E.M.

MAP05 DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start This is just like the first hub level, except harder. And by harder, I mean it's now full of chaingunners. There are also a few pinkies and imps and even a hellknight. You can make them all infight. Not much else to say.

MAP04 DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start If the previous level didn't make you rage quit, then this one certainly will. The opening room is a complete clusterfuck. It's a giant mass of randomly assorted imps, pinkies, and hitscanners. You can make them infight to save ammo, but it won't really matter in the long run. You can press a switch in the southwestern room to open up a secret, but if you press the wrong one, then said secret will be unobtainable. What a dick move. I had to camp a lot in the northern balcony area, not only because of the hitscanners, but also because of the two arachnotrons in the corners. I had to plink them to death with the pump action because any other strategy was too dangerous. A large portion of the map's second half consists of chaingunners in hallways. B.P.R.D. took all the wrong lessons from Plutonia. The worst part is where you take a lift up and are greeted by a cyberdemon. It's a roll of the dice whether you escape or get splattered. I don't care if people regard you as an avant garde artist. Bad level design like that is inexcusable. I then proceeded to kill the cyber with the SSG just to spite the wad's author. The only ammo pickups you'll get from this point forward will be from hitscanners, so you better hope you found that hidden chainsaw in the southwestern room of switches. I also hope you enjoy the tedium that chainsaw combat provides. The final room looks impressive, but after all the bullshit I went through, I didn't care at that point. I just wanted to get it done and over with.

MAP03 DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start It's at this point you'll realize that B.P.R.D.'s conception of "fun" involves ammo deprivation and chainsaw combat. I do not like his conception of fun. I do not like it one bit. If you thought you could avoid that problem by playing continuously, you're wrong. You're screwed either way. The dark maze full of pinkies was one of the most horrible forms of Doom torture I've ever endured. That section was deliberately designed to eat up all your ammo. Through autistic stubbornness, I saved up shells, pushed through it, and got the chainsaw hidden in there. Once that happened, the combat became tedious. So tedious, in fact, that I didn't even bother going for a UV Max. I just rushed to the exit. There's some nice detailing, but I was too frustrated by the gameplay to care about any of that.

MAP02 DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start This is the first of three hub levels. There's not a lot to say about it. You grab the shotgun at the start and kill what few monsters are here. You can beat the whole thing in less than a minute. Brevity like that is sorely lacking in this wad.

And now we move on to Equinox. This was B.P.R.D.'s first major Doom release. (Nuts was created purely to test the FTP upload system.) When I first started playing custom Doom maps in 2019, I went through the Cacowards of years past. B.P.R.D. was mentioned often. The way he was talked about made him seem like the greatest Doom mapper of all time. I played The Mucus Flow and I despised it. I wrote up a long post detailing why. I then tried playing Equinox because that too was highly praised. I ended up rage quitting halfway through MAP03. Now I have returned to force my way through the rest. Suffer with me. MAP01 DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start I will admit that B.P.R.D. is a master at presentation. The gigantic entryway gives you the impression that you're about to go on a big adventure. There are custom textures, custom sounds, and even a custom HUD. It's obvious that a lot of time and effort was put into this. Too bad the gameplay doesn't live up to the expectation, but I'll get to that later. If you've watched Dean of Doom, then you'll know what to do first. Don't let the entryway distract you. Take a left, head down the stairs, follow the footprints on the sand, press use on the wall, and get a shotgun early. The map layout is straightforward and the gameplay is run and gun fun. There are lots of hitscanners, but also lots of health. You can even find a slightly overpowered secret. If the entire wad was like this, I would have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Let's get this wad done and over with. MAP17: Sacrilege DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start Here's another fun map. It consists of a starting area that is later revealed to be the end area (spoilers), a large hub, and two teleport areas. I recommend going through the blue area first as it will allow you to get properly geared up. The red area will be a pain without it. Some of the detailing reminds me of Alien Vendetta, which I like. The progression is pretty straightforward compared to previous levels. It doesn't have many of the needless complexities that plagued this wad. Best of all is the combat. You start off by SSG-ing stuff, but then things get even more exciting when you start rocketing groups of imps. Find the secret BFG for even more fun. The spider mastermind at the end was a pain to deal with, though. The moving platforms made it too dangerous to get close, so I had no choice but to rocket her down. Sacrilege is definitely one of the wad's high points. MAP18: Die Heuschrecke (Die, Huge Shrek!) DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start Here's an Icon of Sin map that just wants to get things done and over with. It gives you all the weapons right at the start, you go to a few small rooms, press some switches, reach the Icon, press more switches, enter the icon, shoot some rockets into a hole, and then you win. It reminds me of MAP30 from TNT, but shorter and more fun. Combat wise, it's one of the easiest final levels I've ever played. You can just blast everything with the BFG, but I berserk punched some of the monsters to make things more interesting. The whole thing makes for great speedrunning fun. In conclusion, Operation: BIOWAR was kind of a mixed bag. Some parts of it were really fun, but it was plagued by a strange compulsion to make things as overly complicated as possible. I understand that they tried to make an elaborate adventure with some puzzle elements, but they did so in bizarre ways. Many of the design choices on display here would never be tolerated by current year Doom map standards. Despite its many faults, I still managed to enjoy it. Up next is Equinox by B.P.R.D., and I'm going to tell you upfront that I am not looking forward to it at all.

MAP16: The Killing Fields DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start The start was pretty fun. I loved that ambush that teleports you to the red key and opens up two doors full of monsters. Unfortunately, things go downhill after you go through the teleporter, as the wad once again falls into its bad habit of making things overly complicated. It's hard to figure out where you need to go the first time around. The yellow key is on top of a lift that is quite a distance away from its switch, so you need to run fast in order to catch it. Ammo is tight once again. I almost ran out when I got to the spinning skull maze. Said maze is a slog to get through. You can find a BFG in there, so it isn't completely bad. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use it for anything fun because things get way too easy after that. In the plasma gun room, you can blow up a bunch of imps with barrels. There's a lonely Baron in a pit. His sole purpose is to waste the time of UV Maxers. Same with that caco in that secret room that isn't marked as a secret. The hardest monsters you face after that are two arachnotrons. Not even a spidermom? Come on. Once they're taken care of, you're teleported to a switch that raises a bridge that leads to the exit. The most outrageous part is that thanks to a developer oversight, you can press the switch from below and beat the level in less than a minute.

MAP15: Heat DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start This map was a lot more fun than the previous one. The action is thrilling and fast-paced. You can find the SSG pretty early on. Ammo is pretty tight, but you can find a berserk that will alleviate that problem. Unfortunately, this is hampered somewhat by the wad's bad habit of over-complicating things. It expects you to know that you need to jump into lava to hit a switch to open a door. The sole purpose of the yellow key is to open up the bars that hold the red key. Pointless. After you open up the red door, it takes you to a teleporter which then sends you to the top of a rocky column. It then expects you to know that you need to make a running jump to the north to reach a door. I still enjoyed the combat despite the level design faults. MAP31: Juggelo (sic) Funhouse DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4AVPuao7Q If you look past the ICP thing, you'll discover that this is the most fun map in the whole wad. It gives you a berserk right from the start, which I like. The teleport ambush in the funhouse's entryway was pretty intense. The blue room looked really cool, but I didn't like SSG-ing that group of Barons. What is this, Hell Revealed? My favorite part was the Cyberdemon arena. I just ran circles around him, pressed all the switches, grabbed the BFG, and went to town. Of all the maps in this wad, this is the one I've replayed the most. It's that enjoyable.

MAP14: Absolution DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start This map is like Plutonia, but less fun. The Hell aesthetics are nice and I love the presentation of the starting room, but there's not enough health to mend all the damage you'll take from the many hitscanners. I appreciate how they give you a rocket launcher early on, but I don't like how they buried the only SSG in a secret that's incredibly easy to miss. Things improve somewhat after you're geared up. My favorite part was gunning down demons in a chapel. The part I hated the most was the ridiculously easy softlock. You can get past the yellow door early on, but if you don't go through the blue door and press the switch that lowers the red key pillar beforehand, then you'll be trapped in that arena because the only way to unlock the door that closed behind you is with the red key. I cannot believe that got past playtesting. Also, the big fight in the red key arena is underwhelming. I was able to run around, get them all to infight, and then rocket down the survivors.

MAP13: UAC Prison DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start Oh, it's this level. I vaguely remember not liking this one. After replaying it, I remember why. It boasts the highest monster count in the whole wad, for starters. Most of them are hitscanners, by the way. What is this, TNT? It suffers deeply from "I hope that switch did something" syndrome, making progression a confusing endeavor. Every time you hit one of those switches, the starting courtyard and other previous areas repopulate with enemies, which are tedious to clean up. The combat mostly consists of SSG-ing large hordes of monsters, but things got a bit more fun after I got that plasma. What's not fun is getting pot-shotted by hitscanners and running desperately low on health. By the way, there's no way to go back to the section with the blue key after you teleport out of there, so if you still have monsters to clean up in that section, you're shit out of luck. It took me nearly 20 minutes to play through this thing and I have no intention of coming back to it.

MAP12: Military Center DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start This map was very confusing the first time around. It consists of a central compound and four outposts on the corners. How it works is that you teleport to one of the outposts, hit a switch, then return to the central compound to grab a key that rose out of the ground. Only in the '90s could a map have an idea that bizarre. (By the way, the teleport order is Yellow -> Red -> Blue -> Exit.) Despite this, the combat is fun. They give you an SSG right at the start, which I like. I amused myself by getting the monsters immediately outside the starting area to infight each other. I also appreciate how they repopulate the compound every time you hit a key switch. Things got really fast after I grabbed the plasma. The ending is a disappointment, though. Only one pain elemental and three revenants? Come on.

MAP11: Frozen Terror DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start This level was leagues better than the previous. It takes place in frozen caves, which is a refreshing change of scenery. It also puts up a lot more resistance. Some fights are tough but fair, like the one involving an imp/pinkie/revenant pack after you grab the blue key. Some are dickish, like the chaingunner ambush after you enter the red key arena. You'll die instantly if you're not expecting that one. My favorite was the one on the descending elevator. This map was a nice challenge and it's pleasing to look at, making it one of my favorite maps in the wad.

MAP10: Dark Woods DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start MAP09 was really fun. MAP10 is not. It's big, ugly, and it forces you to face a large portion of it using nothing but a pistol. Here's what you need to do for that part. Run past all the monsters, go down the hole, go left into the large waterfall room, and kill the first shotgunner you see. Hit the switch, get the box of shells past the gate that just opened up, go back to where you dropped down, and take the teleporter. Now you'll be able to kill all the monsters at the start. Things get a bit easier after that, but health and ammo are still scarce. The strongest weapon you get is the SSG, which makes the combat even more of a drag. The previous map had a non-secret rocket launcher. Why can't we have anything like that here?

MAP09: Security DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start It wasn't until after I had beaten this map that I learned it was made by Paul Corfiatis. That would explain the ridiculously high number of secrets. It was quite confusing the first time I played it, but after repeat playthroughs, it became one of my favorite maps in the whole wad. The fights are calibrated well and the detailing is nice. The hardest fight was the one where you're teleported into a small room with two revenants armed with nothing but a chaingun and a pump action. My favorite fight is the one near the end where you grab the yellow key and are faced with a bunch of pinkies and an archvile. Then there are the secrets. Some of them are quite easy to find while others are really cryptic. The worst one involves shooting a misaligned texture behind a torch which then opens up a wall. I also keep forgetting that one BFG secret that opens up after you grab the blue key. This map is a blast to play once you figure out what to do.

MAP02: Biolabs DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start The beginning area looks really cool with its dark lighting and blue textures. I also like how it gives you a plasma gun right at the start. When I reach the balcony area, I just run past everything and make them all infight. It's kind of a dick move to teleport the player in front of a pair of pinkies in a tiny room. Things got a lot smoother after I got the SSG. The room with the pinkies in the pit was a real drag. It reminded me of MAP21 from Community Chest 2. I enjoyed the yellow key fight, though. I can kill most of them with the rockets I was given shortly beforehand. The ending, on the other hand, was a real letdown. It's obvious padding. You kill a baron, hit a switch, kill two specters, hit a switch, kill a specter and two pinkies, take a teleporter, and finally hit the exit switch. Absolute nonsense. Worst of all is that one of the secrets is unobtainable because it's only 8 map units wide and it's right in front of a teleport linedef. It has the exact same problem as that one secret in Doom 2's MAP15.