What is the best WAD you ever played and why?

[CyberMonsterDude]

For me it has to be hell reaveld because its creative

[Coraline]

I think the best, as far as memorable goes, was Batman Doom. Nothing struck me like that WAD did. I remember I used to go to school and install it on the network and me and a couple of people would COOP through it. Good fun, I've always wanted to do a sequel to it.

A couple others were good...Twilight Warrior was really the first to show me that Doom can blend into a different environment, Eternal was the first to show me how epic a Doom mod can be, and Icarus should be mentioned because it was just plain fun to play through and had one kick-ass soundtrack. Action Doom was great because it was really different and Cory Whittle's update of Zombies was pretty fun as well. Those WADS made the biggest impact on me. I have yet to find any others that top that (but there are some in development, like MoUAC that I think will OWN all of those).

I have a lot of them but I must say most of the come from the generation before these new ones.

[purist]

Scythe for it's simple playability and it's restraint on monster/ammo overkill in it's early levels.

10sectors' ingenuity in overcoming it's restrictions, and feeling like a great standalone megawad even without accounting for those restrictions.

TVR for it's gameplay 'tricks' and stubborn unwillingness to conform to the cliched tech/hell standards.

In conclusion I like WADs that re-create the feeling I got from first playing Doom, rather than simply re-creating the levels.

[Megaz]

I really enjoyed Void. It was something different.

[Jodwin]

CyberMonsterDude said:

For me it has to be hell reaveld because its creative

o_O? Not to belittle HR, but "creative" would be one of the last words I'd imagine anyone using to describe it.

I enjoy so many different kinds of wads that it's really impossible to name any best ones.

[Coraline]

Megaz said:

I really enjoyed Void. It was something different.

I left that one out. Void is still fun to play.

[Death-Destiny]

It's hard to pick an absolute favorite (Scythe would be it if I had to pick one), but 5 of my favorites are Scythe, Scythe2, HR2, AV, and KSutra (Excluding "<|>"). I know that's a pretty cliched answer, but hey, I'm serious, those WADs really are worthy of their reputations.

[Grazza]

5 favourites?

HR, KS, AV, STRAIN and, hmmm, maybe Icarus, Hacx or Vile Flesh for the fifth spot.

And yes, HR is a work of creative genius.

[Artillery]

Ultimate Torment & Torture: Armory of Pain and Damantion's Keep- Because they are
CChest2: Mucus Flow- Because it's insane and ingenious at the same time
Hellcore2: Nightmare's Requiem- Because of the atmosphere and superb theme
Crusades: Unholy War- The same reasons as above
Dark7- The same reasons as above
The Darknening 2- The same reasons as above
Deus Vults- No list would be complete without mentioning those
Void- Something different, yet doomy at the same time
Equinox- Again, something very unique which doens't deviate too fat from the Doom's main intent
Eternal Doom- Epic atmosphere and great theme
Scythe 2- Great design and gameplay esp. the first two episodes and last 2 levels.
AV- A role model of a good megawad
Requiem- The same as above
HR- Pioneer of extreme gameplay, map 26- for it's uniqueness and atmosphere
Brotherhood of Ruin- Classic gameplay, unique architecture
Sapphire: Orbital Research- Atmosphere and original theme
Cheogsh- Architecture to die for

Sorry, can't decide for less then that, I could only mention more, but these are at the top of my head, because something makes them stand out from the rest of the pack.

[zap610]

I love cold as hell. It's a bit buggy but it's one of the few wads for zdoom that manages to pull off a good story and good scripting. I also liked the "survival" style gameplay.

[myk]

I actually have a hard time giving a wad 5 stars in the idgames database (actually, I haven't as far as I can recall, except to the shareware), and not because I don't like them. Maybe my true favorites are the original IWADs (for DOOM and DOOM II), if we take all considerations. Otherwise a wad is fun (3+ stars), somewhat worthwhile (2), or a failure (1 or less).

Stuff that ranks highly are the early work by TiC, the Memento Mori wads, Dweller2, Dark Covenant, a lot of levels by Richar Wiles, Scientist's stuff, TVR!, and most of Espi's levels, but the list goes on... (and it's harder to remember single levels instead of sets, unless by author).

By the way, another dude with a weird "compound" user name made an equivalent thread only two months ago:

http://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/42557-favorite-wad-ever/

[Steeveeo]

Other than ones that are going to be mentioned (ie, any of Torm's recent works, Scyth, or Deus Vult), I found Phocas Island 2 very enjoyable, due to its complete originality and different kind of difficulty than "Uberroom filld wit teh munsters" (though kind of annoying because it didnt let you even PUNCH the demons to start off, had to find the axe first), and its expansive areas and levelup ability inserted an RPG aspect into the shooter. I could go on, but just look it up in the idgames and check it out.

[Patrick]

Ultimate Torment and Torture - Daniel Gimmer - Feels like Unreal, Quake and Doom mixed together, which happen to be my three favorite games. It is very well executed and I enjoyed it (even thought it was a pain in the ass at some points)

Deus Vult 2 - Huy Pham - Deus Vult 1 was crap. This redeemed it. The maps were simply beautiful, the gameplay was challenging and fun, and it was great for many hours of Co-op with my friends. And it had Chuck Norris in it. It felt like playing one of my other favorite wads which was:

Alien Vendetta - Various - I dont need to explain this. It was awesome.

Dawn of the Dead - Jan Van der Veken - My favorite E1 replacement.

Others:
GothicDM series, The Darkening E1 & E2, Ghostbusters Doom

[myk]

Janitor said:
Deus Vult 2 - Huy Pham - Deus Vult 1 was crap. This redeemed it.

To me it's the other way around, although I wouldn't go as far to say say DVII is crap. DV offers "hell" well enough in both gameplay and ambience. DVII uses too much mish-mashing, portraits, silly looking recolored textures, and plants textures, and even includes architecture that manages to slow down my computer without enhancing the visuals, as well as gameplay that doesn't balance out well (some parts are too methodical, others too unforgiving... the Balrog-like monsters didn't help here). It did, however, produce some superb demos from Belial and Anima, which alone more or less redeemed its uneven existence.

[pcorf]

The Scythe is the Limit!

Nothing beats the original Scythe, it is truly awesome from start to finish.

Scythe 2 is just as brilliant. I like the original better but the sequel is extremley well done.

[Lord_Z]

I have to say my favorite was Void. It was the first map that I played with ACS scripting and it opened my eyes to a whole new world of mapping, where anything is possible.

[Dreadopp]

I'd have to say that two of my favorite wads are AV (Alien Vendetta) and Void.

[punnyone]

two of my favorites are:

Eternal Doom - for being very expansive, having breathtaking architecture, great music that is different on each level, and for having it seem a totally different game, but with the familiar doom enemies.

Super Sonic Doom - For having each two levels in the game have a different theme, lots of neat easter eggs, dozens of variations on doom enemies, and changing the formula and system of doom around so it seems like a whole new game.

[Butts]

well i cant name a best wad, i like a whole lot of them.

not in any order really

Dooms 1 and 2, Final Doom, Ultimate Doom, Plutonia, TNT
Requiem, AV, HR, HR2, Kama Sutra, DV 1 and 2 (i like both Deus Vults a whole lot), Torment and Torture series (at least UTNT, it has all the originals reworked), The Darkening 1 and 2, Scythe 1 and 2, i did like KDIZD though, Suspended in Dusk was nice too, i liked Ultimate Simplicity, Jägermörder 1 and 2 (however its spelled), and of course, how could i forget this, the 32in24 series!!!!

of course kdikdizd will be the best... pshh.....

as far as DM goes, Gothic series and Crucified Dreams, if not for the aesthetics alone, but greenwar 2 will be very ownage as well.

[Doom Marine]

myk said:

as well as gameplay that doesn't balance out well (some parts are too methodical, others too unforgiving... the Balrog-like monsters didn't help here).

Heh, I can explain that. After testing the levels for the ith time, the demo testers and I became desensitized to the levels' difficulties, so slowly, over the course of several weeks, I ramped up the carnage until most of the hell levels were balls to the wall murder even with dozens of practice runs... having Belial as a tester didn't help much either. In any case, if anyone was caught playing DVII on skill 4, they were asking for it.

The best WADs I've ever played? Hell Revealed, H2H series, Kama Sutra, Scythe 1+2, Alien Vendetta... I'm a sucker for megawads (well-made ones only!)

[deathbringer]

TOWN2.WAD / CITY2.WAD off Maximum doom, can't remember which but it had one section that featured a run across the top of some 'buildings'. I played the hell out of it before i knew any better

Securitron / Securitron 2. Fairly simplistic now but the makers somehow captured a very grim atmosphere which i loved. I also bought the album it was based off which was probably not the best introduction to metal one could have...

Real Earth, some beautiful vistas but it was still simplistic and (i think) vanilla. You don't need a ton of sectors for beauty, just creative use of a few and nice textures

Phobos, same sort of thing by the same guy, but a bit more sophistcated (plane that actually takes off!). And in space... being "in space" makes anything cooler

DSV, The first one, simplistic and some would say badly made, but i found it fun.

Neo Doom Demo, Cava.wad & "those maps made by Daniel that where based on real places". All where good. I LOVED Neo Doom itself though most people called it a "rip fest", which it was but the ripped stuff was implemented well and interestingly and not just thrown in 'because we can'. Like EBDoom and DRE. Unfortunatley my neo doom save got corrupted when i updated zdoom and i can't be bothered to play through again

RTC3057. Very immersive

That thing that came out at around the same time as KDiZD and was on a similar theme. It was great.

Oh and that megawad that appeared out of nowhere in /newstuff (heh), was all made by one guy and had a Baron sprite replacement with wings. It was very good and fun to play through

[Kira]

Alien Vendetta : I can't live without this one
Scythe : fast paced action packed maps, a must play
Scythe 2 : great piece of work
Kama Sutra : the TRUE successor to AV and HR imo
Hell Revealed : I still like the challenges (the 2nd is forgettable finally)
Requiem : an amazing piece of work for 1997
Deus Vult : the most epic single map EVAR
Deus Vult II : I've loved the quality of the work and the variety
Rebirth : a great one, play it !
TVR! : same than above

There are others like ruinbros and cyberdreams but these are really my fav of all time.

Edit : I can't live without Ultimate Doom, Doom2 and Plutonia of course =P

[Ryan_Cordell]

Claustrophobia. The greatest mod I've ever played for Doom, honestly. Great story, characters were really like-able, the bosses were awesome, the scenes were great. It's only flaw was it's namesake status of the levels.

KDiZD. A really good mod that updated Episode 1 to a whole new level. Better atmosphere, but I most loved the underground section.

ICD-SE. A great weapon mod which made many other wads harder to play, the weapons are good (It's only flaw is the reloading system.), the gameplay is very good, and it's just fun playing it through the whole of Doom.

Scythe 2. Rather challenging but a very fun and very nicely detailed mod that does deliver a good environment. But my only problem with it is it's high difficulty skill requirement/curve. =P

Otherwise, I must be the only one who doesn't like those 'highly favorite' (HR, Memento Mori..) wads that most others praise like <insert term>. XP

[Colusio]

For zdoom this would be the wad I just played: valley of the damned made by Aluqah . It has atmosphere, is non-lineair, custom monsters who fit.It reminds me of wads kaiser made for legacy/boom.
When it comes to epic maps I like eaeuro01 among others.
I agree with Myk's comments about dv2, I would like to add that I tried on ITYTD but that was way too easy while HMP was too though.
Also I missed "level progression" in dv2, like in most maps of mm2 as I happened to replay that at the same time. Or as in chordgwhich is perhaps the best wad I played.
Afterlife (map26 I guess) of HR shows creative (in the sense of original, new )leveldesign.
Certainly not the best but for me very entertaining is dem while looking for it at idgames, I stumbled upon demonizd, which is one of the many older wads I like very much, especially the second level

ps: neodoom became too repetitive after a while. But I also like cava, it's name is "CAVALEIROS - MACAÉ/RJ BRAZIL" very much.

[TheAdmantArchvile]

deathbringer said:

Neo Doom Demo, Cava.wad & "those maps made by Daniel that where based on real places". All where good. I LOVED Neo Doom itself though most people called it a "rip fest", which it was but the ripped stuff was implemented well and interestingly and not just thrown in 'because we can'. Like EBDoom and DRE. Unfortunatley my neo doom save got corrupted when i updated zdoom and i can't be bothered to play through again

Hey, Someone who also liked Neo Doom. I don't understand why everyone was belittling it. O.K, Sure it ripped a lot of sprites from other games, but at least it didn't use ripped sprites for everything (I'm talking about you, Nazi Afurshtang, or however the hell you spell it.)

I have found that anything by the wad author LilWhiteMouse is preety good. Though Bittersweet was extremly kinky...

[stamafia]

av, dv, dv2, hr, hr2, ksutra, scythe, scythe2, req, equinox, FRAGPORT (prolly my favorite)

[iceman57]

E1M5, Invasion UAC, Crucified dreams, Deus Vult II

[Kyka]

AV (Obviously)

TNT (Never worked out why everyone seems to choose Plutonia over this one... not that Plutonia wasn't fantastic in its own right.)

HR (except for the first 6 levels) I still remember the awe at seeing so many monsters, especially being able to make it rain cacos on level 24 (I think)

HR2 (Surprise surprise)

Vrack2 and Yestrday.wad (for the architecture)

The Original Aliens TC (Second only to Doom itself in terms of fear factor)

MM and MM2.(Loved 'em)

Doom, Doom2, Ultimate Doom (You know the drill)

[Ichor]

deathbringer said:

Oh and that megawad that appeared out of nowhere in /newstuff (heh), was all made by one guy and had a Baron sprite replacement with wings. It was very good and fun to play through

That would be Rebirth.

[Haloless0320]

Talosian Incident
Eternal Doom
Requiem
Momento Mori 1 and 2
Obituary
Wolf TC's(Afadoomers and Laz Rojas')
Aliens TC
The Operation Overlord and it's sequel(Sorry Enjay I cant remember it)
KDIZD (pretty memorable...brought back that fear of what was lurking around the corner.)
TNT (It has a few awesome levels)