That one WAD you will come back to replay

For Ultra Nostalgia™ there will always be HOOVER by Michael Reed! It was one of the first, if not THE first pwad(s) I ever played. The visuals of the canyon made a lasting impression, and the "journey" towards the top combined with the many secrets and the aforementioned epic visuals gives it a high replay value, in my opinion. All of Reed's other maps totally pale in comparison.

get HOOVER.WAD here

Then, there's "semi-nostalgia" - Russell D. Pearson made a bunch of absolutely stunning levels at the start of the millenium, and those that impressed me the most was his Doom2.exe compatible levels - some of them I felt surpassed, or at least matched Alien Vendetta and Eternal Doom's most visually appealing levels.

Null Space was the first level by the author I played, and it's a damn good one! Set in a void (and this was before "void" was a popular theme), great use of both old and new complimentary textures, great flow in gameplay, not too hard, but still quite a challenge.

get NULSPACE.WAD here

A little while later, the same guy decided that LEGO bricks was a good theme for a Doom map. Lego bricks does of course make a map with lots of squares, semi-ugly texture schemes and such, but I loved the gameplay (and the gimmick of course, being a big Lego head in my childhood). Enough said.

Get LEGOBASE.WAD here


Fans of Doom2.exe compatible stuff that haven't tried these already should get to it now!

(edit: sorry I couldn't keep it to one level)

i also play thge doom2 iwad a lot but everytime i reach a sandy petersen level i just think like ... why am i playing this when i can play evilution or plutonia or doom 1 or ANY OTHER WAD EVER and then i switch over

You know what? I probably replayed Galaxia more than any other single-level WAD in existence. Other than Cyber Sweeper, of course.

mayhemicdestrvctor
I actually like the Sandy Petersen levels. I think The Factory and Suburbs are the best levels in the entire game, seriously. Not so much Spirit World, sorry xeepeep . Wait... I like Sandy Petersen levels?

The Doom 2 IWAD is mostly forgettable for me also. But maps 15 & 16 stick in my memory and are a pleasure to reminisce. 

To answer the OP's question, wads I want to replay are DBP27. I've replayed it a few times and I plan to play it again later in the year. Add DBP11 as well. I find that WAD sits comfortably in my mind. It's like fine wine. Now, the Splatterhouse TC of Impie's is excellent. I really like the gameplay, the art and the level design. I find the levels to be evocative and really take you to another world and successfully build that 'fourth wall'. I'm going to replay it one day when the time is right.

I can't really think of any more I'd want to replay, scratching my brain but nope.

I want to play Sigil, but I want to purchase the Doom IWAD first. Then I'll play it all in order.

Prepare yourself for some awesome midis in Sigil, created by James "Jimmy" Paddock.

It's only 6.66 Euro for Sigil Shreds. I think it was slightly more in USD when I got it. Meanwhile Buckethead is selling an album of the music for more. The midi soundtrack is good too.


Also, don't talk shit about Sandy Petersen! He's awesome. Maybe not all his levels are great, but he certainly made several greatly devious ones. While not an actual team lead, he did steer a lot of Doom and Quake's design, aside from pumping out the most maps. Obviously there's going to be stuff within such a quantity that isn't going to make everyone happy.

One thing for certain, is you're going to get some heck of some variety among his maps and encounter some very creative ideas, less so with the ones started by Tom Hall that he finished, but I still like those. I'll concede that Nirvana is his worst map. Slough of Despair gets a lot of hate but it plays funner than it looks and everything else gets better.


Barrels O' Fun, Tricks & Traps, Tower of Babel, Warrens, The Spirit World, The Courtyard, Suburbs, Monster Condo. I'm certainly glad to have all those in Doom. Chasm is an acquired taste. I gave Quake 1 episode 4 (which is mostly by him) another run (with a Quake 2 weapons mod) before playing the expansions.


I really hopes he makes some new maps. I saw some mention that he's thought about it but is concerned with being overshadowed by Romero's new stuff and maybe other recent work. My mapping style is more concrete and less abstract than Petersen, but I think his ideas and style affected me a lot, maybe most. Getting into reading a lot of HP Lovecraft again, I think I might get a book or two of Petersen's based in the mythos, even though I'm not into table top RPG's. Maybe I'll find some ideas to use in Doom.

i still hate sandy petersens levels sorry

No rest for the living.

I agree, and i actually prefer the midi soundtrack over the buckethead one in my opinion.

i also like to play akeldama and the wad called doom thje way id did