Doom (1993)

Photo: Steam

After all these years I finally tried and played through one of the most influential video games ever, id Softwares 1993 classic Doom. And what a game it is! This game is older than me but gameplay is so much fun, and shooting demons with different weapons while navigating maze like levels can sometimes be truly exciting – at times this old PC game captures better horror atmosphere than many modern survival horror experiences, which is truly unbelievable. But I think there’s a reason, and it is Doom’s now outdated, sprite based 3D graphics and simple textures combined with lo-fi sound design and midi music. It leaves more room for your own imagination, which is always a plus in my books.

Unfortunately everything is not perfect, not even in Doom. Some of the boss fights even on lower difficulties are such a bullet sponges that I just turned on god mode (which is easily accessible in the Steam version as are other cheats). id has really kept Doom alive with making sure it runs on modern machines with all bonus features (like those cheats) you'd hope for. Game preservation at its best.

As Doom is not too long of a game, I would recommend that anyone who is into FPS or game history in general play it through at least once in their life. It really makes you appreciate how far video games have come from mid-90's and how technology has developed rapidly to allow us to have modern gaming experiences from MMO's to VR. Or if you just enjoy shooting some demons with cool weapons, that is really a great reason to play Doom too.