worm\v/wood
By Ribbiks and Grain of Salt - 5 Maps
Format: Boom
[Download]
Started: October 22nd 2025
Finished: October 23rd 2025
Status: Completed
Welcome to the finale of Starcannon399's Doom Halloween special! Part 5, worm\V/wood! Wow. Wormwood 5 might just be the absolute best ending to this series we could ever possibly get. It returns back to the usual format and structure from before, 2 openers (this time both from Grain of Salt) before finally once again gracing us with a Ribbiks showstopper finale. Map 1 is an alright opener, mostly an expo for the new melee replacement (which is just a damage buff and a cool reskin), but map 2 is fantastic. A tightly packed castle siege that makes great use of that new melee upgrade and packs a lot of fun into a deceptively small layout. There's also 2 bonus maps whateverwhocares one is just you meleeing 8 baby cyberdemons to death and the other is a dumb stupid annoying platforming level that I did actually beat because i'm a dumb stupid stubborn bitch but. Map 3. After Image. What a finale. Ribbiks seemingly took the unused showstopper energy from wormwood 4 and combined it with wormwood 5's to create a sprawling multi hour slaughter adventure with a fantastically cool gimmick. Through some infernal contract Ribbiks made with the dehacked devil, the keycards and weapons are randomized on each playthrough, and the entire map operates on a curse system, where encounters are made dynamically harder the more guns and keys you've acquired. It's a lot on your first encounter but After Image is an incredible centerpiece map, with tons of memorable areas and agonizingly difficult optional encounters for the 3 skullkeys, made even better by a left field masterpiece midi choice. I never expected to hear a midified version of the soul sanctum music from hollow knight but MAN if it doesn't fit perfectly, capturing the oppressive atmosphere from wormwood 3's finale with the magical mystery of wormwood 2's, and a touch of orchestral power and grandiosity to tie the whole thing together. It's a very tough map, and the final encounter especially WILL brutalize you more than anything else in the entire wormwood series, but After Image is an absolutely fantastic finale, and solidifies this as my favorite wad in the whole wormwood series. But there's always potential for more. Maybe this year... ?
It's not even CLOSE to halloween WOW I got through these fast
Addendum: I'll be waiting very impatiently for this year's dean of doom halloween episode because I'm dying to know what everyone's favorite mountain has to say about this wad in particular if it does hopefully get covered.
Addendum 2: 10-31-2025 YES HOLY SHIT IT WAS SO WORTH IT
Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Favorite Map - Map 3: "After Image"
Least Favorite Map - Map 32: "Intense Ultra Slaughter"