Five Mapping Lessons From Knee-Deep in the Dead

Seven years ago, I had this idea of cataloging my favorite WADs from Doom’s entire history. When I first set out, that history already spanned 19 years. Now we’re at 26 — and I’m looking back to realize that the most obvious WAD of them all still isn’t on this list. Over the course of 50 episodes, I haven’t at any point talked about the one WAD that kicked this thing off; I’ve never reviewed DOOM.WAD. Of course, everyone else has. In the Year of Our Lord 2020, you can probably find a thousand discussions, reviews, essays, and videos on

Return of the Triad

At this point, it’s probably pretty obvious that I am an unabashed lover of trashy first-person shooters. (If not, just wait until my review of Rage!) With that in mind, here’s the rather unexpected sequence of events that leads me to this post: 1. I finally give into the digital distribution model after much resistance. My first purchase on GoG is the original Rise of the Triad. 2. Shockingly, I don’t like it. 3. Several years later, I purchase the new Rise of the Triad without a second thought.

Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me About Dangerous Dave?

Seriously… this game. Seriously. Where have you been all my life? I’ll admit I’m biased toward liking Dangerous Dave. I have a kind of pseudo-nostalgia for this early era of PC games, in all its 16-color, PC speaker glory. I say pseudo-nostalgia because I wasn’t even around for it when it was going down. It really wasn’t until Doom that I came onto the PC gaming scene, but there’s still this warm, fuzzy feeling that creeps up on me when I load up these older games.