Doom (DOS)

By: The J Man

It is August 2nd as I write this from my "office" in a supply closet, which history will remember as the day before the release of Doom 3. I don't know about you, but my anticipation is high. iD Software rarely disappoints, and if the game is half as enjoyable as they claim it to be, we should all be in for quite a treat. That is why, as I look for something to do instead of serious work, I feel it is fitting to take this moment to reflect on the game that which was Doom.

Doom is one of the most popular video games of all time. Next to Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City combined, it is probably the most written-about game of all time. It is one of the very few games that has been ported to every conceivable platform that existed during, and for the years after, its release. If it could handle Doom, well then Doom was coming. Even the Game Boy Advance has a version of Doom, and for those suckers that believed it, the Atari 2600 did too.

I bring this up because, ultimately, reviewing Doom is like writing a short essay on the taste of peanut butter. It's an experience that most of us have shared, and you don't need me to tell you about it. Any words really can't serve you as well as taking a spoonful and consuming it yourself. Unless you're allergic to peanuts. However, in the same way that everyone surely does not taste peanut butter in exactly the same way, everyone surely hasn't had the same experience with Doom. And should you not have played Doom at all, well dear reader, these words are for you.

I read "Masters of Doom" last year, which is the tale of Carmack and Romero developing the very game we speak of. And though it doesn't mention this event ever taking place, I am convinced that at some point, iD sat down and made a list of edgy villains that could be featured in their games, who could suffer vicious, gruesome deaths, and still have their agony be justified on any conceivable moral scale. Nazis, naturally, came first. Demons from Hell were a rip-roarin' second. "Yeah," I imagine Romero saying enthusiastically, "Just about anyone would be happy to unload a fuckin' shotgun right into a fuckin' demon's ugly face!" He looks to Carmack for approval. Carmack nods solemnly.

"Aww man, and they'll all bleed and shit, and guts 'ill fly all over the place, and you'll have all these fuckin' sci-fi guns and it'll be fuckin' awesome!"

Thus begins the paper-thin plot of Doom, which I am absolutely convinced was "written" more after-the-fact than for the actual release: you're a hardass space marine responding to a distress call on a research station on Mars. As your squad goes in, you have to guard the landing site with only a pistol, which I presume is the space marine equivalent of toilet duty. Your squad gets waxed by unknown attackers. You swagger in with your pistol, and save the day by deftly killing anything that moves.

Kill anything that moves. Yes, that about sums Doom right up. You could subtitle it "while looking for keycards and better weapons," but that stuff is just scenery. Your job is to spot a zombie or purebred demon, line it up, and pull the trigger as needed. This mindless murder on a massive scale is what got parent groups and Lieberman's collective panties in a twist. Yes, all you do in the game is run around and shoot things. Guilty as charged. The game also unapologetically contains no redeeming qualities, except that you're saving the Earth by slaying demons. In some ways, it could be said that you're doing God's work, far more so than Senator Lieberpansy. I don't see him getting off his duff and smiting any demons.

Why does Doom not get boring? Well, truthfully, it does. Now, now, hold on. I say this with authority, having beaten Doom 1, 2, and both episodes of Final Doom. And yes, Doom gets boring. However, only for periods. Beat a level, take a breather, come back, and you'll be surprised at just how ready you are for more. Doom taps in to something primal, some kind of base enjoyment. In many ways, it seems that the best games are the most simple, but that feel far more elaborate than they are. Grand Theft Auto gives you the feeling of an entire city at your disposal. Mario gives you an scrolling world full of surprises. Doom gives you an endless supply of new encounters, or a collection of action-movie moments. Each level uses a minimalist variety of textures, but the architecture sells it as something new, unique, and unsettling. There's only a handful of enemy types in the game, but they always manage to find new ways to surprise. And in some ways, ten zombies become their own enemy type compared to just a single one.

This is what Doom offers: overwhelming odds, fierce combat, and tense situations. As you progress in difficulty, the game becomes more of a puzzle of sorts, at least that's what it turned into for me by Final Doom. I knew exactly how many bullets of each weapon it took to kill each enemy, so I was assessing the situation and my ammo reserves, and making tactical decisions based on that. Couple of zombies? Pistol or shotgun. Big group of people? Shotgun, rocket launcher, or chaingun if I could spare the ammo. So on and so on. Unlike its predecessor Wolfenstein 3-D, the next gun you got was not necessarily a better gun. More powerful, sure, but short on ammo and not as well suited to certain situations as other weapons in your bag of tricks. This perfected weapon balance featured in Doom is part of what keeps it interesting, long after you've gotten over the fact that you're shooting a demon in the nuts.

The puzzle-like nature also helps considerably, and goes against one of the common criticisms of the game - that you simply need a lust for violence and the reflexes of a hyperactive seven-year-old to do well. Not true. In fact, especially toward the later levels, if you just run around as fast as possible and shoot whatever you see, you stand a good chance of having a demon tap you on the shoulder and punch a claw through your ass. Doom hypes you up, but then those sneaky level traps and ambushes clamp down hard on any wild and reckless plans you might have had. The best way to play Doom is to creep around corners, using walls for cover, noting possible entrances, possible exits, listening for distinctive enemy sounds, generally being cautious. Oh, there's a time and a place for wanton destruction, such as when you're surrounded and just gulped a berserker pack, or have the chainsaw in your paws. Then it's time to pop all that focused rage out of the can.

Doom's level design was equally brilliant and evil. For maybe one of the first times in gaming, booby traps abound. This is the kind of game where you see a chaingun at the end of hall, think "sweet!" and run over to grab it. As soon as you make contact, the walls around you lift up and zombies storm out. The traps and ambushes throughout the game do wonders to keep you on your toes, and keep that tension we talked about dialed up to 11. Also, little strategical nuances help keep the game fresh. The different weapons for different situations part we covered, but the ability to get demons to fight each other is satisfying, fun to watch, and useful more often that you'd think. Not only are you saving ammo, but you're getting a free show too.

Sure Hell's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't wanna live there.

Doom features great sound, and shows what effect you can have when you really pay attention to this area. Monsters sound distinctive, and suitably creepy and demonic. You can hear them around corners or shuffling in the darkness, but never so clearly that you can pinpoint where they are, just that you know they're there. High-quality MIDI music plays in the background, based on what kind of level has been designed for you. Thumping action beats for heavily populated, mostly open levels, quiet stalking music for more cramped, trapped levels. The sounds of the weapons are right on, and amazingly don't seem repetitive, considering how you'll be hearing them more times than anything else.

Ya know, Doom's a great game, but I didn't need to tell you that. I could also get into the brilliance of its multiplayer, and how it essentially invented network play, but that would be a whole other diatribe. I'm not going to get into recommendations here, because if you've wanted to play it, well, you have. If for some reason you haven't, I'll just say that if you think you'll like Doom, you will brother, you will.

-reviewed 8/16/04 - game copyright 1993 iD Software

You like action, do ya? Well, you've come to the right place.

Doom 2, and its improvements, make it a slightly better game. Still worth playing both.

	8
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	91%

Doom on MobyGames
Gameplay video on YouTube