Doom 64

"Doom has made it to the N64, but there is just something about it that makes it feel fake....."

I have been a fan of Doom for about four years now, and I almost wet my pants when I heard that Doom was coming to the Nintendo 64. I expected everything about it to be ten times better than the computer game, especially the gameplay and plot. Considering that I paid nearly $60 for this game, it had better darn well be perfect.

It wasn't near that.

There was just something about the game that made it feel fake to me. Maybe it was the fact that it was so dark that it wasn't until an enemy was right up in your face before you noticed it. Or maybe it was the fact that any difficulty level except Be Gentle! caused me to die within the first five minutes. Or maybe I was just too used to the computer game. Whatever it was, I just didn't like Doom 64.

First of all, let's talk about the sound and music. Maybe the music was supposed to add suspense to the game, but it didn't for me. It wound up just getting annoying and in the way. And the sound was pretty good, but some of the sounds, like the Pistol gunshots, were REALLY annoying. They just seemed too computerized, and since this is the high-power Nintendo 64, I want some realy sound here!

And then there are th horrible controls. I played this game, thought the controls were fabulous, and then I played Goldeneye for a while, whose controls are the epitome of excellency. And then I played Doom 64 again; I threw the game away because the controls sucked so much. I mean, strafing is a crucial part of surviving in Doom; the L and R buttons are the strafing buttons, but the game also needs the joystick. You need to switch your grip to be able to use the left trigger button because you can't access it using the grip that accomodates the joystick.

Then there are the weapons. The weapons were pretty good, but some of them were the lamest things I have ever seen in my life. I mean, when I fired the BFG 9000 in a room full of Former Humans, it takes approximately five seconds to fire, and when it its the wall, which is supposed to kill every single Former Human in the room, it kills about half of them. What is wrong with this? And then there are some weapons, like the Rocket Launcher in some cases, where you never can use it because of the extreme lack of ammunition for it in the level.

The graphics were awesome, I'll give them that, but still, even with the Brightness level set to the brightest, I can't see an enemy until they're up in your face, ripping you apart. Other than that, I loved the graphics. And they darn well better be awesome, considering that it's Nintendo 64 we're talking about here, the second most powerful system on the market now. They were crisp and clear, but I could've done without the darkness, thank you very much.

Also, if I played any level higher than the second level on any difficulty level higher than the first one, I'd die in about ten seconds. There are just too many enemies, each having pinpoint accuracy, to deal with on the extremely eager amount of ammunition they put in the levels. And when I do start pumping the ammo into the enemies, they never die until about ten seconds because you can never get to the good weapons in time. In a room full of Hell Knights and/or Barons of Hell, that can get pretty annoying!!

Overall, I did not enjoy playing Doom 64. I know that a ton of people with disagree with me, and say that it is an awesome game, but this is my opinion and I disliked the game. I wouldn't go so far as to saying that I HATED the game, but rather disliked it. It was fun to play for the first like twenty minutes, but then I called the store and asked for a return. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my review.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/00, Updated 03/05/00