He's had a long and impressive career in game development, but John Romero's name will always be associated with a cluster of old school titles centering around DOOM, Wolfenstein 3D, and Quake. Ok, and Daikatana, but we're all trying to forget about that one. Now, some 21 years after his last design, Romero has released a new map for DOOM And you know what? It's pretty darn good.
E1M8 is technically a remake of the old map, but it's backed by two decades of game design experience, so the changes are anything but subtle. The level is long and brutally difficult, with paths that loop back on themselves and force you to make smart item pick-ups so you aren't left hanging later on. Enemies are suitably placed to keep you pulling the trigger, and there are a few surprises to stumble across, as well. Feels just like the old days.
Download the new, free map and play it on your DOOM of choice. Naturally, we recommend Brutal Doom, Chocolate Doom, or something similar, since they support online co-op. E1M8 utilizes only shareware DOOM assets, so you don't even need to own a copy of the full game to play.