Review by Colin Phipps

According to the TXT file, KABOOM started out as a test of the new texture manipulation features in Deep. It grew into a large level for Doom 2, which uses the Boom engine, partly because it would be too big for Doom, and also for various things like deep water effects and easy sprite replacement.

This is a pretty surreal level. Apparently you have to enter this base where a weird new energy source is being developed. There are all kinds of strange stuff around, like blowing fans, plasma discharges, force fields, etc.. All the weapons, and quite a few monsters, have been given new sprites, though there were very strange (e.g. the trooper is turned into a mini mancubus). It certainly gives KABOOM a unique feel. The design is good, with good detail in most areas.

While the sprites and stuff are changed, the actual gameplay isn't, so you soon work out which weapon is which. There aren't that many traps, mostly it's just the normal fights that are hard. The ammo is heavily biased toward cells, using cells all the time can get kind of dull, but I suppose it suits the style of the level.

The level progression is the real killer at this level. Read the text file, because it warns you that only one side of one teleport can take you to the right area to get one of the keycards. This isn't the only place where you can get lost though, since even to reach that teleport you have to discover a hidden teleport line, and later on there are several hidden switches and teleport lines which are needed to complete the level. It's made worse because there are lots of acid areas, dead end traps, etc which made wandering around looking for a way forward more hazardous.

Having to load an editor to find out what to do next in a level always spoils it, so maybe I got too frustrated with this one. The graphics are neat if strange, but the gameplay was just too weird for me.