DOOM

Ah, here we go again.

Background:
DOOM is probably one of the most well known games ever; it basically kick started the FPS multiplayer scene back in '93, when it was released. DOOM is a space themed FPS game that takes place on Mars and its moons. However, the space theme only extends to the setting, as the Doomguy (who is unnamed in the game, but is given an absolutely retarded name in the DOOM books, Flynn Taggart) fights enemies who are anything but spaced themed. DOOM's enemies feature zombies and demons, arriving straight from Hell due to an experiment gone wrong on Mars. However, that part should probably belong in...

The plot:
As mentioned above, you play as the Doomguy, sent to Mars to fight demons and zombies from Hell. Through three (four if you have the Ultimate DOOM edition) episodes, your job is to kick ass and take names. And that's about as far as it goes. You're there to kill everything. Let's break it down between episodes:

Knee Deep in the Dead: The first act takes place on Phobos, one of Mars' moons. You arrive on Phobos fairly unaware of what's going on, and you progress through each level until you get to the final level, where you fight two big demons and end up dying, getting sent to...

The Shores of Hell: Yeah, rough. You did everything right, and you got killed and sent to Hell. Which happens to look tons like the base on Deimos, another of Mars' moons, that went missing. So again, it's your job to kill literally everything, until you get to the big badass, the lord of Hell, the Cyberdemon. We'll discuss him a little later. After you blow him up, it's time to go to....

Inferno: As it turns out, the missing Deimos base was literally floating above Hell itself. So the Doomguy, being the badass he is, decides to rappel down and kill everything in Hell in an attempt to get back to his home by defeating the REAL big badass, the Spider Mastermind. And it works. He makes it back to Earth, only to find out that the demons have beaten him there already. Which leads up into the next game, DOOM II.

Thy Flesh Consumed (Ultimate DOOM only): Thy Flesh Consumed takes place on Earth, as a sequel to DOOM and a prequel to DOOM II. The Doomguy fights off the demons who have taken over the nearest city, which remains unnamed.

And that's basically it. Like I said, you're there to kill everything, every time. And while the plot isn't some epic AAA story that everyone remembers, most people play it for...

The gameplay:
Oh yes. The gameplay. The gameplay of DOOM is the reason it's still played online across the world, 20 years after its release. There's many, many ways to play this amazing game online these days, with source ports such as Zandronum (formerly Skulltag), ZDaemon, and Odamex.

The controls are a bit dated if you don't use source ports, and are pretty standard for a FPS if you do. So your experience with the controls will definitely vary depending on how you play the game. I strongly suggest using a source port with keyboard and mouse control and freelook; the game feels much more up to date that way. If you prefer using a controller, you can do that too.

The weapons are great; there's 8 in total, ranging from your fists, to a shotgun, a plasma rifle, and the BFG9000, a superweapon that kills almost anything instantly. My personal favorite is the shotgun, as it has a great spread and is very effective for dealing with the majority of enemies.

Speaking of the enemies, let's talk about them, as they're a huge driving factor in the game. You have your basic zombies, shotgun wielding zombies, brown imps, pinky demons, giant floating red demon balls, flaming skulls, big bruiser demons, and more I'm probably not remembering right now... and the bosses: the Cyberdemon, and the Spider Mastermind. The Cyberdemon is a massive enemy, standing a few stories tall (protip: a story is about 10 feet); it's a half robot, half demon hybrid with a rocket launcher for an arm. One blow from it is fatal in most cases. He's tough the first time around, but once you figure out how to avoid his rockets, he's a pushover. The Spider Mastermind.... he's a giant brain on robotic spider legs with a chaingun that hits like a truck. However, he's got a low pain threshold, so with the right weapons, he can be pretty easy.

Now with all this talk of "oh the bosses are easy", you might be thinking that the game itself is pretty easy. I usually play it on the next to hardest difficulty, Ultra Violence, and I have to say that it isn't all that bad once you get used to it. However, you can easily get swarmed with tough enemies, and that can put you in a bad spot. So the difficulty varies, but it's no Ninja Gaiden; most people don't have a problem with the difficulty at all.

The visuals are definitely outdated; everything is a flat, badly textured polygon or sprite by today's standards. Back then, it was great, but if you're going to play it today, get a source port and look up a high resolution texture pack designed for your source port. That helps a ton.

The music is still great; the soundtrack is metal, metal and more metal. And it fits the speed and style of the game well; it sounds like what you'd imagine you'd be listening to while killing zombies and demons. The sounds are a little outdated as well, especially the weapon sounds. Which makes sense, the game is as old as I am. Fortunately, there are high definition sound packs out there as well, so you can fix that.

In terms of length and replayability; DOOM isn't a long game by any standard. Each episode is only about 45 minutes long, maybe an hour max. However, DOOM's replayability easily makes up for it; there's a par time for you to try and beat, secrets to find, and with the miracle of source ports, there's literally an endless supply of mods for you to play. Combine that with the multiplayer, which is no longer just Deathmatch mode, and you're set for a good, long while. There's cooperative mode, Survival mode (where you have a set number of lives), Capture the Flag, Domination, Team Deathmatch, and good ol' free-for-all Deathmatch, and players have been creating all new game modes to boot. DOOM is highly replayable, which is an amazing thing; each time is a little different.

The verdict:
DOOM is a great game, albeit a bit outdated in some ways. If you haven't played it, it's on Steam for fairly cheap. If you prefer to play it on a console (please don't, you're missing out, and DOOM will run on anything these days), the Ultimate DOOM and DOOM II are included in the DOOM 3: BFG Edition. It gets 4.5/5 stars from me, and is easily bumped up to 5/5 with high definition textures and sounds.



As a side note, not all games are going to get 5/5 stars. Eventually I'll dig down into some fairly bad games, but I wanted to start off with a couple good ones. See you next week!