Forgotten Gems: Doom 64

 

Imagine you're a kid in the early 90s. You're used to console games like Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog. You know PC gaming, the likes of Math Blasters, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, or King's Quest. And then all the sudden, one day at the store in 1993, you lay your eyes on the gruesome, evocative image above. You'd basically flip your shit, right?

Well even though things like Mortal Kombat had already come along a year previously, that's still how many kids, and adults, felt at the time. The computer game, Doom, by Id Software, was a "game changer", in many ways. Even though it wasn't actually the first of its kind!

Say hello to Catacomb 3D.

And his brother Wolfenstein 3D.

Id Software themselves, had actually already laid the groundwork for what would become known as the "First Person Shooter" sub-genre of gaming, a year prior themselves with the classic 1992 PC hit Wolfenstein 3D. But there's more! They had actually already made what was basically a prototype to THAT, the year prior in 1991, with a far-lesser-known gem called Catacomb 3-D. Catacomb was a 3D sequel to top-down games they had previously made, and was essentially a "fantasy" version of the genre (think Heretic or Hexen), where you fight goblins and demons and things, and shoot magic missiles instead of firing a gun, etc. Catacomb is actually a lot of fun, and a lot more people should go dig it up and give it a whirl!

For Wolfenstein's part, it was also inspired by previously existing 80s games called Castle Wolfenstein and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which were simple, Berzerker style "guy goes from room to room" affairs. When developing what would technically become the third in the franchise, Id didn't have the rights to call their game Wolfenstein, even though they wanted it to be. They eventually got the rights, and BAM, the now infamous Wolfenstein 3D, starring BJ Blaskowitz, was born! 

That BJ, hell of a guy.

For my own part, as I may or may not have related in some past article, while I had certainly SEEN games (maybe even sampled) like Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racer, Cruis'n USA etc. in my pre-teen years, the very first 3D game that I'm fairly certain I ever really got to play myself, in depth, was in fact Wolfenstein 3D. My friend Harold popped over one day, and with him, he had a Shareware disk (free/cheap disks that contained the first parts of PC games, as a ploy to get you to buy the rest of the game, something we coveted greatly in those days), of you guessed it, Wolfenstein! I wasn't even sure if our clunky old 386 IBM Compatible would play a 3D game, hell it didn't even have a sound card! But lo and behold, it loaded up fine, and the next thing you know, Harold and I were immersed in 3D polygonal corridors, viscous attack dogs, food just lying on the ground all over the place, and nazis around every corner!

It was likely actually a more intense, spooky experience for us, because all my PC had were little beeping system sounds for the game, no music, etc. Though somehow it did still have the voice samples, like "Halt Stop!" etc. This was, again, only a shareware edition, so it only contained the first third or so of the game, just a handful of levels really. But we played the hell out of them. Even though FPS games, to this day, have never been a major favorite of mine, I will always look back fondly on the time I spent getting immersed in 3D "for the first time" (kinda), and just getting lost in this crazy, maze-like nazi world. 

Pump up the jams!

Say, that's a Big Fucking Gun!

When Doom hit the shelves in December 1993, it made a huge impression. Not only did it cause a major shit-storm, similar to how games like Mortal Kombat, and believe it or not, the Sega CD cheese-fest Night Trap did, but it also became a massive hit. So much so that, to this day, while Catacomb and Wolfenstein came first, and deserve all the credit, most people still refer to these older "corridor" types of shooters, as "Doom Clones", and many give Doom undue credit for establishing the genre. I would amend that to say, it didn't establish it, but it certainly DID popularize it.

The basic setting of Doom is that, in the not-too-distant future, the Union Aerospace Corporation have established a base of operations on the planet Mars, but because travel to and from Earth takes so damn long, they've also had military scientists experimenting with a way to shorten that travel. To that end, they create a means of what they think will "jump" them near instantaneously from Mars to Earth. But what they REALLY did, was opened a gateway to a very Hell-like dimension, and once done, hellish demonic hordes flooded their base, and began wiping everyone out. You, as an unnamed space marine (Doom, or "Doom Guy"), must single-handedly battle your way back from being stranded on the moon, Phobos. 

This game doesn't fuck around, as you make your way from Phobos, to Deimos, and eventually, the pits of "Hell" itself. And in the sequel, Doom II: Hell on Earth, you finally make it back to Earth, only to find that the demons have invaded there, as well. But the story wasn't really what most people were playing these games for. What really made it stand out, and got parents riled up, was the amount of gore they had! Whether it be with a chainsaw, a pulse rifle, a shotgun, or even your bare fists, every time you hit an enemy, blood would spurt, and when you killed them, they would collapse to the ground as a gory, bloody, puply mess. Even your main character's mug, shown on-screen near your health, would eventually get bloody, if you took too much damage. 

Say hello to the Cacodemon!

While the main attraction to Doom, obviously, is running around blasting everything in sight and watching it go splat, a core aspect of the gameplay is actually exploration and, to some degree, even puzzle solving. You don't clear stages by merely killing all the baddies (though that'd be kinda neat). Instead, you have to find, collect, and use colored "Key Cards" (red, blue and yellow), which unlock doors, and eventually allow you to leave via the exit, onto the next stage. Sometimes these cards could be a real bitch to find, as you would have to solve little stage "puzzles", to get doors or hidden panels to open, etc., just to reach them. It was, frankly, the more cumbersome element to Doom, but I suppose it also added to the challenge, and mixed things up. But, much like an old monster movie, when you just want people to stop talking, and have the damn MONSTERS appear already (at least as a kid), sometimes in Doom, you just wanna blast stuff and move on!

The Ultimate Doom?

Now by April 1997, Doom had not only been ported to several different platforms (even the Super Nintendo), but there was the aforementioned Doom II, Ultimate Doom (an expanded version of the original game), and Final Doom. which you could honestly call the original (actual?) Doom III. But in 1997, having launched the previous fall, the Nintendo 64 console was the new hotness, and being more powerful than the Sega Saturn or Sony Playstation, it seemed like it might be tailor made for the Doom experience. But thankfully, instead of being cheap, having someone just make a "straight port" of the now over three year old game, what we got was a completely new adventure!

That's right, a DOUBLE chainsaw!

That lighting, though.

Licensed out to Midway, who developed it in house, this N64 exclusive would not only give us completely redrawn graphics and redesigned enemies, but it also had all-new levels. This was an entirely new game, no skimping, and to any Doom fan, that was awesome. But more than that, at least to my mind, Doom 64 provided what I still to this day consider the ultimate Doom experience. Plus, when it released, roughly half a year after the console itself launched, the system didn't have a TON of games yet, so Doom 64 was a very welcome addition, and actually became something of a hit itself.

While the graphics weren't as impressive, to some at that time, as the fully polygonal games such as Quake or N64's own Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (which had released just a month prior), I would say they were quite impressive, really. Thanks to the N64's hardware features, the 3D stages and textures never looked better, and the redrawn pre-rendered enemy sprites looked fantastic! But the real deal-maker, to me, was the lighting. While the game for some stupid reason had some crazy SUPER dim pre-sets (we had to actually turn the brightness up on the TV), also thanks to that 64 hardware, the game showed off some very eye-popping uses of advanced lighting effects. Very clever uses, in some instances, like a series of corridors where everything's pitch black but for certain little spots, or a room with a spinning "strobe" effect, which is not only disorienting but had a slight effect on near-invisible enemies. In its own way, I would consider Doom 64 to be something of a graphical showcase, as its basically the best looking of the classic, sprites-as-enemies "corridor" shooter mold.

Just look at them sprites.

Meet the Unmaker.

But as if textures, shaded sprites and lighting effects weren't enough, what REALLY puts the Doom 64 presentation straight over the top, is the sound. Unlike the previous Dooms, which had arguably cheesy rock guitar music that kinda ruined the creepy vibe they were going for, Doom 64 has no soundtrack, zero tunes. They instead leaned HARD into the creepiness, as the only sounds you hear, are your gunfire, monster noises, and (progressively more as you advance through the game) ambient, spooky background noises. It really added to the tension and atmosphere, when you'd be in a dark room, surrounded by semi-invisible enemies, but you could hear them (in glorious stereo, if your TV had it). As you progress through the game and make your way to the "Hell" dimension, things REALLY ramp up, as you start hearing more things like ghostly whispers, demonic growling, and what sounds suspiciously like babies crying in the distance. That kind of shit made playing this simple "run and gun" shooter, in the middle of the night with the lights out, some genuinely chilling stuff. 

Along with all-new stages and some new versions of enemies, Doom 64 also gifted us with one totally new exclusive weapon: The Unmaker. Prior to this, the "BFG" (Big Fucking Gun) was THE ultimate weapon for Doom fans. But this Unmaker, which you don't get till late in the game, seems to be made of flesh and bones, truly a weapon from "Hell", and it spews forth evil death-rays, that pretty much lay waste to all but the strongest enemies, quickly. 

Mother is angry....

The game also has an exclusive final boss, never before seen in the series. Up till now, the "Big Bads" had been things like Barons of Hell, or a giant Spider-Demon, or some big evil Face in the Wall. Doom 64 takes it a step further, and introduces us to the MOTHER Demon, ostensibly the very source of all these evil hordes that have been spewing forth from our ill-begotten portals! The Mother Demon fight is a doozy, too, lemme tell ya. Not only is she tough herself, but as she seems to be the source of the demon hordes in general, she also summons demons to help fight you. I always kinda liked this idea, and overall, to me, Doom 64 feels like the true "Doom III", the final end to the series.

I know that an actual Doom 3 would come along later (which I wasn't a fan of), and later games besides. But while I appreciate the attempt at the "old school" approach that the 2016 game and Eternal tried for, to me THIS is it. Much like I prefer my Mortal Kombat 2D, with "digitized" characters, I prefer my doom with blocky corridors, and hordes of 2D sprites to mow down, as well. I don't like the "clever" term some have slapped on these old style shooters of late, "Boomer Shooters" (hell I dislike that idiotic "Boomer" term for anything slightly old, in general). But I DO love these classic kinds of shooters. Like I said, FPS has never been a favorite of mine, but with the exception of N64 Goldeneye death matches (THE best ever), classic shooters like Wolfenstein, Duke Nukem 3D, Hexen, and Doom are where its at. And as far as this man is concerned, Doom 64 is the best of the bunch. The Ultimate Doom. 

So thankfully for all of you, if you've never played this bad boy, it happens to be available on most modern platforms (Playstation, Xbox, Switch, PC, maybe even mobile devices for all I know), as a fairly inexpensive digital download. AND they even fixed the dim pre-set lighting problem, so the graphics and lighting effects look even better than ever! It's a hell of a fun game, with a surprising amount of atmosphere and spookiness going on. So give it a whirl!

And may all of you have a very happy Halloween!