Doom DC  

 Doom is without a doubt one of the most famous PC games to date. It first became a huge hit for PC fans worldwide in the early 90s. The game set a new level for first-person shooters and was the first game of its kind to use 3D images. 

  In all previous FPS, while you could walk around freely in what seemed like a 3D environment, the enemies could only be viewed from one angle. For example, in the  Catacomb Abyss (Catacomb 3-D) if you tried to walk around an enemy, you would see the it spinning around on the spot. It was impossible to see it from any other angle- this ‘camera trick’ has been used in hundreds of popular 3D games like Tomb Raider (Medi-packs in the first 2 were 2D, try to look at them from any side and they would look the same, as were the trees in Mario 64- the list goes on)

  The game had a fairly original story line- the original “survival” game.  If you don’t already know, I will tell you, (this is going by the book).

  You were traveling to one of the moons of Jupiter with several Marines to investigate some strange goings on at a research center. On the way, you are arrested and held prisoner on the ship, not allowed to leave the ship while the other Marines go to check out the base. Basically, all the Marines are killed, and you manage to escape. Left to fight the monsters, apparently from hell, you are now on your own.

  It may not seem like the best story ever, but people loved it and they lapped it up. As a result, several sequels were spawned. Extensions, new chapters to the original games and a true sequel- with extras came onto the machine.

  Today, it comes to me on my Dreamcast, ported by many different programmers.  It was downloaded for me by a friend and burned onto disc, an exact port of the original.

  There are many websites out there that offer this game, full and shareware, with extras or without.  My copy unfortunately is only the shareware version. Though this is just for legal reasons (I am not sure about the laws on ported games that weren’t officially released) – saying that I have an illegal copy of a game on the internet is not the most intelligent thing to do, but ever since shareware copies are allowed to be distributed, this should be okay.

 Back in its day, the graphics and special effects were first class. Today, it’s very lacking, being compared to games such as Half Life, Turok and Halo, you can’t expect to think that the game has impressive effects anymore.

 The graphics are as good as the original, so I can’t really complain. They are solid enough without any glitches. The enemies do look quite blocky up close, but that occurs in the original game, as well.  Basically if you own the game on the PC, then you’ll know what to expect.

 I found that the game was quite hard to control using the Dreamcast pad. It feels inaccurate with the analogue stick- but was okay with d-pad. Also, some actions don’t seem available with the controller, such as strafe (which is a very handy technique).

 It’s a lot easier to control the game using the Dreamcast Keyboard, though I am told some versions of the game cannot support it.  The keyboard seems to have all key functions-just as the PC version.

The game runs smoothly, no skipping or frame jerks. A very good port.

 The game is the same as the original- they have even kept the old menus from the PC version, including mouse sensitivity and Screen size.

  The sound effects are as good as the original, I have played many different copies of the game, where the sound effects are very poor or some aren’t even there.  This copy has all the right music and sounds.  Good stuff.

 Again, back in its day, many gamers would pass the hours away by playing the game over and over again, trying to find all the secrets and hidden levels or try to beat the game on Ultra-Violence or NIGHTMARE!

  Today, I feel no real replay value in the game. If you have never played the game, then you may just enjoy going through it several times, but for anyone who has played it then you will not see such an appeal.

 I would not purchase this game unless it were very cheap.  Ever since I have completed the PC version several years ago, I do not find playing this game as enjoyable as I did.

  I would buy the game (if it were cheap) only really for nostalgic appeal and for the novelty of owning the game on a 128-bit console.

 A very good port of a classic game.  Just the same as the original in every detail unlike the Sega Saturn port of the game -which was the poorest conversion I have ever played- the shame is that the Saturn could have more than handle it.

  It’s worth buying if you’re into old games or have never played the game.

~G~

This is the beautiful picture that you will see once you start Doom DC.

All the demon blood spilling is here. Ya know, I wonder why that kid in The Gate never just got a shotgun and blew away all those little demons?

Ahhh, there is nothing quite as refreshing as completing a level. Well, I can think of a few things.

Wow, you can even change the screen size and mouse sensitivity! What nice folks. I wonder if you could do the same with Doom SNES with the Mario Paint Mouse?