"The classic that gave FPS games even more recognition"

Ah...Doom. What a great game in just about every way. While Wolfenstien 3D may have started the FPS genre, Doom improved on it in just about every way, and thus an instant classic was born. Doom was also one of the most controversial games ever made. The violence really got to people, I guess. But anyway's, if for some sad reason you've NEVER played this game, then please, read on...

PLOT:7/10
-The plot in this game is a pretty good one. It's something to the likes of ''At a secret military base, a special lab experiment went terribly wrong, opening a portal to Hell, and allowing demons and other creepy monsters enter earth and kill everything''. You are one of the few who survived the incident, and now you're pissed, and you decide to kill everything yourself. Your ultimate goal is to destroy the entire demon onslaught and fix up the world.

GRAPHICS:10/10
-Graphically, Doom was a very special game quite ahead of it's time. While sprites(flat graphics) are used to show things like your character, the monsters, and items, the environment itself is 3D. Much more so than Wolfenstien was. Unlike Wolfenstien, there are cliffs, windows, stairs, etc. that show the work of a more powerful graphics engine(but unfortunately, you still couldn't have floors on top of each other). Also, a lot of the textures are pretty detailed, and let's not forget that there is plenty of blood. The guns are also more detailed as well. Score 2 thumbs up!

SOUND:9/10
-Doom had plenty of great, digitized sounds for it's time. Whether it's the music that creates a creepy atmosphere, or the sounds of gunfire, explosions, the roaring of your chainsaw, or monsters screaming, Doom has it all. The only thing that could have improved this area is if the game had MOD-format music instead of MIDI.

GAMEPLAY:10/10
-Doom had a classic gameplay formula. The goal is to kill monsters while exploring dangerous mazes and military bases, and the like, while finding the keys to escape the level. Now the formula alone wasn't what made the game so great. You had lots of other factors to help prefect it. Like variety in weapons. You start with a pistol, but can find shotguns, rocket launchers, chainsaws, and more. Often times you would actually need the heavier weaponry to take care of tougher creatures, so it's not just pointlessly there. There are also a variety of enemies as well. Everything from the easy to kill zombie troopers, to the towering Cyber-Demon that takes forever to kill. Doom also had 2 more things: Great level design and new innovative features. The level design was nothing short of classic, with lots of hallways, secret rooms, elevators, acid pools, and lots of dark rooms that created the perfect game atmosphere, which could make your paranoid that a monster is always waiting around the corner. Doom has a total of 27 levels in 3 episodes, including 3 secret ones(the later released ULTIMATE Doom had 36 levels, 9 levels per episode) so expect yourself to be busy for awhile, but in a fun, enjoyable way. This game REALLY is a true classic.

CHALLENGE:10/10
-The adjustable difficulty settings make this game just the right difficulty for anyone. Whether you're a beginner who wants to play on the ''I'm too young to die'' setting, or a master gamer who wants to try and conquer the insanely difficult ''Nightmare!'' setting, Doom has something to offer for everyone in the challenge department.

REPLAY VALUE:10/10
-You're probably thinking ''Well, once I've gone through the game, even on multiple difficulty levels, the fun is over.'' right? WRONG!!! Since Doom became a very popular game, many people designed level editors that allowed people to create their own mazes of death! There are TONS of levels available for download on the Internet, and plenty of editing utilities as well if you want to try and make your own levels. People have even made what are called ''Total Conversion WADS'' or ''TC's''. What these do are add all new levels, graphics, and sounds, that basically change the entire game and make it seem like a new game! That's how useful the editing utilities are.

TO RENT OR BUY?
-BUY!BUY!BUY! Chances are you may find the full version of Doom in a jewel case software section at a game/computer store for only $10. It's more than worth it, and if you're still unsure about it, go ahead and download the shareware version.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/03, Updated 06/16/03