Doom mod MyHouse has become the most famous – or perhaps infamous – custom-made WAD for the iconic FPS game, blending the classic shooter’s guns and mechanics with a trippy, House-of-Leaves-inspired descent into surrealism and horror. Now, John Romero, one of Doom’s original creators, has taken MyHouse for a spin, sharing some opinions on the super-spooky map as he continues work on a new shooter using Unreal Engine 5.
Designed by Steve Nelson, also known as ‘Veddge,’ MyHouse begins as a relatively standard fan-made Doom map, as you explore a typical suburban home while combating familiar enemies like imps and shotgunners. With each journey through the house’s labyrinthine rooms, however, the world begins to degenerate.
The changes are subtle at first – Doom’s classic sliding doors become more realistic, and keys are replaced by seemingly innocuous everyday items – but as your exploration continues, new and terrifying monsters appear, and there’s a skillfully told story about death, grief, and personal tragedy.
Now, John Romero, who founded id Software and created Doom alongside John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, and Tom Hall, plays MyHouse from benign beginning to horrifying end. Though he doesn’t offer a definitive review as such, Romero consistently calls MyHouse “cool,” and seems highly impressed with its unique style. You can watch the whole playthrough below:
Romero even follows up the MyHouse run by completing the first level of Doom 2, Underhalls, 100%. Whichever way you cut it, it’s great to see the grandmaster of FPS games blasting his way through his original, infernal creation after all these years.
As for what Romero is working on next, his autobiography, DoomGuy, launches in July, while the company he founded, Romero Games, is making a new shooter in UE5. Now that’s a reason to get psyched.
If you’re a big Doom fan, you should feed your nostalgia with some of the other greatest old games that still run on PC. You might also want to check out some of the best horror games, especially if you enjoy MyHouse’s brand of creepy, architectural terror.