Info
Youre a Marine stationed on Mars when a military experiment goes wrong. Your mission: Blast your way to freedom through the classic world of DOOM. Face off against Hell’s army, including stampeding demons, and lay waste to rooms of monsters with an arsenal of classic weapons. Take the deathmatch online via Xbox Live and battle your friends for dominance of the leaderboards.
Players 1-4
Released: September 2006
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Review – by Richard Alexander
15 years on and the first person classic DOOM sees its way onto Xbox Live and not a minute too soon. One of the key games in the history of first person shooters it became an insight into what the future would bring; guns, gore and horror and it hasn’t aged in terms of what it can deliver. The plot sees ‘The Doomguy’ the last marine on a hell infested Mars making his way through a post-modern / David Cronenberg string of levels to save himself from doom (excuse the pun). This is very much background noise as it’s the game play which rules supreme.
DOOM is a fast paced, gore filled masterpiece of its time and when you go back to it you’ll remember just how good this game is. The shooting is made easy with its vertical auto-aim and the weapons all feel different from each other, whether you’re blowing up exploding barrels or punching a demon in the face with a knuckle duster. The levels are a simple key = key = key = exit structure but never gets dull as it finds new ways to shock or put you against the odds with it’s (literally in some cases) horrific enemies. Going back to it really makes you appreciate what it does in regards to invisible enemies, shadows and level design, factors that are heightened by the music which bridges the action/ horror theme of the game perfectly.
Certainly a lot of people have played DOOM before but don’t let that stop you taking it for another spin. The XBLA version brings multiplayer which has a great fun factor, although it’s near impossible to get a game through Xbox live. Other issues are the weapons select (an easier way of getting to the gun you want would have been a welcome update) and the achievements, while well balanced, are nothing special just finishing the game is really enough to get the majority of them. One other problem is the floor colours of the levels where you spend a lot of time thinking ‘can I step on that?’ due to some looking like lava but are really just a bad 1970’s carpet.
All these are small issues when reunited with the sight of our space marine’s face who visually expresses pain whenever he’s damaged or enjoyment when picking up a new gun.
The best thing about DOOM is its only 400 Microsoft points and at such a price is worth picking up. The only thing now is for our boy Duke Nukem to show his face. Come get some