Doom

"It's DooM! Well, almost"

Ace's Review of DooM for Gameboy Advance *crash* *boom* :

My first impression is that the box is well done, capturing the original doom artwork in it's glory. The manual is equally well done, although the 1.5 page story has been shortened to a paragraph that simply says, ''You are a space guy sent to mars to kill demon things. They killed your buddies and now you're all alone. Punk'' However, the rest of the manual is helpful and informative... and stuff.

When you turn on the power there is about 40 different company logos appearing one at a time, including id and Activision. You can't skip it either. The title screen is perfectly DooMish, except there is a strange absence of music. In fact, about half the game's music is missing, and he tunes kept have been cut down to about 3 notes. Also, the game has only half the textures of the original. All the enemies seem to be there, except Specters. Many of the levels are either missing bits and pieces, or altered completely. The control is good, D pad = forward, back, Turn left&right; A = fire; B = Activate/run; L&R = Strafe left & right; L+R+Up/Down cycle weapons; Start = menu; select = automap (the auto map has it's own set of features like follow, zoom, ect. if I could only figure out how to use it). The game has 6 brightness levels ranging from Pitch Black to Just Really Dark. Multiplayer consists of Co-op and death match, but no one else has it, the little buttholes, so I haven't played it. Of course, the game is still fun as heck despite the fact that about 30% is just plain missing.

The only real hit is that the blood is green. Green. GREEN! GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!. What the fork were they thinking?!?! AAAAAAAGHUH! But they kept the wall texture with the skin with symbols burnt in it, go figure.

Why would j00 want to play this? BECAUSE IT'S DOOM YOU IGNORANT MONKEY! The came has managed to keep the same tense atmosphere found in the original. Sound has been kept in it's entirety and you can still hear the demon-breathing thing that plays when enimies nearby, the kaboom of the the shotgun, and the satisfying buzz of the chainsaw as you carve that imp like a Thanksgiving turkey. If you loved the original (or obsess about it like me) you'll find that now you can carry all that bloody carnage with you in your pocket.

In conclusion, its doom (instead of DooM) or DietDooM, or TravelDooM or PocketDooM, but definitely NOT DooM Advance. It fun though. DANGITIWANNADMWHYTHEHECKCAN'TSOMEONEELSEBUYIT. Good stuff.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/18/01, Updated 11/18/01