The Ultimate Doom

The Good
Some will kill me for writing this sentence but you'll understand why.

If Doom wasn't existing, you wouldn't play FPS today.

It's not really the truth. Indeed, the FPS was already existing when Doom was released. And then, you have also some games from that time that really helped FPS to rise as a main genre in the videogames world. Wolfenstein 3D or Quake are fine example of that. But it's Doom that threw the basic core for our modern FPS game. Doom was also released on many platforms: SNES, Jaguar, Saturn, Nintendo 64, GBA and even XBOX 360 with the Live Arcade feature. I'm forgetting many of them but Doom, it was first a success on computers, mainly under DOS.

Believe me or not but my first FPS was Doom II, along with Heretic and Rise of the Triad. It wasn't (Ultimate) Doom.

I'll precise something. For me, Doom and Ultimate Doom, it's the same game. Indeed, Ultimate Doom is composed of the three episodes from Doom but is also containing a fourth episode. So, don't be shocked to see me writing Doom instead of Ultimate Doom. After all, I've never played the original game, I've discovered it by other ways.

I didn't play Doom until I've downloaded the shareware somewhere at the end of the nineties. What is also weird is that I've bought the GBA version, which is a port of the Jaguar game, meaning that it's not really the original Doom. My final step was the Collector Edition, released before Doom 3 and which was containing Ultimate Doom, Doom II and Final DOOM.

So, I've played Ultimate Doom in this first decade of the XXIth century - I truly discovered what was Doom nearly 10 years after its release. But it's not meaning that I didn't know what Doom was really. If Half-Life, released in 1998, strengthened my passion for FPS, it wasn't without the fear to see only a Doom-like, without soul. Being marked by Doom II, it wasn't a surprise to see that fear, after all, I did the same with other games.

Remember my sentence? Somewhere, that sentence about FPS non existing if no Doom is true for me. I wouldn't be a FPS fan if Doom was never released.

Except for a secret passage in the first level, Ultimate Doom is the same game as Doom. The three episodes are still there but there is now a fourth one, Thy Flesh Consumed. It's what happened after getting out of Hell and seeing that the demons were already on Earth. If Doom II is clearly the sequel for it, here, you just have an episode only for avenging Daisy, your pet bunny whose head was cut and displayed as a trophy.

Doom did establish some standards in storyline

The Doom plot is about a scientific base, with an experiment going wrong and a lot of creatures invading everything. You, you're the Marine that was staying behind for coordinating the rescue team but you're the only one left and so, the only one able to kick some demons' asses (yeah, I know, it's not really a great way to write it but Doom is Doom).

Every common point with Half-Life is not a coincidence. Doom did establish a sort of basic storyline which inspired a lot of following games. Half-Life is perhaps the most known example, while being different. The fact that it's scientific research, with dangerous experiments that could go wrong (and did), with some creatures you've never seen before and with your fellow comrades trying to kill you because they're changed into zombies, well, yes, it's something that can make the imagination work.

Doom, it's also a corporation above law, UAC, with many secrets to give (even if it's more accurate for Doom 3) and with action taking place, not on Earth but on Mars then in Hell. The series FEAR is taking the corporation somewhere above the law line for Armacham Technologies. The series Half-Life, mainly the Black Mesa era games, is sending Gordon, Adrian and Barney in the creatures homeworld, Xen. So yeah, Doom established something for future sci-fi and horror FPS games. I'm not telling that Umbrella in Resident Evil is inspired by UAC but somewhere, Doom did really establish some good bases.

Doom, it's the story of a Marine, sent to Phobos Base following an incident report and a distress call. Staying behind, he heard every member of his squad being killed. And your Marine isn't a coward. With only his fists and a pistol, he's going to enter the hangar and to begin to clean the UAC base. It's also the story of demons coming from Hell, invading our world.

Play Doom and you'll see where the FPS is coming from It's not a wonder to hear that Doom gave his name for the "genre". A Doom-like, back then, it was a FPS. But you have also the term Quake-like or Half-Life-like.

Back then, your brain wasn't required

Doom is not a brain game. The puzzles you have to solve are only a matter of opening doors or to find the right switch for advancing in the game. Doom, it's just a pure shooter. You have to shoot everyone you're meeting because you will not find allies. You're alone, on your own. And frankly, it's something that I love. Because when playing HL or Doom 3, I've the strong urge to protect every survivor. Without people to take care, you're only taking care of you.

The basic way to play FPS: Doom did it

As I've said, Doom isn't the first FPS using that gameplay but it was the one who did establish it firmly.

The mouse gameplay, used for looking around or for firing (some can also bind the right-click to zoom or to jump or to run), is missing here, meaning that you will have to learn to use only the keyboard (or a pad).

It can frustrating the first time. For me, at that time, it wasn't bothering. But now, as I've acquired modern FPS reflex (mouse + keyboard), everytime I'm playing an old Doom game on PC, well, I'm making the mistake to take my mouse before remembering that I didn't change the gameplay in the Collector Edition menu and that I will never change it.

So, you have to use fully your arrow keys for moving around, your CTRL key for just shooting, your 1-7 keys for changing weapons, your SHIFT key for running and your SPACE key for opening doors or for activating switches

It's the main mechanics of FPS that you're finding in Doom and except for the jumping part and the zooming weapon, you'll find in nearly all FPS a running function or a walking slowly one, you'll find your weapons binded to the number, you'll find also the TAB key bind for some actions (in Doom, it's for getting a map view), etc..

So yeah, the gameplay is intuitive, efficient and not hard to master. The only missing element is the jumping and a lot of players will probably be deceived by the lack of it. Myself, playing now, I wish that a jumping gameplay was included. But id Software takes the option of "running can make you jump holes", which is not bad but can be really frustrating as sometimes, the running is too fast and that you can't do only that from a higher or same edge.

I mentioned that there weren't any zooming possibility but the reason is that there are not sniper weapons. And I'm not sure that it was technically possible to do it at that time, with that engine. Yes, I'm missing it when you have far away enemies firing at you but I don't regret the lack of it. That's the way I love playing the old Doom and I'm not sure that a modification adding sniper rifles would be appreciated by my own person.

I need to mention the HUD because everything is already there. Your protection (armor) percentage is taken in count, as your health, you can see if you have the needing keys or not, you can also see your ammo or the weapons you've collected (symbolized by the key number). Even the face of the Doomguy is represented and it's also showing emotions or current health state. If you're playing with it with gold eyes, well, that means that you've entered the cheat for the god mode.

Doom has AI. A simple one but it's there

You're perhaps shooting demons or zombies that aren't working as a team or aren't trying to duck or to take covers, sometimes, you can be in their line of view, but they're not reacting, but that doesn't mean that Doom is having a mediocre enemy AI. Each enemy is trying to approach you. Even when they're far away from you, they're not giving up shooting at you. And perhaps the most important, they don't like friendly fire. If another demon is hurting them, they're going to attack it, mainly when you're playing in higher levels, with a massive amount of demos. Example: I was playing Tricks and Traps from Doom II in Ultra-Violence (and in god mode - I will play it without cheating in Hurt me Plenty). A Cyber-demon were surrounded by Hell Barons. Believe me or not but the Hell Barons hurt by the rocket of the Cyber-demon were shooting plasma balls at him. It doesn't help me much as the Cyber-demon did kill them but it was very great to see that enemies can react to friendly fire.

I'm too young to die, don't you agree?

Indeed, my actual age (26 at the end of that month), it's too young for dying. But I'm not speaking about me. I'm too young to die, it's the easiest level of difficulty in Doom. You don't have so many enemies to kill, you can have more items or more weapons present (not the ones dropped, I mean, the already scripted one), ammo is much important by item and well, you're not really taking damage.

Then, you have Not Too Rough, then Hurt me Plenty, which is the average difficulty and the one that you should take when you're a FPS player. It's also with HMP that you can sense the difference in difficulty: more enemies, sometimes, some enemies which are not appearing in the previous difficulties, are spawning, you can find less items (for example, in E1M4 Command Control, you have only one suit instead of two), you can also find less weapons.

With Ultra-Violence and Nightmare, it's a real challenge to take for hardcore players. For example, E1M1 Hangar is only containing normal zombies and Imps. In UV and Nightmare, you'll find the shotgun zombie spawning. So yes, Doom is really well thought in terms of challenge.

Doom was brilliant when it came to the weapons

Doom being a FPS, you can see your weapon on the screen and the action of reloading. Oh yeah, it's an automatic reload and that's really great. I think that it was the only way to play FPS at that time but you don't have to worry to use 8 bullets for your shotgun then to reload. The only thing that is frustrating with weapons is that some share the same ammo. The pistol is using clips, like the gatling, the BFG 9000 is sharing the cell packs with the Plasma Gun.

Anyway, Doom is really varied in the weapons areas. Yes, it has no sniper rifle. But you can find your own fists (with a knuckleduster) that will be very useful combined with a berserk pack (an hit = dead demon for the weakest ones). You have your pistol for beginning the game though it's not really powerful. You'll find a shotgun, your main weapon throughout the game, a gatling, very useful when you have a lot of demons, a rocket launcher which can be devastating on bosses or on you if you're near the explosion, a Plasma Gun, with a high fire speed and also very deadly against bosses and the famous BFG 9000 aka the Bio Force Gun 9000 or the Big bleepin' Gun. You can also find the spelling BFG 9K. That weapon is indeed synonym of immediate death. It has a high range for damage but it's consuming a lot of cell packs.

Doom has also something weird when you're thinking about it: chainsaw. Normally, there are no trees on Mars or on its satellites. Well, in Doom, some decorative elements are... trees. So, somewhere, in Doom, the chainsaw, really great against zombies or Imps, is justified. You can also note that the chainsaw and the BFG 9K are the trademark for Doom. Mythic weapons they are, mythic weapons they'll stay.

Graphically correct

The game is an "old" game. It's nearing its 20 years of age - can you believe it? So, the graphics are necessarily not what this decade is doing. It's pixelised. You see it. In fact, the game is much a succession of sprites than a mesh of polygons.

But can we sincerely reprimand Doom for providing pixelised graphics because the modern standards are about 3D? Can we say to a game released in 1992-93 that it's just ugly comparing to FEAR, Call of Duty, Gears of War or other Half-Life and Halo?

It will be ugly for some but you can't bring down Doom like that. Yeah, I'm a Doom geek. Yeah, it's hard for me to find negative points. Yeah, I'm giving a 5/5 to the game. But you have also to understand something. As I've said, Doom is nearly 20 years old. The graphics were the best back then. And you can't deny that it's already detailed. I loved the computer with the Mars picture. I love the way you can see the muscles in the Pinky's back. And I loved the way the weapons are modelised. Even the arms have hair. And you know what? I'm loving the difference between each episode, the fact that we're heading toward a demonic world, with Satan's face on the wall, with bloody rivers, with tortured souls, etc..

But there is a small problem in Doom, included in the fourth episode. If Inferno was really designed as Hell, the rest... isn't. You're in a hi-tech base. If some levels are reflecting it (Computer Station, Hangar or Spawning Vats on Deimos), the others are not. I mean, take Phobos Lab. It's not looking like a lab. You don't find offices, you don't find computers all over the levels. But you're finding hellish elements: stone walls or candlesticks. In reality, Doom isn't respecting the storyline in terms of graphics. Doom II will try to provide a level respecting its name but in Doom, it's a failure.

It's very interesting to see the level design. Phobos (or if you prefer, the episode Knee-Deep in the Dead) isn't perhaps looking like a base but it's not far away from it. Phobos is for me looking more technological than Deimos, Inferno or Earth's first town. Than comes Deimos (Shores of Hell) where you can see the effects of demonic ruling. If you can still find some spots reminding you that Deimos Base was indeed a human base also invaded, it's also turning to a demon's lair, with Satan's faces on the walls or with the dungeon-like graphics proposed.

Inferno is perhaps the only episode to have graphics adapted. It's red, red and red, with blood, with decorative elements reminding you of eternal pain, it's also featuring muscles or skin or intestines, or in others words, it's Hell and the level design is reflecting it. Thy Flesh Consumed is sensed to taking place on Earth, in a sort of town or outpost. But you have the impression to be in Hell or in a sort of Deimos-like.

Some levels are particularly well-designed or with particularities making them unique. Like the ones with two exits, one secret for accessing secret levels. Like the secret level in Inferno episode, Warrens, which is Hell Keep but with a twist. Like Mt. Erebus, with so much lava that you'll be sick to see it. Like Containment Area, the only level in Deimos that is justifying its name and sticking to the storyline, with boxes everywhere. Like Tower of Babel where you find the Cyberdemon there. It's also an open area and well, I must admit that it's the only level you're seeing build on the level screen. Like Slough of Despair whose design is a hand. Like Perfect Hatred (E4M2) which is also featuring a lot of lava and jumps. I mean fast running for passing the holes. Because if you want to exit that level, you will have to stay a lot on the high ground and to "jump" between each of them.

That soundtrack did influence a lot of us

The first level music is very well known, perhaps the most know music in Doom than the other ones. But seriously, between rock and gothic music, I'm saying this one: it's very sticking to Doom. Just what you need for getting much more adrenaline. Also, the sounds are really great.

Doom was fun. It's still fun. Why do you think people are still playing it, especially in multiplayer?

Doom is fun to play. Doom is really enjoyable. It's perhaps just shooter but it's very addictive. Some players are still playing it in multiplayer. And it's not a coincidence if some were working on a mod with Doom 3 Engine that is simply Doom but with a newest engine.

The replay value is high if you're playing all difficulties levels. Nightmare is really hard. Its lifetime is high, you can play it again and again. I don't know how many times I played that game, shareware and GBA versions included. Always surprised not to have remembered that secret area or the fact that that enemy was present. Doom, and you'll tell me that it's the fan speaking, well, Doom, it's just without end, for a lifetime. Next-gen consoles are hosting Doom, it's not a coincidence that old games are given a new life.

The Bad
Doom is full of demons. It should be scary, right?

Doom, despite involving demons, isn't scary at all, even in the darkest levels. Contrary to Doom 3 or to FEAR, Doom is not really based on a fear factor. Perhaps it's the colors, perhaps it's the fact that I've played it a lot, perhaps it's the fact that I can't remember if the first time I've played it, I was jumping or not of my seat but the result is that I am not scared at all. It's a contrast with weeks ago when I played FEAR 2 demo and that I was really having my heart beating fast when I had to confront Alma's apparitions in that school.

As I've mentioned, if you're used to modern ways to play FPS, you'll be disoriented by the missing mouse gameplay and the lack of jumping. I can understand that it will be a bad point for some of you, but you need to remind yourself that Doom was released nearly twenty years ago and that it wasn't probably a problem not to use your mouse or to jump. Even the zooming isn't really a problem in Doom. Just never forget that what is right today wasn't in the past and will not be in the future. It's also applying to videogames.

Also, some of you will be deceived by the AI and the graphics. But as I've said, Doom isn't from our time, it's from a golden era of games, where it wasn't shocking to see that. And even now, I still find it appropriated for Doom. Because it's refreshing to shoot into enemies that aren't trying to duck. Because it's refreshing to be amazed, even twenty years after, to see that your memories weren't paying justice to the game or that you didn't know that the engine was already allowing some features (like the map of Mars for example).

The Bottom Line
I'm warning you: you will find 5/5 for each point to rate. Some will say that I'm not enough critical. Some will say that it's just the fact that I'm a fan. Or you will understand that I can't put another note than 5/5 on a game that just triggered everything in my life: not only stimulated my imagination but also giving me the real passion of videogames (it's not the NES or the GameBoy that were already in my life). I wouldn't be here if Doom wasn't existing. I just can't put a 4.99999999999999/5 on Doom. It would hurt my heart to do so and while I can clearly give a 4/5 to Half-Life for example, while I can clearly give a 3/5 to Final Doom or a 4/5 to Doom 2, where I can note Doom GBA 4.5/5, I just can't to do it to Ultimate Doom, even if it's not my first Doom played. You'll say that it should be Doom II. But apparently, the first Doom was just the best because I'm knowing by heart all the secrets of the first episode. I played more the shareware than Doom II.

Enough. I've given an explanation of the heart for my note. But I can summarized Doom like this: fun, high replay value, mythic weapons and mostly, the main mechanics of FPS except jumping established.

I'm not saying that playing Doom is adopting it. No, I just want you to try it because I'm thinking that every FPS player/fan must have tried it. Doom did just begun a great genre that is FPS and only for understanding why the genre is like that, I'm recommending you to play it without forgetting that the game is nearing 20 years of existence. If you're able to remember it, I'm pretty sure that you will overcome the old graphics or the lack of jumping.

What I will not do for Doom?