of 90s cheese and sprightly combat, exactly what I look for in a Doom megawad. In fact, it's the first megawad I've finished front to back in a long time, after several false starts.This is definitely the biggest review I've made yet, so it's going to be ANOTHER three-parter.
Part 1 will cover maps 1-11, Part 2 will cover 12-20 plus the secret maps, and part 3 will be about 21-30... and the ultra-secret map 33. Trust me, that level is mandatory.
MAP 1: DROPOFF (Rob Berkowitz)
It's a hitscanner parade, right from the start. The opening room full of crates and soldiers seems normal, only for the walls to open up for shotgunners to blast you over when you grab the red key? Already a spicy start, and the level keeps up that tempo with a steady trickle of soldiers and imps to gun down.
I like how you can see the armor off behind the start, just taunting you- well, you can get it later.
Grab the chaingun off the crate, and you get rewarded with a berserk for your efforts. With those two things in hand, the map can mostly finish itself.
The visuals and combat sprightly but generally unremarkable here, and you won't be seriously challenged. But the real ingredient to this map's success... is one of many RIDICULOUSLY good Midis present in the 25th anniversary version, courtesy of its mastermind, Cammy. I will be shouting out the music a lot, but Dawnriot is a fucking adrenaline rush that makes even the most perfunctory corridor shoots sound like a million bucks.
The most memorable part is this cute bridge-building sequence, where you're shimmying along narrow paths while imps potshot you. It's so adorable, the way it assembles into a pentagram.
And this is one of the prettiest exit rooms you'll see in a 90s-adjacent wad, with the carefully detailed lighting surrounding the switch. As far as openers go, this is a fucking banger- playing it convinced me immediately that this was going to be a WAD to remember.
Rob Berkowitz lets you know what the entire megawad is going to be about right from the start. Explosive, propelling, bombastic action with occasional clever flourishes.
MAP 2: OUTPOST 27 (Antoni Chan)
This is Antoni Chan's first map in the set, and he specializes in small yet distinctive little setpiece maps like this one.
A claustrophobic complex full of more low-tiers, this level has the courtesy to give you some windows to knock off some foes early. You can't get rid of all of them though, and point blank chaingunners and imps can be a real kick in the teeth if you're not prepared for them.
Let alone the occasional hellknight in your face- since there's no super shotgun in this map. Not that you'll really need it, probably. The music, Old Options, fits great as well, feeling like a sneaky tune from Mission: Impossible.
The entire level is centered around breaking into the main courtyard that you can see through all those windows, and building bridges while it's happening, letting you access new rooms in the process.
Not to mention, hearing an arachnotron stomping around outside the entire time, a great anticipation builder for when you get to shut him down.
As a bite-sized piece of action with excellent economy of space, this map excels. There's something about it that just stuck with me.
MAP 3: MARS BASE ALPHA (Clint Sago/Rob Berkowitz)
Starting off in a room full of soldiers, with a few imps supporting them? now that's a hot start for a map 3. Especially with all the low-tiers potshotting you through the windows. You finally get your first super shotgun here, but right as you do an arachnotron warps in from behind for a point blank plasma burst to the back. A worthy challenge for the workhorse of Doom II.
I love these two caged barons that you can crush with the aid of a secret switch, especially with the blue cross in front of it. This wad doesn't have much in the way of traditional doomcute, but there's a few occasional bits that made me giggle. Idiot hellnobles couldn't get out of the way.
This map has a few good "gotcha" moments, like the passage that falls down before you can hit the door, dropping you in front of a point blank mancubus. Or this bridge-building sequence that sics four Cacos on you in the middle of it after psyching you out with a piddling array of imps and zombiemen.
And look at this hallway with the cartoon cleaver buried in a pile of meat, that's adorable! clearly one of the zombies lost his gun and had to get creative.
The real highlight setpiece of the map, though, is this circular room with choreographed waves warping in. Pinkies, then cacos, then a trio of hellknights- all while trying to avoid falling into a death pit. It's lively stuff.
Mars Base Alpha is a delightful shootout that propels you forward on bursts of adrenaline, and that's what early maps in a megawad should be.
MAP 4: SEWERS (Jim Bagrow)
This is Jim Bagrow's first map in the set out of three, and honestly, I wish we could have seen more from him if this layout is any indication.
Far from a slow plod that's typical of sewer levels, this one is downright explosive. Another hot start, with chaingunners, cacos and mancubi right off the bat in your face. And if you hit the switch, you can invite some revenants and barons to join the party, too!
And you can't escape down the hole, since there's a bridgeful of imps, and arachnotron snipers ready to roast you- but you can get your first rocket launcher to turn the tide, which kicks the excitement up even more. This map positively SHOWERS you with rockets- but, there's not always enough space to use 'em.
This cacodemon room is a lovely little dance on a cross-shaped bridge over nukage. It's too dangerous to use rockets, but the shotgun is just barely enough to cut your way through. And it gets repurposed later for a quadruple arachnotron crossfire, with a baron for extra spice.
This is a recurring bit, but I love how maps in this wad so far get so much out of their space, usually rigging multiple fights to occur in the same room.
And this room is even worse. A caco in front, mancubi on the sides, three archviles, THREE, behind them... YEESH. Without the secret plasma, you might be in for some pain. This is a VERY spicy encounter for map FOUR, but it's certainly an exciting one.
Heavy-handed as it is, this map goes for the throat early, and mostly does it in an exciting fashion. It doesn't let you sit still for a second throughout its short runtime, and I love it to bits for that.
MAP 5: MISSION CONTROL (Slava Pestov)
This is the first map by Slava Pestov, who sadly had the most mixed bag of submissions to this megawad, but not for lack of effort. Mission Control is a spicy little snack of a map that I like quite a bit, though- even if it rankled me in places.
This map lets you know what's up right from the start with this intimidating opening shot. That is a LOT of shotgunners at the start, which will let you know the kind of map you're in for.
Once you get past that mess, the level takes two paths of pain at the top of an elevator, with venom pouring in from both sides. Cacos on one, chaingunners on the other. Pick your poison, and hurry to carve out a safe space before you get overwhelmed.
What's neat about this is that you can hit a button to lower the elevator, thus potentially preventing some enemies from reaching you.
Occasionally there's arrows on the ground to point you to important switches- inelegant, yes, but at least it's clear and easy to tell what you need to do. And they're kind of charming in a kitschy sort of way.
This big room with the slime pit is quite a mess to deal with, with revenants and cacos constantly zooming in while hitscanners and imps pepper you from the cheap seats. With a second helping of Dead Simpletons (arachnotrons and mancubi, for reference) popping in to surround you when you try to cross the bridge.
Thing heat up even more when you spill out of the base into the surrounding mountainside, with several heavies along with this absolute mob of soldiers. It's practically a firing squad if you don't hide around the corner and pick them off carefully.
And to conclude the map, we have the first Spiderdemon in the wad, though thankfully with several pillars to take cover behind. Enemies keep trickling in as you work your way around her, so unless you can put her down early, taking cover is your only option.
This level is full of zip and energy, and the first true test that this wad has to offer in terms of challenge. It's an early highlight.
MAP 6: SPLATTERHOUSE (Steve Duff)
Here we go. This is Steve Duff's first map in the megawad, and in my opinion he is the best mapper in the set. All of his maps are sprawling, often nonlinear, and absolutely brutal, but filled with personality- exactly the kind of map I adore.
This is the first map with over 200 foes, and it's as big of a bloodbath as the name implies- but not right away. The opening rooms are huge, but sparsely populated. The music is ominous and plodding, as if telling you to slow down and take your time.
And that synth in the music, Mechamerayap, only heightens the tension. It sounds like a buzzsaw to your neck, inches away from slicing you open.
The flow of demons is kept at a low trickle throughout the map, and only lights up when the time is right- like this tunnel of popup hitscanners, imps, and hellknights right near the super shotgun.
The openness never goes away, though- which can be bad for you, since there's no cover from the galleries of minor foes everywhere. Rush to safety, carve your way through, or die. Or peek around corners, take your time, carefully edge your way through the legions. Both approaches are valid.
Especially given how interconnected everything is- there's usually more than one way to approach a fight.
I do have to mention the map's lighting and environmental detail- 90s though it is, it does a fine jump keeping you oriented, which is good for a map this large. The lighting is given special attention, and draws you into the dreary mood very effectively.
The final sequence of rooms is a hot mess- after you hit both switches, the walls come down to reveal a tsunami of revenants that'll nuke you if you're not at the top of your game- followed by a cramped room of cacos, mancubi, and hellknights. Definitely the largest fight in the wad so far.
But, the first BFG in the wad is here, locked behind a button in a high spot. If you can get ahold of that, you'll have it made. Unfortunately, I didn't get it, so I had to do that fight the hard way.
Splatterhouse is a great introduction to the most distinctive mapper in the wad, and a lovely challenge piece besides.
MAP 7: DEATHSTAY (Rob Berkowitz)
Here we go it's time for your favorite round of dead simpletons! First round, as usual, is the Mancubi, placed in a spacious network of clearings and tunnels with low-tiers backing them up. Every tunnel leads to a distinctive setpiece, and they range from chuckle-worthy to slightly aggravating.
Like in this dark cage arena, hoo boy. You think the caged mancubus is easy to deal with, but then the walls open up to reveal a barrage of soldiers and imps that'll cut you down right quick.
On the other hand, I do love this mancubus blowing himself up. He's clearly not having a barrel of fun.
This three-part stair ambush is fun, with monster closets opening on both sides for a succession of jumpscares on your way up, though they're not really that difficult. The WAD's not in the territory of lethal "gotcha" traps- yet.
But the ending, with the narrowest corridors you'll ever see and heavy demons clogging the way through, is a bit of a buzzkill if you come in with low health.
But it's worth it for the sight of killing that last fat boy, the walls coming down, and five arachnotrons plus supporting cast blanketing the arena with plasma.
Deathstay's not the most elaborate interpretation of the old map 7 trope, but it's short, explosive, and more than one room. And that's all a map 7 in a 90s megawad really needs to be. Plus, it goes down fresh after the lengthy map 6.
MAP 8: RESEARCH LAB (Slava Pestov)
This map starts off with a low hum, in a room full of four doors. This ain't no Tricks and Traps- the route's chosen for you, with three out of four locked behind the skull keys. Each one hides a fun challenge behind it, and it'll always keep you guessing.
The first room isn't much to note, except for this aesthetic as hell shootable switch in the fireblu window, which is a recurring motif in this map. Always look for that distinctive eye-searing hue, and you'll find the way forward. I've always been a big fan of FIREBLU when it's used for eldritch corruption aesthetics.
The map really picks up when you get the rad suit past the blue door and a bridge collapses underneath you, tossing you into a dump of imps, pinkies, and a couple heavies. Another of RoC25's classic jumpscares, although this one's a bit friendlier than most.
Until the archvile shows up and likely revives the dead mancubus, then it can get hairy in a hurry.
The rocket launcher room is quite a thing- as soon as you pick it up, the arena is blanketed with foes teleporting in from all sides. Most of them are low-tiers, but they come in FAST. If you don't clear out space for yourself, you're a goner.
And this bit with the giant slime pit that you can only progress through by jumping into a teleporter at the bottom is a bit rude and obtuse for me- figuring out where to go is a bit too confusing with all the teleports and buttons on either side. But the map saves its best for last.
The tricks and traps homage with the cyberdemon in the middle of a crowd of hellknights is the most exciting part of the map, but it can still go sideways if you're not careful. Get the cyberdemon to infight, and watch the fireworks... well, until you hit the top of the elevator.
The Gotcha match with the spidermama and the barons is pretty funny, and crucial for keeping that superchaingun off of you. It's a big dumb infight party all around, but it's very fun to watch.
This map is definitely slower paced, but after the explosiveness of map 7 the deliberateness is appreciated. Though, I do think some of its setpieces are a bit too clumsy for my liking. I say this with the context that every map so far has been excellent, and this map is still GOOD- it's just not AS good.
MAP 9: MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTE (Steve Duff)
Another map with over 200 foes, this one is a welcome shot of adrenaline. As the name implies, there's chaingunners and assorted hitscanners EVERYWHERE, and they're much ruder than you when it comes to firearms safety. They're usually in cubbies or behind rising walls, ready to blast you to pieces, so get the drop on them first whenever you can. And there's less bullets than you'd expect, so ammo discipline is key.
And this chaingun secret? Hoo boy, dealing with a bunch of hitscanners in quarters this close is a goddamn firing squad. But the reward- a secret rocket launcher and other goodies- is worth it.
The first big setpiece is this enormous structure in a nukage pool, that you keep looping back around to. There's chaingunners all around on guard towers, with arachnotrons and pinkies getting in your way- just finding out where you're supposed to go is difficult, and when you get up to the top, shotgunners are waiting to pepper you.
The shotguns aren't enough for this level of opposition- without the chaingun, you'll get destroyed. So always conserve your bullets for the hitscanner mobs. Thankfully, there's a couple side rooms with useful goodies inside- including a megasphere if you pay close attention.
This checkerboard room looks intimidating, but if you stay near the door, you can bait the caco mobs out and deal with it slowly and carefully. Don't want to get caught trying to dodge hitscans and revenant missiles on ledges this narrow, after all.
I have to shout out this room, not for its combat, but LOOK at that giant crack in the ceiling, and the matching pool of slime bubbling up. That's adorable.
And immediately after it is a SPICY setpiece- two mancubi spawn in behind you, and a platoon of soldiers and imps in front. You can't get rid of the former quickly, so slice your way through the light infantry and carve out a nook for yourself before you get peppered.
And this MEAN archvile at the top of the stairs afterwards took off almost all of the soulsphere the map gave me, it's a VILE (hah) placement of it. Especially with that Mancubus on the same cliff serving as a convenient meat shield.
And if that didn't kill you, the squad of Wolfenstein SS, meatballs and tomatoes, and a SINGLE baron pouring out of the walls afterwards will chop you right down.
This map is rude and surly, no doubt about it. Damage is very difficult to avoid in parts, and there a LOT of "gotcha" traps. And parts of it definitely feel frankensteined together- the checkerboard room feels like it's from a different, much more detailed map. But it's got a lot of energy and personality in spades. Even if it frustrated me quite a bit.
The music helps immensely with this, a fast-paced number that's always propelling you to the next room, ready to gun down everything in your way.
MAP 10: HOLLOW OBLIVION (Jason Fowler)
A bit of a breather in terms of monster count and length, this map is foreboding from the word go. It's dark, drab, and you're IMMEDIATELY getting shelled by hitscanners on top of cliffs and in cubbies from the start. It adds an extra bit of challenge to the proceedings, trying to spot your foes while they're busy gunning for your head.
This pinky-punching parade in the room with the lowering walls is fun. I like how they sloooowly lower in small groups to heighten the tension but not overwhelm you. That's one of two big setpieces in the map- and the other one is certainly a zinger indeed.
Before you can exit, the walls lower to reveal a mob of imps with FOUR archviles behind them, lighting up the dark area with their flames. If you don't use rockets judiciously, you're gonna be torched.
Just don't neglect the tomatoes and meatballs sneaking up from behind! It's a real pressure cooker. And it proves that sometimes all you need for a map is a short preamble and one big fight.
I don't have much else to say about this map, because it's so short- but it packs a lot of zing for its small length, and it's a lovely cooldown after Machine Gun Etiquette's pain.
MAP 11: MARS STARPORT (Antoni Chan)
This map isn't much to write home about gameplay wise, but that's not the focus here. No, Antoni Chan put his all into this map's aesthetic chops, and it pays off handsomely. Look at this ADORABLE opening room with the chunky sector road, it's so cute!
This map has a lot of "use your imagination"-style doomcute, like this airport counter with a hellknight attendant. Honestly, when I get off after a long flight, I sometimes have a face just like Doomguy over here.
And the map lets you bust into the baggage claim area and gun down all the zombies waiting for their luggage. Their flights are probably gonna be cancelled anyhow. The conveyor belt doesn't work, but who cares. The scrolling textures are enough to complete the bit.
Plus, this airport terminal, complete with boxy spaceship and benches- look at it! It's so cute.
You can even hear a helicopter rotor in the music track- a brilliant little piece of aural worldbuilding.
This map is congested to the gills for how small it is- clearly the latest demon-spitter clogged up the flight lines with all those guests he was flying in. Peekaboo shooting the mobs of hitscanners is your best bet for most of this map- but it's short and adorable enough to not feel too clumsy.
Charge into the traffic control tower, get the red key, blast your way past the baron marshal, and skedaddle.
I don't have much else to say about the gameplay of this map, but as a piece of art and a transitional map to the second episode, it's a lovely piece of work, and really makes you want to go on to the next one.
Will link the other two parts to the review here when they're done!
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