Back in the days when I used to haunt Newgrounds as a perpetually online teenager, a new episode of Madness would always shoot right to the top of the portal charts. The series, created by animator Krinkels, was a sort-of cultural after-dinner mint for fans of The Matrix.
Madness’ fast-paced, hyper-violent shorts involve grey, cross-faced people blasting each other to smithereens. Central to the series’ appeal was how its action scenes grew more impressive and elaborate with every passing episode, and it was always fun to see how far Krinkels could push things when a new entry dropped.
I haven’t thought about Madness for a long time (though the series hasn’t gone away, as I’ll get to shortly). But those memories came flooding back when I spied Somewhere in Hell, a Doom 2 mod that goes to impressive lengths to recreate Madness’ flashy, bloody action in id Software’s shooter sequel.
Somewhere in Hell basically replaces Doom’s weapons and enemies with goons and firearms from Krinkels’ animations. But what’s impressive is how modder Recurracy 2 has infused the mod with the speed and vicious lethality of Krinkels’ animations. The legions of monochromatic foes you face move across the maps fast, crossing whole rooms in a matter of seconds to get in your face.
Weapons like the revolver and the double-barrelled shotgun, meanwhile, are imbued with joint-ripping recoil. When bullets connect with your faceless adversaries, they explode like an overstuffed haggis, showering the walls, floor, and the screen itself with gore.
Somewhere in Hell has been in development for a while, but it recently released its 1.0 version, which features 33 weapons and five playable characters. The mod also supports a bunch of custom mechanics like dual wielding weapons, while some of those characters have unique abilities such as a Max-Payne style shoot-dodge.
You can download Somewhere in Hell over on ModDB. If that isn’t enough Madness-related action for you, it’s worth noting the series has an official game—Madness: Project Nexus. This is a 3D, third-person blend of shooter and beat ’em up that was released back in 2021, and seems to be well-regarded among Madness fans.
The animated series is going strong too. The last episode “Contravention”, was released last year, while Krinkels is gearing up to celebrate Madness Day this coming Monday, with twitch streams, interviews, and an art, animation, and music competition for fans with cash prizes. It’s weirdly reassuring to see this old corner of the Internet still going strong.
