Return to Hadron

Wow, this is a stellar example of what a Doom wad should be.

I'll start out by saying it's not easy in any sense of the word- I recommend hurt me plenty, and I never do that, lol. Ultraviolence is almost too hard in my opinion, and I'm like a blood-drinking Doom veteran, so you might want to take my word for it. It's the kind of maps where anytime you find a major switch, all hell breaks loose all around you. Lots of cacodemons, lots of spectres, and big groups of imps. There's also a lot of nukage, but don't be too intimidated, a lot of it is just short lengths you can run.

The map design, the music choices, the gameplay? Fantastic. Very well balanced items, and not too easy either. We're talking pretty much Doom 2 amounts of monsters if not more, but in Ultimate Doom, which is also a cool aspect. There aren't very many Ultimate Doom wads these days, and I appreciate the enemies of the first game a bit more than I do Doom 2.

In the end? Very tasteful. This is one of my favorite wads, I think.

Great Ultimate Doom Episode with gorgeous and expansive architecture. You'll find a ton of hitscan enemies and especially lots of Caco swarms in these maps, but rest assured, there's always plenty of space to dodge about. Sometimes I wish the visuals would offer a bit more variety throughout this episode, but at least it is overally very coherent and later episodes offer different visuals.

Return to Hadron is an episode 1 replacement that provides equal bits of fun and challenge. Each level looks and plays good, the levels are open ended and have challenging encounters. My only complaint is E1M6 feels more like a gimmick than a regular map. Overall a high quality level I recommend if you're looking for a challenge just be prepared to die a few times.

This is possibly the most bittersweet WAD I've ever played. On one hand, the level design is incredible. The environment is detailed, but not in the way that it's distracting. But, on the other hand, it's possibly the most infuriating thing WAD I've played. Cacodemons were so dense, I was trapped in a cramped room with at least 30 them for five minutes with only a shotgun. Thank god for IDDQD. In every room, I had the thought in the back of my head: God Dammit, those doors are going to open, and I'm going to be raped by 20 Hell Knights, 50 Cacodemons, and a Spider Mastermind just for good measure. If you were to relax with Cacodemons, and perhaps have more health pickups, this would be 5/5.