Welcome to Sonic: Lock & Load!

Sonic: Lock & Load title screen

DOOM II IWAD required. You can buy DOOM II on Steam or GOG or use Freedoom: Phase 2.

Sonic: Lock & Load is a hyper-fast character-action first-person shooter based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games and built on GZDoom.

It draws inspiration from Sonic games, as well as titles like Sonic Robo Blast 2, ULTRAKILL and Devil May Cry. It also features elements from other GZDoom mods, retro FPS games and other character-action games.

Sonic: Lock & Load is not fully completed yet, and development is progressing slowly. However, it aims to provide an extremely fun and thrilling experience reminiscent of old-school shooters, as well as their modern-day revivals.

The latest stable version is v1.4 "Horizons".

There's also a side project available, Sonic the Hedgehog in DOOM: Legacy Edition.

Sonic: Lock & Load is a game by Arsalan "Velocity" Kazmi, free software under the GNU General Public License v3.

You can find Sonic: Lock & Load on the ZDoom Forums, Sonic Fan Games HQ, Mod DB, Doomworld and itch.io.

Sonic: Lock & Load turns 4 in February 2024! Read about the game's history up until v1.4 "Horizons".

Releases

Version v1.4 "Horizons"

Surge Through the Horizons.

Sonic: Lock & Load v1.4 “Horizons” is a major update, bringing new levels, new techniques, refinements to the changes made in v1.3.3 and major changes to the gameplay and Sonic: Lock & Load’s fundamentals.

This probably isn’t an extensive list, since Horizons has been through so many changes that I’ve lost track of it all. Makes the jump from Dark (v0.9) to Chaos (v1.0) look like a joke and a half.

Additionally, I had some troubles with SFGHQ and SAGE 2022, resulting in me making a "Final Final Demo". You can read about the development history and struggles here.

Levels

Gameplay

Characters

Sonic the Hedgehog

Amy Rose

Classic Sonic

Shadow the Hedgehog

Miscellaneous

Considerations

Following is a list of things I considered adding into Horizons but didn't because I either thought it was too soon and it would be too drastic of a change right now, or because I'm lazy and didn't want to yet.

These ideas will probably either be implemented in v1.4.1 or v1.5.

Version v1.3.3

Sonic: Lock & Load v1.3.3 is a minor update, containing some changes to the game's fundamentals and balancing.

Version v1.3.2

Sonic: Lock & Load v1.3.2 is a semi-minor update.

Version v1.3.1

Sonic: Lock & Load v1.3.1 is a minor update involving mostly bug fixes.

Version v1.3

Finally, a REAL update!

Sonic: Lock & Load v1.3 (which can be considered the real v1.1 but we won't get into that) adds an all-new Green Hill, a redesigned Station Square, new abilities and way more.

We're getting closer and closer to SRB3...

Well, what are you waiting for? Download it now and experience the next level! ... Whatever that means.

This is normally the part where the changelog would go, but it's massive, and I'm lazy, so... just go to the GitHub release page.

Version v1.2

Like with v1.1, this is basically v1.0.2.

Version v1.1

This is basically v1.0.1. Man, I wish I knew about proper semantic versioning when I released this...

Version v1.0

It's been a long, rough road, but we're finally here.
The long-awaited first release for Sonic: Lock & Load, the Chaos Update, is finally out!
So without further ado... Welcome to the next level.

The Chaos Update is a turning point for Sonic: Lock & Load, becoming more than a simple DOOM mod some bored guy threw together after watching Peter Knetter videos.

Full changelog

Dark Update (v0.9)

Sonic: Lock & Load's Dark Update adds Shadow the Hedgehog! It's time to go and find that damn FOURTH Chaos Emerald!

Rose Update (v0.8)

Oh boy! The Rose Update! This is probably the greatest addition to the mod in ages.

This update marks the project's name change from 'Sonic the Hedgehog in DOOM' to 'Sonic: Lock & Load'.

This was done:

Here's the changes:

Ascension Update (v0.7)

Sonic the Hedgehog in DOOM's Ascension Update grants Sonic a revamped Boost that lets him ascend! (hence the title)

Eclipse Update (v0.6)

Knight of the Wind Update (v0.5)

Version v0.4

Version v0.3

Includes a new custom HUD, heavier focus on melee combat and a new tutorial.

Version v0.2

This release has more DOOM II support over the previous release.

Version v0.1

This is the first in-development release of Sonic the Hedgehog in DOOM.

Wait, how did he get here?