Doom

The Good
WONDERFUL game for its time, I must say. The graphics are pretty pixelated now, but then on the old 13" inch monitors it looked like bliss. I remember it myself! The levels are all masterpieces, and are full of imagination, and most of them DO represent the level name, although many people think otherwise. The engine was great, and could even be described as its own operating system. This game had lovely physics for 1993, too. Bad guys flew backwards when shot, which had never been seen before, and there appeared (to the player at least) to be many levels of floor, above, underneath, etc. Walls were no longer restricted to 90º, which was a welcome addition to the 3d shooter world at the time.

The music was SPECTACULAR (Bobby Prince), and the sound effects scared me the most; they surround you and give you a sense of really being there. You hear the demon growl, and you know - Something's there. Great weapon variety, too. You are not limited to a measly 4 weapon arsenal as you are in Wolfenstein 3D - You have true man's weapons this time round, and trust me, they ARE man's weapons. There is a lot of pace in this game, you cannot get bored... You always hear monster noises, there is no escaping it, and it makes you KNOW you have more demons to slay. Enemies CAN hurt you from above, but Doom lets you fire back without having to move up/down at all, it virtually aims up/down for you, so don't panic like I did when I first played this a long 12 years ago. What's really nifty, however, is that there are now source ports that can let you enjoy the game with a "make over", if you like. Programs such as ZDoom, JDoom/Doomsday, PRBOOM, etc, really add to the modern Doom experience, presenting you with polygon/3D graphics, resolutions of 1280x1024, and much much more. This is not to say that classic old doom is bad - Far from it. It's saying that DOOM is still alive and kicking, and is staying with us for years to come...

The Bad
I hate to say there are bad things in Doom, but like with all games, it's true. Bugs do exist, but have been narrowly phased out in each version released of the game.

My gripe with Doom is more principle-based than anything else. There is no room for the player to put any imagination into Doom as a game. It's just "shoot this shoot that". Games such as "Monkey Island" are no longer made often, pretty much due to the 3D shooter market that Doom has helped create. This is slightly unfortunate for imaginative games that really require thinking and logic, which Doom certainly doesn't.

The Bottom Line
... It's still great, of course. I love whipping my plasma rifle out and burning a few imps to heck. In fact, I may go and do that right now...

Buy this game. Respect it - Buy it. It's worth every penny, even 12 years later, and with source ports, you can enjoy it in the 21st Century.

...... I love the smell of demons frying in the mornin'.......