Drake O'Brien Ovational Megawad
By MtPain27 et al.- 32 Maps
Format: Limit Removing
[Download]
Started: August 23rd 2026
Finished: September 2nd 2026
Status: Completed
[STARCANNON399'S DEAN OF DOOM SEASON 4 WAD REVIEWS: PART 8 - DRAKE O'BRIEN OVATIONAL MEGAWAD]
This was... something. D.O.O.M. was obviously a very meaningful project for MtPain27, and what is here likely will capture the hearts of most TNT fans, but even as someone who prefers TNT to Plutonia, I can't say this does all that much for me. There's a handful of maps here that are pretty incredible, but the rest is just filler-y and a bit ugly. TNT gets a lot of goodwill from me because of its age, which lets me excuse a lot of its visual inconsistency, but trying to intentionally replicate that in the modern day just leads to a lot of very ugly and amateurish looking maps. The fact that the visual theme never really changes up at all also doesn't help things, and I feel like this project might've done a lot better with more oversight from MtPain himself, or taking a page out of THT: Threnody's book by simply not being a full 32 maps. The release thread on Doomworld warns against marathoning D.O.O.M. due to potential issues with magnum opus syndrome, but this wad is less "magnum opus" than just "magnum". Its biggest maps rarely ever do anything with their size beyond taking a lot of your time, which adds to the filler-y feeling. The best maps in here are genuinely really damn good, but the highlights are few and far between in an ocean of otherwise pretty nothing maps. If you do choose to play this, just check out the highlights (Maps 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30) and skip past the rest.
In terms of the Dean of Doom episode, ever since this was hinted at in the RoC 25th episode I was INCREDIBLY curious how it would go. How do you review something that you were the project lead on? I was really worried this would turn into a really weird pretentious episode that pulled its punches in regards to talking about the maps themselves, but it was only sorta like that. I can't blame MtPain27 for being reverent about a project he lead which was intended as a tribute to the mapper who made some of his favorite maps in TNT, but since I played the wad first, I had a hard time agreeing with parts of this video. But as the episode progressed further and further towards the final 3 maps, I could tell where things were headed. This episode was... depressing. Painfully, painfully real. I'm not sure there's words to convey it. Comparing Drake O'Brien Ovational Megawad, the 32 map limit removing megawad, and its Dean of Doom episode is, essentially impossible. I wrote the above section a day earlier, right after finishing it, and I feel very bad for trashing this wad as much as I did. It may still not particularly be for me, but as a meaningful piece of art for the people who worked on it, it's unparalleled across all the wads I've ever played. Season 4 has been a very mournful experience so far. It's evident that MtPain27, the Dean of Doom, is tired. Very tired, of all things Doom. The review for Map 29: "El Duelo", isn't a review. It's laying bare the underlying feelings we've had hinted at throughout all these past episodes. The ending of this show is less a grandiose finale, and more like putting down a suffering animal. It's painful to see a foundational pillar of what got me into this over 30 year old game end up like this, but I understand it. It's always darkest before the dawn, though. The sun is rising. That inevitable sun. See you next week everyone.
Rating - ⭐⭐⭐½
Favorite Map - Map 28: "The Numinous Monuments"
Least Favorite Map - Map 20: "Stellated Scyphozoa Sanctuary"