DOOM
The badass,
gory and satanic franchise
pioneered and revolutionized first-person shooter games.
From the first DOOM game released in 1993,
all the way to Doom Eternal launched in 2020.
This is the Evolution of DOOM!
Doom came into action in 1993
and was developed by id Software for MS-DOS,
a Microsoft operating system for personal computers.
In the game players control a space marine,
often referred to as the “Doomguy”
and throughout a series of levels
fight a variety of monsters and demons.
The first version had 9 levels and was distributed freely.
It was played by an estimated 15 to 20 million people within 2 years!
Two years later the full game was sold via mail order,
and it included two further episodes.
Not long after an updated version, known as The Ultimate Doom,
was sold at retail.
It added an additional episode and more challenging levels.
Originally the name of the game was going to be
“Attack of the Attackers”,
but id Software decided it was too silly
and changed it to Doom instead.
Programmer John Carmack said in an interview
that the name was inspired by a scene in the movie ‘The Color of Money’.
"Doom."
Doom is one of the pioneering first-person shooter games
and it helped to define the first person shooters genre,
inspiring countless games that followed.
Due to its massive success
the game was later released for the Sega 32x,
Atari Jaguar,
SNES,
Sega Saturn,
Game Boy Advance,
Xbox 360
and many others.
Even 26 years later the game was rereleased for the Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation 4
and Xbox One.
This just shows how much players love the game.
Doom was notorious
for its high levels of graphic violence and satanic imagery.
Doom for the Genesis 32X
was one of the first video games to be given an M for Mature rating
by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Critics even called the game a “mass murder simulator”
In 1999 controversy reached an all-time high
when it became known that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold,
the shooters of the Columbine High School massacre,
were avid players of the game.
Harris even said in his journal that killing would be “like playing Doom”
and the shotgun was “straight out of the game”.
Nonetheless Doom became a massive success
and an estimated 3 million physical copies of the game
were sold in the first 6 years after its launch.
It also received multiple awards
including a first place for the Top 50 Games of All Time by GameSpy
and a second place by IGN for Top 100 Shooters.
Fun Fact
Surprisingly the early weapon designs were inspired by children’s toys.
The team was running on a tight budget and couldn’t afford real guns to model their designs after.
So they bought some nerf guns and other toys at Toys R Us.
In 1994 Doom II: Hell on Earth was released.
The sequel was almost similar in terms of gameplay and graphical improvements,
but id Software took advance of the computer hardware,
which allowed for much larger and more complex levels.
DOOM II doubled the number of non-boss monster types
and started using bosses from the original DOOM as normal level enemies,
in addition to adding a new weapon,
the super shotgun,
a very powerful double-barreled shotgun,
and a new power-up,
the megasphere.
The multiplayer functionality was also greatly improved,
which allowed one player to dial into the other player’s computer
in order to play either cooperatively or in a deathmatch-style combat.
Doom II had two expansion packs.
The first was “Master levels for DOOM II,
which added 21 new levels.
And the second,
No Rest For The Living,
was developed for DOOM II on Xbox live Arcade for the Xbox 360.
While DOOM II wasn’t as successful as its predecessor,
they still managed to sell 1.8 million units.
Final DOOM was released in 1996,
for MS-DOS,
Macintosh
and the PlayStation.
The game plays identically to DOOM II,
and even features the same weapons,
monsters and items.
However, the game is considered to be significantly more difficult than the previous two games.
The game is divided into two plots,
which both include new levels, graphics and music.
Final DOOM wasn’t well received though.
Jim Varner from GameSpot even said
Next came Doom 64 in 1997.
It is a sequel to Doom II, and also plays similarly.
A new weapon known as the “Unmaker” was added,
the chainsaw has two blades instead of just one,
and there were some other minor changes.
As the name suggests the game was released exclusively for the Nintendo 64.
23 years later Doom 64 was released as a bonus for those who pre-ordered Doom Eternal.
This meant that players on PC,
Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation 4,
and Xbox One
all could enjoy Doom 64.
Doom 64 was by far the best-looking Doom game to date,
exceeding even the PC version.
The general reception of the game was good,
but many thought the new graphics and levels
were not enough to keep the game from feeling like yet another port
of the original Doom.
Fun Fact
Though the story was never the priority in Doom games,
the original idea, which was presented in a booklet called
“The Doom Bible” was much more in-depth.
The idea was that the game had 5 different playable characters,
each with detailed backstories and unique abilities.
However John Carmack dismissed the idea and stated
I think most gamers would strongly disagree that stories in games are not that important.
Doom 3 was originally released for Windows in 2004.
As with previous Doom games, the main objective is to successfully pass through its levels,
defeating a variety of enemy characters.
This time however, the game is more story-centered.
The story plays in a different time,
making the setting darker and scarier,
which made it more of a horror game.
Doom 3 incorporates 10 weapons for players to survive the enemies
that come in multiple forms with different abilities and tactics.
Doom 3 also released several modes for multiplayer,
where players can fight each other in deathmatches.
Developers used a new technology to increase the graphics,
which was a big leap forward compared to its predecessor.
This can be seen through the complex animations and unified lightning and shadowing
that allowed for most light sources to be computed in real-time.
Doom 3 was a massive success
and more than 3.5 million copies were sold,
making it the most sold Doom title so far!
In 2005 an expansion pack was released
known as ‘Resurrection of Evil’.
It featured a new twelve-level campaign,
new enemy characters,
three new weapons,
and the multiplayer gameplay was enhanced
increasing the player limit to 8 instead of just 4,
and adding new game modes.
It also added the grabber,
which is a physics-based tool that allows the player to pick up and move objects.
In 2012 Doom 3 was remastered with the BFG Edition.
It was released for Windows,
PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360.
It featured enhanced graphics, sounds and more horror effects,
support for 3D displays and the ability to use the flashlight while holding a weapon.
The game included the previous expansion,
and adds a new expansion pack called ‘The Lost Mission’.
In 2016 another Doom game was released.
It was developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks.
Originally the game was announced as Doom 4 but
later the name was changed to just Doom.
The biggest difference compared to Doom 3 was that it wasn’t a survival horror game,
but a fast-paced first-person shooter.
All the combat systems put emphasis on momentum and speed.
For example players can double jump,
a large arsenal of weapons that required no reloading
and players collect health and armor pick-ups by killing enemies.
“Gory Kills” was added which allowed for quick and violent melee takedowns
that rewards the player with small health recovery.
The game was originally released for Windows,
PlayStation 4
and Xbox One.
One year after the launch
the game also became available for the Nintendo Switch.
The campaign was made to be at least 13 hours long,
and players can also explore,
find collectibles and secrets throughout the levels.
The game also features an “Ultra-Nightmare” difficulty level,
for hardcore players.
On this difficulty level players lose their save game once they die.
Doom also features a multiplayer mode,
where players can earn experience points and level up,
by which new armor,
skins,
weapons and power-ups can be unlocked.
Players can also create their own levels with SnapMap.
Rooms can be added,
enemies placed, and players can add effects and other gameplay items,
such as health packs and ammo pickups.
Doom was very well-received,
players loved the campaign, graphics, soundtrack and fast-paced gameplay.
The game became a huge success.
In total over 2 million copies of the game were sold.
Fun Fact
The famous Doom soundtrack was composed by Mick Gordon.
Gordon had the difficult task of creating a soundtrack that was unique,
fitted the game perfectly.
I think we can all agree he nailed it,
but did you know that the soundtrack contains numerous easter eggs.
Including images of pentagrams and the number 666 embedded in the soundtrack.
Gordon intended these as a joke,
and never thought anyone would fine them.
And finally there is DOOM Eternal.
Just like its predecessor the game was developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks.
It is a sequel to Doom, and was released for Windows,
PlayStation 4
and Xbox One.
Players take on the role of the Doom Slayer who battles demonic forces of Hell,
which includes new enemies.
Just like its predecessor the game emphasis on aggressive fast pace combat
known as “push-forward combat”.
Players have a wide variety of choice when it comes to guns and other weapons.
As the game gets harder,
players need to use advantages of fight areas,
which enemies to kill first,
and their bonuses in more strategic ways.
DOOM Eternal also has two DLC’s,
the Ancient God Part one and two.
These form a standalone campaign after the events of the main game.
In 2020 the game also became available for the Nintendo Switch
and in 2021 also for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
The next generation consoles allowed for an update in 2021
which improved visuals,
increased performance and supports for ray-tracing.
The game is even playable at a 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.
Doom Eternal was very well received.
According to GameRevolution it is
“one of the best first-person shooters ever”.
Critics praise the campaign,
graphics, level design,
combat and improvements over its predecessor.
Only some dislike the increased focus on storytelling and lore.
Oh, and just listen to the soundtrack.
It is so good!
The game became a massive success
selling over 3 million units.
Fun Fact
both DOOM Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons
were released on the same day
March 20th 2020.
This led to fans creating some awesome fanart crossovers.
It’s just unbelievable
how much the DOOM games have improved from 1993
all the way to 2021.
The fast paced first-person shooting franchise with its violent gameplay
will definitely keep players entertained for many years to come.
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