id's Doom review

This article is about the 1993 video game, for the 2005 movie, see DOOM(film). But not here.


So, it's 1993 and you're a big fan of computer games. You are about to start up your DOS to play a classic shoot 'em up. But there's  something new on the scene!

And it's something mind-blowing, it's just like being there! For the first time ever you can look through the character's eyes and see the world as he sees it. I won't be long before you believe that you're on Phobos, Deimos, and you'll even believe that you are in Hell itself!

Now, you may be wondering "How... How is this possible?" You may also be looking behind your monitor to see if you are really looking down the corridor set out before you. On realising that no such corridor could exist within the confinements of your few-inches-thick monitor the only solution left is witchcraft, right?
Wrong. The world set out before you is rendered on a flat plane, drawn to look 3D (Not unlike Arena) in a projection known as Pseudo-3D or 2.5D.

But mechanics aside, you want to know about the gameplay! Well, the graphics are the only thing setting it aside from other shoot 'em ups of the age. The storyline is all described in the manual, and its all about shooting everything you see to get to the next level (with coloured keycards cleverly implemented)  repeated. But that doesn't take away the fun - at all. It's also strangely more thrilling than all other first person shooters, even with its lack of proper lighting and its 8/16 bit music (for this day in age (2011), way back when (1993) its was nothing less than cutting edge). So, what makes it so tremendously epic? The truth to that lies with id  (and ZeniMax, id cant hide their secrets from ZeniMax) but we can all guess, that's what the comments section is for, so please post your ideas.

there are 5 levels of difficulty, you may see yourself as too young to die, or maybe you're going to one of the moons for a bit of the old "ultra-violence".  The levels are;

• "I'm too young to die!"
• "Hey, not to rough!"
• "Hurt me plenty"
• "Ultra violence"
• Nightmare

The harder the difficulty the more enemies you see on the maps. Except in "Nightmare", where it has as much as "Ultra violence", but they regenerate. But enemies isn't the only thing that changes with difficulty, Enemy drops also change. For example, killing a mutant will allow you to take his gun (usually a shotgun, but if its a pistol then you get a clip) unless you play in "I'm too young to die!" or "Hey, not too rough!" when you would be lucky to get a clip for your pistol.

All things considered, its a must-play. However it is currently unavailable from the LIVE marketplace.

Thank you, good night.
Pixie