Lookin' for a way to play new-Doom inside old Doom, but you weren't satisfied with D4D? Have I got a mod for you! ...Actually two mods, but they're both sorta the same, except one is better. XD


Death Foretold (click to download)

Click here for screenshots

INFO: Version 2.1 reviewed. Requires GZDoom v1.8.6 or Zandronum v3.0 at minimum.

BUGS AND ISSUES: May not run properly on GZDoom development builds or builds higher than v3.0.

RECOMMENDED?: NO

In the beginning, there was D4D. And it was...okay? I'm not sure: I never played it. It was an attempt to port Doom 2016's gameplay to classic Doom, but it didn't have the glory kill mechanic, a feature which seems like half the reason you'd even bother to make a Doom 2016 mod. (Maybe they added it later? I'm not really sure.) It also had a bad case of feature bloat, with a weird RPG-style skill-purchasing system that gave you a lot of bizarre powers that had nothing to do with Doom 2016.

Thankfully, someone reworked D4D and made D4T: Death Foretold, a mod that cuts out all the fat and makes a fairly authentic-feeling port of Doom 2016's gameplay.

All the stuff you'd want from new-Doom is here: the enemies (along with a few classic enemies that didn't make it to new-Doom); the arsenal (including multiplayer-exclusive weapons and equipment); the weapon mods (plus a handful of new ones, but they don't feel out of place); the double-jumping (though you can't grab onto ledges, sadly); the demon runes (including several new transformations); and yes, the glory kills. Sure, the execution animations are much simpler than in the real game (although they're just as brief, thankfully), but it still feels viscerally satisfying to shoot a demon in the face and then kick them so hard that they explode. XD

Unlike the real Doom 2016, you no longer get skill points from exploring or doing cool tricks. To compensate, D4T awards you with a random bonus for getting 100% kills & secrets in a map -- bonuses like a full restock of ammo, permanent boosts to your maximum health, automap enhancements, and more. It's a great system and I really enjoy being rewarded for being as thorough as possible. On rare occasions, you'll also get random weapon mods and other enhancements from defeating monsters, so there's always a good reason to kill as much as you can.

D4T features 4 different difficulty modes, and aside from the hardest skill, Deathbound, all of them have 3 tiers: Few Monsters will populate the maps with an enemy count equivalent to the "Not Too Rough" skill in normal Doom; More Monsters uses "Hurt Me Plenty" monster counts; and Max Monsters uses "Ultra-Violence" monster counts. I really love this since it lets you mix and match the skill levels. For instance, play Mobile: Max Monsters (Mobile is the easiest skill) to get a ton of weak monsters that can't hurt you very much, or play Hard: Few Monsters to get just a few baddies that are extremely dangerous. It's up to you!

I will say however that the Hard skill really isn't very fun. Normal's already tougher than standard Doom, and on Hard, the monsters just obliterate you so fast that you never really get that tasty sense of power that you want from a Doom game, and you have to play very conservatively. Might work well for a more horror-themed map where you want to feel especially vulnerable, perhaps.

There are some other drawbacks to the mod, as well. While the added multiplayer weapons are nice and give you more tactical options, cycling through such a massive arsenal can be a pain, with many weapon slots holding as many as 3 weapons each. (For example, having to press the 3 key 3 times to get to your standard shotgun can be stressful when you're under pressure.) The HUD can also be obtrusive, with some guns having complicated reticles that can make it difficult to see your targets. (Luckily, you can turn these off and use standard ZDoom crosshairs.) Infighting seems a little broken, with some enemies simply not responding to other enemies' attacks, or they'll retaliate but won't actually be able to do any damage. And on occasion, the glory kill animations won't actually trigger, and you'll just punch an enemy to death without getting the execution bonus for it.

But those are mostly small complaints about what's honestly a really fun mod. Defeating a swarm of baddies by laying a trap with a kinetic mine, following it up with a grenade from your shotgun, glory-killing any stunned stragglers, then using the demon rune one of them dropped to become an unstoppable beast all come together to make for constant thrills. If you like Doom 2016 but want to play it with classic Doom WADs, this is how to do it!

So why don't I actually recommend playing this? Because instead, you should probably play...



Death Foretold: Crucible (click to download)

Click here for screenshots

INFO: Version 2.1 reviewed. Requires GZDoom v1.8.6 or Zandronum v3.0 at minimum.

BUGS AND ISSUES: May not run properly on GZDoom development builds or builds higher than v3.0.

RECOMMENDED?: YES

Crucible is the same as Death Foretold, but with some added tweaks. While D4T dialed back a lot of the added features in D4D, Crucible goes a step further, stripping away other elements to make an even more authentic Doom 2016 campaign experience.

You'd think fewer features would make for worse gameplay, but oddly, this is not necessarily true. Doom 2016's weaponry was balanced pretty carefully, and everything had a really specific function. Adding the multiplayer weapons into the mix throws this balance off somewhat, and these firearms can feel like added fluff to tediously cycle through in order to get to the superior SP weapons. Crucible tosses out those extra MP weapons and is generally better for it, though you can choose to add some or all of them back if you desire (via the Weapon Settings menu buried inside the Shortcut to Useful Options menu). I kinda miss the demon runes, but happily, those can be toggled back on too.

There's also small visual tweaks that help increase the intensity of the game without getting too distracting. If you crank all the blood effects to the maximum, Crucible is a way gorier game than D4T was, and I can't deny that the gameplay feels just a bit more awesome when entire corridors are caked in entrails you helped spill. There's also a little more screen-shake to enhance impacts, as well as minor niceties like the security zombies' shield turning colors depending on how damaged their shield is, like in the real Doom 2016.

There are also other modest alterations that rebalance the gameplay, like how the pistol's enhanced "orange mode" is now a power-up instead of a mod you start the game with, and your equipment has a longer cooldown. (Your grenades and such were kinda overpowered in D4T since you could use them so often.) One change I particularly like is that the berserk power-up acts more like it should. In D4T, the berserk acted basically like it did in classic Doom, enhancing your punching power for the level. But in Crucible, for 45 seconds, your defense is heavily boosted and your punching power is dramatically enhanced, giving you a brief but exhilarating window of time to beat absolutely everything to death with basically no consequences. It's admittedly kinda buggy, as it's hard to tell exactly when the power-up has expired, which can get you into trouble. It's still really fun, though. XD

Honestly, as great as D4T is, I think Crucible is probably superior. It's mostly the same mod (with the same infighting glitches, sadly), but it features more options to customize your experience, slightly improved visuals and gameplay, and way more gore. It's great fun and definitely worth checking out.


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