Doom

"To hate Doom is to hate video games."

Well this is it. Doom isn’t the original first person perspective game, but the one that pretty much started it. Doom and Doom 2 sold very well on the computers. So understandably Id decided to release them on the PSX as well. The port of these two classics is good, but not great. If this is your first time playing Doom you will probably enjoy it. If it isn’t, then you may be disappointed for you will notice a lot of the areas and enemies from the originals are no longer here and/or have been replaced.

Gameplay – 28/30
The learning curve in Doom is about 3.2 seconds. If something moves, it must die. Period. No exceptions. No refunds. Check your stomach at the door. Considering today’s standards Doom is not as violent as it gets. But back in the day, moms hid games like these from their children, who yearned to play them. This is what makes Doom, Doom. Well as you make your way from the start of each level, to the finish, you must kill whoever or whatever steps in your path, as well as solve a few puzzles along the way. If you can do all this then you may have what it takes. It is not as complex as most games around today. Doom simply consists of going from Point A to Point B without dying, which is easier said than done. There are 55 levels and it will take a good few hours to finish them all.

The first problem is that the ports of Doom and Doom 2 aren’t exact. I noticed a few baddies missing and a few alterations and complete deletions of levels. There is no longer a giant boss at the end of Doom 2 whose brain needs to be filled with rockets. There is now a large room replaced with a bunch of Minitaur guys and a couple of Masterminds, a terrible substitute. There are some added bonus levels but the original bonus levels were levels from Wolfenstein 3D and these sadly have been replaced. I was looking forward to playing them but evidently I cannot. O well, life goes on.

Fun Factor – 20/20
Doom is very fun. Whether you are playing a few levels passively or going on a mass killing spree with the rocket launcher and god mode on, it will be fun. I have been playing this game on and of for the last 10 years, and even though it is very dated, it is still fun.

Control – 15/15
Yes you can’t use the Analog sticks because they weren’t invented back during this games release. But considering what they had to work with the controls are good. The buttons that are assigned to each action are good, and if you don’t like them, you can always go ahead and change them. The game responds to your input well.

Graphics – 3/15
Ewwww. Doom graphics are never a thing a beauty. Have never been a thing of beauty. But will be a thing of beauty when Doom 3 rolls around. Unfortunately my $200, bottom of the barrel E- Machine wont be seeing the likes of Doom 3 in its near, foreseen future, unless of course Jesus comes down to earth and decides to make my comp the pinnacle of computer power, but I wont be holding my breath for that to take place; so I’ll have to stick with the original Doom’s. The graphics in Doom are very pixilated but you can see what you are doing so I guess it is tolerable, but barely so.

Music/Sound – 3/15
Ahh, good ol’ Doom music I’ll just sit back and turn up the music volume and…?!? What the? Where the hell did the music go? I guess they forgot to port it over. Oops.

Story – 5/5
You are good. Anything else moving is bad and needs to be killed. Here is a gun. Eat your heart out. It’s a little better than that but still… Some monsters from hell take over a base on Mars. You are the lone survivor and you trek through Hell to kill them. Well you do and all is well except when you return to earth the demons have followed you there. Mega Bummer. Guess you gotta save earth and go up against 80 billion baddies. The odds are just the way we like it =).

Replayability – (Bonus) 5/5
There are 4 different game modes and over 50 levels. You will be playing this game again and again because it is a lot of fun. I have been playing it for a while and still enjoy it.

Overall – 78/100

Pros
- Its Doom and Doom 2 on 1 game.
- Still very fun.
- Lots of blood and guts, Mwahahha…

Cons
- Not a complete port of the 2 classics.
- Looks very outdated.
- What happened to that fun to listen to, upbeat music?

Doom is a classic and should be played by anyone. To defy Doom is to defy our existence as a species. Get this game its only like $6.00 and play it. Or you will burn in Hell!!! Pun alert, pun alert, ahahahahaha…stops laughing; straight face. -_-

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/04