Scythe 2 is the best megawad

You guys ought to quit finding new ways to dislike things.

I like good maps and the scythe series offers just that, apart from MAP28 from the first one.
AV is a mixed bag with mostly mediocre maps, that's why scythe is better IMO.

Oi you take that back. The roast can only go so far!

I typed a super long response to this a few weeks ago that self-destructed for some lame-ass reason, but boiled down to it's most basic form, I feel that Scythe 1 hit an uncannily perfect sense of progression. The levels were all small but in my opinion very memorable, I haven't played it in over 6 months at least and can still easily recall most maps. The level of detail looked polished but was not overbearing, again a perfect balance. Each MIDI suited it's corresponding map as well as should be expected. On top of all that, the difficulty curve was just right:

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It's fucking brilliant. As far my perceptions go, I think it was almost a stroke of accidental brilliance in it's overall composition. Not that Erik's great mapping skills are somehow 'accidental', moreso in that each map in Scythe 1 somehow perfectly fit where it belonged in the difficulty curve.

This isn't nostalgia talking either - I played Memento Mori and AV in about 2003, many years before Scythe (which I never got around to until the 2010s) and still found it came out on top easily.

Having mentioned the fist MM though, I'm honestly fucking shocked to see it mentioned nowhere in this thread. I feel that, as a whole experience, it is also more fun than Sctyhe 2. Sure some of the Scythe 2 maps may be more fun individually, but MM is a damn good experience that flows very well from one map to the next, in my opinion.

The 3 most enjoyable campaigns ever made for classic Doom are as follows for me:

1- Scythe
2- Memento Mori
3- Doom 2

Why not? I love lists!

If someone that actually had good taste were an admin.. this thread would have been locked a long time ago.

There's no problem with your self esteem, that's for sure!

Solid list.  I'm glad you mentioned Plutonia 2, because not enough people talk about that one anymore.  Some really great levels in that wad.

Somewhat unrelated, but did anyone ever play Daedalus: Alien Defense?  I always wondered whether that wad was good, but couldn't figure out how to pass the first level.  I think you might need to have jumping/crouching enabled.

And not PRCP in the list? :'( I prefer PRCP than Plutonia 2, but I think that it's not the subject about on this thread x)

Added bonus is that I was involved in both of those, valkiriforce

Doom 2 - I enjoyed Shareware Doom, but didn't know about Doom 2 until a year later in 1998 when I spotted it on a store shelf at Toys 'R' Us. I was blown away by the large scale of the levels and the new Super Shotgun weapon with loads of all-new monsters. This was a great introduction to the bigger picture of what Doom is supposed to embody and I really love the wide open spaces of maps like The Factory, Downtown, Industrial Zone and plenty of other classic levels.

The Plutonia Experiment - I had only played The Ultimate Doom, Doom 2 and Doom 64 up to about 2009 when I suddenly had the urge to play Doom games again. I finally decided to get around to playing Final Doom and since I was unaware of source ports I used Doom95 which came with the Doom Collector's Edition box set I bought back in 2004. Plutonia is actually the first IWAD that is selected in the launcher since it sorts the wads alphabetically, and I hadn't really known about Final Doom being two separate 32-level episodes atogether, so I played Plutonia and quickly found out how difficult it could be. I was consistently amazed at how clever the designs of the maps were and how cool it was that it was a bigger challenge all around. I think for Plutonia the maps are really great small/medium-sized levels that play like an arcade shooter, and that's usually my favorite way to play Doom with lots of fast frenetic action. For me Plutonia was a huge inspiration since they are the first actual PWAD-type levels outside of Id Software (and Midway) that I had played. I didn't think much about what fanmade levels would play or look like but this one left a very big impression on me that people were just as capable of producing memorable levels.

TNT: Evilution - I'll admit on my first playthrough I did find this fun, but felt there were some sections I didn't care as much for and felt that Plutonia was the better IWAD of the two. However I've warmed up to those parts over time like Drake O'Brien's gigantic adventure maps (especially Central Processing) and other levels like them that I came to appreciate. It's hard to pick between these two IWADs, but overall I think they're both worthy affairs, and TNT has some of my all-time favorite levels with Pharaoh, Caribbean and other maps with great atmospheres.

Memento Mori - This was the first megawad I had actually played from beginning to end outside of the IWADs. Once again completely amazed at the level of quality both in the maps and especially the music, which I found to be captivatingly Doomy in just about every way. I also find this to be one of the most replayable megawads due to how quickly a number of maps can be beaten.

Memento Mori II - Memento Mori's bigger and more mature brother, even though it would technically be the younger megawad. Much bigger levels this time around with all three episodes sticking to a more 'hellish' atmosphere. There are plenty more great maps in this one but I think episode 3 has a lot of greats like R.R.F. Refinery, Forgotten Town, The Silos, Corporate Hell and Kings of Metal. I would put the first above this one but MM2 has a better sense of detail and feeling of place. Oh yeah, more great music in this one too.

Requiem - Somewhat of a third iteration of the Memento Mori megawads, only this one had plenty of crazy special effects like double 3D bridges and swinging doors. It also contains some sendoff maps such as Thomas Möller's "nataS ot etubirT" and Dario Casali's "Hatred" although I do feel Requiem's lesser maps are probably the weakest imo. Once again awesome soundtrack.

Icarus: Alien Vanguard - For me this is really just a nostalgic experience - there are a lot of maps that really aren't pretty to look at, but I also really find some of the less aggravating puzzles to be fun. I think episode 3 once again has some of the best maps and soundtrack. Man, that soundtrack...I think it may have some of the catchiest music I've heard in Doom outside of the other megawads I'd mentioned. I love the intensity of reaching the later maps like Engine Core, Excavations and Brutality, and the mysterious sendoff of "Gresta" as the ending music. To me this like a mysterious TNT PWAD adventure of the 90's that I like to explore every once in a while. The first time I played this I felt it was the kind of game that actually made me look forward to whenever I would get to continue the adventure, since you could never guess what would come next.

Eternal Doom - HUGE levels...well, maybe not so much compared to what's been released nowadays. Still, lots of huge puzzling maps which as far as I know is certainly a rarity outside of the 90's, considering how much puzzle maps can be looked down upon from people who don't have the patience for those things. Otherwise, I think Eternal Doom reaches the boundary of being a thinking man's action game between solving the monstrosity of a dark castle and surviving the hordes of zombies and demons hunting you down. Hugely atmospheric and outlandish experience that to me stands out as likely the most brilliant work that has ever been produced by any community of mappers. Over time I've only become more impressed knowing as a mapper what it must have taken to produce maps like this back then and even nowadays it could prove to be challenging. Some of the puzzle maps I've made were some of the toughest to think through, so I definitely have a spot for Eternal Doom on my list. This was another wad that I kept getting excited to continue and find out what happens next, which for me is a rarity.

Alien Vendetta - Love the atmosphere, love the action, love the adventure maps...so much character going on here, it's hard to keep track of it all. I actually really enjoy rushing maps like Nemesis or Misri Halek once in a while and getting a faster finishing time with them. I also find this wad very replayable especially on ZDaemon servers where lots of people can join the action. Nothing like having a team of Doomguys working together managing the hordes of monsters teleporting in on maps like Demonic Hordes or Dark Dome.

Plutonia 2 - This is like Plutonia and AV's lovechild in my mind. Gusta pretty much steals the show with a lot of his fun designs like Wormhole Zone and Nuclear Horror. Huge, exploratory earth and hell maps that's loads of fun to play again with people over ZDaemon.

Doom 2 Reloaded - I've been meaning to return to this one for a while now, however the impression I got when I played through this the first time around 7 years ago still remains with me. I thought the first six maps or so were some of the weaker maps, but it started getting much better after that. There's some great city maps in episode 2, and episode 3 I think might just have some of the best hell maps I've ever played. I also really like the secret level remake of Entryway and the huge puzzle affair that is MAP32.

Hell Revealed - Hordes! Once in a while when I'm in the mood for something slaughtery, I'll come back to something like this or HR2. Once again an ideal megawad for ZDaemon servers since you can work together with others to figure out some messes like Post Mortem or Afterlife.

Hell Revealed II - Same reason as above however I still think Jonas Feragen's maps are loads of fun. Really fast action-packed maps in the first episode that I really like, and I also like his concepts like Mind Trap and Cauldron.

Scythe - Fast-paced maps that are fun to play, well-balanced and becomes progressively difficult. I think MAP29 is one of my favorite penultimate maps and is worth mentioning here for that reason alone.

Scythe 2 - I did have a blast going through this the firs time, but I did feel it was a bit too samey in areas and didn't mix things up as much as I'd like. Also a really good co-op wad with some cool ideas like the evil marine and the afrit.

Plutonia Revisited - More Plutonia goodness, 'nuff said.

TNT: Revilution - Finally an all-new megawad for the TNT IWAD. Love the soundtrack, and love the unorthodox and contrary designs that are helped by TNT's curveball designs. Kind of puts an interesting twist on the modern mapping traits while mixing in some anomalies as inspired from the 90's original. This wad, Memento Mori and the original TNT I think had the best last levels of any megawads I have played.

I think that's about it for me. Also while it isn't a spectacularly great megawad I feel Cleimos 2 deserves a mention since it inspired some unorthodox designs in my mapping and I really like levels like Stairway To Hell, The Five, Rise & Fall, Hip-Deep, Full Metal Island, The Ungathered and the interconnected nature of the maps which inspired me to do similarly (though later in development) in Reverie. I better stop now before I keep expanding my list.

Scythe 2 is a good megawad but nothing beats Kama Sutra according to me (maybe Eternal Slumber Party but whatever). I like hell and egyptian maps but I'm always fascinated and amused of the detailling in KS contrary to Scythe 2.