Doom (PlayStation) (Part One) | Review

This is a review of the PlayStation port of the original Doom (originally released in 1993, and ported to the PlayStation in 1995, making it a very early PlayStation game). With the new Doom game being released tomorrow, I decided to go back to the series' roots and try out the classic Doom experience.

This will be my first review which has been split into two parts (the second part will be released tomorrow to celebrate the release of the new Doom), this is because the PlayStation Doom is actually both the first Doom (well it's actually Ultimate Doom, which contains the forth episode added to the original version of Doom after it's initial release) and Doom II. This first part focuses on the first Doom and the second part is all about Doom II (which, before writing this review, I had never played).

I'm going to warn you, this is quite a long review. My reviews do tend to be quite long, but this one has an excuse because; A: It's technically two games in one and B: I feel like it deserves it. It is probably one of the most well designed first person shooters of all time and let's face it, it's Doom and Doom deserves nothing less than a long review!

This isn't my first time playing Doom, however it is my first experience with the PlayStation version. The major differences between the PC version (which is the version I've played) and PlayStation version is the drastically different sound design and the inclusion of new enemy types not found in the original. The PlayStation version looks slightly 'worse' because of the console's hardware being less powerful than a PC's but I'll go into that in more detail later.

Video game lesson #1: If you shoot a barrel, it will explode.

This review isn't going to dwell too much on the differences between the ports of Doom, but rather it's going to be reviewing the PlayStation version of the game as it's own entity, however, I will be commenting on some of the huge differences between the different versions in a bit of detail when it's necessary.

So, what is Doom? To be asking that question must mean you've been living under a rock since 1993, but let me explain the basics; Doom is a first person shooter and is considered one of the pioneers of the genre as well as one of the most influential games of all time. It is thought that without Doom game franchises that exist today like Halo, Call of Duty, Half Life and Rainbow Six wouldn't exist at all.

As far as story within the game goes, there's literally nothing. Once you select your difficulty and enter the game that's it, you're walking around killing things. There are no cutscenes, no text tells you where you are and absolutely no context is given as to what you're doing, where you're going or anything.

Although in the game itself there is no story, that doesn't mean there isn't a story at all. There is a story to the game, but in order to learn about it you need to read the manual. To put it briefly, in the future, space travel has been perfected and work on new technology enabling teleportation between planets is being worked on. Teleportation works by entering a portal and exiting another portal which is situated in another location. The tests for these portals are being conducted on Mars' two moons (Phobos and Deimos).

The story really isn't all that important. What is important is killing demons. Both physical and psychological demons. But mainly physical. With guns.

You are a marine who, after disobeying orders to fire upon innocent civilians, is transferred to Deimos as a punishment for your disobedience. After a while of boredom, a message is intercepted from Phobos. Apparently “something fraggin' evil is coming out of the gateways!”, shortly after you're given this message Phobos suddenly disappears from Mars' orbit. The only way of contacting Phobos is to go through the teleportation portal, but the only military presence is you and a small squad, but being the tough soldiers you are, you go in.

You're ordered to stay and guard the perimeter of the base (which is where the evil entities are coming from) while your squad goes in to deal with whatever's in there. Eventually, after hearing lots of commotion, everything falls silent. Your squad is dead and you have no way of leaving Phobos from outside the base. There's only one thing for it, enter the base, kill everything and find a way off Phobos.

Where the game is split into four episodes in the PC version of Doom, in the PlayStation version, it's one continuous game. You would expect some text or a cutscene to tell you how the story is progressing upon reaching what would be the end of an episode in the PC version, but no, it just goes to the next level, meaning you need to have either played the PC version to know what's happening, or you need to work it out for yourself.

Anyone would think you weren't supposed to be here. I don't know what's giving me that impression.

Either way, after getting off Phobos you find yourself back on Deimos, but guess what? Deimos has also been teleported away from Mars' orbit, meaning it too has been overrun by the evil creatures. Deimos has started to undergo changes a lot more rapidly than Phobos (probably because you were on Phobos stopping the creatures whereas Deimos was completely unprotected). As such these levels appear a lot more demonic and satanic than Phobos, and the structures you explore are more castle-like rather than being a scientific installation.

While exploring Deimos you learn that the creatures you've been fighting are in fact demons that come from Hell itself. You also learn that Mars' moons have been teleported into Hell and are floating up above it. After getting off of Deimos, you then decide to stop the demons once and for all and take the fight directly into Hell.

Finally, after fighting through Phobos, Deimos and Hell, you arrive on Earth. But Earth has also been invaded by the demons and the same changes to the environment that happened on Deimos are happening here too. You fight through hordes of demons giving the surviving members of humanity a chance to escape the Earth but just as they do so, the source of the demons is discovered, thus paving the way for Doom II.

It's disappointing none of the story is displayed through cutscenes in the actual game because although it is fairly minimal, it's actually very good. It sets up the events well and gives context to what you're doing rather than it just being mindless killing. But in order to know the story you have to either piece it together based on the way the levels look (which is very difficult to do, even knowing the story I'm unsure as to what specific levels take place on Earth because they look so similar to the Hell levels) or have played the PC version. Even to know the initial story that sets everything up you have to have read the manual. The only story information given to you in the game is at the very end, when some text appears on screen along with a voiceover which states what happens after the final level.

This end text is a bit of a slap in the face. It basically says well done, but you didn't really achieve anything. The sarcastic voiceover doesn't help either.

Doom's levels are laid out as open maze-like areas, you can often progress non-linearly through them, but there is (mostly) always one exit to them. So the goal of each level is to reach the exit while killing any enemies that stand in your way. You'll find various collectibles which give you some kind of advantage over your enemies. The main and most important thing you'll find is new weapons, you don't want to be stuck with the pistol for long because it's the only weapon in the game that isn't of any use whatsoever, but you'll quickly find the shotgun, chainsaw, chaingun and rocket launcher, then later on you'll find the plasma gun and the most iconic Doom weapon, the BFG9000.

What's good about these weapons is that each of them have unique attributes that really make you think about which weapon would be best for which job. Rather than giving you twenty guns which all are very similar, Doom gives you seven main weapons, and each of these weapons have been specifically designed to have strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the shotgun has lots of ammo and can take enemies down from a long distance, but it doesn't stun them very much and is also one of the weaker weapons in the game, this means it's good for the possessed human enemies and Imps (the regular demons) but not really effective for more than that. The rocket launcher is extremely powerful and you can find quite a bit of ammo for it if you explore enough, but it is an explosive, and you can deal a lot of damage to yourself if it's used in close combat. Each of the weapons are well balanced in this way and means that you'll be using all of them at some point rather than just sticking to one gun all the way through. Because you'll be using them all, it also makes them very memorable, unlike in most modern shooters when most guns are exactly the same and don't really have any charm.

This here is the BFG9000, what does BFG stand for you ask? I try to stay non-explicit on this blog so let's say it stands for Best Friends Go!

You'll also find armor and health pick ups (some of which can take your health and armor stats to 200 rather than the normal 100) and temporary power ups like invincibility and a radiation suit, these power ups change either the colour of the screen or change what you look like to let you know when they are active.

In the later levels in the game, you'll need to find three coloured keycards in order to get through locked doors. which makes the levels slightly more confusing to navigate. Although the levels can be maze-like and confusing, it never gets too frustrating because not a lot of backtracking is necessary and you learn the layout of each room very quickly. Each room also has a distinct look, often featuring coloured lighting, so it's easy to reorient yourself if you get lost.

Rather than featuring a set amount of lives or continues, Doom gives you infinite tries but as a punishment for dying you lose all your weapons and have to start the level from the beginning. This is enough of a hindrance to make you not want to die, but it also isn't too frustrating. Hidden within levels are lots of secret areas which contain ammo and weapons, so even if you do die, you'll always be able to complete the level you're on by searching around for these hidden areas.

The gore in Doom is plentiful and plentiful is how I like my gore.

Although Doom doesn't seem to feature much in the way of actual boss levels, you could consider some of the levels as being bosses. The first occurrence of this is in level 8 where you encounter two devil-like enemies called Barons of Hell and proceed to kill them in an open arena area. After this section however, there are only two more boss levels, the second boss is with the Cyber Demon (probably the most iconic Doom boss) in level 22 which is easily the best boss in the game, he takes several hits to destroy with the BFG9000 and he is the only enemy in the game to have repeatedly killed me (because he can do so in two hits). The final boss however, probably wouldn't even be considered a boss by most people. In the final section of the last level you enter an arena-like area where there are a lot of Hell Knights (weaker versions of Barons of Hell) and some Pain Elementals (Floating balls with faces that spawn floating fire skulls upon dying), this is easily the most chaotic fight in the game and because of the sheer number of enemies and projectiles on screen it is quite an epic moment. I did feel slightly disappointed that there wasn't an actual boss though, but nonetheless it's a fairly decent final encounter.

The red filter, the flames in the background and the tall imposing demon make this a very memorable boss fight. It's a shame this wasn't the last level. It would have made a better final boss.

This strange boss structure is one of the main differences to the PC version of Doom. The PC version of the game features a more clear cut boss level at the end of every episode (meaning there are a total of four bosses in the game in the PC version) however many of these bosses were cut from the PlayStation version due to hardware limitations. This is a shame because the boss levels would have made a very nice change of pace to the normal levels and given more of a sense of progression.

As I mentioned before, in every level you can find secret areas that often have some valuable items inside. These items could be weapons, temporary power-ups or armor/health upgrades. By paying attention to your surroundings you might notice a wall that looks slightly odd and upon interacting with it you might find one of these areas. Because of these secret areas the game is very rewarding for players who take their time and explore all parts of the levels, especially early on when you can get access to some weapons which you would normally get much later in the game. The main thing that I like about these secret areas though is that they never feel unfair, the levels are designed so that you can find the secrets without spamming the interact button and sliding across every wall. By paying attention to the lighting and subtle differences in the wall textures you'll be able to spot them naturally and it always makes you feel intelligent for doing so.

There is a map, but it's pretty useless to be honest. It's more confusing than helpful so I would just stick to working out where you are based on your surroundings.

The combat in Doom is mostly just about pointing a gun towards enemies and firing upon them like there's no tomorrow, but things can get more tactical than this at times. For instance exploding barrels are featured heavily in most levels and if you wait until enemies are gathered around them, you can kill a whole group with one shot by hitting the barrel. Enemies can also fight each other if they hit each other, which is an extremely cool feature that gives the enemies a lot of personality, they aren't just out to kill you, they can also annoy each other and, being demons, obviously they resolve this with violence (I would also like to point out that this is something you don't see in games anymore, most of the time if people are fighting in a game today it's because they are scripted to do that). If you're low on health or ammo this could prove to be a useful strategy for taking down some of the harder enemies in the game without ever even needing to shoot.

I've already mentioned quite a few enemy types, so needless to say, there are quite a lot of different enemies in Doom. The standard enemies consist of possessed humans and Imps which are basically the primary forces of the demons, these have fairly weak ranged attacks and can be taken down with one or two blasts with a shotgun. The next step up are the Demons (all of the creatures in Doom are demons as far as I'm aware, but there's a specific enemy type called a Demon, they are also known as Pinkys), Cacodemons and Hell Knights. These three are actually vastly different from each other both visually and mechanically, but they all take three or more hits with a shotgun to take down. Then the next step up from those are basically the boss enemies (Cyber Demons and Barons of Hell) who can soak up a lot of rocket launcher hits and can pose quite a big challenge. There are some other enemies, but I won't go into every type. What's great about all of them is that they all look very different, often getting more disturbing the further into the game you get, and they all attack you in different ways which means you might approach a battle differently depending on what type of enemies you're up against.

These are some of the most annoying enemies. Not because they're hard but because they spawn floating fire skulls which fly towards you. Not only that but upon killing them, they explode into three fire skulls. So no matter what you do, you better be ready for zooming flying fire skulls.

At the end of each level you get a statistic screen that tells you the percentages of enemies killed, items gained and secrets found. This is great because if you've missed anything it gives you incentive to play the game again to find what you missed the first time. The statistic screen also tells you the name of the level you were on and the name of the level you're about to do. The final thing on the screen is a password which allows you to come back to the level you got to without having to do the whole game again.

This is where the first negative thing I have to say comes in. The game doesn't have a save feature other than this password system. If you put in the password, it takes you to the level you got to but without any of the weapons you've acquired. With a normal memory card save feature, I'm sure this would have been implemented and I'm not entirely sure why it wasn't. This was a very early PlayStation game and many other games had both a password and a normal memory card save feature (the most famous example of which being the original Crash Bandicoot, although this was released a while after Doom). Even so, this isn't by any means game breaking, it's more of just a mild annoyance than anything.

The second negative thing I have to say is that there's no level select which means that once a level is done, you aren't going back to it unless you've wrote down the password for that specific level or if you play the whole game again. Because the PlayStation version isn't split into episodes, you wouldn't even be able to start from a certain episode either. Still, I suppose that's one benefit of the password system.

Also, there are four difficulty settings which add quite a bit of replay value. I did my playthrough on the second hardest difficulty and I didn't struggle too much, so as far as I can tell, the difficulty is well balanced, offering easier difficulties for people new to shooters or that want to get familiar with the controls, while also offering harder settings which aren't unfair, but do offer quite a bit of challenge even if you are quite experienced.

This is the end of level screen which shows your level statistics. It's always satisfying getting 100% on everything.

My main criticism of Doom as a whole is that it can get slightly repetitive after an extended play session. Although a lot of variety is present in the level designs, enemy types, puzzle sections and weapons, at it's core you are doing the same thing in every level (shooting everything that moves, finding keycards and exiting the level). I will say this is one aspect which modern shooters have actually learned from, most of the time they offer some form of stealth section and/or vehicle section, so it's more varied, the problem of course being that often modern shooter's actual shooting sections aren't nearly as well polished as Doom's and these shooting section make up the majority of the games.

A multiplayer co-op and competitive mode is also present which sounds fantastic, I would love to play Doom split screen and slaughter demons as a team. The only problem is that the multiplayer mode only works if your PlayStation is connected (via a PlayStation Link Cable) to another PlayStation console. This is insane because that also means you need two copies of the game, two TVs and two PlayStations in the same room. A splitscreen mode would have been so much easier and better in my opinion, but this strange connection type does have it's benefits (if you have everything needed to actually do it). Obviously the primary benefit is that you'll each have a whole screen instead of half a screen, but it also more closely resembles the PC version's multiplayer mode (in which people used to host Doom 'Lan parties' where several PCs would be connected to each other in an identical way to the PlayStations being connected to each other). It would have been nice if this strange system link multiplayer mode (I don't know of a single other PlayStation game that had this besides Doom) was optional and a splitscreen mode was also present.

At the end of the game things are going to get a lot more hectic due to the number of enemies and the wide open levels.

The controls in Doom work surprisingly well. Everything feels very natural and if you're having any trouble, the controls are also fully customisable from the main menu. I stuck with the default controls for my playthrough because I found that they worked perfectly for me.

Being a retro first person shooter, the controls are fairly minimal and typical of other shooters released on the PlayStation. The D-pad makes you move forward, backwards and turns the camera, L1 and R1 make you strafe left and right, L2 and R2 switch weapons (you can tell what weapon you're switching to based on numbers on the bottom right of the screen, each number corresponds to a certain type of weapon), triangle is the shoot button which you can hold down to continuously shoot with any weapon (no tapping needed), circle is the interact button which allows you to flick switches and open doors and finally, square is the run button which makes you move extremely quickly and is useful if all the enemies are dead and you just want to quickly explore the level and for dodging projectiles.

I suppose rather than breaking down the controls I could just show this picture. But I guess I'll just do both!

There is no vertical aim function and no reload button, you horizontally aim simply by looking around (which is how modern shooters work) but vertical aiming is done automatically, you can't look up or down, enemies above or below you will still be shot so long as your horizontal aiming is right. Reloading isn't necessary, you simply shoot until you're out of ammo which makes Doom more about choosing between which weapon's ammo to conserve rather than about choosing whether or not to risk reloading in a firefight.

The only very small issue I have with the controls is that when you move and suddenly stop it feels slightly slippery, like your character doesn't stop straight away and sort of skids forward slightly after you let go of the button. But you very quickly get used to this and besides that there is no problem with the controls at all. The turning and strafing is quick and responsive, the aiming feels satisfying and the weapon switching is quick and easy. Some people do complain about the D-pad hurting their thumbs after a while because of needing to slide it across the D-pad a lot, but personally I don't find this to be a problem (maybe that's because I use the D-pad to play most games that support it, so I'm just used to it).

This power-up always creeps me out. It's got a face that looks like it's screaming. Is it in pain? I suppose we'll never know.

Being a game created in 1993 (and ported to PlayStation in 1995) the graphics are obviously somewhat dated. But where the game's visuals are dated, it completely makes up for this with it's art style. When you look at the PC version it does look slightly smoother, clearer and more vibrant, but what makes the PlayStation version interesting is that it uses the slightly grainier and lower quality look to it's advantage. Whereas the PC version is quite colourful and bright, the PlayStation version is darker and grittier (which is reflected by the soundtrack too, but more on that later), some textures have been changed, and the colours in most levels have been made duller, but not dull enough to make everything look uninteresting. This is great because it means it's actually debatable as to what version looks better and this is because both versions of Doom are going for two very different atmospheres. In the PC version you feel unstoppable and the action feels over the top, but in the PlayStation version, it's more foreboding and tense, you feel slightly on edge and less like an unstoppable super soldier because of this. If you've never played the PlayStation version and you're a fan of Doom, I suggest you check it out, it's interesting playing the same game but going for a different atmosphere and it's executed really well too.

The enemies all look fantastic, sure they are 2D sprites and they are a bit pixelly, but this doesn't detract at all from their awesome designs and animations. I especially like all of the death animations, when you shoot an enemy it will collapse and partially explode into a pile of blood and bits of flesh, it's just extremely satisfying and never loses it's charm. I also really like how the dead bodies all stay in the level for as long as you're there. They never fade away or disappear which means after you've done killing a room of enemies you can look at all of the chaos you've caused which, yet again, just adds to the combat being highly satisfying.

The enemy designs really are fantastic and each one of them stays in my mind because of how much they stand out from each other and how unsettling some of them look.

The use of lighting in Doom is incredible. I've read that the PlayStation version has superior lighting to the PC version but to be honest I didn't notice very much of a difference. This doesn't matter at all though because the lighting as it was originally is fantastic, I think the reason for this is because it's not used to simply show off how good it looks but it's implemented into the gameplay. Some examples of this are secret passages being highlighted subtly by the lighting coming from a nearby torch or areas of the level which have coloured lighting which not only adds a different atmosphere in different sections of the same level but also gives you a reference point as to where you are. But one of my favourite uses of lighting in the whole game is when you enter an area with a strobe-like flashing light which takes you from complete darkness to being able to see for a short time and then back to darkness. These sections are genuinely quite creepy and I actually jumped a few times upon seeing an enemy while in this situation.

I really appreciate the attention put into the environment too. In the early levels you're going through a metallic sci-fi base with glowing computer monitors on the walls but later in the game you'll be going through castle-like structures with the tortured corpses of your former comrades out on display put there by the demons as a message to you. The visual variety is great, each section of the game looks different and stops you from getting too bored with each area. If I had one complaint about this though, it would be that you probably stay in each area for slightly too long. It would have been nice to have a couple of more themes which would have kept my interest even more than it already did.

I jumped at this game approximately 12 times in my playthrough (I was trying to keep count), either I'm easy to scare or Doom's atmosphere is very effective even to this day. Enemies will wait around corners for you in dark areas so even when you think the area is secure you might still unexpectedly run into one.

I've mentioned this several times before, but the primary difference between the PC Doom and the PlayStation port is the sound design. The PC version of Doom features a Metal inspired soundtrack designed to make the game feel action packed, fast paced and exciting. The PlayStation couldn't be any more different from this. It features an ambient, slow and tension building soundtrack that is actually still really effective to this day.

The mix of the music and horrific sound design alone have made me feel very unsettled during the slower paced sections of the game and this, coupled with the gameplay and graphics, make the game quite scary in places. I jumped quite a few times during my playthrough and when the monsters are chasing after you as you back away unloading bullets, things can get very tense.

It's so satisfying clearing out a room of demons and looking at the carnage you've caused.

No particular version of the soundtrack is better because they both aim to do very different things, it almost makes the two versions into different games entirely. I very much like the PlayStation sound design, but I do have to say it can feel a little bit repetitive sometimes, which isn't helped by the gameplay getting a little bit stale after a long play session.

As far as the sound design goes, each enemy type has a distinct sound they make when they are nearby which means you can tell vaguely what's in the next room or around the next corner before seeing it, which allows you to select the appropriate weapon before charging in. I like this a lot because as well as being helpful with the gameplay, it also gives the characters a unique presence and can also be a little bit nerve racking when you hear a new sound and don't know what it is yet, or when you hear a sound and get put on edge because you don't know where it's coming from. Each weapon has a different sound and they are all great, they are also a little bit dynamic in the way that they'll sound different depending on whether you're in a big room or a small room. Another little thing I love is that if you kill someone under an open door, when the door comes down it will make a splatter sound as if the body has been crushed under the force of the door, this attention to little details are something that really makes Doom stand out for me.

There aren't that many outdoor areas early in the game, so when you eventually get outside and see the sky turning red and mountains rising from the horizon it makes you feel very uneasy.

After reading the review you probably don't need me to tell you that I really like Doom. Even when it's put up against modern first person shooters it beats the majority of them. The simplicity of the gameplay and the level structure means you can just pick it up and play it for short bursts, but there's deep enough mechanics and enough variety to allow for extended plays too. Although there's not much in the way of replay value in terms of a new game plus (although there are difficulty settings and secret areas you will want to find), you'll probably want to play it more than once simply based on how fun it is. Not only is Doom a great game that I think anyone who is a fan of shooters should play, but the PlayStation port is fantastic too, not only because it's a great port, but because it's different enough to the original to warrant playing it even if you have the PC version.

7/10

Pros:

- The controls are responsive, intuitive and almost faultless.

- The graphics are incredible, even though they're gory and adult in nature, they're also childlike in some regards because of the cartoon-like aesthetic.

- The lighting is used expertly, not only making the game look great but adding to the gameplay and atmosphere in multiple ways.

- Each enemy type not only looks different but also has unique attributes which makes them interesting to fight and gives them extra character and charm.

- The weapons and combat feel satisfying because of a mixture of sound design, game mechanics (like exploding barrels) and graphics (the over-the-top gore and death animations).

- Sound design and soundtrack is not only atmospheric and extremely creepy, but it also offers a reason to play the PlayStation version of Doom instead of the PC version because of how different they are.

- Somewhat deep combat systems, featuring indirect ways of killing your enemies like making them fight each other rather than you.

Cons:
- Somewhat lacking a sense of progression due to the fact that there is no in-game story and so few boss battles.

- Password save feature rather than a Memory Card save feature making it a bit of a pain to load your game and also forcing you to lose all your weapons upon loading.

- Strange multiplayer, which only works by linking two PlayStation systems together rather than using splitscreen.

- No level select feature, aside from if you write down the passwords for every level.

- The final level could be considered anti-climactic because there isn't a conventional final boss.

- Could get repetitive after an extended amount of playing.