My Choices

Here are some WADs that I thought were worthy of special interest. This is my list of the best, worst, and strangest of the levels on offer. Notice that these are selected from the ones I have reviewed so far, if there are WADs more deserving then I apologise, but when I do review them they will be considered.

In case anyone gets upset, this is just a bit of fun, don't take it too seriously. I just thought some of these might amuse a few of you.

BTW, if I say a WAD is bad here, I mean it is bad - so if you download it, and it is bad, don't blame me :-).

For Doom 1

So far not enough reviews for Doom ][ to be worthwhile, so these are just for Doom 1.

Best Level

So far, this has to be BASILICA.WAD. Superb new graphics, excellently designed architecture, and some tough puzzles. But it is lacking in really good fights, so it might well yet be beaten.

Worst level

A lot of competition for this one, but I decided the level had to be large enough to be called a level (there are 1 or 2 'levels' which are little more than a single room). Also, excluding episodes, I came upon BAKAROO1.WAD.

This level is just about the worst beginner WAD designers level. Almost entirely decorated with STARTAN, no grid used, oddly shaped rooms, unmarked teleports - this level has it all.

Longest Level

You might think that a Doom level can only be so big, so can never really take more than 5 or 6 hours, assuming it is possible at all. Then you obviously would not have seen 21RATMAZ.WAD. This is a level where you can run for 15 minutes continuously without touching the same spot twice - it is huge and complicated. I spent over 20 hours and still didn't finish.

If anyone can complete this level at any skill level (even no monsters) without their time hitting the sucks level, I would be surprised.

Best Episode

This is a hard one to judge, but so far I think this has to be 666EPIS.WAD. It's hard, with traps and secrets, and there is some good architecture too. Sticks reasonably to a theme. But far from perfect, so I hope this one can be bettered.

Worst Episode

Easy. No doubt in my mind that this has to be BOOM2_3.WAD. Amazingly, the author expects you to register to get even more of this rubbish!

Craziest Level

How about ARENADTH.WAD? 2 cyberdemons, 2 spiderdemons, so many superchargers and ammo packs it causes a THING overload and Doom stops drawing them, a horde of barons - and you can just run and hit the switch!

Actually, if you feel like it, you can accept my challenge - complete this level, with all monsters dead (yes, cyberdemons too), in as short a time as possible. I reckon 2 minutes should be possible. It's a bit of fun.

Most Grinding Level

This level really defines this catagory - 1FIFFY6.WAD. A level with over 80 barons, and you have to kill most of them (you do get a room full of shell boxes to help). It isn't exciting, or varied, but if you finish you'll get a real feeling of accomplishment.

Level with Most Cyberdemons and Spiderdemons

AWSOPALE.WAD. 5 cyberdemons, 11 spiderdemons. Enough said.

Biggest Waste of a Download

Another easy one (BOOM2_3.WAD is not large enough). ACADEMY.WAD combines the faults of terrible architecture, terrible sound replacements, and being over a 1Mb download. If you download this on a slow connection, and get a huge phone bill at the end, you'll be very disappointed.