Equinox
released on Sep 30, 2001
A mod for Doom II: Hell on Earth
Equinox is a limit removing 13-level mapset for Doom II created by B.P.R.D in 2001. It is listed as one of the Top 100 WADs of All Time by Doomworld. Equinox is known for its large scale architecture, which had a tendency to crash some source ports at the time of its release.
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Equinox is one of the most celebrated wads of the early era of DOOM mapping. Its environments are detailed and while I was playing I came across a large valley with lava pooled at the bottom and a wall in the tech facility blown open and I realized there was a story to this place and that’s not a feeling I get often with DOOM wads.
Furthermore, the wad makes use of recurring environments including a teleportation station that serves as an intermission level between the main episodes. There’s a connective essence between levels that makes this wad feel like a campaign instead of a collection of maps.
I liked the early parts of the wad where you are making due with a pistol and shotgun and mowing down dozens of infantry and imps. Even with using a gameplay mod, it was challenging but snappy. This is the rare wad that doesn’t shower the player with ammo. Even with the mod, I had to break out the chainsaw a few times to keep some shells in my satchel for when I needed them. Rooms are stuffed with enemies which is pretty inelegant but it provides ample opportunities for infighting. In fact, that seems to be the point. On Map 9, I let 100 enemies tear each other apart while I ran off to other parts of the level.
The last map is very notable for it’s overwhelming number of enemies. It got to a point where I assumed you were supposed to strategize around not killing a lot of them and that’s when I realized that the map was made by BPRD, creator of the Mucus Flow and by god did that make a lot of sense!
As for the levels visually, I don’t like that silvery moonbase aesthetic and found the corpses peppered everywhere to be a bad design choice. I didn’t like the look of this wad. It’s special, though. I don’t know if it’s a mega-recommend but it’s a slight recommend for it’s unique design choices and overall cohesiveness.
Furthermore, the wad makes use of recurring environments including a teleportation station that serves as an intermission level between the main episodes. There’s a connective essence between levels that makes this wad feel like a campaign instead of a collection of maps.
I liked the early parts of the wad where you are making due with a pistol and shotgun and mowing down dozens of infantry and imps. Even with using a gameplay mod, it was challenging but snappy. This is the rare wad that doesn’t shower the player with ammo. Even with the mod, I had to break out the chainsaw a few times to keep some shells in my satchel for when I needed them. Rooms are stuffed with enemies which is pretty inelegant but it provides ample opportunities for infighting. In fact, that seems to be the point. On Map 9, I let 100 enemies tear each other apart while I ran off to other parts of the level.
The last map is very notable for it’s overwhelming number of enemies. It got to a point where I assumed you were supposed to strategize around not killing a lot of them and that’s when I realized that the map was made by BPRD, creator of the Mucus Flow and by god did that make a lot of sense!
As for the levels visually, I don’t like that silvery moonbase aesthetic and found the corpses peppered everywhere to be a bad design choice. I didn’t like the look of this wad. It’s special, though. I don’t know if it’s a mega-recommend but it’s a slight recommend for it’s unique design choices and overall cohesiveness.
Shelved because I accidentally deleted my save when updating GZDOOM, but I figure it was a fine stopping point as well. Pretty good level pack! Good detail using lots of native textures and very large spanning levels without feeling too empty a la TNT. Genuinely tough in spots due to ammo scarcity, I had to get very comfortable using chainsaw in strategic spots, but it felt like an intentional design decision from the developers. Also a cool spin on the "hub world" approach with different events happening within it as the game goes on.