DBP62: Haunting Hollow

DBP62: Haunting Hollow | DBP_62.WAD

Doomer Boards

Say what you will about the Doomer Boards, but they’re pretty good at making Doom maps over there. And pretty regularly, at that, having just released their 68th in just six and a half years. Of course, with that level of output it’s obvious they’ve had to go back to the same well a few times. I’ve talked before about how Gothic Deathmatch was a big influence on the community and it shows in the regular use of texture packs derived from or inspired by the GothicDM series. You can probably guess where I’m going with this — yes, DBP62: Haunting Hollow is yet another take on the gothic theme, this one leaning more towards a theme of an abandoned moonlit town, so it’s heavy on the blues and purples and greens. We’ve seen something similar, with Mausoleum Nefarium, but the influence of the ’97 deathmatch classic yet looms large…

The usual disclaimer… I played this with the following mods: HorrorMovieRei’s excellent Gothic Doom reskin pack, a simple blood fixer mod for properly colored blood, Doomkid’s 150 Skins mod set to the hooded guy, Flashlight++ 9.1 set to the “Lamp” preset, and Retro FX for that old-school flavor. If this configuration seems familiar it’s because I used this exact same setup with Morbid Autumn; indeed, I like the idea that the player character is a turn-of-the-century monster hunter slaughtering demons in the forgotten parts of the world. Expect him to return in later wads.

While nothing on the level of Zeppelin Armada (how can you possibly follow that up? not even the immediate next DBP, Eldritch Voyage, tried) Haunting Hollow does have a story, of sorts. The beginning and end of the wad feature a brief moment of dialogue as a mysterious cloaked figure explains the narrative to you, white pixel text against a blue background, like a Final Fantasy game. To sum up, you’ve come to the town of Lodewood, which is now haunted by devils after the citizens made the mistake of investigating the old abandoned church outside of town, accidentally summoning a horde of demons who killed everyone and turned Lodewood into their home, a gloomy ghost town full of ghouls and monsters. And you get to clear them out.

It’s a pretty short roster this time with only 11 maps, one of which is just a credits map. The mapping team consists of Jon “40oz” Vail, again in the team leader role; DBP veterans Sergey “SilverMiner” Burow, Cittykat112, snowy44, Thelokk, thehockster, and MortisCausaDonatio; and relative DBP newcomers Gokuma (whose sole previous contribution to DBP was DBP48, which… yeah…) and Jacek “Havoc Crow” Dobrzyniecki (who does have quite the extensive resume.)

Haunting Hollow is pretty even throughout. DBPs can have their ups and downs — many view the final third of Zeppelin Armada to be its weakest (though I disagree, I think its low points tend to be more in the early to mid-game) — but DBP62 is pretty consistently a solid play. If I had to pick out a single map that I think the set wouldn’t lose anything by removing, it’d have to be Gokuma’s in the MAP04 slot.

There are some high points, though. Havoc Crow’s “Speak of the Devil” I think most perfectly encapsulates the theme of the set, a spooky map set in a portion of the town set on scattered clumps of earth floating in the void, complete with a defiled church and a barbershop with a sinister secret. The finale, by Thelokk, is another high-water mark, even as the whole thing descends into slaughter. It’s not for everyone, but I had a pretty good time with it (it helps that you can do most of your demon-deletion from relative safety.)

I’m not sure what else there is to say about DBP62; not every DBP can be an AUGER;ZENITH or Zeppelin Armada, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be super fun. Haunting Hollow is good clean popcorn Doom fun that’ll take you a couple hours to do — and that’s time well spent, especially at this time of year.

get it on Doomworld

MAP01: Funeral

Jon "40oz" Vail

40 Ounce gets us started with a creepy little gothic complex. Your path through the map is a sort of figure-eight as you'll work your way around the little courtyard into an ominous encounter with an arch-vile who disappears, before looping back around to the courtyard from the opposite direction which in turn unlocks the path to the yellow skull key. Don't worry, you'll see that archie again before you're done here...

MAP02: Sanctimony

40oz

Wow, I haven't thought of Dark Tranquillity in ages. 40oz turns up the heat a little for this one, an old castle ruin that has you climbing some tower stairs before winding up in what appears to be the area around a church of some sort. You'll be dealing with a few waves of enemies in this area, though if you found the secret rocket launcher in the castle area, you'll be well equipped for this; otherwise, you'll have to wait until you get into the church, at which point you can use it on the revenants who show up.

MAP03: Lodewood

Sergey "SilverMiner" Burow

You can count on SilverMiner to add some Plutonia-esque aesthetics to any wad he's a part of. He's got a little more restraint than usual on this one, though, with some DoomCute stuff like cattail reeds by the water and a little dining room, but for the most part this map is marked by cyclopean walls, wood and green marble textures, and a few tricky encounters like the imp jumpscare when you get the yellow key.

MAP04: Sinking Tower of...

Mike "Gokuma" Fredericks

The full title of this is "Sinking Tower of Jdjrklgufitwhtyugofplmuilginsynopdkzdnhtmksld♥ugngdmdjsdrbfnunrkdyvmfdck" and that honestly checks out for Gokuma. (Frankly I'm shocked it even fits into the margins here.) Structurally it's kinda like a more (or less?) annoying version of Master Levels' "The Express Elevator to Hell;" each floor has a simple stairway that loops in on itself and you drop over the ledge and the central floor lowers some more. Eventually you'll reach the bottom and be able to escape, but you're not safe yet as a spiderdemon AND a cyberdemon AND a graveyard's worth of skelly bois all show up to meet you.

MAP05: Ravatal Revue

MortisCausaDonatio

I guess we're just doing Hungarian folk music... anyway this is a little town area that's slowly being corrupted by the forces of hell. In some ways it's more Plutonia-like than SilverMiner's own map, especially with the presence of chaingunner snipers and the vague mix of techy/gothic themes, as well as some intense fights such as the east-side showdown that locks you in when you jump down into the water.

MAP06: Speak of the Devil

Jacek "Havoc Crow" Dobrzyniecki

This one comes pretty close to feeling like a Blood level, especially with the spooky music. We come upon a small part of the town, suspended in the void; what appears to be the town hall is partially demolished at the edge of the "island" it sits on. A valley with some farmland divides it from the barbershop and church across the way; something sinister lurks in the old church, its crucifix torn down and in pieces on the ground in front of it. To get there we have to shoot through the barbershop, where something awful lurks in the basement and a base of chaingunners wait for you upstairs. The defiled church itself is quiet... until you reach the pulpit, and that's when all the monsters show up for what's probably the biggest fight yet. Compared to that, clearing the town hall ain't no big deal.

MAP07: Nocturnal Demoncaust

CittyKat112

I'm reminded a lot of some of Chris Lutz' Heretic maps (especially played using Blasphemer -- much of Haunting Hollow's aesthetic makes me think of that, actually.) You spend most of the map below ground, working your way through a series of caverns and dungeons with multiple dangerous encounters that on occasion slip in an arch-vile to turn up the heat. Luckily, CittyKat112 is quite generous with rocket launcher ammo, which certainly comes in handy for the imp slaughter in the finale.

MAP08: Trickz N Treatz

thehockster

Bit of a mix of aesthetics here. The first half of the map has you assaulting a green marble temple that's a little Episode 4-ish, with each switch you throw triggering more monsters. Eventually you'll start working your way through the ruined courtyard of the temple complex; on the east side of the map you'll go through a pretty convincing-looking building with some archie ambushes and lots of hell knights. Beyond the yellow door is a cybie, but even he's just a preview of the big showdown that trips once you throw the switch in the blue door building. Fun map, even if it's not quite the "Tricks and Traps" tribute the name and music choice would suggest.

MAP09: Aurora

Snowy44

This is a big one, with over 500 monsters on UV across a sprawling gothic palace. Enemies lurk around every corner, hiding in the columns (that lower as you pass them), teleporting in after every key grab. The finale has you first picking your way across a sea of blood dotted by ruins, then doing it again only now there's a swarm of fliers including multiple pain elementals on top of a cyberdemon holding court on one of the bigger islands. It's not super hard but it will take you a while.

MAP10: Green Fairy

Thelokk

Thelokk brings us a finale with a fresh aesthetic on top of the spooky moonlit gothic texture set, making use of green -- green water, green lights, occasional bits of green marble -- amidst blues and greys. It's a little marble garden complex with waterways and a couple places to sit; you won't have time to relax though as each press of a button brings more trouble, and when you finally grab the red key, Thelook selects most of the map and presses the "flood fill" button, throwing a horde of revenants, hell knights and some other trash at you for a final slaughter set to melancholy music.

MAP11: Haunting Hollow

40oz

You're back in the church you began in, the story ends, and roll credits. That was fun!

-june<3

Well, that cat took off like a greasy streak
A ghost was a diggin' his crazy beat

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