Thanks for the review! I smiled when you picked up on the Stewboy influence on MAP31's music :)

everyone asks when half life 3's coming out, but no one asks when btsx episode 3's coming out

Glad you liked my map! It was my first contribution to a big name project like this, and it really taught me a lot about my mapping style. Looking forward to more reviews from this channel for sure :)

When even the TNT fan gets bored of tech bases, you know the WAD has some problems. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the last 2 maps and the finale. Deffo a must-play.

This WAD is officially part of the Doom2 2020 re-release, and this video inspired me to finally play it. I was so confused until I realised they changed the map titles tho!

To skip to the reviews: 1:53 Eduardo Díaz nailed the pop quiz within the first two hours of this episode's release: congrats to him! Edit two years later, I don’t know why I put an accent instead of an umlaut in Bjorn Ostmann’s name. I feel very dumb.

I always knew there was something about BTSX that was holding it back for me, and I think you finally painted it in the plainest way possible here: everything looks the same. While the maps are great, and the style is unique to the wad, everything bleeds together after the first half dozen maps. If you told me this was made by a singular person, I would believe you, and I don’t know if that’s the angular geometry, the muddy textures, or maybe a combination of the two. I understand how important this wad is to the development of the community, but I just can’t love it like everyone else does. Still, great analysis, your syntax in these videos is incredibly engaging.

If there's one thing this WAD consistently aced, it was the music. A treat for the ears.

Please please please please.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . don't stop, your reviews on wads are actually really enjoyable, and I think given enough time you will get many subscribers and views. Job VERY well done sir. Your reviews help me select wads to play since I cannot go over the huge library of wads myself due to time limits.

I love this show so much, reviewing wads from a grading system and trying to be objective is unique. I would love to see someone do this with mario world romhacks too.

This WAD manages to look better than 90% of everything posted on the doomworld forums or uploaded to idgames, and its all done in vanilla. So impressive, and a ton of fun from a gameplay perspective too. This is one of the big hitters for a reason. Its hard not to at least respect it. Can't wait for Episode 3, if the screenshots posted a while back are anything to go by, it'll have a lot more variety than e1 and e2.

I love how whenever you say “gauntlet” you say “gantlet” like in doom 2

One of my all time favourites, this and ep 2. I've been waiting for ep 3 forever, let's hope it's released before we die of old age.

LMAO perfect description of the average BTSX map

This... My first custom Mega wad I played a few months ago. It was such a memorable experience to the point I ... Jitter? At remembering some of the harsher fights during this video. Speaking of that, it was also my first magawad with a higher difficulty curve (haven't played plutonia before BTSX1) and after beating it I felt like I can tackle any wad if my computer can handle it. Though you were reasonably and understandably harsh on some of the levels, having more experience than me. As a "newcomer" I had a great time with most of the maps and had the feeling of satisfying fatigued after. But great video and hope you continue enjoying what you do. Favorite map being Bingo pool hall of blood and Tough skin River.

If you're playing with the music the stages are named after, Some Drilling Implied is probably the most memorable level in the mapset. You start with 7 levels that, the more you progress, feel like every enemy is another sponge, another roadblock. The music reflects this, droning at you with repetition, unfitting calmness, and radio-distorted sound. ESPECIALLY in Radio Report, which defines the tone of these first few levels incredibly well for me, as you feel a sink into madness as it vaguely switches between songs in a way you have a hard time noticing and your ears get used to as it loops. Everything takes a stopping point at MAP08, the hub. You can take a breath, forget about the music, forget about the enemies With that said, the game putting you into a role of a hopeless man this station as you slip deeper and deeper into it, and giving you a breather, you'd expect it to throw you back in. You dread it. And then it throws you a *BANGING* rock song, and holds back on the spongy enemies letting you rip and tear through fodder and lower-health enemies that still give you a challenge. MAP09, to me, defines the second part of the tone of playing this mapset with this music. You are still Doomguy. And from that point onwards, it feels like it alternates between this demon-slaying and hopeless feeling, blending them together. And then I realized that's how Doom's meant to feel. BTSX, with the Guided By Voices music, nails the Doom feel in a way I haven't really seen anything else pull off. So with my oddly specific context, I give MAP09 an A.

As a console player, BTSX is a great addition. I find it a far more enjoyable experience than the Master Levels or Final Doom, but some of the ambushes are run-killers. Definitely has to be played with frequent saving the first few times.

7:48 Oh, so that's the reason why i got that "i did this before..." feeling, i knew i wasn't crazy :D (Sadly, i don't remember the maps name since i completed this megawad months ago, but i can recognize all the parts you showed :/) Map 12 was a pain in the ass because it has my worst enemy in doom maps: UNNECESSARY BACKTRACKING

Wanted to thank you for highlighting the soundtrack in your videos. It is an often unappreciated aspect of games and I'm glad you give it the time it deserves.

My fellow Doom Dude, that Hub Level music has got to be the most unique ever and quite ASMR inducing. Yes, I actually do often have that track precede guided ASMR meditations involving train travels. Love watching these videos from you too, amazing stuff and can’t wait to see you review Thy Flesh Consumed

BTSX EP1 has to be my favourite megawad to play through, and though it can get samey, I love it regardless, I always spice it up with gameplay mods because that's really how I play classic doom nowadays, and when I find a new gameplay mod BTSX EP1 is usually my default option for trying them out. Can't wait to see what you think of EP2, I haven't played that one as often.

BTSX was pretty much summarized after your review of Bingo Pool Hall of Blood: It doesn't take risks (With the exception being the aforementioned); On the whole, it does feel like a relatively 'safe' venture with level design and mechanics, atmospheric at times, maybe, but it indeed drags. That being said, it's a pretty good WAD.

Once again it's very hard to disagree with you, Professor. This was a pretty fair assessment of Episode 1, which is very impressive and memorable at the start but settles and gets a bit dull before snapping out of it and sharpening its edge again. Me, I love the heck out of good techbases but same as you, repetition and lack of versatility is not my favourite. The lore of Navigating Flood Regions is not time travel or dimensions or anything, it's a little more dull than that: during the fight before the teleporter, stuff explodes and ruins the base sections you passed by previously. Bingo Pool Hall of Blood felt more like a nod to continuous play than a true freak map. When you're fully geared up it feels awesome to tackle the entire demon contingent head on, with far less frantic running around. Very creative use of the sparse infernal textures in E1 too. It's not my favourite map but it gets an honorable mention. My personal valedictorian is, maybe to surprise of a few, map01. It takes an extraordinary wad start to stand with the rest of the mapset as a beautiful, cool and aggressive level, and Back to Saturn X Radio Report surpasses that bar with fireworks and confetti.

map 12 was one of my favorites of the pack 🥺 red key area was more outside and lava, blue key was short and contained, and yellow key area is a sprawling monolithic cave with bases interspersed. idk. i disagree with a lot of what you said but tis a good video. i respect it.

Just finished this wad today and it's one of my favorites. I did ruin that crazy fight in Tough Skin River. I didn't trigger the whole fight, just the cacodemons, and was wondering where everyone is, why can't I leave, that's it?? lol. The problem was I tiptoed to pick up the red key (I knew it was a trap so I was being cautious) and guess that didn't trip the trigger to spawn the demons in waves and it also didn't start lowering the wall to the exit. Eventually I ran over to where the red key was, stomping around that space and that did it. With the cacodemons all dead, I was left watching that wall lower. I was using my phone for a bit and was completely caught off guard when wave 2 finally loaded after a minute or so lol. When it worked, that fight was crazy. ;)

2 minutes ago? I stopped playing Doom just in time to watch some Doom! 😁

Really digging your reviews man. Keep up the good work!

Wow. The other day I was thinking I'd love to see your take on BTSX and BAM here it is. Keep up the excellent work!

Map 32 (the hard way) is like a love letter to Go for it.

Alternate title for Bingo Pool Hall of Blood: City In The Clouds II

When he goes silent after the level name, you know it’s going to be good

this is what I live for lmao

Back to Saturn X is my all time favourite series of wads. Your review is fair and entertaining, and it fills me with joy to see you tackle it this way. Thank you.

So i commented on one of your other vids about console plebs not having access to mods being somewhat highly infuriating. Lo and behold i learned a few days ago i sounded like a flaming idiot cuz there are a few wads included with gamepass doom including BTSX 1/2, Plutonia (filled with dread about that one lol), and a few others including Doom Zero which i never heard of. Im currently getting my ass handed to me by hell beneath lol so i havent gotten that far. Great vids man much love!!!

Oh yes, a wonderful wad and I absolutely love the music! I recently bought both episodes' music from James Paddock's Bandcamp page.

So glad I found this channel. Exactly the kind of content I didn't even think I needed.

DooM BTSX is the best DooM wad ever made, Tough as nails but very fair, music is absolutely fantastic, the sense of isolation with impending death around every corner is so spot on. I started getting teary eyed when I got on that ship and the game ended.

It was a trick pop quiz. All maps were map 9 "Please Differentiate Me" 🤣

I think aside from Eviternity and TNT:Revilution, BTSX 1 was one of the first community WADs I played all the way through and I bloody love it!

Get Out Of My Stations is what finally got me to start working on my first Doom project. it showed me a melancholy that I hadn't seen portrayed in Doom which I tend to tap into in all my of other endeavours. really beautful stuff.

The first megawad I actually pistol started fully. Its one of those all time classic. Map 12 is actually one of my favourites weirdly.

3:51 Ah yes.. the banger that made a certain other doomtuber dance mid-playthru. I'm so glad i found this awesome channel.

MtPain27 is back

I love btsx 1 a 2. I play for 3 years on zandronum with my friend. the levels the midis is amazing. Esselfortium did good on btsx 1 a 2 with the btsx team I hope to see btsx 3

Damn A-, after listening to you shred the middle section I was expecting something in the B range, maybe even lower.

Hell yeah. A new dean video!

One thing I crossed off on my bucket list, make sure my children keep asking "When's Back to Saturn X Episode: 3, Sarah!?"

YES! THANK YOU SOO much for reviewing this. Absolutely loving this series, keep up the amazing reviews!

Tough Skin River: I actually came to tears after these damn wad it has a emotional attachment to me that I live more than any damn wad ever made

5:24 It's not BTSX related but I'd highly recommend giving Pavera's more recent wad 'Arrival' a spin; there's more explosive action to be had here a la that ending fight.

For me, It has been one of the best Doom old school WADs ever played... It gets even better with an enemies wad mod...

An amazing experience from start to finish. Awesome soundtrack, too!

BTSX 1 AND 2 ARE THE GREATEST WADS EVER. hard as nails and gives an extreme gratification of achievement when finished

Great review! Yeah, I’ve definitely felt the techbase fatigue playing through this, too. Thankfully, E2 has a nice mix of landscapes throughout, though I’d hold off on playing that one until they push out a new version past 1.0.1 (there are some bugs where monsters don’t teleport in). One thing I noticed in your video which I’ve also seen playing in GZDoom: the default inverted color map is used for the invulnerability filter, but there is a custom one they included which is seen playing in PrBoom+ which uses the same powder blue used for the plasma gun when it’s fired. Not sure why that got overlooked.

This channel is a fantastic way to get a list of quality doom wads. The grading system is a brilliant idea too. Youve earned my sub.

My favourite WAD of all time, dont know if i'll ever find anything i enjoy more, Eviternity comes close but this is the map set i go back to time and time again.

The first time I got to Map 08 I kicked back and relaxed for awhile. Probably sat there for an hour.

Map06 will always stand out to me as my absolute favorite map. Especially with that MUSIC. It's honestly the best track in the WAD imo

Great video as always Also I think that Strange Aeons would make a nice halloween episode

Well I stopped mapping in Doom to watch someone reviewing Doom

thx for verbalizing the lull I felt in the middle third of the wad, it just felt so meh. Like eating cold pizza, still tastes good but it could be better. I also played it with the btsx weapon set from final doomer and I realised how fast doomguy normally is. The speed choke really made some fights harder than they should be. great review overall

I will always remember decinos little dance to map03s song. =) love the vid

Ah yes the legendary BTSX... it was this mapset as well as Ancient Aliens that got me back into playing Doom several years ago after a long absence. And you may not do partial wad reviews however I would LOVE to see you tackle Sunder and give your thoughts even though it is still a work in progress...it’s the first mapset that really forced me to “git gud” and rethink how I played Doom and I hope that Mr. Gazebo eventually finishes it.

Good video as always! I always watch these as soon as I get a notification regarding the channel!

Dude i am forever in love with this series! Keep it up!

Still hoping for that review of The Japanese Community Project! Its probably my favorite all time custom WAD, mainly due to every map feeling unique due to every map having a different author.

I still haven't played Back to Saturn X, so I had no idea that it used Guided By Voices titles as its map names (although I guess I should have put two and two together on the inspiration since Back to Saturn X Radio Report is one of their songs). I adore that, GBV are an amazing band.

Just watching this video again after a couple years and I saw Brett Harrell's name and thought the level seemed kind of familiar in a way.... and then I just realized that he is also apart of the Supplice team (Mekworx) along with Sarah and Jimmy. That game is so much fun so far and I can't wait to see more of it in the near future.

I hope they release episode 3 soon, a perfect trilogy for a perfect wad. BTSX is one of my favorite wads

I didn't finish BTSX Episode 1. It was undeniably beautiful and polished, but I wasn't having any fun. However, when I returned to it later and pistol started a few levels, I did come to appreciate the epic, sprawling adventure of MAP12 and the quick, vicious city battle of MAP19. Finally nailing saveless runs on those two maps - that remains the highlight of the WAD for me even if I could take or leave the rest. Looking forward to the eventual Dean of Doom video on Episode 2 - it's probably my favorite megawad, and it deserves just as much attention (or more) as the project's debut.

Good day MtPain, Okay, so I'm trying this wad out. I'm not good when it comes to playing non-commercial releases (I don't do like, one off levels and stuff like that, for whatever reason), and I'm trying to play with your lenses of understanding difficulty, complexity, and overall enjoyment of each level. I'm not pistol starting, because I am more of an 'experience it in my comfort' over challenge, but I really like these maps. So far I'm only on Map06, but I really loved 04 and 05, kudos to those map makers. With all of this thinking, I've now got a Doom Builder tutorial on screen 2, and with any luck, my ADHD will let me make a map! Thanks yo!

I like this wad a lot but a lot of it just blends together just like you said. Map 32 is my favorite as well

Honor Roll: Map 01: Back to Saturn X Radio Report Map 03: The Room Taking Shape Map 05: Total Exposure Map 07: Metal Mothers Map 08: Get Out of My Stations I Map 31: Optical Hopscotch Map 16: Get Out of My Stations II Map 17: Navigating Flood Regions Map 18: Cyclone Utilities (Remember Your Birthday) Map 20: U.S. Mustard Company Map 22: Gonna Never Have to Die Map 23: Get Out of My Stations III

Strange, I thought I would've left a comment on the BTSX E1 video already but I guess not! I played through this over a year ago at this point, it was one of the first wads I downloaded, I was very impressed with what I had seen in decino's playthrough & discovering that this beautifully designed mapset can be played with the original v1.9 DOS executable kinda blew my mind. Overall, I did greatly enjoy BTSX E1, enough to mark it as a personal favourite. But like you, I did come down with cases of "Tech Base Fatigue" through out & ended up taking several breaks before I eventually finished it. I do LOVE the soundtrack though, absolutely incredible work there. If I had to pick a personal favourite piece it would have to be "Womp" by esselfortium, the track that plays on Map 22 "Gonna Never Have to Die" I've also played through Episode 2 (which I hope gets a look from the Dean of Doom one day) and am very excited for Episode 3 whenever it arrives.

I'll always have a soft spot for BTSX 1. It's not the first custom Wad I ever played, but it was the first I challenged myself to complete in UV after finally getting through Plutonia and the official Wads in UV. And I love tech bases too, that helps too.

You did BTSX!

Dude I'm loving this show your doing. I was thinking to do something similar but didn't commit. Keep going. Love it!

I absolutely love your reviews. Saturn X is one of my faves. My only gripe is the music is a bit too loud. There are moments when I can't even hear you cuz of music is blasting, and I'm always eager to hear what you say next. Great review! Keep it up!

Not gonna lie, I missed the intro so you mighta said this already, but IIRC Back to Saturn X is an album by some band, and all the level names are songs by the same band. edit: yeah I should just expand the description next time, lol. Ah well, another great review of the WAD as a whole and I feel similarly about how repetitive it can get, which is why I burn out on it kinda early.

Oh I also gotta say, anyone who hasn't seen Decino do the BTSX E.1 playthrough on UV+ you gotta watch him do Tough Skin River. It's a crazy fight.

I am currently playing through this map with the Embers of Armegedonn: Eternal mod, and it is a blast.

I do wish there were a couple more City-like maps like E1M19, to vary things up a bit. But considering it wasnt until a later 2013 version of the beta that it was added in, it was probably too late to have more than the one.

Sweet, been waiting for this one 😎

Honestly that A- final grade cut like a knife even though I completely agree with you

I love BTSX so much I think about it at least once a day. I cried at the end cause I just didnt want it to end

I feel Episode 2 has a lot more variety than Episode 1, and in exchange for that, E2 is made to bust my balls.

When I think of BTSX ep 1 I always think of map 15. For me it represents a very high standard in techbase level design.

Best doom wad reviews channel ever. Would love to see a Community chest (2, 3 & 4) review and a Z pack review, of course

You are one of my favorite reviewers of all time! Keep up the good work! I'm curious if you'll do like a qna at some point.

Saturn, my 6th favorite planet.

I wanted to play along with that pop quiz, but I don't know the original map names, as I played it on the switch, as it's part of the free "expansions" on there, but btsx's names were all changed... not that they make any more sense, but still, I feel it would be cheating to go and wiki those level names. Still, glad to see someone doing BTSX, and I hope you keep doing good work.

Heya Dean, longtime watcher, first time commenter. Can we have a report card? Going through a few playthroughs and try to think back to which level had which grade. Love the reviews.

I never really "got" BTSX. It's a really fun wad, but I think you nailed it on the head with the gorgeous custom palette resulting in levels blurring together. There's just so much techbase fatigue in this wad, and I tend to find techbases boring to begin with. It's still an incredible set of levels, but I just can't rank it with Eviternity or Ancient Aliens or even Valiant really. I do adore the map names though. And I love the intermission maps, they do an incredible job of conveying a place. I'm not even going to try your challenge though good grief. I should probably give BTSX a replay again, but I always fall off on the middle maps. Maybe I'll skip MAP09-15 this time, since I've finally converted from being a continuous play heathen to a pistol start devotee! Incidentally, I wonder if it might be fun to give us the next wad you're planning to cover at the end of your videos-- I'd love to see these videos with the maps more fresh in my mind-- it's been probably 2 years since I last mashed through BTSX, and especially here the wad's very tight theming means that there are just not a ton of moments that jump out in my memory (the last setpiece is basically the only one that really really pops out at me.) I think I agree with your assessment at an A-. It's a pretty prototypically A-, technically excellent in nearly every respect, but missing the joy and spark to earn a proper A. There are few wads that are as consistent as BTSX, but many that reach higher highs.

Brilliant video as always! Feels like it's time for episode 2, no?

I’m surprised you didn’t spotlight the MIDI in the first level.

I appreciate what they're doing with the wad but it's not my thing. I prefer smaller and move varied maps. Ideally with some gimmick that makes them memorable. Thanks for the review, though.

Im playing the ps4 version of the unity port where the map names are changed. I stopped playing this wad at map 19 which for some stupid reason mentions Christmas in it's map name. I used up most of my ammo killing the first group of monsters that start in the level. Then rage quit after dying to the 2nd wave of monsters after pressing a switch up a lift to the side. That was such bullshit having loads more Archviles spawn in resurrecting everything but not giving me more ammo.

22:05 "With the help of Jimmy Paddock's incredible MIDI, victory is *within reach*." Song Name : Within Reach Pun intended?

It's the first WAD I downloaded. It will remain my favourite. I think Eviturinty is better but I really love the train stations and the music fats was also a really great ending.

Good video 💙💙🌿 I just subscribed ☺ I have seen it :D When you upload the EPISODE 2 i will wach it 😄🌿