Engine-wise, Doom is a step up from Wolfenstein 3D in just about every single conceivable aspect. Wolfenstein's engine is overly simplistic to the point where it just ruins the game. The game consisted of various block mazes without any support for diagnol walls or stairs, and the ceilings and floors were just plain colors. Doom's engine, on the other hand, supports angled walls, ceiling/floor textures, a level of verticality, and decent lighting effects via bright map, and although this may seem like basic stuff by today's standards, back in 1993 this was one of the most graphically advanced games of its time. Sure, technically it may have not been "true 3D", as characters and items are represented by 2D sprites, and the game lacks the ability for the player to look up or down, but remember this was way back in the day when we still had Microsoft DOS and Super Nintendo.
I really do enjoy the game's visuals when it comes down to the environments. It uses various, vivid colors while still being able to maintain a semi-haunted feel. The military bases look very "alien", as in something you wouldn't find on Earth, which actually does make a lot a sense when you consider the fact that the bases you explore are actually located on the two moons of Mars. The demon areas look very, well, demonic, for lack of a better word. Many demon areas feel very ancient and temple-like, which is a stark contrast to the military bases often outfitted with advanced technology and toxic waste canals. Most areas are able to easily stand out from one another with only a couple exceptions, meaning that when you get lost, it's usually your fault rather than it being typically due to repetitive layout and graphic design. which was the case with Wolf3D. Levels feel very vacant and empty despite the countless enemy hordes that you encounter, giving you a feeling of isolation. Seeing as you're one man army stranded in the depths of hell, it seems to work pretty well.
The game has a kickass soundtrack that really complements the fast-paced action. Background themes are heavily composed of electric guitar riffs, taking influence from various heavy metal bands like Metallica. Unlike many shooters these says where the music is completely forgettable, these tracks have very catchy melodies. The music department is an area where this game truly shines. It's actually one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time, believe it or not. Ialso like some of the game's sound effects. All of the weapons have bone-crunching sound effects that bring chills down your spine. Each of the enemies also have pretty distinct sounds when it comes to spotting you and attacking, although for some reason they all share the same exact roars when damaged, but that's just a minor nitpick of mine.
Story
The story of Doom is pretty much nonexistent, save for some text in the manual. The Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has been experimenting with teleportation on two of Mars' moons: Phobos and Deimos. The project goes horribly wrong and they accidentally open a portal to Hell. The Hellspawn invade and slaughter everyone there, now you're all that's left between them and Earth. Honestly I wish the game had a bit more narrative, but really that's just one of my nitpicks.
Gameplay
Doom is a fast-paced, up close and personal shooter with top-notch gunplay. Strafing is essential for dodging enemy projectiles, and cover is necessary for avoiding hitscan attacks. The game doesn't have sprint in the "conventional" sense as we know it today, because in Doom, you're able to move insanely fast while being super accurate at the same time. It doesn't have regenerating health either, meaning you really have to memorize the map and manage your resources for survival. The game heavily encourages map movement, because you simply aren't able to regen health by hiding in cover for eight seconds. The game doesn't really have any reloads either, and it's a good thing because it means there's really nothing to interrupt the flow of combat. All in all it's very fast-paced, high adrenaline gunplay that doesn't hold your hand.
Level design is semi-open and pretty non-linear when you compare it to the mindless, on-rail military shooters like COD. It's all very labyrinth-like. The game really emphasizes exploration, memory, and critical thinking in the majority of its levels. It's all designed with a pretty good sense of mystery, wonder, and intrigue. You're most likely going to be confused by some of the level layouts at first, but soon enough you'll be able to put the pieces together and you'll find yourself quite satisfied upon finding the level exit. Believe me, this game has some of the most intriguing level designs that I know of.
The main objective of each level is fairly simple: slaughter everything in sight and find the exit switch. Usually to reach the exit switch, you'll often need to collect various keycards that serve to open locked doors. Sometimes this results in occasional backtracking here and there (good backtracking mind you, as it always results in you reaching a whole new area). Personally I like to see more varied objectives in FPS, rather than it being the same thing every level, but seeing how this was one of the earliest first person shooters, it's highly forgivable, and despite the lack of variety in objectives, the game always manages to stay very, very fresh, and be very, very fun, so in all fairness, this is nothing more than a personal nitpick. The top-notch level design, as described above, is what keeps the game from going stale.
Doom's arsenal may seem sort of lackluster and standard at first glance, but in all reality, the game has essentially defined many well-known staples of the genre. Overall, it's very centered on close quarters combat, yet also manages to be pretty diverse at the same time.
In the beginning, you start with two weapons: your bare fists as well as a shitty pistol. I'm gonna say it right now, the fists are pointless. Never use them. They deal the same low damage as the pistol and are quite obviously more limited when it comes to range. Even when you wish to conserve ammo, still don't use them. Your enemies will quickly mow you down with bullets, fireballs, and superior melee, and you simply won't have the chance to deal much damage. You even get a Chainsaw later on that hits 4x as fast, essentially replacing the fists as your goto melee weapon. Plain and simple, the fists suck. The Pistol really isn't all that great either with piss-poor damage and piss-poor firing speed, but it's still passable for taking down a couple lower-class enemies here and there, and it won't be long until you get your hands on a superior weapon.
The Shotgun is your general purpose weapon in the game, and you come across it very early on. It fires a tight horizontal spread of seven hitscan pellets, and packs a punch at closer ranges. This is quite possibly my favorite shotgun in video game history. Despite being weaker at longer ranges, it's still extremely useful at any distance, and can even serve as an improvised sniper rifle. It's main downside, however, comes in the form of a slow rate of fire, so it's important to use cover well and maintain the element of surprise while using this weapon. Throughout the lost Phobos moon base and the depths of Hell itself, this trusty boomstick is your best friend, and ultimate key to survival. Compared to other weapons, it has a distinct "shoot, sidestep, shoot" pattern, you don't have to worry about maintaining your accuracy while dodging, rather you shoot and strafe separately.
Next you get the Chaingun, which serves as the game's primary automatic weapon. It has less consistent accuracy than the Shotgun but it has a fast rate of fire with a wide spread. While the Shotgun is good for slaughtering foes one at a time or taking down a smaller group of enemies, the Chaingun is meant for those situations where an entire army is after you. While using this weapon, it's fairly important to fire in short bursts to conserve your ammo count, because this weapon burns through ammo FAST, and because of its extreme usefulness, you never really want to find yourself wasting bullets.
The Rocket Launcher is (quite obviously) an explosive projectile weapon. Very useful for taking down upper-class enemies, due to its high stopping power. With this weapon, you're going to want to lead ahead of your targets because the rockets move painfully slow. It's blast radius is relatively small for this type of weapon, so it's not really good for taking down several nooks at once, but the weapon has high damage capabilities on direct hit, which overall makes it a very useful weapon. The "reload time" (the delay between shots) is just around half a second, not fast enough to the point where it's overpowered, nor slow enough to the point where it's useless. Overall a very good weapon that you shouldn't pass up.
The Plasma Rifle (aka the Plasma Gun) is the first of two directed energy weapons you'll be using throughout the game. It's pretty powerful, is fully automatic, and has a high chance of stunning enemies. It's good against anything, really, from small groups of lower-class enemies and large demon armies to upper-class foes and even bosses. It's a very useful projectile weapon at mid range with only two downsides: the slower projectile speed and the cooldown animation that occurs after letting go of the trigger. It's really lackluster at long range despite its pinpoint accuracy, mostly due to its slow projectile speed, but despite these downsides, it's probably my favorite weapon to use, even slightly more so than the Shotgun. That stunning ability proves to be very useful. In multiplayer the weapon tends to be really good for area denial purposes due to its larger projectiles.
Last on our list is the BFG9000, also known as the Big Fucking Gun, or the Bio Force Gun if you ever watched the shitty movie adaptation. It has to charge up for around .8 seconds before firing, but man is this weapon so fucking beast. It generates a slow moving ball of green plasma that will explode on impact, able to clear out an entire room in one giant blast. After the initial explosion, there will be a series of invisible shockwaves generated from the point of impact, finishing off whatever's left standing. This is one powerful weapon, but always keep in mind that ammunition is rare. You want to make every shot count. Only use the weapon when you need it most, or you can just do what I do: save it for the boss battles.
All in all Doom's arsenal has heavily influenced the genre as a whole, popularizing many staples of FPS, such as shotguns, chainguns, rocket launchers, and energy weapons. For the most part, each of Doom's weapons are all equally awesome in their own special way.
There are two different breeds of enemies that you'll encounter on this quest: your fellow soldiers that are possessed by Satan, and the evil hellspawn that wish to eat your soul. The enemy soldiers are individually weak but use hitscan bullets that are incredibly hard to dodge, thus requiring you to use cover effectively. The hellspawn are individually more powerful and use damaging melee attacks as well as plasma fireballs that can be dodged with good enough reflex. Enemy soldiers will drop ammo upon death, while the hellspawn do not.
There are two types of enemy soldiers: the Zombieman, and the Zombie Sergeant (I like to call him Sarge). The Zombiemen use weak rifles that fire pistol shots for some odd reason, and are the basic footsoldier you'll often be fighting throughout the game. It only takes a few pistol shots each to kill them. The Sergeants use a weaker variant of your Shotgun that fires three pellets rather than seven, and although they have the same exact low health as the Zombiemen, they're way more dangerous because they can quickly shave a load off your health. Always take the Sergeant(s) down first in any combat scenario, because their ranged attacks can't be dodged like fireballs.
The Hellspawn are way more varied overall. The first type you encounter is the Imp. They're somewhat tougher than human soldiers but not by much, and can still be slayed with a single shotgun blast to the face. Demons are the second kind you encounter. They have tougher armor and superior speed compared to the Imps, but can't send out fireballs like the latter. They are restricted to merely charging forward and eating the player's flesh. There is also the Spectre, which is simply a second variant of the Demon that utilizes partial invisibility. The Cacodemon is perhaps one of the more memorable enemies in Doom, owing to its unique appearance and round shape. It constantly flies around while launching fireballs at a moderate speed, and can take approximately six shotgun blasts to the face, with over twice the durability of a Demon. The Lost Souls are these flaming little skulls that wander around and will charge the player upon first sight, but are very, very weak and serve as nothing but a minor annoyance.
Doom also has bosses, including the Cyberdemon, the Spider Mastermind, and the Barons of Hell (who may also appear individually as mini-bosses). The Cyberdemon is encountered at the end of Episode 2, and uses an arm-mounted rocket launcher that deals massive damage upon direct hit. The best weapon to use against him (aside from the BFG) is the Plasma Rifle due to its high damage and stun, but in all honesty it's way more fun to use the Rocket Launcher because it turns the fight into an intense duel, rather than a one-sided engagement. The Spiderdemon uses hitscan Chainguns with explosive ammo, and honestly if you don't have the BFG by now, you're fucked. The Barons of Hell are encountered multiple times throughout the game, and although they're definitely weaker than the big two, they still pose a significant threat if you lack the Plasma Rifle or BFG9000.
The enemy selection in Doom is overall very memorable and diverse. The AI may be lacking of course, but the sheer numbers is enough to make you shiver.
Multiplayer
Doom's multiplayer natively supports up to 4-player LAN in an all-out Deathmatch, as well as cooperative play. This is limited to the point where most gamers may want to stray away, but fear not my friend. There exists Zandronum, one of the many sourceports that can be played with Doom. This multiplayer modification serves to increase the player count and bring additional game modes to the table, such as Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Last Man Standing, Terminator (aka Halo's Juggernaut), and the works. By default the game does use damage randomizers, but there are server commands and mods that can be used to be disable them, for those who prefer more competitive gameplay.
The kill times in multiplayer seem to drag on a bit TOO long. While long kill times are essential for a good multiplayer FPS because it requires direct combat and prolonged accuracy, it's so long to the point where battles don't ever end and it just becomes stale. Maps are typically small and asymmetric, and coupled with the fast movement speed, I'd recommend this game for some smaller scale free for all matches with your buddies, for around 4 to 8 players.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Doom is one of the best first person shooters of all time, hands down. Fast paced close quarters combat, open-ended level design, highly versatile weapons, varied enemy classes, what's not to like? I only have but a few nitpicks: the lack of narrative, the lack of varied objectives, and the arsenal could've been just a BIT more distinct, but again, these are only nitpicks. The game is just AWESOME, and you should play it. Doom is a game that helped revolutionize the entire industry, and it's legacy is one that'll never be forgotten.
Rating: 9.7/10
The kill times in multiplayer seem to drag on a bit TOO long. While long kill times are essential for a good multiplayer FPS because it requires direct combat and prolonged accuracy, it's so long to the point where battles don't ever end and it just becomes stale. Maps are typically small and asymmetric, and coupled with the fast movement speed, I'd recommend this game for some smaller scale free for all matches with your buddies, for around 4 to 8 players.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Doom is one of the best first person shooters of all time, hands down. Fast paced close quarters combat, open-ended level design, highly versatile weapons, varied enemy classes, what's not to like? I only have but a few nitpicks: the lack of narrative, the lack of varied objectives, and the arsenal could've been just a BIT more distinct, but again, these are only nitpicks. The game is just AWESOME, and you should play it. Doom is a game that helped revolutionize the entire industry, and it's legacy is one that'll never be forgotten.
Rating: 9.7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment