The Becoming

This is quality here. Level design is well-worked, effort is clearly here...

Though... I played on UV, ammo and health are way too rare, even on continuous play :/

I have really right enough ammo and health to finish a map. Everytime I died, it was because I caught myself in a trap with only 10 or 20 HP.

MAP03 as everyone said below is a special case... :

4/5 because I don't want to shame this, and because author warn this is designed for HMP first.

Despite what I said, I highly recommend you to download this !

It's tough, moody, and vanilla-compatible. Excellent use of IWAD textures and a nice soundtrack make this Episode 2 replacement very compelling and definitely worth a play for vanilla purists. E2M3 is a particular standout although I really didn't care for E2M8. That said, totally worth a download.

Played in PrBoom+ (complevel 3), UV, pistol starts, with saves.

I've only made it up to map 3 so far.  But dayum!  I gotta say!  This is a totally cool set of maps!

Awesome E2 replacement. Very atmospheric, great use of stock textures, especially in the transition to the hell theme. Had some unique moments, like the path leading up to the exit "teleporter" on M4 or the whole of M3, which was a very cool concept. Cool music too.

this is a pretty nice E2 replacement, difficulty remains consistent and the fun factor is definitely there with the non-linearity of the levels. also the wad and its levels are titled after NIN songs which is cool, and the soundtrack actually is unique. E2M3 is pretty unique and so is E2M8. worth at least one go.

I played a few minutes of e2m3 and nearly had a heart attack. This looks right up my ally. Thanks.

Oh, and the music is flawless. Much obliged, yall.

edit: This is really more of an E3 replacement than an E2 replacement. The familiar visages is a trope to E3, and the total lack of crushers sorta defies what I think is elemental to E2. There is some Beserk idolization early on, and familiar map layouts later on. I have yet to beat the boss stage, but generally this is pretty stress inducing without being too difficult.

A Good Cyberdemon is Hard to Find.

Still fairly new to Doom, but I've gotta say that this was incredible. Loved the interconnectivity that was memorable to keep it from being byzantine. Favourite is E2M3 by far. Didn't care for E2M8. The rest I really dug quite a bit, though.

A pretty good episode 2 replacement with a few minor niggles here and there, that thankfully doesn't stray too far away from the essential nuts & bolts gameplay that we know and love doom 1 for.

I will definitely keep my eye on this authors future work.

Nice vanilla maps with fantastic music. You captured very well the atmosphere of the original Doom. Bravo!

Doom 1 with challenging but fluent action is always something that's difficult to achieve. There are some moments here that are too aggressive in mauling you with pain and death, but in overall the WAD is excellent with visuals barely, but still, surpassing the vanilla E2. Despite some use of high HP enemies there's always either enough ammo to kill them, or enough of space to skip or postpone the fight.

The last map, though, is something really, really stupid, as felgro has already stated. It seems it was supposed to be extra-hard, but actually it just makes your left hand twitch into a gesture that can press ALT+F4, and then you press ALT+F4.