I chose to play through the "official" WAD expansions to DOOM before diving off the deep end into the world of DOOM (and DOOM clone) WADs, starting with TNT: Evilution. In a vacuum, it's... fine, but knowing what I know about where modders and WAD creators have taken this engine, it's pretty disappointing.
Starting with the pros: for a 1996 expansion, there are definitely some cool upgrades / expanded use of the old engine in ways that were enjoyable to experience, and makes me excited for some of the bigger / more modern WADs on the horizon that I've yet to play.
Cons: most everything else. Even that pro I listed above is a bit of a cop-out, as the original Aliens: Eradication total conversion mod came out before TNT and showcases a lot more flexibility than TNT does. The levels are too long, far too drawn-out, and don't do anything revolutionary enough to be worth folks' time at this point. Please, if you are interested in diving into the world of DOOM WADs and you already own Final DOOM, by all means, play Plutonia (understanding that it's pretty damn hard), and then just jump headfirst into running DOOM with free level packs, of which there are literally thousands, many of which are far superior to this "official expansion."
Starting with the pros: for a 1996 expansion, there are definitely some cool upgrades / expanded use of the old engine in ways that were enjoyable to experience, and makes me excited for some of the bigger / more modern WADs on the horizon that I've yet to play.
Cons: most everything else. Even that pro I listed above is a bit of a cop-out, as the original Aliens: Eradication total conversion mod came out before TNT and showcases a lot more flexibility than TNT does. The levels are too long, far too drawn-out, and don't do anything revolutionary enough to be worth folks' time at this point. Please, if you are interested in diving into the world of DOOM WADs and you already own Final DOOM, by all means, play Plutonia (understanding that it's pretty damn hard), and then just jump headfirst into running DOOM with free level packs, of which there are literally thousands, many of which are far superior to this "official expansion."