Doom & Doom 2 Reviewed

Game:  Doom and Doom 2: Hell on Earth
Year (s):  1993 and 1994
Company:  dev.  id Software
            pub.  many
Engine:  id Tech 1
Type:  FPS
What I paid:  0, present
Game Time:  varies by difficulty, familiarity with levels, and percentage    completion


Plot
Doom:  Facilities located on the moons of Mars are researching teleportation.  Demons invade through portals.  You are a space marine.  You were left to guard the ship.  Your comrades went forth and died.  Now it's just you with a pistol.

Doom 2:  Demons invaded Earth!  You have to save humanity and go to the other side to stop the invasion.


General Comments

I'm writing about these because:

1.  It's the start of a franchise, and the break of id with Apogee
2.  They are iconic

This game came out the same time as the Apogee-published Blake Stone series.  As a result, Blake Stone did not do as well.  id had worked with Apogee on Wolfenstein, but for Doom, they were not together.  Both Doom and Blake Stone had a shareware version that featured the first episode.

Graphically, this added "vertical" to the shapes geometry established via Wolfenstein.  Note, this has only 90 degree angles, and while you can fall, you cannot jump.  Animation is still sprite-based.  Aside from doors and the end-level swich to throw, Doom/Doom 2 had other buttons to operate elevators, bridges, etc.



Audio

Midi music!


What is Unique?

This has a SLIGHT edge over Wolfenstein's "You're in a prison cell!  Nazis!" plot. 


Combat

It's not very revolutionary in combat, because it's setting the basics for combat for further games.  As compared to Wolfenstein, it introduces different ammo types.  And a chainsaw.

Actual fighting isn't very hard, with some strafing and running all the time.  Most enemy projectiles are slow and easily dodged.


Final Thoughts

This was a great game for the time.  Some Doom 2 levels (Barrels o' Fun, Gotcha, Tricks and Traps) are still fun to play.  Mostly, these are not as engaging as what we have come to expect, and as such, are more of a chore to play than they seemed at the time.  I would only recommend these out of nostalgia.