Doom

"The Gran'daddy of FPS!"

Having had only a few opportunities to play Doom on the PC, I was really looking forward to the Playstation version of the game that revolutionized and defined the genre of first person shooters. Having had a taste of it, I was really excited to finally have a chance to own the game and be able to sit down a play through the whole thing. Excitement become glee when I learned that two separate versions of Doom would be crammed together onto one CD.

The whole Doom series involves an experiment gone awry that open a portal to the depths of Hell. Demons of all sorts begin pouring out into the marine space station where you happened to be posted. As luck would have it, you are the only survivor, so its up to you to defeat the demon scourge. Once that is done, you move on to the sequel, which has you traveling to the source of evil in order to fight them on their own turf. Ignore the fact the Hell seems to have a lot of similarities to your space station and just kick their fiery demonic butts!

Graphically, Doom is a joke compared to the 3D shooters of today. However, for the Playstation, the graphics were enhanced up a bit to include new light sources and transparent colors to enhance the mood of the game. While still lacking the slick look of its 3D sons, Doom still introduced a level of detail never before seen even, on the computer, during its time on the throne. The new effects really help give the game an edge over its PC counterpart, considering the PC version ahs the advantage of a resolution.

Just like the graphics, the sound got a kick in the ass too. The barely tolerable tunes of old have been replaced with all new music that would give Peter Steele (singer of Type O Negative) a nightmare or two. The added use of the Playstation more advanced sound engine also give us a more direct 3D sound that enhances the terror of walking down a poorly lit corridor. Still, most people might not appreciate this, having been spoiled by today's higher standards.

The ironic thing about the control of the Playstation version of Doom is it's much older than the N64 version, but it's much easier to control. In fact, I think Doom on the Playstation represents the pinnacle of perfection as far as handling the game is concerned. Everything is laid out nice and logically, your hands almost naturally finding the correct buttons you need to accomplish your task. I don't want to lay it on too thick, but I can promise you won't be disappointed with this aspect of the game play.

The only failure that Doom presents is how dated the design is. This is, by no means, any fault on Doom's part. In fact, people couldn't get enough of the game when it was released. But times have changed and Doom remains the same. The levels are tight and restrictive, offering little relief from claustrophobia save for a sparse few open courtyards. The process of playing a love involves two very simple things; match key color x to door color x and kill a whole lot of monsters. While this is still fun to some, most people can't look past its simplicity. To those people I say 'Poo!' Think about it, in five years, games like Hal-Life will seem simplistic and uninspired. Just remember that next time you see Doom and disregard it.

Well, I think it's safe to assume that having a whole extra game of Doom included on your CD for no additional charge is one big freakin' extra! Though there might not be much else, at least you get fifty some levels of Doom-goodness to play through unlike those PC saps that bought the game for their fancy-shmancy computers when it first came out! :-)

If you've never played Doom before and you really want to see the game that is responsible for the likes of Quake, Unreal, and Half-Life, then you should check out this classic. It's an oldie but a goodie!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 07/05/02