The Best Classic Doom Campaigns of All Time
Doom has spawned countless mods and level packs over the decades, but the downside is that finding the good stuff can be difficult. Here, you can find an assortment of the coolest classic era content, handpicked by us for your convenience.
These are not listed by release date or in any particular order, and we only include releases from (usually) 2009 and earlier. We have a similar page for the modern stuff, which you can find here.
Do note that mere fame, such as how acclaimed the wad was at the time, is not enough to earn a place on this list. Aliens TC and Simpsons Doom were a big deal at the time, for example, but have aged horribly. Only those levels and mods that have stood the test of time are included here.
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Requiem is a landmark Doom megawad from the mid-late 90s, created by a large team of highly skilled mappers, several of whom later entered the professional game industry. It comes from an era in which mapping tools and design conventions were finally maturing past the earlier, cruder efforts, with overall quality improving every year. If you had to assemble a list of the top 10 megawads from the 90s, adding this one would be a no-brainer.
An excellent episode for The Ultimate Doom in the style of Knee-Deep in the Dead.
Interestingly, this one uses a Quake-esque hub instead of relying solely on linear progression. Check it out if you like the original Doom's first episode mixed with Quake hubs.
Following the success of the community Chest series, the guys over at NewDoom (which sadly no longer exists) decided to have a go at it themselves. The result is an enjoyable Doom II megawad created by members of their (albeit now-defunct) community. If you enjoyed the Community Chest series and want something similar, this will likely quench your thirst.
While far from the best classic WAD, it would feel wrong not
to include Crossing Acheron on this list for historical reasons. The level was released in 1994, less than a year after Doom came out, and it is surprisingly high quality compared to most other offerings of the time. Visual detail is spartan by modern
standards, but the gameplay is still solid. It's an interesting piece of history, if nothing else.
At some point, a mapper asked himself what it would be like if he made Doom II brutally difficult. As in, even more brutal than Plutonia, and by an order of magnitude. The result of this thought experiment has split opinions, with most people either hating or loving it. I, for one, find myself loving it. The first entry is a bit rougher around the edges due to its age, so most people remember the sequel more, though that does not mean it is not worth checking out. If you want a classic-era WAD that is really freaking hard, either of these will do the job just fine.