DooM Nexus: The Park of DooM Review

My 2 Cent Take on The Park of DooM

DoomPark - Glen "glenzinho" McColl
Vanilla DooM2 - Solo Play - 61212 bytes

.: Overview

This is a single-player map for DooM2 that was completed in 1995 but was released to the public in 2012. It has a new, city-themed sky, a new ENDOOM graphic (apparently taken from NJDooM2.wad, but not credited in the text file), and a new map name graphic.

.: A City-Themed Map....

The start of the map belies its origins back in 1995. It is a multi-tiered area that is nicely constructed. However, as soon as you move outdoors you step back in time. The buildings are blocky and uniformly tall, the walls are straight and plain, and there is little attempt at decoration. The new sky is a nice touch, but it fails to significantly improve the visual appeal of the map. Despite it being an early-era map, the author could have done much to gussy it up before releasing it in 2012.

.: .... With Some Fierce Combat

Gameplay primarily consists of mowing down the opposition while finding switches and keys to progress (which, I hasten to add, is not necessarily a bad thing). In most instances it was clear what had to be done. However, the start area was frustratingly obtuse to me, and I initially gave up and quit the game when I couldn't figure out what the switches do. [The author has placed "door open" and "door close" switches for remote doors right next to each other. As you can't see what the switches are doing, and as the doors in question are not marked as such, you could wind up opening & closing a door without being the wiser.] On my second try I made it past the start area, and after that I had no problems with navigation. Fights are mostly manageable, with a couple of traps that include fierce combat. In particular, the fight after picking up the red key involves swarms of enemies, and is best survived by quickly exiting the building after picking up the red key. There is plenty of ammo and health, heavy weaponry, but some entirely unnecessary power-ups. And, of course, there is the obligatory 1995-style maze. Finally, to round out the 1995-map features, most of the "secrets" are areas that you'll be traversing to make progress in the game (but, thankfully, are not hidden away).

.: Wrap Up

This map may be lacking in the looks department, but it makes up for it in the fights. If you're into nostalgia and you're looking for some decent action, give this map a shot.

Start Area
New Sky