After 26 Years, The Longest-Standing Doom 2 Speedrun Record Falls

• Opening level of Doom 2, Entryway, completed in 5 seconds in 1998 by Thomas Pilger.
• Record thought unbeatable for nearly three decades.
• Speedrunners spent years optimizing strategies to shave off less than a second.
• Player 4shockblast used "Thing Running" maneuver to set new 4-second record on April 6.
• Challenge issued to beat 5-second time while playing on a lawnmower.

An Unbeatable Record in Doom 2 Finally Broken

Image: id Software / Bethesda

The opening level of Doom 2, known as Entryway, is famously short. Even without practice, most players can finish it in less than a minute. However, a skilled speedrunner achieved the impressive feat of completing the level in just five seconds back in 1998.

For nearly three decades, it was thought impossible to beat this record. But someone finally managed to do it.

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The Entryway level of Doom 2 is essentially a hallway with two turns and a door. A few enemies lurk inside this tiny level, but finishing it is trivial. Thousands of players have likely dashed through this level in 30 seconds without even realizing it.

Breaking the Unbreakable Record

In 1998, legendary Doom speedrunner Thomas Pilger completed the level in 5 seconds. Technically, 5.97 seconds was Pilger’s time, but Doom doesn't show the full time. To beat Pilger’s time, you’d have to shave off .97 seconds or a few frames of gameplay. Not as easy as it sounds.

Speedrunner and YouTuber Karl Jobst explains that beating this old Doom 2 record took a lot of time. Players had to figure out multiple ways to optimize an already short run to shave off less than a second of gameplay. This involved replaying the level over and over without monsters to figure out better routes and test different strategies.

Eventually, a player named 4shockblast realized they could use a very hard maneuver called “Thing Running” to bounce off one of the enemies at the start of Entryway and use that to propel them just a bit faster around the corner.

A New Record Set in Doom 2

On April 6, using all the techniques and strategies devised by decades of Doom speedrunners, 4shockblast pulled off this run and beat the first level of Doom 2 in 4 seconds.

Jobst reports that the new record holder pulled off this amazing run after “100,000 attempts.” That’s a lot of grinding! But now, the oldest standing speedrun record in Doom 2 has been beaten. And no, I don’t think anybody will ever finish this level in three seconds. I mean… probably not.

Challenge for Gamers

Anyway, I’ll pay someone $100 if they can beat Entryway in 5 seconds on a lawnmower.

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