Sigil

First published in GRIND I, pages 58–60.

I didn't fully understand the bit about fighting the level designer before I played Sigil, though: the fifth episode of DOOM, released by John Romero 24 years after “Thy Flesh Consumed” gave nightmares to enthusiasts of demonic blood-soaked boots.

Sigil departs from the classic arena-shooter recipe (slaughter everything that moves, find the key and head for the next level) and puts the emphasis on solving little puzzles that ease your progress to the next stage of the level. What's more, the maps are relatively small precisely to encourage repeated attempts and failures.

In the interview I did in August 2020, John Romero made a remark that got me thinking: in single-player games you fight the level designer, while in multiplayer modes your enemies are the other players. That second part is obvious to anyone who has ever dropped into a match of StarCraft, CS 1.6, or to those of us stuck in a perpetual purgatory in the Call of Duty universe.

Lai Ta dell dă d ul en Lua d

So it often happens that you reach a certain point and have to take a risky approach (descend into the lava to hunt for a button or an item that will ease your progress, or pull off a manoeuvre that will kill you in 90% of cases).

But Romero's design in Sigil doesn't waste your time — you have weapons and ammo at hand from the start of the level, and from there on you need to call on your logic and creativity more than on quick reflexes.

And I know the comparison would be unfair, but Sigil reminded me of the “Tricks and Traps” map from DOOM 2 (built by Sandy Petersen, a declared critic of Romero). For the most part, the levels are cramped and claustrophobic.

You're permanently surrounded by narrow platforms that can at any moment become an invitation back to the start of the level, and the contrasts between light and dark in various parts of the map will make you mimic the facial expressions displayed by

25-1993

Datao by John Rom ero,

Trademark by Ro:

Distributed by Li

Music © by Buckethead mero Games Ltd, imited Run Games

DOOM Guy at the bottom of the screen. At the same time, you feel John Romero's mastery wherever a few characteristic game-design principles are applied: for instance, secrets are always in plain sight, but you have to work out how you can get to them; and when you have a view out to the exterior of the labyrinth you're in, then that's most likely an area you can reach through a secret door.

So across Sigil's 9 missions we see a contrasting alternation between claustrophobia and open spaces that allow a little more exploration. Nor are the Lovecraftian influences missing, along with medieval design elements that pay subtle homage to id Software's other masterpiece, Quake. Across the levels you can spot grates that block the player's path (but let rockets through), walls of demonic fortresses, and also paranormal elements that remind us that the architecture wasn't made by human hands.

The story is as simple as in the first 3 episodes of DOOM and is only revealed as text once you finish the last level: after the battle with the Spider Mastermind in E4 M8, DOOM Guy should head back to Earth to save ry planet from F demonic invasion. However,

Baphomet has other plans and E 4 rigs the butcher of L. [] demons his return portal.

So the marine finds himself transported to another dimension of Hell to prove his mastery of handling firearms once again.

We've reached the point where I have to mention the difficulty: if DOOM Guy manages to face all of Sigil's challenges with flying colours, then he'll walk through DOOM 2 like a German soldier through the Third French Republic. The narrow platforms, the puzzles used to gate your progress and the pantagruelian quantities of lava on the floors will have you restarting every level several times before you actually understand what you're meant to do.

REVIEW

At the same time, the difficulty isn't an obstacle for everyone: in the half hour I spent trying to finish E5 M1 (the first level of Sigil), a YouTuber called Zero Master finished all 9 maps. And that highlights an important detail about Sigil's target audience: hardcore players and the die-hard fans of the original DOOM, who have surely spent whole years exploring community-made WADs and most likely had their own goes at expanding the canonical universe, are the ones who'll enjoy the very existence of Sigil the most. I'm not saying a fan of the series can't play Sigil, but I am suggesting that the effort it takes to finish John Romero's latest challenge is a good deal greater.

And since I've got onto the canonical DOOM universe, there's a clarification I ought to make, one that should give us all hope: the console version (available on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series S+X and Nintendo Switch) offers free add-ons such as Sigil, TNT Evilution, The Plutonia Experiment, Syringe, REKKR, Deathless, No End In Sight, DOOM Zero and

BTSX.

A year before being acquired by Microsoft, Bethesda decided to spring a pleasant surprise, offering the chance to download community-made map and level packs. I bought DOOM for around 5 euros in launch week and assumed I was only getting the first 4 episodes (Knee-Deep in the Dead, The

Shores of Hell, Inferno and Thy Flesh Consumed). What I got was far more than that, and I'm glad my investment was repaid with extra content, while the people who kept the DOOM project alive over the decades ended up with their work officially recognised. Maybe Disney should learn a thing or two from the whole DOOM story and acknowledge the Star Wars expanded universe.

Though I wouldn't count on it.

Sigil is an experience every DOOM devotee deserves to try: if not for the story, then at least to see how John Romero has refined and matured his style over the years. The game is free, but it can be bought in various special editions (the most interesting and affordable being the one that costs $6.66 and includes a soundtrack recorded by the iconic guitarist Buckethead... because nothing says DOOM like the pure-blooded heavy metal that accompanies the spilling of... blood).

Obviously, the version Bethesda offers for free on consoles doesn't include Buckethead's music either, or the other bonuses you can only buy from the Romero Games site.

But beyond the familiar style and the difficulty that's unusual for me, I'll always remember Sigil because it offers a perfect example of fighting the level designer. There are stretches where you feel attacked by traps, by the concentration of demons and by the way health packs and bullets are hidden, but also moments when you realise you've been handed some help so you can crack on with the slaughter. The fourth wall is broken in a way that's obvious enough to notice John Romero's hand in it, but subtle enough to keep you caught up in the action on screen. And if that isn't a seal (heh) of mastery, then I don't know what else could be.

= Vlad Costea