Version Reviewed: PC DOS 1.06
Other Versions: Sega 32X, Macintosh, Playstation, N64, Saturn (?), Linux/Unix, SNES
Unofficial ports/conversions: Amiga, Archimedes, RiscPC, ST (?), Spectrum (it’s true!)
Released by: ID Software
Date: 1993

This game is primarily the reason why nearly every game nowadays is a first person shooter (or a driving game but lets not go there). Before this game, PC games were cute and cuddly affairs. Even the precursor to Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, while violent, was still suffering from cute, bright, cartoony graphics. Until this anyhow.

Controversial was an understatement at the time that this game came out. Promotional "freebies" included a bag of genuine entrails, which I’m sure the magazine journalists at the time really wanted! Also, the game was banned in many countries due to the violent nature and satanic imagery within. If I recall, this game had an 18 certificate when it came out. Of course, shareware versions were available over the Net (If you had it at the time) or on magazine covers which still offered a fair sized chunk of gaming action.

This was also the first game to have a multiplayer deathmatch (don’t mail me, this was the biggest I meant – Rob) which rendering large networked office establishments useless and causing tighter office security from there on! To be honest I never saw the social aspect of playing a game with someone you aren’t with, or perhaps even know. But this trend has continued at the expense of split screens and far more enjoyable ‘party gaming’ like Bomberman. Rats.

Doom was what people had been expecting for years before. A first person perspective shooter which, although it had been done before on the 8 and 16 bit machines along with Wolfenstein and it’s sequels, had never achieved this level of realism before. While you may nowadays think that the graphics weren’t that realistic, take a look at Doom and compare it with Wolfenstein with its bright colours and cartoony soldiers, then compare Wolfenstien with Dungeon Master… all the way back to Space Invaders!

The game placed you as a fururistic soldier battling his way through various enclosures. Armed initially with only a pistol and a good right hook you fight gradually more powerful hordes of enemies until you find the exit and progress. An easy way to describe it would be a true 3d Gauntlet where keys and switches help you progress and bonuses, powerups and weaponry lay around for you to utilise. The first person perspective along with the satanic and monstrous imagery meant that at the time it was not a game to play on your own, in the dark!

Although the game looked 3d, with steps and lifts up, the map was an easy to understand 2d affair. There were no bridges where you could walk over and under and no rooms with second floors directly overhead. It was a good way to build a realistic world without the processor overhead of future true 3d games like Quake et al. Map editors came out and were a lot simpler than the following games ones. Also graphics and sound alteration patches made the game look and feel different. It was a highly configurable engine. Someone even converted the classic Wolfenstein to Dooms engine with realistic graphics and extra weaponry.

Doom was ported to the Amiga so I gave it a try on WinUAE (The screenshots were grabbed using it running DoomAttack Doom port!). Surprisingly, although the screen had to be shrunk a bit, it was still playable! Doom II added a few extra weapons to the genre and some larger baddies but little else.

If you own a PC, you still have to own this game. If you own another machine, give it a go!

Coagulus / Rob