Doom: Ultimate Doom In Name Only - E1M1: Hangar (UV Max)

Ultimate Doom In Name Only (or UDINO) is a 36-map Ultimate Doom WAD released in 2023 and led by cannonball and the inimitable dobu gabu maru. As alluded to in the title, UDINO takes the original level titles of UD’s episodes and creates entirely new levels around them. The idea is as vague as it is freeing, allowing for the mind to run wild with interpretations of id’s level titles, and my god did the UDINO team’s collective mind run wild. With goals such as being equal parts fun, challenging, and creative, the end product was bound to be an eclectic and inventive powerhouse. If I were to showcase ANY Ultimate Doom WAD on the channel, this one would have always been my first pick. Its sky-high ambition, clever level designs, and stunning, fully-realized vision made it easily one of the most distinctive and engaging WADs I’ve played in a long time. As to not spoil the experience right away, I’ll just leave it at that. UDINO PLAYLIST:    • Ultimate Doom In Name Only   ==================== IWAD: Doom Port: DSDA-doom 29.3 Compatibility: limit-removing (comp level 3) Mapper(s): elic MIDIs: Mark Klem - Gravestones (from GothicDM) ==================== UDINO: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/lev... DSDA-doom: https://github.com/kraflab/dsda-doom ==================== From the opening shot of elic's reinterpretation of Hangar, it's evident that this will not be your normal Ultimate Doom megawad opener. Most WADs would feed the player a humble and weakly fortified techbase that most will cruise through in a couple of minutes, but not UDINO. We start in a UAC facility dug into a mountain and connected to a literal hangar. The large scale of the entire environment, not to mention seeing the hangar in the background, makes for a very memorable opening shot. Things start to get better once you actually dip inside because the excellent atmosphere of this map hits you right away. The dark, moodily lit caverns transition into the facility proper, where I can really sense that feeling of being inside a mountain through the texturing and lighting. Elic captures that sense of place well through the scale and visuals, which makes for a cinematic opening level. As you make your way out and to the finale, where the Hangar resides, you'll be met with a slight level of resistance, but nothing some quick shotgun work won't solve. I love the usage of barrels here to kickstart the action and get things going. This facility is designed more as a combat playground rather than a proper, realistically constructed building, so it's really fun to move around in. The rest of the map has even more barrels to blow up and a possibly surprising exit party to deal with. It's another moment that told me UDINO won't be a normal Ultimate Doom WAD. There are other things to like about this map aside from the combat and opening sequence. For one, the map’s four secrets are all relatively easy to find, and all reward you handsomely. Most rewarding of all are the somewhat tricky soulsphere secret and the helpful rocket launcher. Even though you only get two rockets, they can still help in the final fight along with the barrels. The MIDI is another highlight, a wonderful track by the one and only Mark Klem. It’s inspiring in a way that I haven’t really heard from Klem’s tracks, but then again, maybe I just haven’t heard enough of them. It’s soulful in parts where the bass and drums take the backseat and grungy in others where they come back in full force. I think it’s a fantastic companion to the map. Hangar not only does an outstanding job with introducing players to the concept of the WAD, but it also gives us a glimpse of the ambition and creativity that this WAD hides. The concept is a fun thing to think about at first, but the real soul of this WAD is contained within the details, and that’s shown ever so slightly here in the first map. #doom