George Romero to Release Original DOOM Level SIGIL on May 31

George Romero, the film father of zombie horror, will be releasing an original Doom Megawad on May 31, free to download. Get ready for SIGIL.

Some might not have known, but Romero is a long time fan of Doom, the original first-person shooter by id Software. So much so, that he had made a series of modded Doom levels for the original game. Fans had reacted so positively, he was inspired to create another, but with more punch.

"People have been asking me to make an entire episode for many years now, and that picked up a lot after I released E1M8B and E1M4B in 2016. Many messaged me to ask if Id consider making a 5th episode for the 25th anniversary. So, back in 2016, that's what I decided to do."

In Romero's previous Megawads, the player defeats the Spiderdemon. SIGIL takes place after this. Now the player has to return to Earth and stop the demon invasion. BUT, the evil Baphomet has hidden a sigil that corrupted the final teleporter, sending the player into an even deeper level of hell.

Romero didn't quite do this alone, either. The music in the Megawad has been produced by American musician Buckethead. The official SIGIL soundtrack will be available for purchase for $6.66.

Like all Megawads, it will be free.

To commemorate the completion of his most ambitious Megawad yet, Romero is releasing two "boxes" full of relevant memorabilia, a standard edition and a Beast Box. Both boxes come with a 16GB 3 1/2-inch floppy disk themed USB that includes the Megawad data, and some stickers. The physical boxes also feature the artwork of Christopher Lovell.



The standard edition comes with the previous items and a 2-disc jewel case that includes the free Megawad data and soundtrack by Buckethead.

The Beast Box includes the previously listed items, and the following additions.

• A 2-disc booklet styled case that includes the free megawad data and full soundtrack by Buckethead and behind-the-scenes information on the original game and the megawads development.
• A beautiful 8" x 10" art print signed by the illustrator, Christopher Lovell.
• A SIGIL-themed coin.
• A pewter statue of John Romero's head on a spike.
• An XL-sized SIGIL T-shirt.
• 2 stickers: 1 SIGIL and 1 Romero Games.

Unfortunately, both boxes had opened and closed last December. But those that did purchase them can expect them to arrive in the mail soon.

Sounds like it's time to dust off the ol' DOSbox and boot up some modded Doom levels.

What Is A Megawad?

In the original Doom and Doom II, the game's data was stored in files called WADs. Doom.WAD for example. It stood for Where's All the Data. A Megawad is a collection of game files. This term was commonly used to represent modified/community made Doom levels.