Maskim Xul
By Obsidian - 3 Maps
Format: Boom
[Download]
Started: May 9th 2026
Finished: May 10th 2026
Status: "Completed"
That "Completed" comes with a HUGE asterisk.
That sure was... something. Maskim Xul is an INCREDIBLY impressive effort full of detail and mapping wizardry but unfortunately I kinda hated this. The short opening map is a neat way to get things started and lightly introduce the wad's increased focus on navigation over combat, but the real meat of maskim xul is the second map, a huge interconnected library labyrinth full of secrets and traps. You'll need to comb every inch of this place for weapons and all six keys in order to make your escape, and for the first hour or so it's a real treat. It's fun exploring around for keys, seeing new sections reveal new enemies, weapon changes, and unique setpiece areas, but after a while it just becomes a massive headache. I found three of the six keys myself, and got a bit stuck on the rotating room because the solution is just to backtrack and hit a random teleporter, but after that I spent over half an hour wandering in circles while not being able to find the last two keys I was missing. I could SEE the blue skull but had zero clue how to get up there, and didn't even have the faintest idea of how to start finding the yellow crystal. Eventually, I just gave up and cheated in the last two keys so I could move on, but with my patience already mostly drained, maskim xul's final section just felt more frustrating than fun. It's much more combat oriented, and while some of the setups are fun, the penultimate room just dumps archviles on you in a cramped maze which isn't very enjoyable (by this point my patience was deep in the negatives and I just IDDQD'd this room), and I didn't even get to fight the final boss on account of not managing to get the bfg replacement which is basically necessary since it has EIGHT THOUSAND HEALTH. My own lack of patience and issues with complex navigation aside, the majority of maskim xul is WAY too dark which makes it hard to see both enemies and important stuff you need for progression, and combat in map 2 tends to be very cramped and stilted since most of these rooms are built for confusing navigation rather than in depth fights. Overall those who have more patience than me, and struggle less with getting lost will probably find a lot to love, but for me I don't think I'll ever want to revisit this one.
Rating - ⭐⭐⭐
Favorite/Least Favorite Map skipped because Maskim Xul links them together seamlessly into one full experience.