Retro Review: DOOM

As in December 1993, id Software released DOOM the public, I felt it was fitting that it would be the final game I would play in 2018, 25 years later. Now I actually never played DOOM on my own PC instead ever only experiencing it on someone else's machines, nor had I ever intended to go back and replay DOOM because I knew it was just too old and primitive in comparison to what's available now. However, a recent too-cheap-to-pass-up offer on Fanatical.com gave me DOOM 3 along with Win10 compatible versions of both "Ultimate Doom" and "DOOM2: Hell on Earth", so I thought 'what the HELL'!

DOOM is one of the most written about an analysed video games in history, and I'm not going to spend hours explaining the cultural impact and worldwide phenomena that it was but I will just state the four things I credit the game with; DOOM was (1) responsible for truly establishing the IBM-compatible PC as a gaming platform to rival any console or arcade game, (2) what gave the rise of multiplayer over a network, (3) the game that brought the idea of game modification and home-made level design to the masses and of course (4) the game that established the first person shooter as one of the most successful video game genres of all time.

It was easily 23 years since I played DOOM and as soon as my 4K screen began rendering the pixillated environments it was like going back in time, memories of past battles against the forces of evil, the inability to reload, jump or look up or down and the way sprites always faced you. To be honest, the graphics were not as awful as I expected them to be, I had nothing extra installed to enhance them (as I did with my Dark Forces replay earlier in the year) so I'm assuming that there was some enhancements to Ultimate Doom that came out in 1995 that made things less jarring.

I recall may times during the more intense battles that my friends 486DX66 (the pinnacle of tech for the day) would sometimes begin slowing up if there was many enemies on screen - it was this observed event that was always on my mind when designing new systems to prompt me to achieve technical superiority over any game I intended to play. I would have been somewhat shocked if I encountered such slowdown on a contemporary machine today but naturally that didn't happen, in fact I did notice that DOOM was using far less CPU and RAM resources while being played than the idle web browser I had on in the background!

John Carmack's id-Tech 1 engine could not have sloping surfaces, nor could it render space above space (there was no rooms over rooms) so it wasn't a true 3D environment. It is instead considered 2.5D, which employed visual trickery to give the impression of 3D. Because of the limitations, the level design is elementary and block oriented but promoted exploration and considered by video-game historians to be art. Much of it was conceived by designer John Romero and back in the day, and the desire to find all a level's secret areas led to significant replayability. 

DOOM is famously lacking in the narrative department, but from the original game manual - you are a Space Marine who is set to the UAC's hazardous waste facility on Mars (punishment duty after assaulting a superior officer). The military is conducting secret teleportation experiments which naturally open up a gateway to hell and it's inhabitants come through. It's obviously your job to stop them because (1) everyone else has been killed (2) you're armed and (3) it's fun!

Now as much as I love the chainsaw (never begging the question why are there chainsaws on Mars?) my favourite weapon was the Plasma Rifle, shooting balls of blue er.. plasma at demon spawn, and it worked well. The chain-gun was a far better use of all the pistol ammo you picked up as you explored and of course you used the BFG9000 when you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room.

Back in 1993, the use of the arrow keys, and CTRL to fire was the normal way of playing, but Ultimate DOOM had mapped WASD, Mouselook a more modern control set allowing for greater freedom of movement. It became quickly apparent that playing the game with the modern controls as well as superior tactical knowledge of playing FPS games of the intervening decades furnished me with a level of skill far in excess of what would have been the average back in 1993, allowing me to complete the entire game in under 4 hours. Caveat: I did not complete the episode "Thy Flesh Consumed" as that was not part of the original DOOM game and from all accounts it's level design is "too weird" even for DOOM.

 

 

All in all, a worthwhile, nostalgia filled experience that I recommend to anyone who enjoys not only FPSs but video gaming in general. It good to acknowledge and remember from where we came from and indeed how far we've evolved.

Ultimate DOOM is available as a stand-alone product from GOG and Steam for about €5 but frequently discounted for about €1.60. 

Alternatively the DOOM 3: BFG Edition bundles DOOM 3, DOOM II and Ultimate DOOM for €19.99 on GOG and Steam, but again, frequently discounted for about €8.