The Best Doom Wads - Metroid Dreadnought

Long time no see! And I mean that literally... the last post on this dust-covered blog was in December of 2014! We all celebrated Christmas and New Years, and forgot about allllllllll about this little blog didn't we? DIDN'T WE??!!!

Of course we fucking did. We all have lives I think, and that gets in the way of writing about shit no one will ever read anyway. I'm definitely guilty of that one. It's been a rough year already. Nothing really compares to LAST year, but this one was starting to get right up there.

This is 100% accurate.

I'm not going to talk about my shitty situation, because that's not why we are here! Besides, that is what Facebook is for these days. Instead, I want to talk about two of my favorite video games. It's a little interesting this time around however, because for once I can enjoy both of my favorite franchises in one neat little package!

HOW SO? Well I'm glad you asked! It's pretty well known that I loooooooooove Doom. I literally love it. If I could legally marry Doom I would. It is the only game that I know of that still has an active community of modders who love it more than me. I'm fucking serious. Mods are still being released for this goddamn game! Whether it's a high resolution texture pack, 3D models, or just altering the gameplay entirely, Doom is still quite relevant these days.

Hey you! You know what else became relevant recently? Oh yeah, Metroid did. And not in a good way. It seems Nintendo is intent on shitting all over one of their best franchises ever. Just fucking watch that so called "trailer" for Metroid Prime: Federation Force. I really have no idea what's going on over there at Nintendo, but I can say with confidence that, AS A FUCKING METROID FAN, THAT IS NOT WHAT WE WANT!

Seriously??? I know Metroid has never been a best seller for Nintendo over the years, but it has always been a game of 100% quality. Even Other M kept the spirit... sort of... But this game? A multiplayer Metroid game? Didn't Hunters try that on the DS already? And guess what? That game was pretty decent for an early DS game! Federation Force isn't even out, and already it has garnered so much hatred from long time Metroid fans.

I can't make this shit up!

Yeah, that's a petition, and you know what? I'm almost supportive of it. I have been waiting for a new Metroid game ever since I loathed through Other M, and Nintendo decides to come out with this shit? It really isn't that hard Nintendo. Make one a classic 2D side-scroller but with 3D, in the same vain as Zero Mission or Super Metroid, or you know... JUST MAKE ANOTHER FUCKING METROID PRIME!!!!!!

It really aggravates me to no end! It isn't rocket science! They know the formula to make a classic Metroid game, so why they won't make one is just mind boggling. As for Federation FARCE, why slap the "Prime" moniker on it? Why tarnish a great series?! WHY NINTENDO?? WHY?!!!! I could make so many arguments as to why Metroid is not a multiplayer game, but I'm about to prove myself wrong.

Remember earlier how I mentioned Doom? I'm sure you do... I mean, the title mentioned it. You had to have seen that... Let's get to the good stuff finally!

METROID DREADNOUGHT - A WAD BY TerminusEst13

As a guy who has played hundreds of WADs, it's a little hard to name off my favorite ones. Wild Weasel's Diaz WAD was my number one for a long time. Combined with the Equinox level set, it was pretty great. Then Brutal Doom took that shit over for the longest time. I just found this quite recently, and it just instantly took the cake. Terminus hasn't created a total conversion... he hasn't even made any levels for this mod. It's strictly a gameplay mod, but a fucking fine one at that! Some serious love went into this mod, and it really shows.

Thanks to Zandronum's ZDoom ACS scripting, this is a true Metroid mod. From the beams, the missiles, morph ball and bombs... even the goddamn movement is true to Metroid Prime in every single way. Jumping has the floaty-ness of Prime, and even the sounds. It really feels like Metroid Prime! I can't stress enough how cool that is, considering the fact that we are dealing with a game that is, oh I don't know... FUCKING 22 YEARS OLD.

That's it... take it allllll in. Look at that screenshot. That is a multiplayer map, perfectly re-created from Metroid Prime Hunters. Notice the visor, and the overall HUD. It's fucking beautiful. Terminus has somehow combined the essence of the Prime games with Doom, and it works! All the classic beams are here: The Power Beam, Spazer, Plasma, Ice, Wave, and even the Long Beam. Samus starts with some of her latent abilities such as the Morph Ball, Bombs, and the Charge Beam. Morph Ball works exactly like it did in the Prime games, and it is re-created in Doom really well! You can still charge your beam and roll into a ball to pop out a bunch of bombs. You can dash in Morph Ball form, just like in Prime. Spring Ball is here as well. It's so fucking incredible that Terminus did this AND kept the spirit of Metroid in a Doom WAD.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL FOLKS! We also have the Space Jump. Just like Prime, it acts as a double jump. Included with that power up is the Wall Jump ability, and it works so goddamn good. The Speed Booster is here as well, and while it cannot be charged into a Shinespark, it can be used to mow through enemies. There's a special effect when it is used, and it looks great.

All the beams are beautiful, and representative of their classic counter parts. Even better, you can collect the Energy Converter, which works similarly to the Diffusion missiles from Metroid Fusion. When a beam is fully charged, you can use alternative fire to fire a beam/missile combo attack. For example, the Ice Beam's combo freezes multiple enemies in a certain radius, and keeps freezing them. The Spazer combo shoots fast and wide, and cuts through enemies. Each effect is amazingly done, and is absolutely beautiful. On top of the classic beams, Terminus has also added two secret ones: The Chroma Storm, and the Doom Cannon. The Chroma Storm is interesting in that it rapidly shoots small projectiles from each beam. As you hold down fire, it randomly cycles through your current collected beams. It's really neat. The Doom Cannon is basically a shotgun, and it's fucking powerful. It's super secret though, and can't be used unless you use a console command. Still, it's interesting to see Samus shooting bullets from her Arm Cannon.

All of the expansions are here. You can find missile expansions, super missile expansions, and even Energy Tanks. It's so fucking good... I can't stress it enough.

Oh wait, yes I can, because I'm forgetting to mention something... This is on Zandronum. That means you can play this in multiplayer, up to a fucking legendary 64 player deathmatch. Currently, there are only three measly maps for deathmatch, but this is the way to do Metroid multiplayer. I really can't describe it in words; It has to be experienced.

So you might be asking, is there ANY downside to this fantastic WAD? Unfortunately yes... Terminus is no longer developing it. I've done some serious Google searches for levels made for this WAD, and there is NOTHING. It's so heartbreaking... this would shine in single player. Doom has support for hub based levels, and this WAD could benefit from something like that. It could really become a great total conversion if enough people got on the ball and started making levels for this. I would love to see actual Metroid enemies added, and more abilities added. Everything else works flawlessly, so I could only imagine what Terminus could do with say, the Screw Attack!

This WAD is fun in Doom, but gets boring quick without a dedicated level set. The closest you can really get to the Metroid experience with this WAD, is to pair it with TeamTNT's Daedalus WAD. They work quite well together surprisingly, despite the lack of Metroid-type enemies.

But hey... what can you do?

Nothing...

Wait, what am I talking about? YOU CAN DO SOMETHING. You can make some levels for this magnificent bastard! I will really actually pay you to do it! Maybe! Probably not, but someone should do it! It is too good to NOT happen. I know it's an old game, but come on! FUCKING DO IT.

Now I am fully aware that there is a Metroid Prime mod for Halo on PC, but it's strictly multiplayer. This WAD has potential to be something great. Something that would rival Nintendo's efforts. I'm fucking serious. This could be right up there with Super Metroid. IT'S THAT GOOD.

You really need to find out for yourself! Download it here at ModDB. If you like it, try pairing it with TeamTNT's Daedalus. Wanna play the deathmatch maps online? Get them here.

Thank you Terminus. I love you.