Doom II - Realm of Chaos: 25th Anniversary Edition - MAP31: The Mansion (Ultra-Violence 100%)

Hello again fellow Doomers, welcome back to another playthrough. It's time for quite a hefty commitment from me - a full megawad. Not just any megawad, but an expansive remaster of Realm of Chaos; a mid-1996 creation by The Macintosh Team (TMT) which was kind of sidelined and forgotten at that time. Spearheaded by Cammy, this updated and modernized version of RoC gives some much-needed love to the ancient megawad through "fresh new lighting, clearer progression, improved visuals, and beefier action. It comes pre-packaged with the custom sprites that were relegated to a side-wad in the original, and is scored by an all-new bespoke soundtrack". Best of all, it's 100% vanilla-compatible. That's an excellent pitch, so let's see how that facelifted old-school action fares!

Basic info
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IWAD: doom2.wad
Difficulty: Ultra-Violence (pistol start)
Map authors: Slava Pestov & Cammy
Music: "Last Snow" by Cammy
Port: DSDA-Doom 0.27.5
Compatibility level: 2 (Vanilla)
QoL mods: Colored Blood, Ultrawide Statusbar (included in WAD pack)
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Additional notes
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The first detour of RoC leaves the carnage of 'Infestation' behind in favour of a very intimate and strangely wholesome experience where it's your turn to act as the intruder. The smell of books and blood, as indicated by the most recent intermission text, finds its expression in the form of an elaborate complex of living quarters, complete with abundant DoomCute, a library, and, well, blood. Cammy's hand introduces decorations, nicer textures, and general QoL changes that will certainly please those who appreciated the 1996 version, and the lilting melodies and wispy vibes of "Last Snow" (something you'd be more likely to hear in a light-hearted RPG like Fable than in Doom) are surprisingly fitting. A hard to describe sense of nostalgia or sadness permeates the map, as if it's trying to humanize the demonic invaders and make you feel like the one out of place in the whole ordeal. Regardless of your personal interpretation of the themes, 'The Mansion' is a very nice semi-breather.

Secret 1: 0:39

Secret 2: 1:46

Secret 3: 3:24

Secret 4 (yellow key): 4:22

Secret 5: 5:23

Regular exit: 7:10

Secret 6 (exit to super secret level, requires yellow key): 7:15

Links
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WAD:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic...

QoL mods:

Colored Blood:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic...