The fertile world of Doom WADs by no means ceases to amaze me, and Vault 666 is a current launch that actually tickled my fancy. Modder Carl Asami’s Vault 666 is a send-up of each Doom and Fallout that asks: What if the Doom Guy needed to save the wasteland?
It’s a goofy, parodical form of deal, however has the eye to element and love of the supply materials to actually make it sing. The WAD begins with a foolish tackle Fallout’s grim openings, delivered by an incredibly good stand-in for longtime collection narrator Ron Perlman.
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Seriously, I used to be anxious it was AI at first, however the narration (which additionally exhibits up in-game and within the endings) is credited to 1 Henry Schultz. He has a pure supply with some real variance that dispelled my AI fears—there are factors the place you possibly can inform an actual man is slipping out of Perlman mode. To be clear, it is a good factor.
In-game, you possibly can straight up flip round at first and go away, triggering a catastrophically dangerous narrated ending slideshow. Even enjoying the WAD usually, there are a pair variations you may get that account for whether or not Dogmeat survived and should you discovered sure degree secrets and techniques.
Speaking of Dogmeat, the WAD’s tackle the pooch is an absolute tank, an Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura-tier Dogmeat that genuinely helps you greater than he stresses you out. It would not really feel such as you’re enjoying a Doom escort mission or one thing.
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Vault 666 nails the aesthetic of 2D Fallout as nicely, with sound results and belongings lifted straight out of the sport and in any other case expertly imitated. The WAD even reskins the Doom arsenal to raised resemble the Fallout 1 lineup—Doom Guy’s Berretta 9 millimeter, for instance, is upgraded to a pleasant and boxy Fallout 10 mil.
Otherwise, Vault 666 is populated with the usual Doom enemy lineup, with the notable exception of a bespoke riff on Fallout 1’s Super Mutant honcho, The Master, who serves because the WAD’s closing boss whereas additionally taunting you all through over the Vault’s loudspeakers.
Vault 666 is an actual deal with as a basic Fallout celebration, and it is price trying out over on ModDB. This crossover between Fallout and Doom has me wistful for the long-quiet Fallout: Bakersfield, a proof-of-concept trailer for a Fallout-themed WAD from prolific Fallout fan artist Alexander Berezin. That challenge appears to be on ice, with Berezin’s focus taken up by growth on New Blood’s Fallout-inspired, retro futurist CRPG.
