Doom (1993)

What is Doom?

Well frankly if you don’t know what “Doom” is I am quite shocked you are reading a video game blog. But, nonetheless I will give a brief description in case you ignored all video game history from prior to the turn of the millennium. “Doom” is one of the most influential video games of all time. “Doom” invented the genre of first person shooters, one of the most popular genres of the modern age. Without the innovations of “Doom,” massively popular series such as “Call of Duty,” and “Battlefield” simply would not exist.

So what is Doom about?

While “Doom” was a massive innovator when it comes to video game mechanics, its plot was nothing original. The plot follows Doomguy, a very original name, as he delves through the pits of hell. The motive seems to be to avoid demons coming from Hell to Earth but it certainly doesn’t seem like Doomguy really makes a difference on that part. But hey, at least he got to kill a bunch of demons.

The Win Condition?

The goal for this one was to make it to the end of all 4 parts on the Xbox One version of the game. If you were hoping I played “Doom” with the original floppy discs then I am sorry to disappoint. I played through “Doom” on the easiest difficulty as I know how hard the game can get if played on any of the higher difficulty settings. Even on the easiest difficulty, the game got appropriately challenging in certain parts. Overall, the easiest setting offered the perfect amount of challenge for my taste and was on par with the “normal” setting on most modern games.

The Experience

Doom has you navigating maze like stages full of demonic enemies which you can obliterate with an array of over the top weapons. Doom feels fantastically paced with enemies coming from every nook and cranny of the mazes, keeping you constantly on your toes as you navigate the gruesome halls of hell.

While the pacing of ‘Doom’ is indeed great, the games true shining point is how it encourages exploration. The game never gives you any direction arrow or marker telling you where you have to go to escape it’s devilish mazes. Which in many games would be a bad thing, however the levels in ‘Doom’ are the perfect size and complexity to not cause frustration when you aren’t sure where to go as it never takes longer than a few minutes to uncover a new path. Additionally the levels are full of secrets so even when you head in the wrong direction you feel like you are accomplishing something. The level design makes you feel like you are unraveling a cool virtual maze that you cannot wait to explore. If you have read any of my previous blog posts you likely know that how a game directs its players is important to me. So the level design of ‘Doom’ was a much welcomed change of pace after many of the recent games with poor player direction on this list, such as Bloodstained Ritual Of The Night.

The Ranking

Doom is proof that was made multiple decades ago can be just as fun to play as a modern masterpiece. In starting this list I had some fear that by ranking purely on my current enjoyment that many games with substantial historical significance would be pushed low on the list due to not holding up to modern mechanics. Instead I am very pleased to be placing ‘Doom’ in the new number 1 spot on the horror list. While ‘Doom’ may not have any of the luxuries of epic cut scenes or state of the art graphics, it more than makes up for it with brilliant level design and exhilarating gameplay. ‘Doom’ sits directly above ‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.’

Platform: Xbox One. Time To Beat: 5 hours 36 minutes 4 seconds.

Where to Play?

Doom has been released on just about every platform imaginable at this point so how you choose to play it is really up to you. However, the Xbox One version is currently available on Xbox Game Pass.