Blood

 

 

Blood | BLOOD.INI

Monolith Productions

 

Screamshots courtesy of Mobygames and the Blood Wiki.

Video games are full of imitators, and no genre was as obsessed with chasing the flavor of the month as the 1990s first person shooter. Duke Nukem 3D was an edgy, irreverent title that stood out amidst a flood of generic shooters inspired by Doom. So it was inevitable that ol’ Duke himself would have a few imitators, but where Duke was a pastiche of action movies, Monolith Productions’ first big hit — a sharp little title with the ever-straightforward name of Blood — was a pure horror spoof.

Beginning life as a much more serious game using the Build engine by the name of “Horror 3D,” under the auspices of the Apogee-sponsored Q Studios, the game soon morphed into a comedy horror shooter after a disastrous leak of an early alpha version and the rip-roaring success of Duke 3D. During Duke 3D’s development, Apogee would rebrand as 3D Realms, and poached legendary mapper Richard “Levelord” Gray from Q Studios. This among other issues led to Q Studios merging with the nascent Monolith Studios and eventually splitting from 3D Realms entirely.

(Man, was everyone at Apogee a dick?)

Now with GT Interactive as their publisher, Monolith finished the game, releasing it with a particularly eyebrow-raising ad campaign that only added further fuel to the video game violence debate. I mean, fucking look at this thing:

At any rate, the final product became an instant sleeper hit. While some reviewers dismissed it as too derivative, this is one of the few FPS games from the era — and probably the only Build engine game — that has managed to stand the test of time in terms of public opinion. Part of this is because of how timeless it is. Duke Nukem 3D is a great game — a comfort game for me actually — but it’s very much a product of the era it came out in, resulting in a lot of its humor seeming dated, even sexist or misogynist; Blood has no such issue. It’s just a pure horror pastiche, and it knows it.

The story is darker than you’d expect, which reflects its roots as much more serious, Lovecraftian tale. You play as Caleb, a murderous gunfighter from the Old West who gets recruited into a sinister cult that eventually betrays him and his friends, leaving him to seek revenge.

When starting the first episode you’re treated to a cutscene that manages to be dark and disturbing despite its simple 3D modeling; the dark god Tchernobog suddenly accuses a confused Caleb and his friends for failing him, and tells them, “consider my power in a hollow grave.” The game begins proper with Caleb crawling his way out of a long-forgotten tomb, armed with only a pitchfork. It’s now 1928 (at least according to the sequel) and the cult is spreading. Caleb launches into a rampage to avenge his friends’ deaths and get back at Tchernobog.

So how does it measure up in terms of gameplay? Very well in fact. While it doesn’t have the most robust bestiary or enemy variety, it makes up for that with a truly eclectic arsenal that includes a flare gun, an aerosol can flamethrower, and a voodoo doll. I hope you like setting things on fire, because this game is full of ways to do that. Every time I play this game I go through a cycle where the cultists screaming IT BURNS IT BURNS AHHHH is funny, then I get used to it, then it’s funny again. There’s a lot of that kind of mayhem in this game. There’s plenty of dynamite, both from you and from cultists. A napalm launcher serves as your RPG stand-in, and whatever it doesn’t obliterate, it sets on fire. And there’s so much stuff to blow up.

Most of your weapons all have alternative fire options as well, that can come handy in a pinch. You’ll likely be double-barreling that shotgun almost all the time, but other weapons use much more ammo for their alt-fire, relegating them to special-case use. In spite of a relatively limited enemy variety in actual gameplay, 17 types of enemy is nothing to sneeze at. You’ve got two varieties of cultist, zombies, gargoyles, fish monsters, among others. It’s a good bestiary, and clever enemy placement keeps you on your toes.

That said, it’s not all blood and roses. This game can be brutal for an inexperienced player; cultists can blow your health down to nothing in an instant. Hellhounds can set you on fire, forcing you to watch as your health and armor melt away like butter. Sometimes it can feel like trial and error where you’re pushed into a bad situation that you barely scrape out of, leaving you starving for health and armor and knowing that there’s more pain on the way. And some enemies are just plain annoying to deal with.

Of course, lest we forget that this is a horror game on top of all this action, Monolith have managed to effectively balance the knife-edge between high-tension creepy shit and all-out bloodbaths, while also cheerfully enjoying a bit of gentle funhouse shenanigans. The sound design goes a long way towards making this game atmospheric as hell. Aside from a great soundtrack (which differs depending on if you’re using MIDI or CD audio) there’s a lot of ambient sound; sometimes the game forgoes music entirely in favor of the ambience.

The game is split across four episodes of eight to nine levels each, all featuring one secret level. While the first episode was meant to be shareware and as such mixes a few themes, episodes 2 and 3 very strongly stick to one particular theme. Episode 4 is another mixed bag, in more ways than one. The middle two episodes are the highlight of the game, as they feature most of the best levels in the game as well as generally being high-quality overall. In contrast, while episode 1 is a fun time, episode 4 is kind of a disappointment as it fizzles out towards the end.

Aside from a legion of user-made maps, there’s also a pair of expansions. The first is Cryptic Passage, done by the legendary Sunstorm Interactive featuring Caleb shooting his way through the Carpathians in search of a legendary scroll. The other is an official 5th episode by Monolith themselves, as part of the “Plasma Pak” that updates the game and adds several new features, including alt-fire options on weapons that didn’t previously have them, as well as some new enemies for the episode itself.

There’s lots of ways to play the game these days, too. The game runs just fine in DOSBox, but there’s also a couple of different source ports. The best of the bunch is NBlood, based off of popular Duke Nukem 3D source port EDuke32; BloodGDX (now part of a broader project called BuildGDX) is another option, but issues with the code not being open-source may be a deterrent if you care about that sort of thing. From the GZDoom developers we have Raze, which covers a variety of Build engine games (and even will faithfully play Duke Nukem 64 if you have the ROM!) Or, if you don’t feel like dealing with all that, you could always go for the official remaster, titled Fresh Supply, but that’s a less popular option in large part because of the game being ported to an entirely different engine. (The assets will still work with a source port, however.)

All in all, Blood is a solid title that pushes the envelope on what the Build engine can do and how it can be used for a more narrative experience while remaining true to its theme in a way that’s charming and frightening and laugh-out-loud funny. For retro FPS games, there’s few better.

 

 

Episode One: The Way of all Flesh

The first episode, and the one included in the shareware version. Like a lot of shareware episodes, it’s generally a sort of mishmash of themes and ideas to provide a reasonable cross section of what a potential buyer could expect from the full game, introducing a small selection of enemies (zombies, the basic cultist and his tommygun counterpart, gargoyles, as well as minor menaces such as rats, the zombie fish, bats and a single grasping hand) and about half of the arsenal (up to and including the napalm launcher.) The name is a euphemism (actually a mistranslation from Hebrew) for dying.

E1M1: Cradle to Grave

James Wilson

Almost every classic FPS game’s first level is iconic and the subject of many remakes in other games. Let’s face it, there’s few things a mapper covets more than the E1M1 slot. So here we are, beginning the game with Caleb RISING FROM HIS GRAVE. The level is a cemetary and associated funeral home, rather short compared to the immediate next level, but twisting nicely in on itself. The opening room is surprisingly non-descript, just a simple, small crypt. Duke Nukem 3D in contrast might have dumped you on a fairly blank rooftop but it was a much more dynamic introduction to the game. After a short couple of encounters in a cemetary you enter the funeral home proper. The chapel is where you get your first taste of the game’s tendency to have enemies ambush you from above. Up the stairs, past the organ, and through the mortuary, eventually winding up in a small crypt behind the building that leads to the exit. Short and simple, but introducing some of the basics – combat, enemies, secrets, while also showcasing a bit of the game’s blackly morbid humor. By 1997 standards it’s a gorgeously realized opener, with excellent use of texturing to create a gloomy, creepy setting to shoot zombies in.

E1M2: Wrong Side of the Tracks

Craig Hubbard

This is where the game really starts to pick up. Flowing smartly from the first level – you start in the same spot you ended the last level, only now the way you came in is sealed off – you start the level working your way down some train tracks; zombies and cultists stand in your way, and they’ve been offloading barrels with corpses in them, visible through the glass pane in the side (a reference to the classic zombie film Return of the Living Dead.) Eventually you wind your way around to the front of Miskatonic Station (heh) and it’s lousy with Tchernobog troops. They’re not just gunning for you either, the zombies are swarming the nameless sadsack innocents that the cult has enslaved. Shoot your way through the station to the incoherent sound of announcements over the PA speaker, answer obscene calls on the public phones, check out Pickman’s bookshop and stop in for a bit at Cask of Amontillado. Some really good moments here, such as the swarm of zombies breaking through the walls in the foreman’s office and the bats flying out of the access tunnel leading off the tracks. It’s also one of the best examples of the Build engine era’s attempts at creating realistic, every-day places to shoot things in.

E1M3: Phantom Express

James Wilson

You’ve boarded a train and now you have to find a way to get into the engine car. A great opener as the train runs over some hapless folk stuck on the tracks. While the level is literally linear by necessity, it’s still a rip-roaring good time as you clear out the cars one by one, culminating in an all-out shootout in the dining car in the back. For 1997 this level was extremely technically impressive; using a conveyor belt effect, they’ve created the impressive illusion that you’re on a fast-moving train across the country. If you fall off, you die, so don’t fall off. The conclusion of the level is quite dynamic, as you overload the engine and it explodes, ending the level.

E1M4: Dark Carnival

Kevin Kilstrom with revisions by James Wilson

Blood’s pitch black sense of humor is on full display here. After the train derails you pick your way through the ruins until you reach a dark carnival full of wonders. A ghastly ticket collector sics zombies on you after you jump the line, and more zombies and cultists (and mimes) crowd the carnival from end to end. The midway has games of chance – a shooting gallery, or the opportunity to field goal some severed heads for a prize. In the big tent is the tightrope over a pit of snakes, the big act of everyone’s favorite circus freak, Jojo the idiot boy. This is also where you meet your first gargoyles, when the carousel comes to life – a good scare, there. On the way out, you have your options of where to go, even though the bridge collapsed: take a dive and swim to the exit, or cross the remains of the bridge to the secret level, provided you’ve found and remember the passcode. Also: a delightfully vicious secret Duke Nukem cameo.

E1M8: House of Horrors

James Wilson

In case you weren’t done with the carnival theme, E1M8 provides you with the ultimate carnival ride. The opener is pretty great, with a big horrible clown mouth you have to climb through; the walls are fleshy and gross, giving you the sense that maybe this might be more than just a carnival ride… It’s an extremely linear affair as the water ride ferries you down a long winding tunnel, complete with ambushes and a few hilariously ineffectual jumpscares. The finale has you jumping out a window into a back lot for a big showdown before finding your way back to the regular ending of E1M4.

E1M5: Hallowed Grounds

Nick Newhard, Craig Hubbard, Terry Hamel

A major thematic change, one taking more after Doom or Quake than the usual “Duke Nukem 3D for goths” that this game is. On rare occasion (well, half of Episode Four does it) the game decides music isn’t necessary and turns it off for a level. Deep, gutteral chanting, wind and thunder are your only soundtrack as you blast your way through a creepy temple. The cult’s armies are out in full force here, lurking around every corner and coming at you in packs, with lots of ambushes from above and below. It’s a long, winding nightmare that repeatedly loops in on itself. There are a few hints on how to complete the level, and you’d better heed them, because choosing the wrong door at the finale means fiery death. It’s all burning torches and glowing candles, making this level a dark, moody affair, and one of the best-looking in the game.

E1M6: The Great Temple

Terry Hamel with revisions by James Wilson

The climax of the episode is a big Quake-style temple in the mountain, initially a linear affair as you work your way through some caverns up into the temple proper, only to switch back on itself several times. Zombies, cultists and gargoyles are absolutely freaking everywhere. The level is highly reminiscent of Quake in both layout and aesthetic, though as you near the upper areas and get a good look at just how high up you are it takes on a different vibe. Plenty of traps, Indiana Jones style; plenty of firefights too, the best one being a huge shitshow in a room with a ramp that lines the walls, every inch of it covered in assholes to blow up – and there’s a dual akimbo powerup right there for you to grab.

E1M7: Altar of Stone

James Wilson

The grand finale is just a simple boss level, though it’d make a good Bloodbath level with its round shape, height variations and small dimensions. Other than a couple of trash mobs nothing much happens until you step onto the central platform, at which point the biggest enemy you’ve seen yet, the huge stone gargoyle Cheogh, comes after you. He doesn’t have much in the way of attacks – mostly just flies around and shoots electric blasts out of his eyes – but he takes an enormous amount of punishment, shrugging off even your napalm launcher. Upon prevailing, you’re treated to a CGI cutscene that’s far darker than its goofy early-90s models give it credit for.

Final thoughts:

For a shareware episode this is a fairly eclectic offering. The cemetary level sets the tone for the rest of the episode, but it’s the train station that most ties in with the game’s roots as a horror-themed response to Duke Nukem 3D. The train level is a technical marvel by 1997 standards, but it’s probably the carnival levels (which are a clear reference to Something Wicked this Way Comes) that give the episode its most iconic images, as carnival themes keep popping up in mods. The back half of the episode with its sprawling temples really drive home the gothic horror vibe that the game goes for, as well as showcasing some of the more creative level design. If you’re in 1997 and you’re trying to decide if this game is right for you, this grab bag of a shareware episode should give you a good idea of what you’re in for.

Episode Two: Even Death may Die

While E1M1 is iconic, the entirety of Episode Two is equally so. Set in the frigid north, with whole-level references to some of the most iconic horror tales ever written (Frankenstein, The Shining, though curiously not The Thing) it’s a departure from the first episode in that the theming is consistent throughout. Even the haunted house level is surrounded by snow and cold. It also introduces several new enemies: the bloated zombie, the giant fish monsters, spiders, and most notably, the phantasm, a terrifying ghost that’s only able to be hurt when it’s about to attack you. The arsenal gets filled out a bit as well – you now can use the special dynamite types as well as the ever-popular aerosol can flamethrower, plus the voodoo doll.

E2M1: Shipwrecked

Craig Hubbard

The frozen north theme hits you like cold wind in the face, starting you out on a tiny boat heading towards a big wooden ship, locked in the ice (and named the HMS Victor, in keeping with the obvious Frankenstein references.) While there’s a few treats in the water, most of the level is spent exploring the relatively small ship, moving from fore to aft and back again as you collect keys and open up new rooms. Your first encounter with gillbeasts will probably be in the small, flooded room at the fore, a nasty place to meet such a dangerous enemy. The finale is nonsensical, but kinda cool, and a quick swim later you’re at the entrance to the next level.

E2M2: The Lumber Mill

Craig Hubbard

A quick little romp around a lumber mill, as the title suggests. Mostly a small compound of buildings, you’ll be working your way around and through them, visiting each one in turn and clearing them out. You'll also get your first introduction of “bloated butchers” – fat zombies with toxic puke and big cleavers that they throw at you. These guys can take a hell of a beating before going down. Fun, short little level that exemplifies the exploratory focus a lot of these older FPS games had. A good bit of humor to be had by the outhouses.

E2M3: Rest for the Wicked

Kevin Kilstrom and Craig Hubbard

It took me a long time to figure out what the hell this was supposed to be. Essentially it’s a prelude to the next level, a small hedge maze and resort complete with pool, hot tub, and the like – all frozen over, of course. It’s very restful with between 43 to 105 enemies running around. The hedge maze makes up most of the first part of the level, before switching over to the resort area, and then looping back around, finally sending you back to the start of the level, where you unlock a gate that leads to the exit. Looming in the distance is a big old house, with one light on upstairs, and something in the window watching you…

E2M4: The Overlooked Hotel

Kevin Kilstrom with revisions by Craig Hubbard

Zero points for guessing what this level is a reference to – especially with that frozen guy in the hedge maze. The hedges aren’t all that interesting otherwise, but once you get into the hotel proper the level really opens up, with an extremely non-linear layout for you to explore. Not only that, but a series of very obvious secret passages basically connect the entire hotel, making it possible to duck in and out of rooms at will. This is also another example of the game making secret exits require a little bit of thought – you need to find five tomes hidden around the hotel to unlock a portal. Some good scares and creepy moments in this level, mostly based on The Shining, but my favorite is the library, the stacks illuminated by suspended lanterns, except for one in the far back, the chain swinging uselessly, with phantasms lurking in the shadow.

E2M9: Thin Ice

James Wilson

If you liked the frozen sea from E2M1, you’ll like this level, a big twisting network of caverns and cliffs overlooking a frozen lake. Not much in the way of civilization here, but plenty of goons to shoot through. Not a very visually interesting level, but it’s fun to throw a dynamite plunger and watch chunks of ice break off and float to the other side of the lake. Towards the end things get treacherous as you have to make some daring jumps from one jagged ice peak to the next.

E2M5: The Haunting

James Wilson and Kevin Kilstrom

While Blood is primarily an action game, the developers did not at all forget that this is a loving pastiche of the horror genre, and as such have crafted one of the creepiest levels in the game, and my personal favorite of this episode. With a sprawling old manor with a detached guest house, the enemy count is surprisingly low for the most part, allowing for a slow buildup of tension as you first work your way through a creepy hedgemaze, past the guest house (the same house you saw at the end of E2M3 in fact) and eventually into the mansion proper. It’s all dark tunnels and cobwebs everywhere, most of the windows boarded up. Phantasms lurk about upstairs, you can hear what sounds like hundreds of rats in the walls of the basement, and when you finally access that mysterious guest house… If there’s a level that most exemplifies what a creative mapper can do to scare people with the limited technology of the mid-90s, this is it.

E2M6: The Cold Rush

James Wilson

After the open-ended nightmare that was E2M5, E2M6’s little mining compound nestled in the cliffs is a refreshingly short little jaunt that’s somewhat reminiscent of E2M9. At first the camp building (the sole structure) is inaccessible, requiring an extended detour of hopping from ledge to ledge around some perilously steep cliffs, eventually finding the key in a cave, which allows you to access the building proper. Lots of gargoyles flying about to irritate you, along with the usual zombie/cultist trash. Fun little surprise flamethrower trap when you go to look in a mirror, complete with crawling hands coming out of the walls to choke the life out of you. opening up the locked gate to the mine proper offers a real sense of forboding for such a simple effect – but we’re nearing the end, now.

E2M7: Bowels of the Earth

James Wilson

The penultimate level of the episode is appropriately epic in scope: a long, mostly linear journey through a dark, seemingly abandoned mine that’s already partially collapsed. While abandoned mining equipment has been left lying around here and there, for the most part this is a generally featureless series of tunnels and chambers, though towards the end it starts taking on a more concrete identity with a big underground waterfall as a major setpiece and some long-abandoned temple ruins. Trash mobs are everywhere, including a great ambush early on where the tunnel collapses and zombies break out of the walls to surround you. At the end of your journey you’re rewarded with what looks like a huge temple, with a swarm of spiders (and a stone gargoyle) crawling out of the darkened entryway. the lair of Shial is near…

E2M8: The Lair of Shial

James Wilson

Like E1M7, the final level of the episode is just a small arena, though in this case it’s a much more convoluted knot of twisting tunnels and chambers, with a huge spider nest in a small chamber that overlooks the bigger starting room. In that nest is Shial, mother of spiders, and your boss for this episode. Compared to Cheogh she’s much easier to deal with – she moves slower and mostly sends swarms of spiders after you. And unlike cheogh, it’s much easier to send her bouncing around with napalm launcher fire, thanks to her much smaller size. Once she’s been squashed, you’re treated to another CGI cutscene, Caleb cracking wise with an Andrew Dice Clay reference of all things.

Final thoughts:

Episode Two is probably my favorite of the four original episodes. It’s a gorgeously realized trek through varied settings that fit very well into the far north/winter theme. While Craig and Kevin’s early levels are all great, it’s James’ later levels where the episode truly shines. Hinting at the guest house of E2M5 as far back as E2M3 with two, if not three levels in between, was a great touch, and the way it teases you throughout E2M5 until you finally find the house key adds a little bit of power to a scene that otherwise might have been just another grisly moment in a game full of them.

Episode Three: Farewell to Arms

Episode Two might have been cold and dark, but Episode Three, in contrast, is positively explosive. This is probably where the game comes closest to its roots as a horror take on Duke Nukem 3D. set predominantly in a town somewhere in France, you’ll spend a lot of time fighting in and around the streets, working your way through commercial businesses and other things you would expect to find in a small city. The Cabal have come for war, and with them they’ve brought a dangerous new enemy: hellhounds, whose flaming breath can sap your health in seconds. Fortunately, you also get to use the Tesla cannon for the first time, and it puts them down right quick.

E3M1: Ghost Town

James Wilson

Right off the bat you know this isn’t the typical Blood level. You’re dumped unceremoniously in a small section of the city, with a number of the shirtless innocents running away from you in the distance. Tall buildings surround you, and the streets seem clear of Cabal. This all changes once you start poking around in buildings, as cultists and zombies start coming out of the woodwork and stuff starts blowing up. in true Duke 3D style, after surviving a shootout in a small office room, you get to watch from the window as the building across the street is reduced to rubble in an impressive explosion. The biggest challenge, however, is clearing the hotel lobby, which is just lousy with armed cultists, who’ve put up couches as barricades. If you’re savvy and quick, a reflecting shots powerup will make this encounter a breeze. Some other neat moments are the elevator that collapses with a super secret at the top of the shaft if you can climb to it, and the secret room modeled after the sloth murder scene from the film Se7en, complete with air fresheners.

E3M2: The Seige

Craig Hubbard with additional work by Terry Hamel

Craig Hubbard has pulled out all the stops for what’s one of the most creative and brilliant levels ever devised. Judging by the development notes, Craig really enjoyed himself with this level, and it shows. Right off the bat you get to watch as literal actual airplanes bomb the streets below (using some cool design tricks to make it look good,) followed by room-to-room fighting, shooting your way through the city as air raid sirens scream non-stop and explosions and gunfire ring out in the distance. It’s a brilliant piece of work, atmospheric as hell and fitting right in with Blood’s overall theme as Caleb’s all-out war on the Cabal escalates into full-scale mayhem. Probably my single favorite level in the whole game.

E3M3: Raw Sewage

James Wilson

Obligatory sewer level. It seems like almost every early FPS game had to have one, going at least as far back as the opening levels of Operation Body Count. In any case, this is a fairly linear but twisting shootout through a rather modern sewer system. The usual trash mobs are here, including plenty of zombies, but little in the way of higher-level enemies save a few bloated butchers and a poorly placed mother spider. Not a lot to really write home about, though some neat Build engine tricks like opening the machine that protects the eye key provide some nice visuals to an otherwise non-descript series of tunnels.

E3M4: The Sick Ward

Craig Hubbard and James Wilson

Probably the very first use of a hospital in an FPS game (or second, if you count System Shock’s medical deck) and it continues with Episode Three’s rip-roaring urban warfare setting. It’s a sprawling, thoroughly modern (and anachronistic) medical facility, filled with the usual goons and ghouls for you to gun down. Most encounters aren’t too tough, though a surprise pair of hellhounds can catch you off guard as you round a corner. Some good laughs with the “assisted suicide ward” being a torture room and some good creepy moments with zombies rising from their beds to come after you, among others. Eagle-eyed players (or just anyone who played Duke Nukem 3D) can spot the button in the chapel that opens up the secret exit. All in all, a solid, well-rounded level that offers a decent challenge and takes a setting that’s already kind of creepy and ramps it up.

E3M8: Catacombs

James Wilson and Craig Hubbard

Normally you would expect a secret level to have some kind of gimmick or whatever, but unfortunately E3M8 offers very little of interest save for a few cool encounters (mostly tons of zombies crowding some of the back corridors, and a prominently-placed guns akimbo powerup to mow them down with.) It doesn’t even really look like much of a catacomb, just a series of poorly-lit, underground corridors filled with enemies to mow down. Feeling more like a Doom level, it’s the kind of abstract nowhere that games like Duke Nukem 3D were intended to move away from with their focus on realism. A fairly weak outing, all the more annoying that it’s a secret level. The end has some neat rotating sector tricks to lead into the far more industrial E3M5.

E3M5: Spare Parts

James Wilson and Craig Hubbard

And now for something completely different. Wilson and Hubbard have crafted a convincing industrial nightmare here, some sort of foundry perhaps – it’s hard to tell as it seems to be generally a series of big rooms full of molten material, and most of your time will be spent traversing the catwalks and side passages surrounding it. Good use of textures enforces a consistent theme, and there’s a subtle style to the architectural detailing that makes it more than just a series of boxes. Some fun encounters here, especially the security scanner which detects you as an intruder and first sets flamethrowers on you, then some zombies.

E3M6: Monster Bait

James Wilson and Terry Hamel

Continuing in the industrial theme of E3M5 we have a sprawling dam complex reminiscent of Duke 3D’s water treatment plant level. It’s a little anachronistic, but it works within the context of the episode. Like E3M3 and E3M5 it’s a mostly linear affair with you blasting your way through a horde of trash mobs (including a ton of cultists) and the occasional hellhound or butcher. The turbine room isn’t the most intense encounter, but it’s certainly the most visually arresting. Though you do get a cool vista from the dam.

E3M7: The Pit of Cerberus

James Wilson and Craig Hubbard

It’s fitting that an episode so focused on fire and explosions should end in an underground temple crumbling under lava flows. It’s a bit less interesting, design-wise, than Shial’s lair; first you have to find four switches to even start the battle against Cerberus, who announces his arrival with cool collapsing walls and explosions. Cerby is dangerous when his AI works, spitting fireballs at you that do incredible damage (and set you on fire.) When he gets stuck on architecture is when he’s most vulnerable. Other than that, it’s a pretty straightforward fight, especially since he’s relatively slow, so it’s easy to lure him down one of the side paths for a breather.

Final thoughts:

Episode Three is, if nothing else, a showcase for the Build engine. All kinds of little tricks are at work here to give the episode its look and feel; take a look at how the airstrike in E3M2 works sometime. While it’s a bit more varied in its theming – moving from urban warfare to industrial carnage, with a decidedly out-of-place secret level – it’s still a generally coherent trip, moving away from the grotesqueries of the first episode and the frigid nightmares of the second towards a modernist city setting. With a little creativity one could run with this theme for some interesting horror-noir stuff, but the all-out action we get for this outing is perfectly fine too.

Episode Four: Dead Reckoning

The final episode of the original retail version, “Dead Reckoning” is like the first episode in that it’s a bit of a grab bag of themes, feeling overall like where the leftover levels and dregs of the design team’s ideas went. The first half is a weird mix of mad science and a few whole-level references to classic slasher flicks, only to switch to a hellish setting out of doom for the back half. The hellstaff makes its appearance at last in this episode, proving itself a devastating top-tier weapon.

E4M1: Butchery Loves Company

James Wilson

Starting the episode off right with a classic Frankenstein-style mad scientist’s castle. Based on development notes this was one of the very earliest maps to be created, and it shows, as it’s very small and doesn’t really come up to the standards of, say, E2M5. At best we can see a few sights like what might be Frankenstein’s main lab, brain storage (no zombies allowed!), a ritual and/or book club meeting in the front hall, and a lot of timing-based secrets that reveal themselves without the player even trying. Despite its short length, you’ll have to manage your ammo carefully, as the level is a bit stingy with weaponry while throwing a few high-level enemies at you like hellhounds. Eventually you find your way into a back room and the exit, all too soon.

E4M2: Breeding Grounds

James Wilson, Craig Hubbard, Terry Hamel

But wait! There’s more! Apparently not satisfied with the tiny mad scientist level, Wilson et al. went on to create a much larger level that, thanks to the level transition, is very clearly part of the castle proper, despite its much more modern look. Oriented around a pair of huge flooded fish tanks full of angry gillbeasts and bone eels, the level is a mostly linear affair that loops in on itself, with locked gates and doors eventually being reached from the other side. It’s a visually striking level at times, with scenes such as the curved observation hallway with a view into the big round tank, or the forboding gate to the spider habitat that you must clear. Combat is a steady drip with occasional hellhound encounters as well as a mother spider and stone gargoyle to block your way.

E4M3: Charnel House

Craig Hubbard and James Wilson

Of course, if you’re running an evil mad scientist lab and you’re going through a lot of bodies you’re going to need a place to deal with the leftover cadavers, right? The actual corpse-disposal facility is but a small part of the overall level, and much of your time is spent blasting your way through the tunnels and corridors of an aqueduct system the charnel house sits atop. Fairly low-key for the most part, save for a few intense moments where gillbeasts come after you when you’re in the water, though there is a moment where part of the map is repopulated by a troop of zombies. A decent little maze but nothing to write home about.

E4M4: Crystal Lake

Kevin Kilstrom and James Wilson

ki ki ki ma ma ma

I mean, what else do you want me to say about an obvious friday the 13th reference? You can even find Jason’s mask and knife in a barn. In any case, this is one of those build-cute type levels that’s mostly a series of tunnels and corridors where all the walls are plastered with a forest texture to give the impression that you’re in an actual forest, punctuated by a disjointed collection of buildings to give the impression of camp grounds. It’s largely very linear, your path through the woods eventually terminating at an outhouse, beneath which is a flooded tunnel that leads to the exit as well as to the infamous Crystal Lake, which is home to a school of gillbeasts. The lake itself has very little to distinguish itself from any big water-filled hole, though there’s a hellstaff on a raft if you need it. Also, though the secret exits of the first two episodes required a little thinking to work out, in this case they don’t even make you look for a button. You basically have to know exactly what wall to blow up, because the classic cracked-wall sprite that indicates a destructable wall is almost invisible against the cave texture it’s on, and the chamber is dark anyway. It’s worth it, though…

E4M9: Mall of the Dead

Craig Hubbard

Craig’s solo act returns for a level that’s easily as memorable as E3M2, if only for that goofy-ass mall music. No prize for guessing what movie this is based on… though there’s curiously not as many zombies as you’d expect. It’s not super huge, but there’s some good encounters (including a twofer stone gargoyle bout in the fountain room) and there’s a few laughs with the store names. A sudden swarm of zombies as you turn a corner reminds you of this level’s inspiration, and to escape the mall you climb up onto the roof. It’s anachronistic, but who cares?

E4M5: Fire and Brimstone

James Wilson

The back half of the episode begins in earnest with James Wilson offering a taste of hell in this jarring thematic departure from the early levels. There’s a possibility the regular ending of E4M4 naturally leads to this level, but it’s not the cleanest transition. Essentially a big volcanic pit honeycombed by cavern tunnels and ancient ruins, your path winds through the caves, hopping over lava flows, through the upper rooms of a central tower and finally on to an underground temple of sorts. Pretty steady drip of combat, though lots of hellhounds and an inordinate amount of gargoyles to blow up. Not a long level, nor particularly intense, but thematically stands out a bit from the other ancient ruins of evil this game features.

E4M6: The Ganglion Depths 

James Wilson and Terry Hamel

While it’s not the penultimate level before the final boss, it very much feels like one, reminiscent of E1M6 with its mostly linear traversal, high-above-the-clouds setting and sinister ancient ruins set into steep cliffs. Lots of tough encounters here, including several spider mommas (notably a twofer in a tomb) and a nasty fight right at the start with gargoyles (including a stone one) and some goons with only a bridge and some ledges to fight on. Lots of generic evil chambers as sinister chanting fills the air, but some creative encounters and setpieces help salvage what’s largely a lot of narrow corridors.

E4M7: In the Flesh

Craig Hubbard and James Wilson

The penultimate level is by far the weirdest one, thematically. No ancient temples, no crumbling cities. Just a huge cavern of flesh, filled with the sound of slow breathing. A shockingly low enemy count for the final non-boss level, but devoid of the usual trash mobs, instead throwing gargoyles and gillbeasts and hellhounds at you. A few distinct areas evoke actual internal organs, such as the heart, lungs, and, amusingly enough, the stomach. Combat is either trivial or a pain, the latter especially when dealing with the stone gargoyle in the stomach area.

E4M8: The Hall of the Epiphany

Kevin Kilstrom

The game’s finale, and the place you’ve been trying to get back to since E1M1. After a brief cutscene, you’re treated to a tiny map that opens up in sections as you first have to fight another stone gargoyle, another mother spider, and another Cerberus, in order, before finally confronting Tchernobog himself. The battle is not as straightforward as you’d expect; aside from a hitscan attack that sets you on fire, he also shoots out devastating fireballs akin to a cyberdemon rocket in Doom. It’s largely down to who kills who first, though utilizing the high-level weaponry such as the hellstaff will help. A bit of a disappointing fight altogether.

Final thoughts:

For what’s essentially the finale of the game, Episode Four is dissapointingly the weakest part of the game. While the final few levels have a coherent theme and transition among them, the first half feels like the design team had too many ideas they really wanted to put into the game and had nowhere else to put them. It’s not to say they’re bad, but E4M1 especially feels like a wasted opportunity and probably deserved to have been cut, or at the very least merged with E4M2. The mall level is truly great, though. The final boss was also disappointing, with a poorly-designed arena making matters worse. As a whole it’s simply not as memorable as the rest of the game.

- June <3

Every night I burn
Dream the crow black dream