Thoughts by Magmon (05 00 2017) – Jaguar
Doom was a game changer, and to this day is arguably one of the best FPS games around. Great graphics, 3D environments, complex levels, wide selection of guns, and smooth controls all contribute to the experience that is uniquely ID Software.
Doom became so popular that the console scene wanted in on the sales figures, and Doom got ported to just about everything available at the time. Unfortunately, pretty much every port was just… lacking, to say the least. Low resolution, poor sound emulation, small screen size, low framerate, or all of the above, plagued these console releases and left players wanting more.
The Jaguar port almost satisfies that need. It’s full screen, full resolution, and had plenty of FPS to make it more than playable. One could say that it runs “smooth”, even, because it really looks great. The strange controller design worked to the advantage of the gamer, allowing them to quickly select the weapon they wanted using the keypad and an overlay instead of having to cycle through the many weapons they are sure to be carrying. It’s a joy to play, the levels are 1:1 and it runs well. What more could we ask for in a console release?
Well, music would be nice. Referred to as “Silent Doom” by AVGN for a reason, the Jaguar port of Doom has no music during gameplay, instead playing only on the level summary page between stages. Although some argue it makes the game more immersive and adds to the horror atmosphere, I find myself playing the soundtrack on a laptop nearby while I play.
If you NEED to play Doom on a console, the Jaguar release is probably the best option available despite its lack of ID’s glorious metal soundtrack during play. At the end of the day, the best way to play Doom will always be on PC, though.
Archived Thoughts
Thoughts by TheBattleCat (28 00 2018) – PC (DOS)
When Doom was released in 1993, I wasn’t even close to being born. However, now that I’m 18 years old, I’ve grown more and more interested in old technology and therefore also old games. One of the first games I really wanted to play was Doom, because I’ve heard so many great things of this game.
When i started playing it on my raspberry pi some time ago, I was instantly hooked. Doom is a fast paced first person shooter set on Mars. The story isn’t very fleshed out. One of the creators of Doom explained why. He said that the story in a game can be compared to that of an “adult video”. It’s expected to be there, but it isn’t important. The story goes something like this: On Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. Scientists are experimenting with teleportation. During one of these experiments, a portal to hell is accidentally opened. Through this portal, demons come to mars and “infest” the planet. It is up to you, the nameless space marine, to kill all of these demons and close the portal to hell. The game devs have given you some great tools to do this. The super shotgun, plasma gun and the BFG to name a few.
Even though I’ve never tried it, I’ve read that multiplayer is also present in Doom, with up to two players online and up to four players on a local network. It is quite the hassle though.
Doom has most definitely become one of the most popular games, because at some point, it was installed on more computers than even Windows 95. Doom has been ported to over 20 computers and consoles and it has almost become a challenge to get it to run on as many devices as possible. A car, a piano and a printer to name a few.
Overall, Doom is a great game, with expertly designed levels, weapons and enemies. The movement is smooth and installing this game on an old computer is an absolute joy. The only reason I’m giving this game 5 stars and not 6 is because of the controls with a computer mouse. Even though moving the mouse from side to side causes your character to look from side to side, like it should be, moving the mouse forward and backwards causes your character to walk forward and backwards. I think that is incredibly annoying and quite unplayable indeed, however this simply comes down to personal preference, anyone else playing this game might absolutely love using this mode. Luckily there is an option to play Doom with keyboard only.
