The Montiverse

You knew this was coming. How could I ever, ever end this column without taking a look at what Nicolás Monti has been up to lately? Some time in 2018 was the point where I started paying a lot less attention to Doom WAD releases. That was coincidentally around the same time Monti was taking a break from Doom. Even still, in the time since my review of Mano Laikas: A road to Gamzatti in 2017, our benevolent mapmaker has graced us with no less than ten new WADs. I’ve caught up on most of those and now I have

Mano Laikas: A road to Gamzatti

Nicolás Monti is an artist. Maybe the Picasso of Doom mapping. I’ve made a point of playing all his recent releases as they come. That includes my 2014 WAD Of The Year, Apostasy on Amalthea; one of my favorite WADs of 2015, Desecration on Thebe; and his most recent and expansive work, 2016’s Mano Laikas: A road to Gamzatti. Rounding out that roster is Erkattäññe, in my opinion Monti’s weakest WAD and yet the only one to win him a Cacoward. Erkattäññe didn’t work for me in large part because it was a Doom II WAD. Doom II’s textures just didn’t jive

Favillesco Alpha Episode 2: Desecration on Thebe

Favillesco Alpha Episode: Apostasy on Amalthea was my personal WAD-of-the-Year in 2014. I came for the promise of a WAD made entirely out of Doom alpha textures, and I ended up staying for Nicolás Monti’s one-of-a-kind mapping technique and bizarre stylistic sensibilities. This year he returned with an unexpected sequel, Favillesco Alpha Episode 2: Desecration on Thebe, and I had to know if lightning could strike twice. How does it measure up to Amalthea? For starters, Thebe ekes out a victory over its predecessor in the Length of Title category — one character longer! But seriously, as soon as you