Most games are lonely– DOOM is completely solitary– but Comatose finds new depths to that loneliness.
Touching onto one of the main gimmicks of the wad, all foes in Comatose are cloaked, like the spectres from the main game. The gloomy colour palette makes it so the illusory foes often blend into the environment to the point of near-complete invisibility. With the outside being where cacos or lost souls could fly over the rooftops and strike from a distance, indoors were preferable for being easier to manage visually.
It wasn’t long before I got in the habit of shooting at nothing, thinking an imp or demon could be lurking in the shadows or bushes. To further the ghostly nature of the map’s enemies, they don’t give off activation cries. When they see you, they are silent. They gurgle and have their death sounds, but that lack of war cry helps sell the idea that they are lingering entities.
The other big gimmick of the map is that the map is a big city. It’s large, detailed, and very gloomy. As I walked around this city, I got the feeling that this was a post-apocalyptic realm. It feels like all humans have been long dead. The spectres that roam this land aren’t even echoes of whoever once lived in this world. They might as well be the ghosts of the things that killed them.
Ultimately, this map is engrossing and atmospheric even if it lacks a climax. At least, I couldn’t find much of a note to bring it all together aside from a pyramid. There are Egyptian artifacts around the city– maybe that had something to do with it? There might not be an official answer but this wad was so mesmerizing that I can’t help but wonder...
Touching onto one of the main gimmicks of the wad, all foes in Comatose are cloaked, like the spectres from the main game. The gloomy colour palette makes it so the illusory foes often blend into the environment to the point of near-complete invisibility. With the outside being where cacos or lost souls could fly over the rooftops and strike from a distance, indoors were preferable for being easier to manage visually.
It wasn’t long before I got in the habit of shooting at nothing, thinking an imp or demon could be lurking in the shadows or bushes. To further the ghostly nature of the map’s enemies, they don’t give off activation cries. When they see you, they are silent. They gurgle and have their death sounds, but that lack of war cry helps sell the idea that they are lingering entities.
The other big gimmick of the map is that the map is a big city. It’s large, detailed, and very gloomy. As I walked around this city, I got the feeling that this was a post-apocalyptic realm. It feels like all humans have been long dead. The spectres that roam this land aren’t even echoes of whoever once lived in this world. They might as well be the ghosts of the things that killed them.
Ultimately, this map is engrossing and atmospheric even if it lacks a climax. At least, I couldn’t find much of a note to bring it all together aside from a pyramid. There are Egyptian artifacts around the city– maybe that had something to do with it? There might not be an official answer but this wad was so mesmerizing that I can’t help but wonder...