Retro Yearly List #19 [1993: Doom]
A legend is born.
First of all, irrelevant take: what a great game cover art.
First time playing and completing Doom, yes I never touched it those days, so I did not know what to expect, and I can say I liked what I experienced.
The very first Doom ever is pretty different from what you would call "FPS" nowadays, that's why this is often categorized as a "Boomer Shooter", which consists in a first-person frenetic action, exploding everything that comes your way. Here, we cannot aim vertically, having to place the weapon "above" or "below" the enemy and shoot, the hit will be counted automatically. That can be annoying for some modern players, but for me it was a matter of time to get used to it.
The atmosphere here is great, you feel the loneliness combined with the adrenaline of being the only one trapped in a hellish place full of demons, and your only option is to fight to survive and leave. The OST will contribute a lot to it, matching the fast-paced gameplay, but sometimes changing to something more sinister, as the game will also have high appeal to horror aspects, like some stages where you have to go through completely dark rooms full of demons, they will often appear right on your face out of nowhere and then the scare jump is guaranteed.
The graphics aged very well and it now turned into a unique style, old players will still remember the classic 2D pictures spinning around on itself to simulate 3D objects. In fact, that entire engine was and is still being used for TONS of different projects across the internet, and it works well for almost everything, my most familiar project using it is the Megaman 8-bit deathmatch, which someday I may review here.
Regarding the stages, the game itself, well, it started great, and mid-game it became sort of repetitive for me, at some point, they started to look like different and auto-generated versions of the previous ones, with designs that looked extremely random placed and with no purpose, there were several times that I thought some secret was behind some section but it was just some questionable map design section, created maybe to try to form some artificial variety. The same also applies for the enemies, you will see a small group of them throughout the entire game,
There were some specific and pretty annoying elements like the "half-invisible" monsters blocking my way in crucial moments when I needed to rush, ambushing me, and doing massive damage. Acid and lava floors are also a pain in the ass mechanics, although they were used very few times in the base game, but abused in chapter 4, will provide more details in that separate review.
The game is filled with secrets hidden in every stage, with even a secret level for each chapter, this really adds to the replayability and the possibility of getting advantages sometimes needed to overcome the challenges, nicely done. The bosses are terrifying and great to fight, they will sometimes appear out of nowhere and numbered, so be prepared, or suffer.
The lore is... who needs lore? Just explode every monster coming your way to escape hell, but we will see afterward how that element will evolve through time.
Great title to debut a legendary franchise, I'm pretty sure some flaws mentioned here were improved in the future. I will review chapter 4 separately in Ultimate Doom page.
A legend is born.
First of all, irrelevant take: what a great game cover art.
First time playing and completing Doom, yes I never touched it those days, so I did not know what to expect, and I can say I liked what I experienced.
The very first Doom ever is pretty different from what you would call "FPS" nowadays, that's why this is often categorized as a "Boomer Shooter", which consists in a first-person frenetic action, exploding everything that comes your way. Here, we cannot aim vertically, having to place the weapon "above" or "below" the enemy and shoot, the hit will be counted automatically. That can be annoying for some modern players, but for me it was a matter of time to get used to it.
The atmosphere here is great, you feel the loneliness combined with the adrenaline of being the only one trapped in a hellish place full of demons, and your only option is to fight to survive and leave. The OST will contribute a lot to it, matching the fast-paced gameplay, but sometimes changing to something more sinister, as the game will also have high appeal to horror aspects, like some stages where you have to go through completely dark rooms full of demons, they will often appear right on your face out of nowhere and then the scare jump is guaranteed.
The graphics aged very well and it now turned into a unique style, old players will still remember the classic 2D pictures spinning around on itself to simulate 3D objects. In fact, that entire engine was and is still being used for TONS of different projects across the internet, and it works well for almost everything, my most familiar project using it is the Megaman 8-bit deathmatch, which someday I may review here.
Regarding the stages, the game itself, well, it started great, and mid-game it became sort of repetitive for me, at some point, they started to look like different and auto-generated versions of the previous ones, with designs that looked extremely random placed and with no purpose, there were several times that I thought some secret was behind some section but it was just some questionable map design section, created maybe to try to form some artificial variety. The same also applies for the enemies, you will see a small group of them throughout the entire game,
There were some specific and pretty annoying elements like the "half-invisible" monsters blocking my way in crucial moments when I needed to rush, ambushing me, and doing massive damage. Acid and lava floors are also a pain in the ass mechanics, although they were used very few times in the base game, but abused in chapter 4, will provide more details in that separate review.
The game is filled with secrets hidden in every stage, with even a secret level for each chapter, this really adds to the replayability and the possibility of getting advantages sometimes needed to overcome the challenges, nicely done. The bosses are terrifying and great to fight, they will sometimes appear out of nowhere and numbered, so be prepared, or suffer.
The lore is... who needs lore? Just explode every monster coming your way to escape hell, but we will see afterward how that element will evolve through time.
Great title to debut a legendary franchise, I'm pretty sure some flaws mentioned here were improved in the future. I will review chapter 4 separately in Ultimate Doom page.
This did not age bad at all, was insanely fun to play.
MUCİT BU
Top 5 reasons why DOOM still rocks in 2024 (by a tenderfoot born in 2000):
1. The amount of testosterone per pixel. If you want to play in lower difficulty levels you’ll have to acknowledge your lack of masculinity and pick the “I’m too young to die” option. I find it endearing.
2. The shotgun.
3. The main character’s walk cycle. It’s so exaggerated, I love how much it moves up and down, right and left, and how the weapon also swings around with each step you take. It makes you feel like a fucking berserker.
4. The action is great, but there are also some amazing horror set pieces. Lights will suddenly switch off and you’ll have to survive a shooting in the dark by trusting your instincts and the fleeting light of each shot you fire.
5. Finally, a horde of demons coming from Mars is too cool and iconic to be true and we should point out more often just how well this thing knows its own aesthetic.
1. The amount of testosterone per pixel. If you want to play in lower difficulty levels you’ll have to acknowledge your lack of masculinity and pick the “I’m too young to die” option. I find it endearing.
2. The shotgun.
3. The main character’s walk cycle. It’s so exaggerated, I love how much it moves up and down, right and left, and how the weapon also swings around with each step you take. It makes you feel like a fucking berserker.
4. The action is great, but there are also some amazing horror set pieces. Lights will suddenly switch off and you’ll have to survive a shooting in the dark by trusting your instincts and the fleeting light of each shot you fire.
5. Finally, a horde of demons coming from Mars is too cool and iconic to be true and we should point out more often just how well this thing knows its own aesthetic.
pouco a comentar
reviewing doom is like revieving morphine. of course its awesome. of course youll love it. give it to your bed ridden dying grandma for gods sake. now!!
The best cover art of all time. It's one of the most iconic and influential video games to ever exist.
I give Doom an 8 out of 10!
It's Doom. What more is there to say? One of the most awesome games ever made.
It's Doom. What more is there to say? One of the most awesome games ever made.
This was like the third video game ever made and it's still, like, really good. Damn.
This game's complete disregard for vertical space may be one of its greatest assets.