Whip Gaming's review repository

[WhipGaming]

Hello there, I am Whip Gaming, and this is my pretty bog-standard review and opinion blog about random Doom wads I find on the internet. This blogpost is totally not a rip-off Mtpain27's videos or any other review thread, of course. 
In this review thread I will just list a bunch of Doom wads, write reviews about them, and if the author is active in the community and or the WAD is recent and amateur work, provide criticism to the creator. I want to provide a (mostly) comprehensive summary of my opinions on a WAD, because sometimes I get bored out of my mind and want to write some critiques for some niche mods for an old and very niche community of players, and/or I get frustrated out of my mind and need to blow off some fumes by writing away on a blogpost. Enough babbling, I will move on to my ten criteria for my reviews:

 

1. I will grade the level's quality based on 5 letter grading system from A+ to F, just like MtPain27, however I will also add a grading system based on a 0 to 100 right beside the grade, just in case I want to tell which S is better or which F is worse. I will add a difficulty grade too, going from X to E, yeah you get the point, same as above.
2. My criteria for the quality is based on enjoyability, atmosphere, decoration, originality, memorability balancing, fairness, polish (How playtested it is and how little glitches it has) and secret rewards. The quality grade may sometimes be arbitrary, so do keep that in mind. Sometimes a factor may be nullified because of how good or how bad an aspect of the level is. Note: We won't have the same opinions on a wad, so don't be too harsh on me. My opinions may also change over time. I will also criticize poor level design moments or secrets, such as poorly done gimmicks, secrets that you can't return for, excessive ammo generosity, excessive ammo starvation (I have a higher tolerance for this), broken bridges, SSGing hordes of Barons, inconsideration towards infinitely tall monsters and other such flaws, and vice versa with nice texturing, good usage of Archviles, resource conservation (not resource starvation), original and well-executed tricks and fun but not OP nor mandatory secrets.
3. My grading will go along the lines of:

Spoiler

0-9 (F/E)
10-15 (D-)
16-20  (D)
21-25 (D+)
25-35 (C-)
35-42 (C)
43-49 (C+)
50-59 (B-)
60-69 (B)
70-75 (B+)
76-83 (A-) / 76-80 (A-)
84-92 (A) / 81-88 (A)
93-98 (A+) / 89-93 (A+)
99+ (S) / 94-97 (X-)
98-105 (X)
105-120 (X+)
120+ (X++)

A couple more footnotes, these are personal:

1. My difficulty grades will almost certainly be arbitrary and will change based on my skill level. However, I may occasionally include the difficulty of a puzzle as a part of the difficulty. Note: I am a new Doom player, and while I have been playing DOOM wads since 2021, I am only starting to get good right now, as of making this post. I am not exactly a good player, as shown by my playthroughs shown right here, and my multitudes of saves even on easier wads.
2. In continuation to Number 2, I prefer hard maps with many archviles and hitscanners, proper resource conservation, prioritization of melee weapons, heavy usage of damaging floors and prioritization player planning. I don't enjoy obtuse and opaque puzzles and progression, excessive ammo, Barons, monster or weapon withholding, and excessive amounts of secrets, especially towards the end or close to an easy fight.
3. I'm an amateur when it comes to writing, so forgive if some of my lines sound cheesy or cringe-inducing. I also derive my vocabulary from MtPain27, in fact his channel single-handedly increased my writing skill and vocabulary almost ten-fold, in fact his essays made me the best in English class, which means a lot of what you're going to see here will sound like MtPain27.
4. I will play on Pistol-Start, UV-Max, with GZ-Doom with Freelook and Smooth Doom with Doom 64 textures and Chainsaw/SSG gibs (If its compatible, there are caveats). I'll also be using saves, but saving is discouraged.

Without further ado, let's get started on our first WAD:

Spoiler

DOOM ZERO! 

A Doom wad released in September 30, 2019 by Christopher Golden (Or DASH, or DASl-l), it was given a runner-up in the 2019 Cacoawards and was added to Bethesda's add-ons for the Unity Port in December 15, 2020.
And why would I start off with a WAD which is already one of my caveats in Number 6, as I cannot play it with any weapon/animation modifier?
Because this WAD was how I got my start on Doom wadding, through the Ultimate Doom unity port on Steam. Its curation on the Doom Unity Port gave me the first taste of DOOM wadding action back in May to August of 2021, and while I have tried the other add-ons throughout the rest of 2021, I found most of them too long-winded or hard (Like the BTSX WADs) to latch on to.
All except for Doom Zero, Earthless and Deathless.

This, along with Deathless, were one of the WADs where I had a sense of commitment in completing the full experience. Its accessibility, usage of puzzles, and its fights that were still engaging enough to warrant my attention, on top of being a full Doom 2 IWAD (which was why I didn't play the shorter PWADs, though I did fully trudge through Earthless: Prelude), made me truly get invested in Doom Zero in all of its gimmicky glory. From here onwards I browsed through Doom tips just to get past some of the puzzles that I found too head-stratchingly difficult to solve, and from there, I discovered a myriad of Doom WAD reviews, such as in Civvie 11, but most importantly of all, MtPain27 and  achannel called FP who covered the WAD.
And here I am, reviewing it again. Because I never actually completed it fully, not as in I haven't UV-Max, but as in I couldn't get past Map 26: Fortication, since I found it too hard, and the previous map already grinded my will to finish the whole experience, leading me to skip Map 26-28 straight into the final level. This time though, I grinded through the whole level pack, going for UV-Max (Mostly, you'll soon learn some of the maps I didn't even bother checking Doom Wiki for the secrets, and for some I already forgot if I UV-Maxed them or not.). 
This mapset also features custom animations, and textures, which you can see in the video at the end. Notably the Plasma Rifle has a more satisfying kick and SFX to it, with a much better texture replacement to boot. The SSG animation though is a little awkward, however I got acclimated and naturalized to it, so much in fact that I got weirded out after I tried playing the other add-ons and the weapon animations and textures felt different. And finally, the monsters have been changed, though you won't be seeing me mentioning them as I already got fairly used to their new hurt sounds. Enough rambling, let's begin the WAD shall we?
 

Edited May 30 by WhipGaming : Grading system revised

[WhipGaming]

Map 01: High-Rise Roof
This small little sky techbase is a fitting opener to Doom Zero, starting off with some mellow action as you gun down hitscanners, Pinkies and Imps with a shotgun. Being a lowly techbase with design very resemblant of many early techbases before it, you'd initially expect High-Rise Roof to be a forgettable opener, just another flash in the pan map meant to ready you for the bigger maps. And it does actually ready you for the rest of the megaWAD, as the map reveals the WAD's first and most frequently reprised gimmick: Picking keys. As you go into the east side of the map to unlock the doors to breeze through this map, the other switches close off, and you have to pick the assigned door your key unlocks. From this point forward what you see here is what you mostly get out of this WAD, puzzles and platforming and all. Add in an open courtyard and a couple secrets you can remember from the top of your head for continuous players, and you have a great template for a first impression map

Grade: B+ (73/100)
Difficulty: E (1/100)

Map 02: Toxic Towers
Toxic Towers never fails to make me excited to play the rest of the WAD. The action is sleek and concise, like an early Scythe speedmap except more modern and fun. It, like many maps in this set, has a classic style feel with the action and polish of a modern WAD. Shotgunning monsters in a very easy map has never been this fun to me, especially in this tower filled with toxic sludge. It's also the start of the more puzzle-ly elements of Doom Zero; The switch puzzle within the tower itself being an example. I honestly missed the monster closet that I didn't even know how you trigger at the back, atleast until I realized the monster is not fully filled out. I'm also embarassed that I died quite a bit in this map, but this mapset is atleast more laid back and relaxing than something like Hell Revealed 2 (Which I am currently playing), like Doom wad comfort food, so I can take atleast a couple deaths before getting tilted.

Grade: B (66/100)
Difficulty: E (5/100)

Map 03: Marble Zone
No relation to the Sonic franchise, Marble Zone is where the secrets begin to really be a hassle for me. I spent quite a bit of time on this map, with much of the runtime being occupied by the first area's secrets. I spent so much time wasted on the SR50 secret to the Mega-Armor not to atleast MILDLY dislike it.  And in the main marble area, why have so many secrets just for this group of chaingunners? Aside from the secrets, which I will deduct points from its quality grades, the map is mostly a cinch, but doesn't go down without a fight. It has Cacodemons seeping in when you grab the WAD's first SSG, and the steroids at the beginning that you can platform to is handy for the monsters near the switch to the door. It's also handy for the incoming titular Marble Zone, which has chaingunners poised to attack, and Pinkies for which you are ready to punch. Also, don't get overzealous with your ammo for this fight is a reminder for some of the more wasteful Doomers, I personally learned that the hard way when I was still a newbie back in around May 2021. 
Thankfully, my fondness for green marble aesthetics make me like this map more.

Grade: B (66/100)
Difficulty: D- (10/100)

Map 04: Triple Town
I would personally describe this map as a remastered edition of Downtown from Doom 2. It doesn't have the same feel, but the influences are there, especially in the room outside of the base you start in with a building made of red brick. You also get another SR50 type secret for the Partial Invisibility, initially frustrating me, but this type of secret doesn't annoy me any more as the puzzles later in the WAD continuously more complex. This is especially true for the maps most rewarding secret hidden away at a marble green area with the Hell Knights that also stashes another secret Megasphere in one of the alcoves. Again, tackle the hitscanner area containing the steroids before you tackle on the Pinkies in the room beside it in the starting base, this may seem like common sense for someone who allegedly loves resource conservation, but for such a chill megawad, this early into the map, I never pondered to think about such an idea. Within the aforementioned red brick building is a fun breeze-through fight when you have the hidden Berserk pack below the elevator right beside the red brick building; It's always more fun when you're punching mid-tier demons. The final room also serves as a nice transition; A secret hell cave hidden deep within the town. 
Overall, this maps secret's never fail to be rewarding, and make the map as a whole fun to replay.

Grade: B+ (74/100)
Difficulty: D- (11/100)

Map 05: The Pits
Hmmm, Mr. Golden, I wonder where you got that name from?
A map with an Archvile appearance this early within the megaWAD may be an ominous reminder of what's to come, but rest assured the rest of the WAD is just as much a piece of cake. That being said, this mapset does use Archviles alot, and is one of the reasons why I'd recommend this WAD to beginners; It helps you to deal with Archvile encounters and traps.
Another thing I'd like to personally mention is that I raged a bit during the level in my recent playthrough, but it's not because the map itself is bad, or even average, but rather my mouse was spazzing out and started to be unresponsive, completely ruining my play and tilting me. Another thing that tilted me was missing this map's first secret, a rocket launcher accessible through the starting teleporter that becomes accessible again when you take a look at the Rocket Launcher platform. In hindsight, I was being impatient, caused by the fact my exam was out when I was playing and me wanting to both balance school work and gaming. Yeah, I am a bit of a lazy dumbass, and all it did was hinder my enjoyment.
That aside, this map is good clean fun, and amps the difficulty considerably. Make sure to grab the secret Berserk snugly tucked in a flickering light room in the sewers; It simplifies the rest of the first room. The second main setpiece is the outdoor area with the aforementioned Archvile and some Chaingunners to the side, and this area features a rip-roaring fight where you have to hide from the hitscanners and imp projectiles and hope for good infighting, while Cacodemons try to yank you out of cover, forcing you not to be a coward. And I also remember being stumped by the raising/lowering platform puzzle of this area, but nowadays it's no longer an issue. 
This map also ends with a crusher. which for continuous players such as me back in the day, served as a great transition to the next map. You'll see.
The Pits is a great time, and overall, enjoyable to play.

Grade: A- (81/100)
Grade: C- (26/100)

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Spoiler

Map 06: Echo Halls

".........."


Is what I said when I first experienced this map in all of its dark and eerie nature. In both pistol-start and continuous, you're way too underequipped to deal with all of these monsters that encompass the entire hallway. If you're a bold infighter who plays a lot of difficult wads and slaughtermaps, you can attempt to wait out all of these monsters, provoke when you need to and come out victoriously with just a pistol. For non-hardcore players, you're supposed to walk past all of these monsters that surround you in this hallway, and don't make a sound, even throwing a punch will alert the monster and engulf you in their fire. Instead, walk towards and right and you'll walk into a room where the pick your key gimmick is reprised with a new twist. There's also a shootable secret switch crammed into the wall that opens up a backpack and Mega-Armor. Afterwards, make your way towards the center and unlock your assigned colored door. For my newbier self, I chose the blue key every single time. This playthrough I chose theorange key and proceeded to make them infight, and fought my way through them to the teleporter. And as of editing this post, I came back to the level and picked the red key for the more challenging plasma fight, which was still as much a breeze as the orange key.
You then teleport to a room with a megasphere amd armor, and drop down to a big arena with bulk cells and rockets. One of the switches you can see reveals a Spider-Demon I personally use as a nice punching bag. After pressing a couple more switches to reveal the exit, which also reveals two Archviles, though they're similiarly easily cheesable, and honestly kind of cheap.
Despite the ending being a dissapointment in the atmosphere department, it does serve this map a sort of sandbox purpose that makes it more replayable. Speedrunning through this map while editing this post was just as enjoyable as previous playthroughs.
For first-timers, it's an atmospheric, and highly eerie map. For veterans, it's a replayable sandbox.

Grade: A (85/100)
Difficulty: D (19/100) for the blue key, D+ (21/100) for the orange key, and C for the red key (32/100)



 

 

Edited May 30 by WhipGaming : typos, this will be the last edit i promise