This game is, in my humble estimation, THE best Doom game ever made. It was the last of the proper "corridor FPS" Dooms to be made, really. And in my view, the ultimate evolution of that formula. I never cared much (at all) for Doom 3, and never tried the ones that came later. To me, THIS is Doom in all its glory, and what it should be.
I liked Doom and Doom 2 well enough, but when my friend and I rented this, it blew me away. For the time, even with at-the-time "dated" FPS design, the game took serious advantage of the N64's capabilities, with extremely good dramatic/spooky lighting effects, more clever/varied level designs than the earlier entries (IMO), and a positively haunting soundtrack.
Whereas the OG games had some generic rock going on, which I never felt truly fit the atmosphere of Doom, D64 has ZERO music. Instead, it has what you'd call "Atmospheric Sound Effects", from spooky demonic/ghostly sounds, to in later stages (in "Hell") hearing what sounds like babies crying in the distance, things like that. That, coupled with silence in these dark and creepy stages, REALLY added to the overall experience. Playing the game by yourself, late at night, in the dark, could actually get pretty creepy!
The graphics, beyond nice textures and lighting effects (superior to the previous games), also featured all new pre-rendered sprites for the enemies. Very of them were FULLY redesigned (except for the Imps), which would make purists happy. But the sprites really did look better, and the style lent a more "3D" look to them as they turned this way and that. I'm glad they went with this look, instead of trying to remake the enemies as clunky polygons.
But perhaps the most impressive thing about this game, is that it ISN'T merely a mishmash of Doom 1 and 2 stages. It's actually an entirely new game, (at the time) completely exclusive to the N64! It even has a brand new demonic "laser" weapon, and a completely original last boss. As far as I'm concerned, this is the TRUE "Doom 3".
The ONLY criticism this game deserves, outside of not having multiplayer (which it didn't need), is that for some reason the otherwise excellent developers chose to make the game SUPER dark. As in even if you put the game up to its BRIGHTEST option settings, it can still be hard to see. They REALLY cleaned that up in the more recent re-release on various platforms. Something I wish they'd done for the N64 original. Because otherwise? This game is Doom personified.
I liked Doom and Doom 2 well enough, but when my friend and I rented this, it blew me away. For the time, even with at-the-time "dated" FPS design, the game took serious advantage of the N64's capabilities, with extremely good dramatic/spooky lighting effects, more clever/varied level designs than the earlier entries (IMO), and a positively haunting soundtrack.
Whereas the OG games had some generic rock going on, which I never felt truly fit the atmosphere of Doom, D64 has ZERO music. Instead, it has what you'd call "Atmospheric Sound Effects", from spooky demonic/ghostly sounds, to in later stages (in "Hell") hearing what sounds like babies crying in the distance, things like that. That, coupled with silence in these dark and creepy stages, REALLY added to the overall experience. Playing the game by yourself, late at night, in the dark, could actually get pretty creepy!
The graphics, beyond nice textures and lighting effects (superior to the previous games), also featured all new pre-rendered sprites for the enemies. Very of them were FULLY redesigned (except for the Imps), which would make purists happy. But the sprites really did look better, and the style lent a more "3D" look to them as they turned this way and that. I'm glad they went with this look, instead of trying to remake the enemies as clunky polygons.
But perhaps the most impressive thing about this game, is that it ISN'T merely a mishmash of Doom 1 and 2 stages. It's actually an entirely new game, (at the time) completely exclusive to the N64! It even has a brand new demonic "laser" weapon, and a completely original last boss. As far as I'm concerned, this is the TRUE "Doom 3".
The ONLY criticism this game deserves, outside of not having multiplayer (which it didn't need), is that for some reason the otherwise excellent developers chose to make the game SUPER dark. As in even if you put the game up to its BRIGHTEST option settings, it can still be hard to see. They REALLY cleaned that up in the more recent re-release on various platforms. Something I wish they'd done for the N64 original. Because otherwise? This game is Doom personified.