A Sense of Doom

It has come to my attention that a 4th installment of one of the greatest games of all time (not that I’m biased, or anything) is on its way, serving as a reboot of sorts for the franchise. That’s right, shoot-em-up enthusiasts: Doom 4 is coming.

When the original Doom hit the market in 1993, I was about 11. Already familiar and in love with plenty of adventure games (King’s Quest, Space Quest, Willy Beamish) and a fan of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom was the next best thing since sliced bread. 

Okay, I admit; Doom isn’t exactly a game for someone who has yet to enter middle school and can’t even drive a car. What can I say? I was a twisted kid. I used to draw skeletons (yes, with organs and everything). Don’t look at me like that; I drew them very realistically and I was fascinated by biology, the human body, the brilliance of how it works seamlessly, etc. I wanted to be a surgeon and my fascination was admittedly weird. So I enjoyed the quirkiness of the Doom monsters, got a kick out of it when they made odd noises as they died, and I particularly enjoyed using the rocket launcher to bring them to their demise.

I suppose a big part of the appeal for me was the suspense, the atmosphere, the spookiness of it all. Doom always did one thing extremely well: It made you jump. Even as I marched through the levels in Invincibility mode (every weapon in my arsenal, map revealed and most other cheats deployed: IDDQD forever!), I’d jump and yell whenever a monster came around a corner. I knew most of those levels like the back of my hand, and I still enjoyed the frightfest. Like most kids and teens, I loved the shock. And I loved the music; perfectly haunting and jarring, as it should have been.

My favorite villain was Arch-vile, one of the most powerful demons in the game (he resurrects monsters, for crying out loud) and definitely one of the coolest. He looked a bit like a skeletal zombie, pale and quick, with long creepy fingers and exposed ribs. He had this laugh that, especially from a distance, gave you chills, like a ghost cackling at you through the misty air.

Doom was an amazing feat for its time. It was one of the first games to employ realistic 3D navigation, introduced multiplayer possibilities, and gave gamers the option to create their own modified levels via Doom WAD’s. All of this aside, it was just an awesome game.

I was a huge, huge fan of both Doom and Doom II, and messed around with other incarnations like Ultimate Doom, Doom X (which I have a hard time finding any details about these days) and Final Doom. When Doom 3 arrived, I was ecstatic. But early reviews showed it was vastly different than the previous releases, with a claustrophobic horror feel (hello, amplified freakiness) and more constricted gameplay. I tried playing it, and got a kick out of it, but didn’t love it. It felt too much like a maze, and was monotonous. It was boring. I missed the mobs of demons, the fast pace, exciting music, interesting and varied levels, and the vast mix of different monsters. It simply wasn’t as fun.

So for years, I wondered if anything new would come, and if it would ever top the novelty of the original release. It appears I may be happily surprised by this upcoming reboot. I’m waiting with baited breath, anxiously, anticipating a gory, beautiful frightfest. Hello, Mr. Arch-vile, it’s great to see you again (he better be back).

Warning! Video contains graphic content.