Man, this game is so fucking good.
For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about when I was growing up I had a shareware floppy disk of Wolf 3d, I used to play it on an old Windows machine in my basement. It was terrifying, even with all the lights on 5 year old me would sit there and jump at every monster closet and was just completely hooked. Fast Forward to me at 26, I fired up Ultrakill and felt that as incredible as I think it is, I wasn't fully appreciating the early 90's shooter ascetic because I haven't played them so I couldn't just start at quake I had to start at the beginning DOOM. I had previously purchased this game on Xbox 360 around 10 years ago , remember playing E1M1-E1M4 and sort of putting it down and saying I get it. I didn't get it. Because in firing up doom I was expecting faster paced Wolf 3d like I remember playing. But there's one Crucial difference, I played it on Ultraviolence. This turned even the simplicity of Episode 1 into a a test into my reaction time and movements. This game is still a masterclass in every single respect. Starting off with the guns and the shooting, the shotgun is literally my favorite weapon in any shooter, it feels so great EVERY. SINGLE. SHOT. the variety makes you know what to use in every situation because the game teaches you through trial and error. There were so many times early on where I would be going up against a sea of enemies and my shotgun wasn't firing fast enough and I thought I just sucked, nope time to switch to the minigun. Was there a lot of hitscan enemies, Switch to shotgun, was there enemies that took a lot of hits rockets or plasma rifle. Every weapon serves its purpose and the game at the higher levels gives you just enough ammo to so that it keeps the game tense and rewarding. And as a little side note, people love saying that Doom isn't survival horror but these people just proved they didn't play on Ultraviolence because if they did they would know the terror of being on your 20th run of a level realizing there was still a 8 Imps left but you only had 6 shotgun shells left and maybe 12 pistol shots, it's terrifying, and then BOOM a Cacodemon shows up and you jump. And that's also just credit to how fucking incredible the Level Design is here. As soon as credits rolled on Episode 4 I went back to play E1M1 and was like taken aback by how expertly it's crafted because when I first played that level I was like wow this is a hard level but over time they sprinkle in just enough new elements per level that by the end you are managing so much you don't realize how simple the early levels are in comparison, the game teaches you how to play it with no tutorials. Like I think about how I can tell you how many shots it takes to kill every enemy in this game with every enemy because it's just muscle memory knowing by the middle of the game okay if I hit my shots right I will have just enough to clear this room and you are PRAYING there's maybe 1 more box of ammo after that. The rush of getting to the end of a level with some ammo , health and shield was so rewarding. I loved how every new episode half the fun was just learning the map. Figuring out where to go, sprinting across a room of enemies thinking you were safe and turning around and there's even more enemies there. I couldn't get over how each episode had it's own distinct feel and while some were way more puzzle solving and others were more endurance and reflex tests. They always balanced it out so the game never felt stale or predictable. The atmosphere of all of them are so great and it knew when to play the heavy, "I'm going to fuck things up" to the "You're all alone and there's death lurking around every corner" Lighting and Music. I really can't get over how much I loved this game and how much every aspect of it just still feels so fresh, a FPS WITH NO VERTICLE MOUSELOOK feels so timeless and you still felt that you had complete control over everything. Seriously it is the definition of a masterpiece.
For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about when I was growing up I had a shareware floppy disk of Wolf 3d, I used to play it on an old Windows machine in my basement. It was terrifying, even with all the lights on 5 year old me would sit there and jump at every monster closet and was just completely hooked. Fast Forward to me at 26, I fired up Ultrakill and felt that as incredible as I think it is, I wasn't fully appreciating the early 90's shooter ascetic because I haven't played them so I couldn't just start at quake I had to start at the beginning DOOM. I had previously purchased this game on Xbox 360 around 10 years ago , remember playing E1M1-E1M4 and sort of putting it down and saying I get it. I didn't get it. Because in firing up doom I was expecting faster paced Wolf 3d like I remember playing. But there's one Crucial difference, I played it on Ultraviolence. This turned even the simplicity of Episode 1 into a a test into my reaction time and movements. This game is still a masterclass in every single respect. Starting off with the guns and the shooting, the shotgun is literally my favorite weapon in any shooter, it feels so great EVERY. SINGLE. SHOT. the variety makes you know what to use in every situation because the game teaches you through trial and error. There were so many times early on where I would be going up against a sea of enemies and my shotgun wasn't firing fast enough and I thought I just sucked, nope time to switch to the minigun. Was there a lot of hitscan enemies, Switch to shotgun, was there enemies that took a lot of hits rockets or plasma rifle. Every weapon serves its purpose and the game at the higher levels gives you just enough ammo to so that it keeps the game tense and rewarding. And as a little side note, people love saying that Doom isn't survival horror but these people just proved they didn't play on Ultraviolence because if they did they would know the terror of being on your 20th run of a level realizing there was still a 8 Imps left but you only had 6 shotgun shells left and maybe 12 pistol shots, it's terrifying, and then BOOM a Cacodemon shows up and you jump. And that's also just credit to how fucking incredible the Level Design is here. As soon as credits rolled on Episode 4 I went back to play E1M1 and was like taken aback by how expertly it's crafted because when I first played that level I was like wow this is a hard level but over time they sprinkle in just enough new elements per level that by the end you are managing so much you don't realize how simple the early levels are in comparison, the game teaches you how to play it with no tutorials. Like I think about how I can tell you how many shots it takes to kill every enemy in this game with every enemy because it's just muscle memory knowing by the middle of the game okay if I hit my shots right I will have just enough to clear this room and you are PRAYING there's maybe 1 more box of ammo after that. The rush of getting to the end of a level with some ammo , health and shield was so rewarding. I loved how every new episode half the fun was just learning the map. Figuring out where to go, sprinting across a room of enemies thinking you were safe and turning around and there's even more enemies there. I couldn't get over how each episode had it's own distinct feel and while some were way more puzzle solving and others were more endurance and reflex tests. They always balanced it out so the game never felt stale or predictable. The atmosphere of all of them are so great and it knew when to play the heavy, "I'm going to fuck things up" to the "You're all alone and there's death lurking around every corner" Lighting and Music. I really can't get over how much I loved this game and how much every aspect of it just still feels so fresh, a FPS WITH NO VERTICLE MOUSELOOK feels so timeless and you still felt that you had complete control over everything. Seriously it is the definition of a masterpiece.
Reviewed on Oct 17, 2021