Final Doom

"Sure, it's more of the same, but it's still great."

I have to preface this review by saying that I really loved the first Doom title on the Playstation. It was a big step up from playing the Super Nintendo version (you can just feel the SNES struggling to keep up with that game). The PSX version has such a smooth frame rate and clean graphics that I enjoyed playing many of the same levels from the venerable 16-bit system’s port. Williams (Midway) decided not to mess with the winning formula when they produced Final Doom. It is essentially the same game with different levels and approximately zero innovation, which should be kept in mind when deciding on a purchase. That said, Final Doom is a great way to waste some time.

When Final Doom was first released for the PC, some critics were rather harsh on the game’s lack of new features. There were the same enemies from all the other Doom games, the same weapons, the same items...you get the idea. Well, the same “problem” is here in the PSX version of the first-person shooter. Once again, you’re a lone space marine fighting the hordes from hell as they try to cross over some dimensional whatever to take over the world. You start with a pistol and your fists, and you pick up weapons that are left lying around or dropped by enemies, including the super shotgun--surely the most important weapon in the game, the rocket launcher, and the BFG 9000 (Big Fragging Gun for those keeping count). All your old friends are here: zombies, imps, demons, revenants, etc., and they’re not too pleased to see you again. As always, they come after you when you make your presence known, so stealth is prized above just running around with guns blazing. The Doom enemies still haven’t perfected their socializing skills and will attack each other if they get in each other’s way, which is something I get a big kick out of, I don’t mind telling you.

The graphics for Final Doom are top notch for a shooter released in 1996. There’s nothing pretty about the scenery in this game; it’s all dark corridors and shadows concealing unknown dangers, ideal for getting one’s blood going. Pixelation isn’t as much of a problem as on other platforms. Enemies look terrific unless they’re right up in your face, and the death animations are as good as always (especially the Mancubus’). The game’s frame rate is pretty good, but it does seem a little jumpy in places, which I don’t recall seeing in the first Doom game. Overall, though, it’s very solid, contributing to the precise control in the game. Getting around in Final Doom is nice and easy using the PSX controller, but if you’re one the people who think it blasphemous to control a Doom game with anything other than a mouse, you’ll be happy to know that the PSX mouse is compatible with this game.

The audio department is sure to draw some complaints, because, like the first Playstation Doom game, the original PC music has been ditched in favor of a more atmospheric soundtrack. Some levels sport little more than a few notes mixed with sound effects such as breathing or groaning. One level featured this screeching sound like a rusty gate that kept getting louder and louder, which really put me on edge. I liked the music from the PC and SNES versions, but I think the Playstation’s soundtrack is more effective. Silence does more to create an eerie atmosphere than blaring rock music. It also helps when hearing the enemy sound effects is so important to knowing where they are when you can’t see them. Enemy growls and screams sound clear coming through the PSX’s sound system. I still get rattled whenever I hear the meowing of the revenant or the clink-clank of the Cyberdemon. Overall, the sound system is superb.

I guess if there’s anything to really complain about in Final Doom, it’s that it isn’t nearly as long as either the first PSX Doom or the original PC Final Doom. This game has a total of 30 levels, as opposed to Doom’s 59 and the PC Final Doom’s 64, so the game tends to be over a little too quickly. The levels are split up into 3 different sections: Master Levels, TNT, and Plutonia. The Master Levels actually have nothing to do with the original Final Doom; instead, Williams borrowed 13 levels from a PC compilation of Doom creations produced by some of the best players-designers on the web. I liked the Master Levels more than the other two sections; you’re thrown into the fire immediately, and things never let up. Some boards are very cleverly designed and all provide a great challenge.

The other two areas contain levels from the two PC Final Doom missions, TNT: Evilution and the Plutonia Experiment. Williams took some of the hardest levels from the original in putting together this port. Unless you play the thing on the “I Am A Wimp” option (and who’d want to do that?), you’re in for a tough road. Conservation of ammo and getting enemies to fight among themselves are required strategies for staying alive. There are still no respawning enemies as in the PC games, which is somewhat of a shame if you’re really in the mood to torture yourself. There are a couple of differences from the first PSX Doom that really stood out for me. First, every board has only one exit, so there are no secret levels; still, in some places you can see where the other exit for a board previously existed in the PC version, but you can’t get to it. Second, the last board of the game--I really don’t want to give anything too big away here--simply doesn’t seem like it’s The Last Board. Play it and I think you’ll see what I mean.

There are a couple of curiosities on the disk that just smack of laziness on the part of the developers. The game mentions an enemy that was in the first Doom, but doesn’t appear anywhere in Final Doom on any skill level (The Spider Mastermind). Also, if you put the CD in a CD player, you’ll hear among the other music tracks the “Club Doom” level music from the first PSX Doom, which, of course, doesn’t appear anywhere in the game itself. They left that on there, but they did get rid of the voice tracks that appeared on the first CD. Go figure.

In case I haven’t made it very clear so far in my review, Final Doom is a very violent game that deserves its M rating. Keep that in mind before you get it for your young ‘uns. There, got that out of the way.

The first PSX Doom is a great game, and Final Doom is, well, also great. It’s painfully obvious that Williams/Midway didn’t go out of their way to produce something new and original here, but if the first Playstation Doom game left you wanting more, you owe it to yourself to get Final Doom.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/03/00, Updated 09/03/00