Doom 2: Arrival - Map 7: Shrine of Moss (UV Max)

Arrival is a 10-map limit-removing episode replacement made entirely by Walker Wright, or Pavera. It was released back in 2021 and also won a Cacoward that same year. Later on, it became an official add-on for not just the Doom Classic Unity Port, but also the new Doom + Doom II Port. Along with that, the WAD’s soundtrack also won a music award in the 2021 Cacowards. It’s safe to say that this is a WAD bursting at the seams with quality in every way possible.

There are a couple of other major things to note about Arrival. Pavera states that Arrival was designed with Doom 2’s stock resources in mind, with help from the gorgeous set of skies from Mek’s “Box o’ Skies.” However, the more important aspect is the music. Arrival’s OST was composed entirely by Brayden Hart, or AD_79. It is absolutely essential to the atmosphere of each environment and the overall experience of the WAD. If you aren’t particularly interested in playing the WAD itself, then I beg you, please go and listen to the OST. It’s simply that good.

Anyway, I haven’t played Arrival in quite a while, and coming back to it made me realize that I really needed to do a playthrough of it. So, I hope you all enjoy!

ARRIVAL PLAYLIST:    • Arrival  
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IWAD: Doom 2
Port: DSDA-doom 29.3
Compatibility: Vanilla (comp level 2)
Mapper(s): Pavera
MIDI: AD_79 - In Search of an Answer
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Arrival: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/lev...

DSDA-doom: https://github.com/kraflab/dsda-doom

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Shrine of Moss is probably my “least favorite” map in Arrival’s normal roster. Despite that, this is still a great map, but it just simply isn’t on the same level as Arrival’s best, which is completely fine. It’s much more tense and dangerous than anything Pavera has thrown at you so far. Even the start is a bit trickier than normal. Pavera gives you a lot of doors to open initially, but he doesn’t let you know which ones are good or bad to open. That kind of thing you’ll just have to find out for yourself.

After you do gain a foothold, though, the combat really only has just begun. One of the more dangerous sections is the large outdoor area that leads to the rest of the moss-covered structure. The amount of sniping Mancubi, Revenants, and assorted fodder hurtling a storm of projectiles at you is daunting. It’s hard to know where to go or how to start in that area. Especially so given that you have to maneuver through the space, dodging all kinds of stuff, just to get an SSG and a Rocket Launcher. So it’s safe to say that Pavera is giving out very little freebies this time around. I like this in terms of how it opens up the final episode. The setting is more serious and evil-feeling, and the mean combat brings a new level of intensity that primes you for the last stretch of maps.

As always, another highlight of this map is the incredible music. AD’s MIDI is an equally intense, fast-paced, but inspiring and uplifting track. It’s one of the only things in this map that tries to uplift and empower you as you struggle through each successive room. It’s, once again, a fantastic companion to this map, and its name also leaves room for interpretation. That is, the music gives the player that feeling of finally seeing the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

Overall, I’m glad this map is in Arrival, and as an episode opener, it gets the job done well. I suppose my small gripes with it come from the gameplay and the harshness of it in the beginning.

#doom