Playtime: 5 Hours
Score: 9/10

A classic first person shooter that was a joy to play! So I have never actually played Doom 1 to completion which is a gaming sin I wanted to correct. I remember first playing it on my dad’s old computer and it was fun but I think it was only when I played Quake 2 that I really got into first person shooters. But what did I think of this old classic?

The shooting is still just as fun and they definitely knew the gameplay loop they were creating with this game. About all the classic weapons are here except the super shotgun that got introduced in Doom 2, but the regular shotgun is the workhorse weapon of this game as it’s the one you will pick up the most ammo for and it’s great at both close and long range. Other weapons like the chain gun, rocket launcher and BFG are great additions, and I actually didn’t know the chainsaw was here all the way from the beginning of the series. I remember picking that up in Doom 3 and having fun with it and it’s great here too.

The music is good too with you being able to choose from classic to remix. The remix tracks are pretty great though they do get repetitive for a reason I will get into with my negatives.

The enemies are all great, though I hated the invisible pinky demons and the lost souls who are so annoying to fight. My main issue though was the level design, which while very intricate in some levels can be confusing in others. There were times where I was running around in circles trying to find a key I was missing or the door that the key I picked up opened. And I found that there some wall textures that actually were doors I was supposed to open not to get to a secret but to progress through the level. Episode 3 was the most guilty of this and I found myself skipping some levels because otherwise I just wander where I am supposed to go next and it kills the pacing of the game and the music starts to loop to much. Episode 4 is pretty infamous in its level design but for me it was fun to play through but it can be a clusterf*** in how many enemies they put into one arena for you to fight. I definitely had to cheese some levels with cheats to get through them.

But overall, glad to say I finished this one and look forward to Doom 2.

All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/

Even after a couple of years since my last full playthrough, Doom 1993 is still one of my favourite games, and perhaps my favourite game in the series. Despite the fact that the level design doesn't feel anywhere near as deliberate and confident as later games like 2016, there's just something I really enjoy about the more parred back, simplistic gameplay loop of the original. Doom plays great even today - albeit with the control changes of modern ports - and absolutely deserves to be the cultural icon that it is.

The vertical-agnostic aiming is contentious, but the game is built around this. While levels are generally quite vertical, with blind spots at times, you're generally given enough indication of where enemies are - either through sound cues, or being given the opportunity to move to better viewing angles. This is sometimes also used to surprise the player with enemies, but I don't think it's unfair or overwhelming at any point. Perhaps my only genuine issue with this system is enemies having infinitely vertical hitboxes, as this can sometimes lead to Pinkies biting you when you can't see them, or enemies stopping you from dropping down from a platform.

There's a few levels in the main campaign that feel quite flawed - certain required, interactable objects aren't well-defined, there's a few inescapable death pits, and the difficulty of the 'bosses' is incredibly dependent on your current inventory - but I've once again come away from Doom with barely any criticisms of it. The difficulty of the overall game is somewhat nebulous - given that you can save at any point - but I personally think saving only at the start of each level provides the most fulfilling experience.

Thy Flesh Consumed - Episode 4 of the game, added in the Ultimate Doom re-release - is a huge difficulty spike from the episodes that came before, and is probably my largest gripe with the overall Doom package. I can understand trying to cater to players who'd had almost three years of experience with the game, but I wish they'd kept the difficulty consistent with the original episodes regardless. Experienced players could've chosen higher difficulties if desired, and in fact they probably did; there wasn't really any reason to raise the difficulty, other than to make the hardest even harder. The difficulty curve of the episode in isolation also feels more like more of a difficulty slide - with the first set of maps probably being the hardest. Episode 4 feels kind of tacked on, but I ended up liking it quite a bit regardless.

Andrew Hulshult's IDFKA soundtrack is great, and the option to play through the full game with it is great. It generally respects the original, to the point that you can't really go wrong with choosing either. This new port, using Nightdive's Kex Engine, might be the best official version of Doom that we've gotten. though I did have the game crash on me when opening the map at one point. Being able to play through the whole campaign in online, cross-platform co-op is also a fantastic addition.

Doom is great fun, even today, and it's one of the few older games that I'd consider timeless. Scouring each level, finding secrets, and finding the path forward, is really engaging, and Episode 1 - at the least - is a must-play for anyone interested in the history of games.

Strong 9

[NOTE: Review is for this port specifically, DOOM itself is easily a 10/10 game]

Decided to bite and get this again for PS5—Hulshult music, Pirate DOOM, and the new expansion levels were the main reasons. It's DOOM, same as it ever was. Top 5 game ever in terms of environmental storytelling mixing with gameplay—L4D2 does a similar thing ever so slightly better, which is why I would probably name it as my "favorite video game ever made." Does have one pretty glaring problem, though, which keeps it was being in the 'Decent-Strong 10' range that other ports would be in: major clipping issues. There are several levels (E4M6 being the most significant) that have invisible parts of the map that you get caught on, which can get you in trouble if you are in a gunfight. The map mentioned above had the issue when you are falling from a high platform, almost knocking you into a lava moat; very significant consequences. Have no clue why this issue is in this specific port, as it certainly wasn't present in any of the others I've played. Has this happened to anyone else? It's just so strange to me.

If I wanted to run in circles, I would have joined the track team.
Uninteresting map layout that require extensive rerunning, especially world 1 and 2. No interesting combat to back it up nor plot. The only song I found memorable was 'Waltz of the Demons' and not for a good reason, it felt like it was mocking me for still playing this game. The forgettable tracks don't get away either as they're still grating with how short the sections of audio they loop are.
And I haven't even mentioned that it crashed between five and ten times, real bad in a game without autosaving. The game that can run on anything can't run on my PC.