A Feeling of Doom

You may be able to play it on basically anything, but I’ve never played original DOOM properly.

Until now!

For the princely sum of £4.76 I purchased Ultimate DOOM, DOOM 2, and DOOM 3 on the PS Store.

As anyone who has read my review of DOOM 2016 will know, I adore that game. The soundtrack is still on regular rotation years later and the lore is glorious. In that review I mention how little experience I have of the originals. But now that I’ve played the first one…

What a GAME!

DOOM may be nearly thirty years old, but the gameplay and design is not only playable but extremely enjoyable. E1M1 – At DOOM’s Gate is an absolute earworm too.

The weapons feel useful, with nothing becoming useless as you progress. The Shotgun and Plasma are my favourites.

In what is likely a reverse for many fans, I fell in love with the newer incarnation and have travelled back to be amazed at how faithful what I know is. I kept thinking to myself how much I was reminded of DOOM’16 as I took on another Imp. I can only wonder how awed all the older fans when they got hold of 2016; it must have been special. For me it’s like I’m playing prequels, giving me some admittedly thin on the ground backstory.

I haven’t played it on a high difficulty, as that’s not my jam. But I’ve finally experienced original DOOM and loved it.

I followed that up by completing DOOM 2, which means my first (well, the original) experience of the Super Shotgun. I appreciate how it’s very cool but doesn’t make the first shotgun useless. The level design took a step up, with a lot more complexity which at times was frustrating (shooting walls to make them open…I had to Google that). Really cool to see the first appearances of many enemies I grew to love/hate in 2016.

But wait! There’s more! I’ve since completed DOOM 3 as well, which is a very different beast indeed. Its aggressively mediocre in comparison to what came before and after. The gunplay isn’t as strong, since the game seems remarkably like ‘Dead Space Lite’. Neither as straightforward as its predecessors or as full of lore and awesome as it’s rebooted sequels.

Nevertheless, I’ve loved playing the three games. Though I did start to play DOOM 64, I actually ended up replaying both 2016 and Eternal. And now I’m playing Mighty DOOM on my phone!

Feelings of doom? Bring ’em on!