I've seen some people in recent years refer to DOOM 64 as a "forgotten masterpiece" and various labels along those lines. I'm going to be forthright in saying that I think that those claims are bollocks.
DOOM 64 is interesting and pretty decent, but "masterpiece" is beyond silly. It's a curio in DOOM's history, a spinoff from one of the most famous and beloved PC FPS games relegated to a console for decades. It's not even like Final DOOM or Master Levels, it's not just an expansion but a complete aesthetic overhaul of the base game too, making it all the more intriguing to most fans.
64 leans much further into the gothic horror vibes than the heavy metal tendencies of its progenitor. The soundtrack is bizarre and haunting, punctuated by distorted screams and babies crying over midi bass loops that can only be described as threatening. Even the demons have been overhauled, all of them recognisable whilst looking softer, stranger, more alien and almost like they're melting into the background. The earlier levels are more dynamic than the original DOOM as well, at one point your progression is gated by a drill built out of level geometry, a showpiece more creative than any keycard could be. Playing DOOM 64 feels like experiencing a twisted, nightmare of DOOM, an experience made all the more unsettling by its familiarity.
At least, that's the impression after the first few levels. The problem with this aesthetic overhaul is that it presents a huge dissonance with the gameplay, which is completely unchanged. Despite the haunting soundtrack and revamped visuals, you're still ripping and tearing as usual, speeding along at 90mph and reducing countless demons to viscera with the same weapon set. If anything, it feels like there's more enemies here than usual, and they're more bullet spongey too. The moment to moment experience of playing DOOM 64 is still an adrenaline pumping, twitchy blastfest, but now it's dampened by a foreboding, offputting aesthetic.
I want to love DOOM 64, I really do. Once I'd adjusted, I loved the soundtrack and new enemy designs. The lighting engine is brilliant, the more muted and varied colour scheme works wonders for the atmosphere of the levels. But I found it hard to find the motivation to keep playing when the gameplay is so at odds with this fantastic vibe. What would be exciting and visceral with Bobby Prince's crunchy metal is made frustrating and confusing by the new score. At the end of the day, DOOM 64 doesn't take enough risks, the gameplay should have been slowed down and the horror leaned into far more than it has been. As it stands though, 64 remains a bizarre curio, a fascinating glimpse into an alternate timeline version of DOOM.
DOOM 64 is interesting and pretty decent, but "masterpiece" is beyond silly. It's a curio in DOOM's history, a spinoff from one of the most famous and beloved PC FPS games relegated to a console for decades. It's not even like Final DOOM or Master Levels, it's not just an expansion but a complete aesthetic overhaul of the base game too, making it all the more intriguing to most fans.
64 leans much further into the gothic horror vibes than the heavy metal tendencies of its progenitor. The soundtrack is bizarre and haunting, punctuated by distorted screams and babies crying over midi bass loops that can only be described as threatening. Even the demons have been overhauled, all of them recognisable whilst looking softer, stranger, more alien and almost like they're melting into the background. The earlier levels are more dynamic than the original DOOM as well, at one point your progression is gated by a drill built out of level geometry, a showpiece more creative than any keycard could be. Playing DOOM 64 feels like experiencing a twisted, nightmare of DOOM, an experience made all the more unsettling by its familiarity.
At least, that's the impression after the first few levels. The problem with this aesthetic overhaul is that it presents a huge dissonance with the gameplay, which is completely unchanged. Despite the haunting soundtrack and revamped visuals, you're still ripping and tearing as usual, speeding along at 90mph and reducing countless demons to viscera with the same weapon set. If anything, it feels like there's more enemies here than usual, and they're more bullet spongey too. The moment to moment experience of playing DOOM 64 is still an adrenaline pumping, twitchy blastfest, but now it's dampened by a foreboding, offputting aesthetic.
I want to love DOOM 64, I really do. Once I'd adjusted, I loved the soundtrack and new enemy designs. The lighting engine is brilliant, the more muted and varied colour scheme works wonders for the atmosphere of the levels. But I found it hard to find the motivation to keep playing when the gameplay is so at odds with this fantastic vibe. What would be exciting and visceral with Bobby Prince's crunchy metal is made frustrating and confusing by the new score. At the end of the day, DOOM 64 doesn't take enough risks, the gameplay should have been slowed down and the horror leaned into far more than it has been. As it stands though, 64 remains a bizarre curio, a fascinating glimpse into an alternate timeline version of DOOM.
Doom as designed by aliens, but it doesn't really evolve much past that.