Playing Thy Flesh for First Time!

[Sinner]

When I first played through Doom it was just eps 1-3, then I went on to Doom 2. By the time Flesh came around I was more interested in Quake, etc. I don't know that I've ever played flesh levels except maybe one or two possibly via this level editor we had back then...I think it was called D!

So I'm now running through all the Doom games ever released in anticipation of Doom 4. Just about done inferno so I s'pose flesh is next. Am I in for a pounding? Heard it's tough.

As an aside do you guys consider flesh part of the original? I know it's an Id release and is canon and all that...but I always considered flesh sort of like something else, almost like a fan wad or something...Doom was always Knee Deep, Shores,Inferno and then D2 for me but maybe that's just 'cause that's the way I played them back in the day. Curious what you guys think.

Happy to finally be here after lurking on and off for years! Getting pumped for the spring!

[Six]

Sinner said:

Am I in for a pounding? Heard it's tough.

All you need to know is the difficulty level is backwards. The progression is essentially hard to easy rather than vice versa. It all really depends on your playing skill. If you're a casual player then it'll prove to be a bit challenging.

The maps themselves don't give off the 'fan made' vibe in my case. They fit in very well with the previous episodes and will always be a legitimate addition.

Heretics' Shadow of the Serpent Riders two episodes on the other hand, feel completely separate from the the original 3 episodes. It depends on the quality and consistency between the style of maps.

Thy Flesh does it right.

[40oz]

Kill the shotgun guys first. They'll turn you into swiss cheese.

If you beat doom 2 you should be fine. Its just surprisingly challenging compared to e1-e3

[The_MártonJános]

If you've gotten to D1/D2, E4 is hard as nails.
If you've gotten to play PWads regularly, E4 seems of average difficulty.
If you've gotten to play with only Plutonia/Hell Revealed/Alien Vendetta/Sunder/random slaughtermaps, E4 is just a cakewalk for you.

[CyberDemonEmpress]

"Perfect Hatred" and "Against Thee Wickedly" are the hardest maps in my opinion. Everything else is pretty easy. But yes, I wouldn't play through Doom without playing through Thy Flesh Consumed as well. I consider it to be part of "The DOOM experience."

[Doomkid]

I played through the whole thing a year or two ago - E4M1 was tough, E4M2 is downright cruel (love that map) but from then on it seemed to get easy as hell.