I've played a decent number of Doom WADs in my time, and they almost all run into the same problem for me: excess. 32 levels, slaughter maps, maps with 500+ enemies. I personally find this style of WAD to be completely exhausting, and even though I've overall enjoyed some of them (others not so much) I still tend to walk away feeling like I would've preferred things scaled back a notch or two.

So then comes Sigil, designed by John Romero himself and only 8 levels long, which I can honestly say is the most refreshing bit of Doom I've played in quite some time. Instead of massive hordes Sigil relies on clever enemy placement, deliberate resource allocation, and unique level design to challenge the player in ways I personally find to be 10 times more engaging than most of what else I've played. Sigil is hard, don't get me wrong, but I never felt like it was being cheap or repetitive. I was actually a bit hesitant going into this since it's only Doom 1 monsters but Romero really knows how to do a lot with so little, I'd forgotten there was a time when Cacodemons could feel like a legitimate threat.

Of course I couldn't sing the praises of Sigil without mentioning the stunning visuals or rocking midis. I've heard great things about the Buckethead soundtrack and I'll definitely check it out sometime, but it's got some stiff competition. I guess if I had anything to complain about I'd say a couple of the levels were a bit too dark, but given the insane amount of visual options most source ports have today it's almost not worth mentioning.

Sigil was a blast from start to finish, and I think it's awesome to see Romero return to the game he helped create and show everyone he's still got it. Can't recommend it enough.

I don't understand the Doom community. Like, seriously, I'm not trying to be a hater or judge anyone for their taste, I just genuinely do not understand what people think is fun about WADs like this. Half of it is locking you in tiny rooms with a million enemies you can't dodge, and the other half is giant arenas with a million enemies where you can kinda dodge. It's either frustratingly difficult or tedious and boring. If you aren't save scumming the same battle 100 times over until you get lucky, you're hiding in a doorway pumping an endless amount of rockets.

Tetanus in particular loves to give you rockets and then immediately throw you in rooms where you blow yourself up trying to use them. It almost never gave me plasma so the BFG and Plasma Gun were rarely viable options. I made it to the onslaught at the end of level 9 and gave up, it's just not worth it to me. The visuals are pretty and it's got some nice original music, but the gameplay just melts my brain. Give me vanilla Doom 2 any day over this, 100% unironically.

HOLY SHIT I HAD THIS GAME BACK IN THE DAY

I FELT SO FUCKING COOL SWINGING THAT STUBBY LITTLE LIGHTSABER AROUND

Good times. Wish I still owned it.

Possibly a hot take but I think the simpler level design of Wolfenstein's level design lends itself to this combat system a bit better then Doom's does. Unfortunately that also leads to it feeling very repetitive by the end of it, 6 chapters of classic Wolfenstein didn't bother me so much because of how chill it is but by the end of this I was exhausted. They've gone way overboard with some of the enemies and boss fights, you just cannot dodge all the shit they throw at you during these fights sometimes, especially in the later chapters. I think it suffers from too many similar weapons as well. Swapping through 10 different sub-machine guns to find the one with ammo in it fucked me more than once, although I did eventually switch over to no reloading mode which I think makes the game play better. I actually started Spear of Destiny after finishing the main 6 chapters, but I was just way too burnt out by that point so I quit for now. I'll probably return someday.

I know this review sounds pretty negative but I did have fun blasting Nazi scum to bits, especially during the early chapters. It's just something that's probably best experienced in short bursts and not your main source of sanity while you're recovering from a nasty cold, so I'll say that's at least a bit on me haha.

I'm not sure what's more concerning, me having the urge to replay this janky mess or the fact that I actually enjoyed it this time. Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty about this game you can criticize. The hit detection is wonky, the keys are tiny and impossible to spot, and some of the level design is so stupid I question the sanity of the people who actually made it.

But it's also hilarious, charming, full of personality, and runs on one of my favorite video game engines. The weapons are creative and unique, the characters are lively, and there's honestly a lot more fun encounters and level design than I originally gave this credit for. One thing that helped a lot this time was playing with auto-aim on. I don't know why I've had an aversion to playing with it on but it's a massive help for this game and makes some of the weapons way more useful than before. I'm not sure if it was me being familiar with the levels but I honestly didn't find them nearly as confusing and irritating as the first time I played it.

So yeah, I kinda love this game now. Maybe you could call it a guilty pleasure, but I've never particularly liked that term. I like it. Sue me lol.

A little disappointed that I didn't love this like most people seem to but I did have a lot of fun with it! If you like Quake I don't see any reason you'll dislike this, it's basically just a beefed up version: tougher enemies, stronger weapons, and some absolutely gorgeous vistas to shoot through. The visuals are easily the best thing this mod has going for it, there's so much detail and variety in every location that it blows the sludgey look of the original out of the water.

The decision to make the shotguns fire projectiles is one I don't entirely understand the logistics behind and yet I really liked it, it made them all feel a bit more tactical and satisfying to use. The new triple shotgun and lightning gun are pretty cool but I think the arsenal still needed some more touching up. There's some enemies with crossbows that I think would've been great if you could've used, for instance.

My biggest issue with Arcane Dimensions is level design, specifically how massive some of them are. These are some of the biggest and most sprawling FPS maps I've ever seen, and while that's impressive, I don't think the game always does a good job leading you through them. Lot's of them have tons of branching paths and secrets and it's so easy to get lost and confused and spend time running in circles unsure of what to do. Really makes you wish Quake had a map, I honestly can't believe this mod didn't add one.

I also feel like the mod has a tendency to introduce cool stuff and then just forget about it. There's a cool level where you get double jump boots and I swear I never once saw them again. There's enemies too that show up in a couple levels and then just disappear. I don't know, I think the whole thing feels a little scattershot to me. I would've liked something with a bit more cohesion to it as opposed to just random levels. Finding secrets feels way less rewarding knowing you're just gonna lose all your stuff at the end of the level. And why the heck did so few levels give me the rocket launcher? It's such a staple of Quake's combat that it just made things feel tedious. Really could've used some more original music too, I'm getting sick of hearing the same tracks over and over again.

Maybe I'm just Quaked-out at this point but this mod left me feeling a bit numb. I enjoyed my time with it for the most part but it's just too much at times. More impressive then seamless.

Potentially controversial take but I don't think Quake 1 holds up as well as other shooters from the era. It's still a fun game don't get me wrong, but I've always felt it's a great interior with a bleh exterior. The core combat of Quake is really solid, from the movement to feedback everything about the engine was obviously priority number 1, and I think that's why it's fun to play. It's just that, for me, the rest of the game around that isn't as interesting as it's contemporaries. The atmosphere is sort of a strange hodgepodge of Lovecraft, medieval, and sci-fi that never really makes anything cohesive, with the overwhelmingly brown color palette being a big reason. The weapons are fine for what they are but feel safe and limited. Other games like Duke 3D and Blood had Shrink rays and Voodoo dolls, but the craziest Quake ever gets is a lightning gun with relatively limited ammo. Probably my biggest hot take about Quake is that the music is kinda dull and forgettable. No disrespect to Trent Reznor, he's super talented, but I just don't think these tracks stick with me much.

All that being said though it's still a fun time. I respect it as a massive leap forward but I just think other games did it better. To look at it a bit more optimistically, I think it goes to show how many great retro shooters there are when a relatively enjoyable game like Quake can fall kinda far below the rest for me. I just love this genre I suppose.





Oh yeah and minus a million points for the fucking blobs in chapter 4, those things can die in whatever hellish nightmare realm ID Software conjured them from.

One of the most atmospheric, creative, and surprisingly hilarious shooters I've ever played. Everything from the ground up is built around this hyperspecific time and place of 1980s Czechoslovakia that makes it feel so personal. This is not the kind of game that would ever come from a committee, this is the work of one lunatic through and through.

The "game-feel" is one of the biggest challenges for retro shooters in my opinion and HROT nails it. The weapons aren't the most unique but they all serve their purpose well and are satisfying to use. Beyond the gameplay there's just so many bizarre and memorable things in this game that I could easily ramble about for hours but I'd rather not spoil them all. All I'll say is the amount of work that must have gone into one-off gags just makes them all the more hilarious to me. Play this game. It's legitimately one of a kind.

Does Quake 1's atmosphere better than Quake. Fight me.

In all seriousness I had a lot of fun with this game despite, or perhaps because of, it's quirks. The aforementioned atmosphere is a lot like Quake's but with not just more color but variety. The weapons are all brutal and satisfying to use thanks to the dismemberment system, the saw blades being one of my favorites. You just chuck em around like a lunatic slicing limbs off like crazy. It honestly makes the combat more dynamic too since it's genuinely advantageous to aim for an arm or the head. I'd heard some people complain about a lack of ammo for certain weapons but I thought they all had enough time to shine.

Admittedly there's a lot about Chasm that's a bit lacking, like the flat level design, but apparently that was because the engine is actually only 2.5D and was only capable of creating levels reminiscent of Wolf 3D which is honestly so impressive to me I don't even care. The voice acting is also quite cheesy, but that just adds to the charm for me.

Chasm is a game I can understand not leaving much of an impression on a lot of folks. However, if your brain happens to be wired like mine or David Szymanski's, I highly recommend checking it out. It's a stange gem.

I hate to rag on this too much considering how early it was made, and there are a lot of nice visuals and impressive stuff done with the engine, but the actual gameplay is awkward and frustrating. Supplies are very hard to come by, not just ammo but ESPECIALLY health. Not sure if heart drops were made more uncommon but it sure felt like it. Any damage you take you're pretty much forced to deal with the whole chapter. There's a lot of "setpieces" that are neat on paper but just annoying to actually play, like the exploding train that gives you barely enough time to escape. The levels are also disappointingly low on enemies. The only exception is bosses, which the game throws pretty frequently and I almost always ran past them because I literally didn't have the ammo for them. How you're supposed to fight Tchernobog at the end is beyond me. I dunno, I love Blood because of the insane carnage and this mod gives me almost none of that. Just a lot of running around and save scumming. At least it's short.

Dark Forces isn't just a great FPS, but a great Star Wars game too. The aesthetic, story, and missions all capture the feeling of the original trilogy perfectly, while still finding plenty of room to chart it's own path through a galaxy far, far away.

Edit: forgot to mention I played this with the new source port, The Force Engine. Had a few visual glitches but overall it's incredible and long overdue for this game. Highly recommend using it if the DOS era clunkiness turned you off from the game.