DOOM, when you say that name you immediately think of guns, big red blobs and lots of blood and I mean lots. The game was one of the pioneers of 3D gaming and just to get some idea of how popular it was, within two years of its release it was downloaded over ten million times.
DOOM was also subject to a lot of controversy and it began the whole videogames and violence debate, what with its huge amount of violence, gore and its rather satanic theme. After a good few years, more games were released and DOOM simply faded away from the gaming world, that is until 2004 when out came the highly successful Doom 3. That was closely followed by the Doom Movie (horrid by the way) and now out of nowhere it has hit the Xbox Live Marketplace.
The game itself was simply released within a few hours of it being announced. There were no fact sheets, no advanced previews, no screenies of it, they simply unleashed it upon the world. There were a few rumours that it may hit the Arcade, then again there are rumours saying the 360 will soon become a floating car that can turn bread into toast. So no one really thought that DOOM could be coming to the arcade, but it’s here and by god it was worth the wait (of around 4 hours).
In case you had forgotten DOOM puts you in the shoes of a lone marine lost on one of Mars’s moons known as Phobos. In the game a load of super scientists have been messing about with teleportation devices (as you do) and they end up opening the gates of hell. Of course being hell loads of creepy crawly things come out of its gates and your job is to simply blow them away.
The game is split up into four episodes and contains a total of 27 levels, all of them filled with really mean things (they bite and everything…). DOOM is a true First Person Shooter and being an FPS you look through the eyes of the marine and you must navigate through the various levels to the exit if you wish to complete the level. Of course its not as simple as running from entrance to exit, you will find yourself facing all sorts of obstacles from moveable walls to radioactive slime. You can also find secret rooms throughout the level all of which contain various items to help you in your quest to eradicate the enemy.
The weapons at your disposal are just like in the good ol’ days. You have the ordinary pistol, alright against most opponents but it takes an age to kill Demons with. You can also pick up a shotgun, chaingun, rocket launcher, plasma rifle, BFG 9000 and that’s it, no wait I’ve forgotten one haven’t I? Of course I have, as the best weapon is the chainsaw, sure you don’t last long with it but there’s nothing more satisfying then sticking your chainsaw into a Demon and watching it turn into a big pool of pixelated blood.
The enemies have various nicknames but you will find yourself killing up to ten different monsters. These include Imps (weird brown wookie things with spikes stuck on them), Demons (pinkie mean gits) and mutated marines. All of them have various lifespans and after a couple of hours you will figure out which weapons are best to kill the countless enemies you will be up against.
Graphically the game still looks un-deniably awesome. Of course now you look at it you can see just how pixelated the game is, but despite that it still looks unbelievable. The one annoying thing about the game is that it doesn’t support widescreen; on my 32” HDTV it only filled three quarters of the screen. It would be nice if they released an update so it could fill the entire screen, but we don’t think it will happen. Audio wise the game has been updated so that it will run through a surround sound system which sounds amazing. Also the actual sounds of the various weapons all sound unique just like when it was first released, it’s just perfect.
The best part of the all in this version of DOOM is the Xbox Live multiplayer and co-op modes. You can play in up to four player deathmatches where you will race around various maps trying to blow your opponents away with anything from the BFG to that coolest of all weapons the chainsaw. You can also take on the demonic hordes with up to three additional players in co-op mode and that is without a doubt one of the games greatest aspects. Granted it does lag from time to time, but on the whole it runs pretty smoothly.
The game was a success back when it was originally released and it’s going to be an instant hit again. With an awesome multiplayer feature and a campaign mode to die for (you’ll be doing a lot of that) it’s no wonder that it was and still is one of the greatest games to grace the gaming world. For only £6.80 / 800mp’s this is a real bargain and a must for any ‘true’ gamer, what are you waiting go and buy it … NOW.
Originally Written By: Lee Matthews
