Original Doom gets a new level, courtesy of co-creator John Romero

John Romero might not be a name that gets talked about much these days. However, back in the 90's, the man was a legend, and even considered a god amongst gamers. If you're not familiar, Romero, along with partner John Carmack, created games like Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D. In essence, those two can be credited with creating the modern first-person shooter. Well in a surprising move, John Romero has released his first Doom level in 21 years.

Over the last week or so, Romero has been teasing fans on Twitter, by dropping hints about a new small project he was working on. He called the project a "warm-up" which could be taken a variety of ways. But today he let everyone in on the secret, by releasing his first level for the original Doom game in 21 years.

The level is dubbed "Tech Gone Bad" and can be played on the original Doom client, DOOM1.WAD. It is meant to essentially replace the original e1m8 level, which was the final boss level of the game. I'll let Romero set the scene for you:

After exiting the Computer Station you knew the worst was up ahead. You still hadn't reached the place where the demons were coming from. The steel door shuts behind you as you realize you're there; you're at the Phobos Anomaly. Cracks from hell are all over the place as seepage from the portal invades the entire installation. Now it's time to find the portal and stop the demons from coming through. You know UAC had hundreds of scientists working at a high-tech lab somewhere in this area, and the portal must be connected to it somehow. Time to lock and load.

If you want to test out the level, you can download it here. If you've never loaded up a custom map, you can find some helpful instructions here.