First Impressions: “DN3Doom v1.07b” ( GZDoom Mod For “Ultimate Doom”/ “Doom II”/ “Final Doom”)

Well, it has been ages since I wrote a rambling “first impressions” article, but I started playing a seriously cool “Doom” mod and – after about half an hour of testing it out with “Doom II” (1994), playing up to “Dead Simple” – I just had to talk about it 🙂

I am, of course, talking about “DN3Doom v1.07b” (2022). The mod might have been updated by the time this article goes out, but this was what I played back in late April.

I should also point out that the screenshots in this review also included the optional “DN3Doom Music & Textures” mod as well. If you don’t download this, the levels will look like classic “Doom” levels, but the gameplay, monsters etc… will still be changed. This optional add-one is a hefty 312mb download compared to the compact 33mb download for the main mod.

This mod seems to work with the GZDoom source port and I used version 4.8.2 of it here.

So, let’s take a quick first glance at “DN3Doom v1.07b” 🙂

Woo hoo! Two amazing games in one!

As you may have guessed from the name, this mod aims to make the classic “Doom” games more like the 1996 shooter game “Duke Nukem 3D”. Having first played “Duke” before I played “Doom”, this is one hell of a nostalgic thing for me. And, being two of the most famous 2.5D shooter games from the 1990s, the two games have a weird symbiotic relationship. Even back in the 1990s, I remember reading about a program that could convert “Doom” WADs into “Duke 3D” maps. In a physical book. A book about making levels using Build.

Anyway, the reason that I mention this is that – whilst the idea behind this mod isn’t exactly new – this mod still manages to innovate in some clever ways. For starters, the game may initially appear to be easier thanks to the fact that Duke’s pistols (yes, he can dual-wield two of them now) are basically a sub-machine gun in all but name.

Seriously, if you hold down the “fire” button, they will actually just fire like a slightly slow machine-gun. This is so badass!

Likewise, when you pick up excess healing items, they are also stored in a portable medkit for you to use at any time, and your maximum health now seems to be 200 as well. The game might appear to be easier, but this mod is more well-balanced than you might think. And more challenging too 🙂

First of all, not only do some of the weapons have modern reloading mechanics, but the monsters are also faster and more aggressive than the traditional “Doom” monsters are. Pair this with some amazingly impactful weapon animations/sounds and the way that monsters will sometimes explode into satisfying clouds of red pixels and cartoon gibs, and the mod feels a lot more like the famous “Brutal Doom” mod than you might expect.

It’s difficult to get across in a static screenshot, but this mod has the sort of intense animation that you’d expect from “Brutal Doom”.

Seriously, these changes – along with modern controls and mouse-look – turn classic “Doom” into an entirely new game. Everything feels faster, closer and more intense. Given that – if you’re playing mods, you probably know the classic levels off by heart and don’t need to explore much – all results in a game which feels like a much more streamlined and visceral action game than you might expect. And, oh my God is it fun! I had a huge grin on my face for at least half of the time that I was playing it. A vivid feeling of “This is so cool!“. It’s like how you imagined these sorts of games would be like during the 1990s.

The new monsters are fairly decent, all of them also acting a bit more like the “Duke 3D” monsters as well. One other cool detail is that some of the robot monsters from the beta version of “Duke 3D” also show up here too. Likewise, the level completion screens are the ones from “Duke 3D”, complete with music, animation and sound effects. There are alternate firing modes for some weapons as well. Oooh, and when you blow monsters up, their burning remains actually illuminate the surrounding area for a while too.

And I forgot to mention the new weapons too, like this flamethrower. Yes, I know it was in the “World Tour edition” of Duke 3D, but I haven’t played that – so it’s new to me at least.

Again, I’d strongly recommend downloading the optional music and texture pack too. Seeing classic “Doom” levels, but with the “Duke 3D” textures is both cool and uncanny in a way that is impossible to describe.

It’s like a concentrated shot of pure 1990s nostalgia injected straight into your brain. It’s more nostalgic than either game on their own. And it also creates this weird ambiguity, where you’re occasionally uncertain whether you’re using GZDoom or eDuke32 and this is really cool.

Twice the nostalgia, in just one game! This is amazing!

Literally my only criticism, and this might have been fixed by the time that this article goes out, is the fact that the teleporting monsters are glitchy. They have a habit of freezing during the middle of their animations. Still, this bug isn’t game-breaking and given the more intense gameplay, it actually makes the game a little bit more forgiving too.

In conclusion, from the half hour or so that I’ve played this mod, my first impressions are amazing. This mod is so cool 🙂 Not only for the “Duke 3D” nostalgia, but for the excellent animations and the changes it makes to the pacing of the game too. If you like “Brutal Doom”, then you’ll definitely enjoy the more intense gameplay that this mod offers.

If I had to give what I’ve played a rating out of five, it would get a solid five. Play it!

Review: “Ashes: Afterglow” (Free Computer Game/ Mod For “Doom II” & “Final Doom”)

Whew! I’ve just completed “Ashes: Afterglow” (2021), the Cacoward-winning sequel to “Ashes 2063” (2018-2021?).

This game can either be downloaded as a free stand-alone game (using “Freedoom Phase 2” as the IWAD) or, like I did, it can be played as a mod for “Doom II” (1994) or “Final Doom” (1996) using the GZDoom source port.

Given that this game is a direct sequel to “Ashes 2063” – the tutorial level picks up where that game left off – and it sort of expects you to know parts of that game’s story, I’d strongly recommend playing the two “Ashes” games in the correct order.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Ashes: Afterglow”. This game contains some FLICKERING IMAGES.

And you literally hear a motorbike engine revving whilst the game loads too 🙂

Aside from the tutorial level, the rest of the game takes place a couple of weeks after the events of “Ashes 2063”.

The Scavenger has recovered from his injuries, after being rescued by another scavenger, but finds that his welcome is wearing out at Michonne station following an increase in mutant attacks after he was brought there.

It’s a 1980s-style post-apocalyptic future. Of course there are mutants!

After helping out a few people and finding the parts needed to repair his motorbike, he decides to head north. However, it seems like there is trouble brewing amongst the local mutant population….

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it took a while for it to grow on me. Yes, it is an incredible artistic achievement – a much larger, cooler-looking, slower-paced and more complex game than “Ashes 2063” – but expect some moments of frustration. Even so, when this game is good, it is really good! And it is really good quite a lot of the time. Seriously, there are actual major commercial “AAA” games with less depth, fewer epic moments and less atmosphere than this stand-alone “Doom II” mod. It’s a masterpiece, despite some frustrating elements.

Seriously, it may be less streamlined than “Ashes 2063”, but there are so many cool moments and areas, like this abandoned arcade.

One major change from “Ashes 2063” is this game’s structure, pacing and level design. This game is a lot larger and more “open world”. Because of this, it’s a lot slower-paced than “Ashes 2063”. During at least two points in the game, there are large hub worlds with multiple levels you can visit and return from.

One of them, the “Flooded District” is practically a detailed maze-like city in its own right. It looks seriously cool, you keep discovering new parts of it and it’s very atmospheric. Still, expect a lot of tedious “back and forth” in some parts of this game and extensive searching for items. At one point, I even had to use the “noclip” cheat to speed up the backtracking.

This is a map of the “Flooded District”. It is basically a giant hub world… linked to another hub world. It’s a really cool level but, if you want to backtrack from one side to the other in less than ten minutes, then “noclip” is your friend..

And, yes, I’m not ashamed to admit that there were a few occasions when I had to use cheat codes and/or walkthroughs. Even on “normal”, this is a dense, complex, tough-as-nails game which – whilst reasonably fair a lot of the time – can confuse and overwhelm you sometimes. Again, it’s a really good game a lot of the time, but there are a few bits where you’ll get totally “stuck”, be unsure where you’re even supposed to go or what you’re even supposed to do.

Still, these are about my only criticisms of the game. The good outweighs the bad here, by quite a lot. As well as almost having the scale and narrative depth of a “Fallout” game, there are just so many cool moments and segments in this game 🙂 Whether it is the almost “Aliens” (1986)-like feeling you’ll get from parts of the amazing “Botanical Gardens” level. Whether it is riding an armoured mutant creature around a desert.

Seriously, this level is just… WOW! Not to mention that, as a cherry on top, the gardens are also named after J. G. Ballard too 🙂 Seriously, I can’t think of a better reference 🙂

Whether it is fighting mutants in a cool purple neon-lit laser tag arena. Whether it is a few well-placed horror elements. Whether it is some cool moments of Dario Argento-esque solid red/green/blue lighting.

Whether it is riding a motorbike below purple skies and letting rip at mutants with two giant cannons etc… This game can be seriously cool when it wants to be 🙂

There’s also red and blue lighting in a couple of other parts of the game too. It all makes sense in context, but I can’t help but see a Dario Argento reference here – and I love it 🙂

As well as all of the monsters and most of the weapons from “Ashes 2063”, there are a ton of new additions. As well as several new cannibal mutants, including one who shouts “I want my headcheese!” in a northern English accent – a dialogue line which never stops being both hilariously funny and deeply disturbing at the same time – there are new gang members (including blue-haired women with machine-guns), creepy plant-monsters and even some soldiers too.

There’s a weapon upgrade system, a double-barrelled shotgun, a cool nailgun (if you find the parts for it), a vintage M16 assault rifle and probably some other new weapons that I missed. Also, your lantern now needs sunlight to recharge too.

In the alternate timeline of the game, the apocalypse happened in 1989 – and the military weapons here actually seem to be historically accurate too.

In addition to this, there’s also a slightly heavier emphasis on narrative as well and – like in a “Fallout” game – there’s even one point where you have to choose which faction to side with. Seriously, I get the sense that there are paths and areas of this game that I missed on my first playthrough. There are also tons of people to talk to and, although the game’s story initially seems small-scale and unfocused, it eventually builds into something even more epic and dramatic than the one from the first “Ashes” game.

The “world” of this game is more detailed than it might initially appear too. Yes, there are a lot of deserts and ruins, but you can find tons of intriguing background details, old 1980s pop culture references and even a few Easter Eggs, such as a “Road Rash”-style mini game. Yes, it might look like a game from the 1990s, but – again – this first-person shooter game pretty much has the sort of detailed lore, world-building and atmosphere that you’d expect from a role-playing game. All paired with the sort of cool 1980s-inspired soundtrack that you’d expect from the series too.

I mentioned it earlier, but this entire 1980s-style “game within a game” is literally just an Easter Egg. There is that much effort and attention to detail in this game…

As for length, this is a long game! The original “Ashes 2063” is almost a demo in comparison to this game! I lost count of the time, but I probably sunk at least 15-20 hours into my first playthrough and I probably still missed a lot of stuff. It’s richer and more complex than some “AAA” games, and it’s literally just a “Doom II” mod made by a small amateur team. Again, this is an incredible artistic achievement!

All in all, this game grew on me a lot. Yes, I preferred the more streamlined and focused structure of “Ashes 2063” and I experienced some frustrating moments, but this game is still a masterpiece. It’s more than “just a mod”, it is basically a proper full game with a level of creativity, personality and detail that can really take you by surprise. I can easily see why this game was given a Cacoward 🙂 Despite some occasional flaws, it is still a masterpiece.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would just about get a five.

Review: “Ashes 2063: Enriched” (Free Computer Game/ Stand-Alone Mod for “Doom II” or “Final Doom”)

Well, playing the demo of “Doom: The Golden Souls 3” recently reminded me that it has been a while since I last played any modern mods for “Doom II”/”Final Doom”. And, after browsing the “Cacowards” site, I found an interesting-looking one called “Ashes: Afterglow” (2021). But, although I’d planned to play this one, I realised that it was a sequel to another WAD called “Ashes 2063: Enriched” (2018-2021?). Since you could literally download both at the same time on ModDB, it seemed like a no-brainer to play them in order.

Interestingly, if you download both, they actually come in a stand-alone form too (using “Freedoom: Phase 2” as the IWAD). Personally, I found it easier to just extract the “.pk3” files and use them with GZDoom 4.8.2, but it’s cool that both games can essentially be run as stand-alone freeware games without the need to own either “Doom II” (1994) or “Final Doom” (1996).

So, let’s take a look at “Ashes 2063: Enriched”. I should probably add a FLICKERING IMAGES warning for the game itself though.

Set in the post-apocalyptic future of 2063, you play as a scavenger in the mutant and punk-filled wastelands of what was once the United States. After finding a broken old radio that you might be able to sell in one of the local settlements, you stumble across some other radio equipment broadcasting a mysterious series of numbers….

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it is seriously cool 🙂 It’s this awesome 1980s-style sci-fi action thrill-ride, with cool synthesiser music, excellent animations and the sort of “fictional” world that is evocative of everything from “Fallout: New Vegas” (2010) to Ian Livingstone’s 1985 Fighting Fantasy gamebook “Freeway Fighter”. Despite running on GZDoom, it just feels like a Build Engine game from the 1990s too 🙂 The writing and atmosphere is stellar, you get to ride a motorbike and… Just play the damn thing already!

Imagine if “Fallout: New Vegas” was an old “2000AD “comic from the 1980s which had been adapted for the Build Engine during the 1990s…

Seriously, this game is so cool 🙂 As you’d expect from a “post-apocalyptic survival” type game, the enemies can be tough and you have to carefully manage your resources. However, on “normal” difficulty, the game actually feels fair with all of this. Yes, you’ll constantly be keeping an eye on the ammo counter and choosing your weapons carefully but it still feels like a thrilling retro FPS game rather than a survival horror game. It’s a bit more frantic, tough and/or suspenseful than, say, “Doom II” (1994) but in a really fun way 🙂

Not only that, it also has a defined and focused story – which even includes a couple of settlements that you can visit, talk to people and trade with. There’s an in-game currency system, but it’s only really useful in a small number of places. For the most part, you’ll have to… scavenge… for resources, just like the character you are supposed to be. There are also a couple of vehicle segments where you get to ride a motorbike. It handles like a brick, but it is still just inherently cool and fun regardless 🙂

Yes, you’re more manoeuvrable on foot – but riding a motorbike through a post-apocalyptic wasteland is just inherently cool regardless..

Plus, I just love the general world-building and aesthetic of the game too. As well as a story, literally all of the enemies look like they came from some kind of punk comic book from the 1980s in the best possible way. Many of the locations are, like in a Build Engine game, based on realistic places (eg: the ruins of a city, a subway station, a police station, an old military base etc…) and all look distinctive. There are also, like in a Build Engine game, a few well-placed pop culture references (to classic films like “The Terminator”, “Mad Max” etc…) too.

Even small details, like the rust on one of the pistols or even the detailed reloading animations (eg: if the shotgun is empty, the main character will push a cartridge into the chamber before filling the tube etc..). This is a game with a distinctive artistic vision to it and it works really well. Yes, I spotted what could maybe have been a borrowed switch texture from “Blood” (1997), and the motorbike reminds me of “Duke Nukem 3D” (1996) too, but the game still felt very original and creative.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the lantern you can use in gloomy areas – it restricts you to using one-handed weapons but is still really useful. Plus, notice the rust on the pistol too? This is attention to detail!

The level design is really good too. Despite being set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, “Ashes 2063: Enhanced” eschews open-world design in favour of a more focused set of traditional levels. Yes, at least one of these – where you travel between areas – is very large (and includes optional side areas) but most of the game feels a lot more like traditional “Doom” levels than the open world of “Fallout: New Vegas”.

There’s also optional stuff, such as side-quests and an expansion called “Dead Man Walking”, which I think that I missed out on because I was too focused on the main quest. Still, the fact that all of this extra stuff is there adds re-play value to the game (although I’m also eager to start playing the sequel too).

Not to mention that, in keeping with the game’s story, each level pretty much begins where the previous one ended. There are level end screens and narrative text between them, which can seem like a bit of an interruption, but the game still feels like one continuous quest.

Yes, the level ending screens break things up a bit, but this artwork is so cool!

The levels require you to explore but I think that I only got “stuck” once – in the military base. It took me a while to realise that I could actually interact with one of the computer screens there. Still, the level design here is old-school enough to require you to explore but focused enough that you won’t get “stuck” very often. Again, it’s excellent. Likewise, I also have to praise the excellent soundtrack too – lots of atmospheric synthesiser music, ominous ambient music etc… which genuinely makes it feel like you are playing some kind of late-night movie from the 1980s.

As for the monsters and weapons, they are excellent 🙂 Earlier, I mentioned that the monsters look like something from a 1980s punk comic – and I wasn’t exaggerating. As well as various types of outlaws, all of whom look like classic-style punks, there are also gnarly mutant creatures as well. The monster variety here is really good 🙂 Literally my only possible complaint is that the final boss battle can be “cheesed” very easily (since the viewing platform is sort of a safe area). Still, the final boss itself looks like one of the sci-fi mutants from the original “Total Recall” (1990) and even has quite a few dialogue lines too.

Yes, this viewing platform is basically a cheat code in all but name. Even so, the final boss has amazing visual design and actual voice-acting too 🙂 There’s also a cool “Dead Space” (2008)-style warning, scrawled on the wall in blood, before you encounter the boss too.

The weapons are great too – mostly thanks to how detailed and balanced they are. They all feel powerful and impactful, but aren’t over-powered either. There’s a mixture of “realistic” 20th century guns and slightly more creative post-apocalyptic weaponry (like one that launches balls of burning petrol, and a “Resident Evil 4”-style knife that you can swing at any time with just one button press).

The balancing is really good here too – for example, you have two pistols which each have a different ammo type. The revolver is slightly more powerful, but fires more slowly and needs reloading more often. The semi-auto pistol fires very quickly and holds a lot more bullets, but each individual shot is weaker and it shares ammo with the SMG too. The SMG is really powerful, but it can guzzle thirty-two bullets in less than two seconds if you don’t carefully fire it in short controlled bursts etc… Seriously, the weapon balancing here is really good. Not to mention the weapon sprites and reload animations too.

This post-apocalyptic sniper rifle is a completely optional item (if you’ve found enough “scrap”, an NPC in the subway station will sell it to you). Despite its very slow rate of fire, it’s powerful enough to one-shot most weaker monsters, even without the scope. This is also balanced out by the fact that, although you’re given some “slugs” for it when you get it, ammo pickups for it are scarce to non-existent. So, use it carefully…

As for length, it’s a medium-length game. I completed it in maybe 4-6 hours in total, albeit missing out on some side-stuff. It’s long enough to feel satisfying, but short enough that you won’t ever get bored. If it was a book, it would be in the shorter end of the “novel” category or the longer end of the “novella” category, if this makes sense.

All in all, this is a seriously cool game 🙂 Whether you play it as a stand-alone game or as a “Doom II” mod, it is well-worth playing. Yes, there are some mild flaws here and there, but I was having so much fun that I really didn’t care about them. It’s a thrilling, atmosphere 1980s-style post-apocalyptic sci-fi game that is just pure fun to play 🙂

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a very solid five. Play it!

Impressions: “Doom: The Golden Souls 3 Demo” (WAD for “Doom II”/”Final Doom”/GZDoom)

Well, it has been almost a month since my previous “Doom II”/”Final Doom” WAD review. As regular readers know, I prepare these articles and reviews a few months in advance – and the demo I’ll be looking at today will possibly be out of date by the time that this “impressions” article goes up.

Still, back in mid-late January, I suddenly found myself getting nostalgic for autumn 2018. Back then, I had finally entered the 2010s and got a second-hand Windows 10 computer to replace the retro Windows XP computers I’d previously been using. Anyway, one of the very first three games I played on it was “Doom: The Golden Souls 2“. And, well, this entire series reminds me of a time when this computer felt really futuristic too 🙂 The “Strawberry Fields” level from the second game also finally made me actually listen to The Beatles (still surprised I went about three decades without doing this...).

Anyway, whilst the third game hasn’t been released at the time of writing, there’s a demo version which has been out for quite a while. I think that I even played an earlier version of it at some point in the past, but didn’t write about it at the time.

As usual, I used version 4.8.2 of the GZDoom source port to play this demo. Interestingly, despite the serious-looking system requirements on the game’s page, I actually got it to run at a playable speed on my computer’s Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics. Yes, I used a fairly low resolution and there was also some brief stutter/slowdown in some parts of the “Ancient Japan” level, but it was still very playable.

Anyway, let’s take a quick look at “Doom: The Golden Souls 3 Demo”:

If you’re new to this series, “Doom: The Golden Souls” is a series of “Doom II”/”Final Doom” total conversion mods which aim to re-create the style and atmosphere of the old 1990s “Super Mario” games, but with more of a “Doom” flavour to them 🙂 This demo appears to contain a tutorial level, a small hub world called “Limbotropolis” and two large maps. Although I probably haven’t seen literally everything in it yet, I played it for a couple of hours at least.

Seriously, the fact that this game actually has a demo is really cool – it reminds me a lot of the games magazine cover discs of my youth. Back then, virtually every game had a demo version and they were a really cool way to see and test out new games. But I’m getting side-tracked. This demo feels substantial enough to be fun, whilst also being short enough to build intrigue about what the finished game will be like.

Seriously, if this is just a demo, the final game is going to be so cool 🙂

“Limbotropolis” has places where you can buy stuff with the coins you can find in each level, characters you can talk to, hidden coins to find and the entrances to both levels.

The entrance to the first level can easily be missed, but it’s a purple door. The entrance to the second level requires you to find three “Golden Souls” in the first level. It reminded me a bit of a cool gothic version of the town in “Reelism 2” (2022) and it is always awesome when “Doom II”/”Final Doom” mods actually do stuff like this 🙂

Seriously, I love the gloomy lighting and the purple/yellow palette here. Since it’s a demo, you can only explore one “block” of the city, but there’s a burger restaurant to visit, lots of people to talk to, two level entrances, a vending machine and also some coins hidden on the rooftops too.

And, unlike a traditional “Doom” level, this is how this demo works. The two levels are sprawling, circular and non-linear things where the goal is to search for “Golden Souls”. This focus on exploration and “find the souls in any order you want” is really cool, but the levels can be a bit on the tricky side of things though. I mean, after getting completely stuck on the first one, I eventually had to resort to briefly using the “fly” cheat.

Still, occasional frustration aside, the gameplay is really cool. As you’d expect, there’s a heavier emphasis on things like first-person platforming, but this is (mostly) fun rather than frustrating thanks to some cool changes. As well as some cool traversal abilities, like the ability to double-jump/climb up walls and a “Half-Life” (1998) long-jump move, failure is more forgiving too. On “normal” difficulty, you’ll lose a bit of health if you fall into a pit but will just be teleported back to solid ground. I think that “hard” mode makes each pit deadly though.

Yes, there’s first-person platforming and, on “normal” difficulty, it isn’t frustrating most of the time. Seriously, this is a well-designed mod 🙂

There are a few new monsters – which will be familiar to fans of the previous two “Golden Souls” WADs – and about five new weapons (although I only found four).

These are fairly standard FPS game weapon types – melee, pistol, double-barrelled shotgun, assault rifle etc..- but with a wonderfully quirky art style, alternate firing modes (eg: like in previous “Golden Souls” games, you can actually fire the shotgun one barrel at a time) and modern-style reloading mechanics.

Yes, this is a bit “Call Of Duty”, but even the assault rifle has some quirky decals on it that make it fit into the general aesthetic of the mod a bit better 🙂

The pistol is also a retro-style ray-gun which fires cool-looking pink/purple lasers too 🙂 I think that the wonderfully weird music-themed rocket launcher from the previous games is possibly in this demo too- since you can buy ammo for it – but I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Most of all, like in other “Golden Souls” games, the main star of the show here is the excellent – and often whimsical – art design. Not only does Limbotropolis have a really cool “gothic 1990s France” look to it, but the first level is a serene-looking collection of clouds, caves and windmills, and the second level is this stunningly beautiful “ancient Japan” type level 🙂 Seriously, this is such a creative and cool-looking WAD 🙂

Plus, there’s also some visual variation within levels too. For example, it’s a bit hidden, but I stumbled across a really cool-looking plant-filled underground cave in the first level. The walls are covered with foliage and there’s this dramatic green mist in the air. It’s totally different from the rest of the level, but it works so well and is definitely a highlight of the level 🙂 I just absolutely love the general atmosphere and creativity of the “Golden Souls” series and this demo is no exception 🙂

It’s only a small segment of the level, and it’s a bit difficult to find (eg: climb up the overgrown tower), but this plant-cave is such a cool location 🙂

All in all, if your computer can run it, then this demo is well-worth playing. Yes, there are some frustrating moments, but it’s still a really fun continuation of an excellent series and is definitely one of the most creative parts of the “Doom II” modding scene at the moment 🙂

If I had to give this demo a rating out of five, it would get four and a half.

First Impressions: “Voxel Doom” (Mod for “Ultimate Doom”/GZDoom)

Well, although I hadn’t planned to review anything “Doom”-related so early in the month, a really cool mod called “Voxel Doom” caught my attention and I just had to take a quick look at it. This is definitely more of a “first impressions” article than a full review – since I played about 5-6 levels (from the first and third episodes) for about 20-30 minutes before writing it.

Since I prepare these articles and reviews a few months in advance, this one might also be “out of date” before it goes up. Back in mid-late August, the version of “Voxel Doom” available only supported the first “Doom” game but support for “Doom II”/”Final Doom” is promised on the website and it may well have been completed by the time that this article goes out.

Also, the version of this mod that I played requires version 4.8.2 or later of the GZDoom source port to run (and will throw up an error message if you use earlier versions). It’s fairly easy to get running too – after downloading/unzipping GZDoom and copying your “DOOM.WAD” file from your copy of “Ultimate Doom” into the GZDoom folder, just literally drag and drop the zip file you’ve downloaded from ModDB onto the “GZDoom” icon and it should run automatically.

Anyway, let’s take a quick look at “Voxel Doom”:

“Huh? It’s just E1M1! I thought that this was supposed to be a mod!” Yes, static screenshots don’t always really show what this mod does. You’ll have to play it for yourself…

The main thing that “Voxel Doom” does is to replace almost all of the 2D sprites in “Doom” with voxel models. If that sounds confusing, let me explain. Back in 1993, the original “Doom” had to use some clever trickery in order to appear 3D whilst still being able to actually run on the ancient computer hardware of the time. One of the many things it did was to use flat 2D images (or “sprites”) for the monsters, items, background objects etc…

Since these would always be seen from a limited range of perspectives, they still looked reasonably good in the original version of the game. Of course, with modern source ports, people have added things like free-look and jumping to the game, which means that the 2D sprites are a lot more noticeable than they used to be. This is just part of the charm of playing the classic “Doom” games these days, and the good gameplay means that it isn’t really something that you’ll probably pay much attention to.

Until now! Seriously, this Cacodemon is now a proper 3D sphere and this is both bizarre and beautiful at the same time!

However, what this mod does is to replace almost all of these 2D “sprites” with voxel-based models. This is a type of fully 3D pixel art. Each voxel is a small 3D cube, giving everything a “Made out of Lego” kind of look. Most crucially, it seems to take up less memory and/or processing power than polygonal 3D models do. Old games like “Shadow Warrior” (1997) and “Blade Runner” (1997) used this technique for their 3D elements, and the modern indie sci-fi game “Cloudpunk” (2020) also used the technique in some seriously cool and beautiful ways too.

And, astonishingly, it works really well in “Doom” 🙂 The “pixellated” look of it means that there’s no visual mismatch between the 2D and 3D elements. Sometimes, the game almost looks like the original game. But it has a bit more depth and substance to it. Everything is fully 3D and viewable from multiple angles. The effect of this is very subtle, but it certainly adds something to the game.

Woo hoo! The third dimension!

Not only is the voxel art good enough to faithfully re-create the visual style of the game, but I’m not exaggerating when I say that almost everything has been turned into voxels.

Even small background elements, like trees and skulls, are now in full 3D. When you shoot an explosive barrel, the explosion actually has some volume to it too. It’s all very subtle, but if you’re used to traditional “Doom”, then it is also very noticeable in a good way 🙂

Seriously, this is attention to detail! It took me half a second to even notice that this random skull was in 3D now 🙂

Literally the only major thing that hasn’t been converted to voxels is the player’s first-person perspective weapon sprites – and I guess that there’s probably some technical reason for this.

Likewise, in the early version I played, the BFG’s projectile also still appears to be a sprite. Even so, the actual weapon pickup sprites (except shotguns dropped by zombies) are now spinning voxel models, which instantly evoke the old “Quake” games. Even the monster corpses are now in full 3D too. Again, it’s a subtle thing, but it certainly adds a lot to the game whilst retaining the visual style of the original too.

Yes, the player’s weapons are still sprites. But, honestly, if you’re playing classic “Doom” in 2022, you’ll probably be well aware of the feeling of being a “2D” gamer in a “3D” age…

All in all, I’ve only taken a quick look at this mod (and a version of it which will probably be “out of date” by the time this article goes out), but this is still really impressive. It is subtle, but all-encompassing. If you’re a fan of classic “Doom” and have a PC that will run the latest version of GZDoom, then it is well worth taking a look at this mod 🙂

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would just about get a five.

Impressions: “Reelism 2” (WAD For “Doom II”/”Final Doom”/”GZ Doom”)

Well, since it has been almost a month since my previous “Doom II” WAD review, I thought that I’d take a look at a WAD that was released… back in April this year. Yes, I’m actually reviewing a modern WAD again 🙂 I am, of course, talking about 300 Pounds’ “Reelism 2” (2022). I played the “early excess” demo back in 2020 – but didn’t get round to reviewing it for some reason – and this review will be of the version 1.0 release of the full WAD.

I’m a fan of the “Reelism” series and have reviewed at least two older versions from the 2010s – namely “Reelism X2.1 – Reelism And Beyond” (early-mid 2010s?) and “Reelism Gold” (2015). And, whilst this article will be more than just a “first impressions” article, it will be less than a full review. I prepare these articles a few months in advance, so I’ve only had the chance to play maybe 4-5 hours of this one (albeit with some of the dreaded “save-scumming” in order to see more of it).

I used version 4.7.1 of the GZDoom source port with this WAD. Surprisingly, my trusty 4.4.2 didn’t actually work with it, so I had to upgrade to the latest version… which, to my continued astonishment, actually works with my computer’s Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics 🙂

So, let’s take a look at “Reelism 2”:

This isn’t actually the main menu, but ten years of Reelism is quite the achievement!

If you’ve somehow never heard of or played a “Reelism” mod before, you are in for a treat! It is one of the most creative, hilarious and nostalgic “Doom II”/”Final Doom” mods you will ever play.

It is also something close to a “casual” version of these games – in every regard except difficulty – which is literally meant to be played in 1-10 minute sessions. The series also does some fairly innovative stuff and is one of those “it never gets old” kind of things. And this latest one certainly fits into this tradition.

This review is kind of superfluous. If you’re a fan of Reelism, you’ve probably played this by now. If you haven’t heard of it before, then it’s a free mod – so, if you’ve got “Doom II”/”Final Doom”, get GZDoom and this mod and play it.

The premise is simple. You choose an arena like level and there are five one-minute “rounds”. Every minute, three randomised casino slots will spin at the bottom of the screen. These decide how the next minute will play out. One slot determines which monsters you will face. One slot determines which weapons you’ll get. One slot adds a gameplay modifier. The final round pits you against a boss. This is Reelism. This is fun 🙂

And, yes, whilst some old favourites return, there are plenty of new reels here. There’s a sports-themed “sportsball” one. One that fills the map with hilarious cartoon sock-puppets who say things like “There’s a hand inside of me!” One that makes everything look like the SNES port of “Doom”. There’s one that fills the map with ridiculous wizards who speak in a gloriously silly voice.

No, not…this… wizard – who is a boss that you can also talk to in the hub world, and buy some magical dice from. The wizards I’m talking about are gloriously silly cartoon wizards who shout things like “Thunderbolt!” and “Ice blast!” whilst casting spells at you.

I could go on for a while, but even some of the older reels have received a bit of an upgrade – for example the “skeletons” one from “Reelism Gold” makes a return, but now the skeletons actually start chanting “Skel-e- ton” repeatedly. Yes, I laughed out loud when I heard it for the first time. This is, like all Reelism WADs, very much in the comedy genre – and the trademark brand of goofy, edgy and/or bizarre humour continues here too 🙂

But there is so much new stuff too. The most notable example of this is “Town” – a hub world that you can visit by pressing “jump” at the game over screen. This is, as the name suggests, an actual town that you can wander around in. Unlike previous Reelism WADs, your score now serves as a type of in-game currency, allowing you to stock up on supplies, buy cool bonus weapons from shady characters, talk to random NPCs, “buy” access to extra levels, find “boss rush” mode, visit a temple for dogs and… if you aren’t careful… stumble into dog hell.

Bad do… Hold on, are the dogs here barking a rendition of “Master Of Puppets”? All is forgiven. Good doggies 🙂

You lose all of your points when you start a new round, and this keeps the gameplay fresh by meaning that you can’t buy everything in one go (unless you cheat and use the “save” feature to gradually grind your way through the whole of “boss rush” mode. Purely for the sake of testing and evaluation, of course…). This pushes you to get a better score, to carefully choose your load-out etc… and adds a bit more depth to the game.

Yes, it’s a gun that shoots guns. If you talk to the right person in town, you can get your hands on one of these dubious devices… for tens of thousands of points.

The new levels here are reasonably good and, whilst there are some updated versions of older levels (eg: the bridge one, flesh palace, gutrot island etc...), I kind of missed the fact that some of my favourite levels from “Reelism Gold” weren’t in there (eg: Planet Eionius, the “candy” level etc…). Still, the levels are pretty decent – my favourite is probably the “beach” level – and there is a whole second set of them that you can unlock if you get 50,000 points, including one set on top of a giant pizza. Plus dog hell and a secret level you get if you sit through the end credits.

“End credits” you say? Yes, there’s actually a way to “complete” this Reelism mod. Ok, you can just carry on playing afterwards and it’s as endless as previous versions. If you survive ten rounds of “dog hell” and complete one level on “endurance” mode, then you’ll actually get a really cool ending sequence and stuff like that (accessed via the dog-themed building in town).

Plus, as you’d expect, there are new bosses too – one is an animal dressed as Abraham Lincoln, and the other is the “Dial-up team”… three deathmatch players from 2002 who have finally connected. Many familiar bosses also get a makeover too – with, for example, the wizard now driving a (surprisingly tough, difficult to hit and fast-moving) ice cream truck instead of a monster truck.

All in all, although I get the sense I’ve only scratched the surface of this amazing WAD, it’s as good as – or better than – “Reelism Gold” (2015). If you want a gloriously fun, hilariously funny, very well-designed and incredibly re-playable “Doom II”/”Final Doom” mod that feels just as satisfying to play for ten minutes as it does for two or more hours, then this one is well worth playing 🙂

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get six 🙂

So, I Tried To Make A “Resident Evil” Mod…

Well, for this article in my series about horror videogames, I’m going to talk about modding. I’ve been meaning to write a serious article about this topic for a while, examining how the genre’s console-focused history has lessened the number of mods (compared to PC games), the pros and cons of modding horror games, why the modern “Resident Evil [insert sequel number here] ruined by mods” genre of Youtube videos is so brilliantly funny etc… And then I happened to see an “Ink Ribbon” video that intrigued me.

It was a tutorial about how to do texture modifications to Gamecube games, using the port of “Resident Evil 2” as an example. So, inspired by this, I thought that it would be fun to ruin the excellent 2002 remake of “Resident Evil” with a mod of my own creation *Evil laughter*. After all, ill-advised scientific experiments are a long-running theme of the Resident Evil series.

For time reasons, I decided to focus on the early areas of the game… and, even then, I was surprised at just how many textures are required for just three rooms. Did you know that the lightning effects are caused by literally swapping out the entire background image with another one (with different lighting) for a second or so? Did you know that the stairwell room/corridor with the bird cage in it near the beginning of the game pretty much entirely consists of a ludicrous number of mostly-transparent textures, psychedelic lighting and/or depth maps etc..? Seriously, I am in even more awe at the sheer amount of detail and work that went into this game.

Anyway, with the ridiculous number of background textures to mod – I modded fifty-one of them, and I STILL missed some of them- for just three rooms, I realised that I’d have to do something simple and quick. But I also wanted to do something cool that I’ve always wanted to see. I am, of course, talking about a classic-style survival horror game with the type of lighting used in parts of Dario Argento’s 1977 art-horror masterpiece “Suspiria“. If you haven’t seen this film, one of the many cool things about it is the way that it uses vivid red, green and blue lighting for dramatic effect during some of the scarier parts.

This, of course, was very simple to do. Using the GNU Image Manipulation Program, I was quickly able to adjust the colours (using pre-sets to speed up adjustments to images from the same room), adjust the colour saturation levels, use the “dodge/burn” tool to lighten areas of the images and even add some basic digital lighting effects too.

Here’s a montage of some of my adjustments in GIMP 2.10. It would probably look cooler if this was a video, rather than an article… And, yes, I briefly thought about turning this into an art tutorial, but it fits more into the category of “image editing”.

Even paring down my changes to simple colour adjustments, saturation adjustments and some basic lighting changes, it still took me the best part of two hours to adjust most of the backgrounds in the first three rooms the player will encounter. I decided to go for blue lighting for the main hall, red lighting for the dining room and vivid green lighting for the corridor beside the dining room.

Also, whilst modding these textures, I noticed some clothing and weapon textures too. However, due to the confusing way that they were laid out, I was able to give Jill some gold-plated weapons (both in-game and in… parts… of the inventory screen), but my attempt at creating a cool purple and black outfit (with glowing orange highlights) was only a partial success due to also editing some of the wrong textures. But, on the plus side….

Barry now looks 50% more purple than before 🙂 And, yes, I missed the background in this scene.

If you’re curious what this absolute mess of a mod actually looked like, then here are a few screenshots I took of it. They definitely make it look better than it actually was:

And, to protect the reputation for impeccable taste and decorum that proper “Resident Evil” modders have, I WON’T be posting the actual mod online. Apologies AGAIN to Dario Argento too. Still, given the laughable quality of this mod, it probably technically qualifies as “parody”….

And, here’s a… well-edited… animated GIF of what it was supposed to look like….

Seriously, it almost looks like a good “Suspiria” (1977)-inspired mod here.

And here’s a… less well-edited… animated GIF of what it actually looked like:

The key word here is “almost”…

So, what was the point of all of this? Well, it was mostly just a combination of boredom, curiosity and amusement.

Seriously though, this experiment was a display of the value of fan creativity and how opening up game design to those from non-programming backgrounds allows for all sorts of creativity… and silliness. Not to mention that it has really given me an appreciation for the sheer amount of time and effort that both modders and the designers of the “Resident Evil” remake put into their work. Games are complicated!

Still, at least I have now satisfied my curiosity about what an old survival horror game would look like if it used a similar lighting style to parts of “Suspiria” (1977). That’s another one off the bucket list…..

—————-

Anyway, I hope that you found this amusing 🙂

Review: “Brutal Doom V.21 Gold” (Mod For “Ultimate Doom”/”Doom II”/”Final Doom”/ “GZDoom”/”Zandronum”)

Well, every three or four years or so, I suddenly find myself interested in taking another look at the famous “Brutal Doom” mod for the classic “Doom” games again. And, although I’ve already reviewed an older version of it way back in 2013 and also reviewed the new levels that were included with a slightly less old version in 2016, I thought that I’d take a look at what was the most current version at the time of writing – “Brutal Doom V.21 Gold“.

I used version 3.4.1 of the GZ Doom source port to play through my favourite official IWAD (“The Plutonia Experiment” from “Final Doom” 🙂 ) with this mod and, sometime after I wrote the first draft of this review, “Ultimate Doom” too. This mod will also apparently work with “Vanilla” fan-made WADs too. However, all of the screenshots here will be from my playthrough of “The Plutonia Experiment”.

Since I am using Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics, I had to turn the settings down a little (eg: using the game’s software renderer instead of Open GL etc…) and this mod will probably look slightly better if you have an actual graphics card. Likewise, the mod file itself is also compressed using the “rar” format for some bizarre reason – so you’ll have to download everyone’s favourite 40-day trial if your want to play it.

Likewise, the mod will also apparently work on the Zandronum source port too – and looking at the options menu and other reviews on Youtube, this source port actually allows the mod to do a few extra things (such as the option to include a female player avatar on the HUD) too.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Brutal Doom V.21 Gold”. I should probably warn you that this review may contain some cartoonish and unrealistic GRUESOME IMAGES, but I’ll try to keep them to a minimum.

“Brutal Doom V.21 Gold” is an incredibly extensive mod for the classic “Doom” games that includes new weapons, sounds, enemies, gameplay mechanics, sprites/animations etc… and also makes some fairly significant changes to the gameplay, pacing and balancing of these classic games too. Although it still looks very much like classic “Doom”, the actual experience of playing this mod is almost like playing a totally different game – and this is probably why it is so interesting to return to every few years, since – like any good mod – it can really make a classic game feel “new” again.

In general, the gameplay in this mod is a lot faster and more intense. This is mostly achieved by heavily altering the balancing of the game – although the monsters are now significantly weaker in some ways (eg: Cacodemons, Revenants and Hell Knights can now be felled by a single well-placed super shotgun blast), this is counterbalanced by the fact that many of the monsters either have more powerful attacks and/or behave a lot more aggressively. When this is at it’s best, it makes the game feel incredibly thrilling – with both monsters falling before you more easily and the suspenseful feeling that you are only one or two mistakes away from death.

Seriously, THIS is how to make a FPS game fun. There’s no “regenerating health” or anything like that here!

But, although these balancing changes make the classic “Doom” games feel like totally new games, the levels in these classic games were designed for… well… the classic games. As such, expect some significant changes to the difficulty of certain moments when using this mod.

Sometimes this can make the levels more enjoyable, but it can – especially when there are large numbers of chaingun zombies quite far away from the player – make certain moments more difficult than they probably “should” be. If you’re a skilled player, then this won’t be too much of an issue – but it can be a little disconcerting and may occasionally feel “unfair”.

Plus, although the new explosions may look more dramatic, their larger size can make them more dangerous than they should be.

In terms of the new weapons, they are really good and include things like a railgun, a LMG, throwable grenades, a couple of enemy weapons, a SMG, a rapid-fire shotgun etc… Most of these weapons feel suitably powerful and have thunderously dramatic firing animations.

Yes, some are more useful than others – with, for example, the novelty value of the rapid-fire shotgun wearing off when you realise that the long reload times and lower damage per shot mean that you’re better off just using the super shotgun – but the fact that they are there helps to add some extra variety to the gameplay and gives the player more options during combat.

But, the most striking improvements to the weapons are probably the changes to the “classic” weapons. Not only do many of them now have alternate firing modes, but they have also been rebalanced slightly too.

The plasma cannon is slightly less powerful because you now have to reload it every fifty shots (but it can also be dual-wielded if you find another one), the basic shotgun fires more rapidly whilst using iron sights, the pistol now has a burst-fire mode, the rocket launcher now has backblast and reloading mechanics, the chaingun feels more powerful but less accurate and the super shotgun has been transformed into an even better weapon than before.

Yes, it possibly seems to take slightly longer to reload, but the spread is now wide enough to obliterate crowds of low-level monsters in just one or two shots. There may be lots of new weapons in this mod, but you’ll probably just be using one most of the time…. just like in “Vanilla” Doom II and Final Doom 🙂

Pictured: One reason why “Doom II” and “Final Doom” are slightly better than “Ultimate Doom”. The other reason is, of course, Arch-viles 🙂

In terms of the new monsters, the amount of them varies a lot depending on which IWAD you use. In “Ultimate Doom”, there are a surprisingly large number of new monsters – including axe-wielding scientist zombies, blood-spattered prototype Revenants, a souped-up version of the Mancubus, a new boss for “Thy Flesh Consumed” and what possibly appears to the be the Arachnotrons from “Ancient Aliens” 🙂 But, in “The Plutonia Experiment”, I didn’t notice much in the way of new monsters.

However, many of the monster changes in this mod are behavioral and/or weapon changes. Not only will many monsters attack more aggressively and sometimes have some extra types of attacks, but some monsters (such as the zombies) will have variants with different weapons. Likewise, the Pain Elementals now explode much more forcefully upon death – making them a much greater threat to the player. All of this helps to keep the gameplay of the classic “Doom” games feeling fresh and unpredictable.

Of course, this mod is most famous for the fact that it also turns the classic “Doom” games into the most violent games you will ever play. In addition to adding ludicrous amounts of blood spatter during combat, this mod earns it’s “brutal” reputation thanks to the addition of things like headshots, “Mortal Kombat”-style fatalities (if you find certain power-ups) and a ridiculous number of gory death animations.

Luckily, the Cacodemons have blue blood in this mod – so I can show you an example of this mod’s “brutality” that isn’t too gross.

Although this mod still includes “difficult to watch” scenes of drawn-out suffering in the aftermath of combat, at least it has toned down the level of sadism very slightly when compared to earlier versions that I’ve played. In other words, if you kill a wounded monster with certain attacks, you are no longer rewarded with a (rather tasteless) +5 health “cruelty bonus”, but they will now just silently drop a +1 health bonus instead. So, it is thankfully now more of a hidden gameplay mechanic than a somewhat disturbing reward for cruelty.

But yes, especially if you are a new player, this is a mod that can sometimes be much more disturbing than you might initially expect it to be. Not to mention that this is the kind of mod that may – if you play it for extended sessions – also leave you feeling tense, jittery and/or nervous for a while afterwards. So, use your own discretion before playing!

On a slightly lighter note, this mod also includes some well-placed moments of dark comedy too. Whether it is the fact that you can sometimes spot Revenants picking up weaker enemies and swinging them around, whether it is the sloshing animation that plays when you pick up a toxic waste barrel, whether it is how the Imps sometimes duck and cover their ears if you miss them with certain weapons, whether it is the fact that – after performing a fatality – you can occasionally hurl the Cacodemon’s giant eyeball at other monsters or even some classic hang-overs from previous versions, such as the hilarious animation that plays if the player gets eaten by a Cacodemon, this mod’s sense of humour may be a bit on the ghoulish side of things – but it is still often absolutely hilarious and helps to balance out the “grim” atmosphere of the game slightly.

I spy, with my giant green eye….

Then there are all of the numerous subtle details that really help to add occasional “Wow!” moments to the game. The best example of this that I found was when, after fighting an Arch-vile, it dropped a power-up that quite literally transformed me into a Revenant for a couple of minutes. This caught me completely by surprise and I was absolutely amazed.

So THIS is what it’s like to be a Revenant. I still can’t get over how hilarious the claws are.

Plus, not only does version 21 of “Brutal Doom” enhance some of the extra features from previous versions (eg: you can now find chaingun and plasma cannon wielding helper marines too) but one fascinating feature of this version is that – if you play it with an official IWAD – there will sometimes be lots of subtle visual changes to the levels too. For example, in the earlier levels of “The Plutonia Experiment”, there is a lot of extra foliage and/or rain that really helps to make these levels look even more like ancient ruins 🙂

Plus, this mod adds a proper visible bridge to level two. Seriously, this is SUCH an improvement 🙂

Not only that, the very best level in “The Plutonia Experiment” (Level 29 – “Odyssey Of Noises” 🙂 ) not only has a really cool post-apocalyptic makeover… but you can also find a fricking tank that you can actually drive around the level and fight the monsters with. Yes, this makes this enjoyably challenging level a bit easier… but it also makes an extremely epic level even more epic.

Three! Two! One! Let’s jam!

The changes to “Ultimate Doom” are, from what I’ve seen so far, a lot more extensive and – although these changes are mostly cosmetic (eg: new skyboxes, decorative sprites, wall textures etc…) they really help to add a bit of extra atmosphere and horror to these classic levels 🙂

All in all, this is modding at it’s best. It turns a familiar game into something that is radically different, yet still recognisable. Whilst it certainly isn’t the “definitive” way to play the classic “Doom” games and the changes can occasionally mess with the difficulty of some “official” levels, it is still an incredibly impressive mod that not only makes the gameplay feel excitingly new but is also crammed with all sorts of fascinating and cool details too. Yes, it isn’t for the squeamish, but it can occasionally be a fun supplement to a session of “Final Doom” or any of the other classic games.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would just about get a five.

Mini Review: “Doom Christmas – For Doom II & Final Doom” (Mod for “Doom II”/”Final Doom”)

Although I still plan to write more book reviews, I was determined to review something else “Doom II”-related before Christmas. So, I thought that I’d quickly check out a rather interesting little mod called “Doom Christmas – For Doom II & Final Doom“.

As usual, I used the “ZDoom” source port whilst playing this mod. However, it seems to have been designed to work in pretty much any source port (eg: the readme text states that no advanced engine is needed and that it will run with “Chocolate Doom”). Plus, for the sake of time, I also used cheat codes whilst looking at the stuff in this mod.

So, let’s take a quick look at “Doom Christmas – For Doom II & Final Doom”:

“Doom Christmas – For Doom II & Final Doom” is a Christmas-themed mod that includes new music, sounds, skyboxes, menu text, end level screens and textures.

Although most of these are things that I’ve seen in Christmas-themed WADs before, it’s absolutely great to see so many of them within the same WAD 🙂

Yay! Nostalgia 🙂 Both for the 1990s and for other Christmas-themed WADs too 🙂

This mod gives “Doom II” an absolutely wonderful “1990s Christmas” kind of atmosphere 🙂 One cool feature is that several of the wall/floor textures and skyboxes have been replaced with more festive ones, which gives familiar levels much more of a “Christmassy” atmosphere. Likewise, many of the item sprites are now covered with snow too.

Merry Doom-mas 🙂

The changes to the weapons are fairly subtle, but they work really well. Whilst the basic shotgun now has a bow on it, the super shotgun has a slightly more “frosty” grey texture and the plasma rifle now fires sparkly red/green projectiles, the best weapon change has to be to the fist – which is replaced by a candy cane.

The monster sprite replacements are pretty cool, with the basic “zombie” monsters being replaced with Santa Clauses. In addition to this, lots of other familiar festive monster sprites also make an appearance here too.Not to mention that the cyberdemon now has a cool green/grey colour scheme too.

It isn’t that festive, but it looks really cool nonetheless 🙂

Although the Arch-vile, Spider Mastermind and Mancubus don’t receive any graphical changes, one cool feature is that several of the monsters now have new sound effects (and will say various festive things, which is hilarious).

In terms of music, each level of “Doom II” has a new Christmas-themed MIDI file – with a full list available in the readme text for the mod. Seriously, there is something wonderfully nostalgic about Christmas MIDI music and it’s great to see such a large selection here 🙂 Although, annoyingly “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” isn’t included though.

All in all, this mod is absolutely brilliant 🙂 Yes, there isn’t that much in the way of truly new stuff here, but this doesn’t matter. If you want a distillation of everything wonderful about Christmas-themed “Doom II” stuff, or you just want to add a bit of amusement and variety to the vanilla versions of “Doom II” and “Final Doom”, then this mod is well worth checking out.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a four.

[OLD VERSION] Mini Review: “Swanky Moppets” (Mod/TC For “Ultimate Doom”/ “Doom II”/ “Final Doom”/ “ZDoom”)

[Note: I write these articles fairly far in advance of publication. And, between writing and posting this review/first impressions article, an updated version of this mod (now called “Gloom Busters”) has apparently been released. So, this review is more of a historical curio, and it is NOT a review of the mod in it’s current state.]

Well, it’s been a while since I reviewed anything “Doom”-related, so I thought that I’d take a quick look at a very unique mod/TC for all of the classic “Doom” games called “Swanky Moppets“.

As usual, I used the “ZDoom” source port whilst playing this mod. Likewise, at the time of writing, I’ve only had the chance to play this mod for 2-4 hours at most -so, this is more of a “first impressions” article than anything else.

Anyway, let’s take a look at “Swanky Moppets”:

The besy way to describe “Swanky Moppets” is that it’s kind of like a cross between those “Purple Ronnie” cartoons that were inexplicably popular during the 1990s, “Chex Quest” and the old “Commander Keen” games. It’s also literally the polar opposite of “Brutal Doom“. But, at the same time, it’s also it’s own unique thing as well. And it’s hilarious! Here’s the story for the game:

The “Don’t cark it!” part still makes me laugh 🙂

Seriously, I can’t overstate how funny this mod is. Yes, most of the humour is on the subtle side – but it’s always great to see a modern “Doom” mod that doesn’t try to be gritty or serious. This is a mod that’s about classic 1990s style fun, humour, personality and innovation. It’s totally and utterly silly in the best sense of the word.

For example, you’ll find a disposable camera (anyone remember those?), which you can use to take selfie photos with. Although this is a fun novelty, after taking about 10-20 photos, you’ll find that you’ve somehow broken the space-time continuum and have frozen time for about 30 seconds or so (possibly more). You’ll also have goth-vision too!

My whole life is a darkroom… one, big, dark room.

Plus, one of the other weapons is a badass motorbike with flames painted on it! Yes! Just yes!

Born to be wild!

Likewise, all of the well-animated weapons in this mod have a really cartoonish look to them and they’ll often cause large, sparkly explosions when fired. Seriously, this is one of those things that has to be seen to be believed – but the whole screen will often literally be filled with sparkles during firefights:

Yay! Remember when weapons in computer games used to be this joyous and whimsical? Yes, I miss those days too!

Another cool thing about this mod is the sheer number of weapons on offer – I’ve played it for a couple of hours and I still haven’t seen all of them. Yes, many of them are various types of cartoonish laser guns, but they also often include alternative fire modes too – which is a really cool touch.

However, the visual changes included in this mod are something of a mixed bag. Although the replacements for many of the in-game objects are quirky, funny and interesting – the wall textures can sometimes include clashing colours and/or look slightly too bright.

I guess that this is part of the “look” of the mod, but I’d have preferred it if the mod had stuck to one or two basic colour palettes and had included a balanced mixture of light and dark wall textures in order to give the levels more visual contrast. Still, the visual effects that appear when using certain power-ups make up for this:

Yes, WHY didn’t the original “Doom II” look more like this?

Yes, it might make your eyes bleed if you look at it too long. But, palm trees, sparkles and 1980s colours!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

Plus, if you play “Ultimate Doom” with this mod, then you’ll be treated to a really cool animated screen when you finish each level (in the first episode at least, I haven’t looked at the others with this mod).

Although “Doom II” and “Final Doom” just display a static image at the end of each level, it’s still really cool to see an animated completion screen in “Doom”. Seriously, I don’t think that I’ve seen one of these before!

The enemy design in this mod is, in a word, superb! All of the other characters have a distinctive, cartoonish aesthetic – and you’ll actually feel kind of bad about shooting at the adorable cast of characters and creatures that you’ll encounter.

This mod is wonderfully cartoonish.

Still, in classic “Commander Keen” fashion – the other characters don’t actually die when you shoot them, they just kind of sit down and grin at you. The creatures, on the other hand, explode into a delightful shower of sparkles.

Awww… Aren’t they adorable? Now, let’s turn them into sparkles!

As for the music and sound design, it’s surprisingly good. A lot of the music seems to consist of cool remixes of the classic “Doom” music and they can actually sound surprisingly dramatic.

As for the sound design, this mod is filled with precisely the kind of “Commander Keen”-style bleeping and zapping sounds that you would expect.

Yes, this sounds pretty much EXACTLY like you’d expect it to sound.

All in all, this mod is fun, unique and very 1990s in the best possible way. It hearkens back to a time when games were joyously silly and even tried to make the player laugh sometimes. It reminds me of a time when games each had their own unique “personality” and aesthetic.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a four.