KZDoom1 (KZDOOM1.WAD)

KZDOOM1
by Kurt Kesler

Kurt Kesler made a lot of single map releases for Doom II. KZDoom marks the series that was made solely for Doom's most advanced port at the time, ZDoom. Of the seven maps in the series (not counting the unfinished KZDoom8), KZDoom1 was the first, released in 1999. It's a medium-size MAP01 replacement, fielding just over 150 monsters. It's in a bit of a tech theme with most of the action taking place in some kind of factory with the rest occurring in a more natural outdoors section. There's no plot; Kurt just describes it as dumping you into the center of a highly secured factory which you have to escape.

Herian 2 (HERIAN2.WAD)

Ian Wilson published Herian in 1998; about a year or so later in 1999, we saw the release of Herian2, its sequel, and to date the last entry in the series. Like the original, H2 is a thirty-two map replacement for Doom II that features a number of sprite replacements for Doom II enemies culled from Heretic. There are some differences, though. Herian2 actually features a story, first of all. It makes more sense if you use Wilson's TC package (this download bundled by the late, great Jive), which replaces all inappropriate enemies and the weapons with stuff from Heretic and Hexen. Essentially, it takes place pre-pre-pre-Doom, and post-Herian. It turns out Herian was the player character's war against infernal powers, back when the forces of Hell and the Serpent Riders were united. He thought he had won, but when he prepares to settle down, there's another assault that he must fight off.

Atomic Tomb (AT.WAD)

ATOMIC TOMB
by Brad "Vorpal" Spencer

Brad Spencer, one of the chief contributors to the now legendary Alien Vendetta, published Atomic Tomb way back in 2000. It's is a super-fast OG Doom level, replacing E1M1, and meant to be played in Boom-compatible source ports. His lip service style story says that you're one of the marines stationed on Mars after Deimos vanishes and Hell invades, circa the original trilogy. It's up to you to fight off the invasion as all your fellow marines are slain.

Herian (HERIAN.WAD)

Ian Wilson has but two entries in his Doom legacy, but both are full Doom II megaWADs. Herian is the first, to be played in limit-removing ports (followed by Herian2 for a very early release of ZDoom). At the very least, Wilson recommends against using it in vanilla Doom due to visplane errors (though only one instance is specifically mentioned). Herian has no given story; Wilson just rattles of a list of influences, including the entire Doom family of games - Doom, Doom II, Heretic, Hexen, Strife - in addition to Apogee's Rise of the Triad and Duke Nukem 3D. It draws its main aesthetic from Heretic and Hexen as it uses a number of their resources and pulls a few monster replacements (in sprites, not mechanics).

More New Stuff

I have stealthily (until now) added a few new pages. Statistics is just numbers porn, derived not wholly but at least in part from Colin Phipps's Doom Underground. It resulted in a pretty thorough review of my actual numbers, finding that I had somehow missed counting a handful of reviews and authors and a bunch of maps (in the neighborhood of 150!). I also added Icons of Sin, an index of id-sanctioned "commercial" releases which will eventually be filled out. I snuck in overview posts for Final Doom and the Wraith Corp. megaWADs, kind of like the Master Levels summary. Finally, the Perdition's Gate and Hell to Pay reviews have new screenshots in the 640X style. They are hands-free, at the base brightness level, and have no embarrassingly stretched skies. Enjoy!

The CHORD Series

THE CHORD SERIES
by Malcolm Sailor

as featured in Super Serials

CHORD1	CHORD2
CHORD_NG	CHORDG
CHORD3

Malcolm Sailor was a pretty prolific author in Doom's heyday. While he was a participant in several famous projects (most notably The Talosian Incident) his real claim to fame is his CHORD series, five single levels released from 1997 to 2000. Not all CHORD levels are created equal; while each showcases Sailor's attitude toward nasty, challenging gameplay, the first two are more embryonic, displaying less of the highly-tuned architecture, detailing and lighting that characterize the latter three. In fact, CHORD2 stands farther apart with a much larger level size, including a vast outer yard with castle battlements that flies in the face of his usually carefully-orchestrated encounters.

CHORD3 (CHORD3.WAD)

CHORD3
by Malcolm Sailor

Malcolm Sailor's CHORD series is renowned for its uncompromising brutality. It only stands to reason that his swan song for Doom, CHORD3, is the nastiest down and dirty level in the family. It's a MAP27 replacement for Doom II, meant for limit-removing ports. It's also a return, of sorts, to the themes explored in CHORD1 and CHORD2, the first two being Promethean explorations of the style that would dominate what was (is?) in his mind the pinnacle of his authorial career. To that end, CHORD3 begins in a Hellish mansion, much like the aforementioned levels, but plumbs new depths as Sailor takes you on a strange journey.

Demonfear (DMONFEAR.WAD)

Adam Windsor created Demonfear over the span of several years, releasing it in six episodes over 1995 and 1998. When finished, he collected the levels into a megaWAD and published it in 1999. The final product consists of a full thirty-two maps for Doom II, playable in vanilla. The intention was a complete replacement functional in solo, co-op, and DM play. It even has a story .TXT to go along with it which helps to set the tone of some of the levels with the occasional hint. As usual, Hell has caught Earth by surprise, and it's up to you to defend the planet, starting with the military base you were stationed at. After running around (and beyond) Terra for the first half, you enter a portal and continue the fight in a sort of twisted facsimile of our dimension.

HeDRoX 2 (HEDROX2.WAD)

Rodrigo Acevedo, aka "El Rodo", clinched a coveted Cacoward in 2005 with the release of HeDRoX, a short, highly detailed level for Doom II. HeDRoX 2, its sequel, is a considerably longer adventure, published in 2013. It's actually two maps, arranged similarly to Galaxia. The first level is the main draw with the second serving as a separate finale. As before, Acevedo suggests you play HeDRoX 2 with ZDoom. Actually, he also wants to see you play his level with Brutal Doom, looking at the .TXT. I used the former. Similarly, there's no provided story for HeDRoX part deux. It's just another nondescript techbase for you to plow through.

HeDRoX: Doom 3060 Apocalipse (HEDROX.WAD)

HEDROX
DOOM 3060 APOCALIPSE
by Rodrigo "El Rodo" Acevedo

HeDRoX is a single map for Doom II released in 2005. The author, Rodrigo Acevedo, suggests using ZDoom to play the level as it is considerably detail-intensive, but limit removal isn't the reason it's suggested for ZDoom. Suffice it to say, use something in the ZDoom family if you want to play HeDRoX. There's no real plot, though the subtitle suggests that the year is 3060, and some end-of-the-world shit is going down. Doomguy arrives on some kind of mostly underground base, because that's what Doomguys do, and proceeds to slay all the demons entrained within.