Hellbound
By Z86 - 32 Maps
Format: Limit Removing
[Download]
Started: July 23rd 2026
Finished: July 27th 2026
Status: Abandoned
[STARCANNON399'S DEAN OF DOOM SEASON 4 WAD REVIEWS: PART 2 - HELLBOUND]
Goddamnit we are NOT off to a great start. Sunder was a wad I shelved due to it being way above my pay grade for now, but still one I ultimately respected and thought was cool. Hellbound is a wad I NEVER would've trudged through for this long if it wasn't for my promise to play every season 4 wad. I wanted to make up for my inability to finish sunder by going all the way with this one, but after getting just over the halfway mark I think I get the picture. Hellbound is a slog, through and through. Even as a fan of wads focused on incidental combat, hellbound is just a bunch of samey rooms and corridors that are ugly and brown as hell, way too fucking dark to be able to reasonably see anything it, and filled with random globs of enemies that you slowly plink away at with the shotgun and chaingun (and maybe the SSG if you're lucky), because all your good guns and sufficient ammo for them are tucked away in random secrets or not there at all, making even the most basic of fights against midtier enemies into a slow, boring headache. Of the maps I played there were only a few I kinda enjoyed, but the large majority of stuff here is just Bad, and the lack of any exciting midis just adds to the sloggyness. I can at least respect the dedication to making a continuous journey with every map leading logically into the next one, but I've seen this done better in other wads, and it can't save an otherwise middling gameplay experience.
This might be THE MOST I've ever disagreed with the Dean's opinions on some maps, even moreso than the highly questionable A+ he gave to Eviternity map 19, but hey this is exactly why I wanted to play these wads before watching these episodes this time. It was interesting seeing such a different take on maps I had an absolutely miserable time with, but seeing how the last 1/3rd of this wad plays out only further supported my choice to drop this and never touch it again. Despite setbacks and essentially officially being a failed endeavor, the season 4 promise continues on, so I'll be back next week for hopefully something more enjoyable!
Rating - ⭐½
Favorite/Least Favorite Map skipped because the WAD wasn't completed.