GAME REVIEW: Doom 64 (Nintendo Switch)
(Know Who You Are - Supertramp)
When it comes to first-person shooters, id Software is the undisputed Alpha and Omega. They've given us some of the biggest titles and franchises in the genre and their impact to the gaming industry as a whole is equaled by few, surpassed by none.
For students of the old school, you'll immediately think of Wolfenstein 3D, the game that many people consider to be the progenitor of an entire genre. If we're being honest though, Wolf3D only lit the match. It would be id's next franchise that would pour gasoline on everything and then blow a massive breeze through the room. I am, of course, talking about Doom.
Anyone who has been a long-standing player of video games has heard of Doom. Almost everyone has played it. Even those who don't care for FPS games understand the absolute hammer blow that Doom was to the world.
Doom has gone through any number of iterations over the years, but its premise has always been a simple one: Move quickly through brightly colored environments killing demons as quickly as possible while rocking out to an amazing MIDI soundtrack. Over time, the graphics got better, the music got louder, but it was very much a 'Second Verse, Same As The First' type of situation.
...Except for that one time when someone turned Doom on its ear and released a special version for the Nintendo 64. We don't...we don't really talk about that.
...But should we?
Someone thought so, because Doom 64 recently went and got itself re-released on a variety of platforms, including the excellent Nintendo Switch.
Should you go back to hell?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Absolutely.
THE LONG VERSION:
At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I played Doom before it was cool. I played Doom before there was a world-wide gaming industry. I played it before there was an ESRB, before people gave a crap about blood in their video games, before teenagers started hurling insults at each other from their parents' basements online.
We did it in person, thank you.
As a long-time player of the franchise, I fairly well leaped at a chance to play it on N64 when the title dropped. I have a lot of fond memories of that console, and one of them was Doom 64. You have to understand, by the time Doom 64 dropped, the only thing we'd had to whet our appetites on was Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom. All three of those games were awesome, but they were all built on the same engine, with the same weapons, with the same monsters. Same, Same, Same.
Yes, I know that Doom 2 got the Super Shottie and the Cyber Demon.
Then we hear that a new version of Doom is coming to the N64. This was big magic for a variety of reasons. First, it was more Doom. 'Same' though it may have been, we still played the crap out of it, and more Doom was never a bad thing. Second, it was the N64, a console that was already destined for greatness as a result of monster titles like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64. Just the possibility of Doom excellence on a console known for taking the medium to a new and exciting level was enough to bring my anticipation to a boil.
Our parents let me rent it one weekend, and we dove in. What we found didn't disappoint, but it was also quite a bit different from anything we'd ever seen from Doom. Those differences, coupled with single-stick first-generation analogue controller technology, made for low sales and a reputation that, while not bad, allowed Doom 64 to slip into obscurity until its recent release on current-gen consoles.
In many ways, this was not your father's Doom:
- Gone was the gameplay that encouraged you to run, balls to the wall, through levels. Doom 64's level design encouraged slow, thoughtful playing. This was initially criticized, but in retrospect, was a brilliant decision for its time. The N64's setup just could not keep up with the fast, frenetic pace that you could achieve with PC FPSs. Playing that kind of Doom on a console would have been utterly punishing. Indeed, attempting to run into many of Doom 64's levels guns ablazing would only serve to get you killed. Quickly. Ambushes from monsters were common.
- Gone was the loud, brash, pulse-pounding soundtrack. Instead, you got a lot of ambient noise, synth music, and background audio that, at times, was extremely creepy. This just served to put your nerves on edge as you crept through the halls, waiting for things to go sideways.
- Gone were the brightly lit environments. Much of Doom 64's world was dark, muted, and eerie. Between that, the music, and the gameplay, it really changed the aesthetic of gameplay to something that was almost a horror shooter.
- Gone were the monsters we were so familiar with. Oh, sure, there were still zombie marines, but almost every other monster in the game was given a serious re-design that made them scarier and more ... bad. Imps, Pinky Demons, Cacodemons, Pain Elementals, Mancubus, they all received facelifts. As if that weren't bad enough, new monsters were added, including a variant of an Imp that could turn semi-invisible. And they all hit harder. They all looked better too, in my opinion. The N64's graphics were a damn sight better than the engine that the original game had been built on.
You roll all of these things together and it becomes somewhat understandable why the legions of Doom faithful might have spent less time with this entry.
"But Steve," you cry, "If this game was so crap, why did they re-release it?"
Let's be clear: I never said it was crap, just different. It was something that people weren't ready for. Now, years later, with better controls and better hardware, with a much more robustly evolved video game industry, the folks at id felt it was time to look back at Doom 64 again. Every other iteration of Doom has been made available in some form on most consoles. Why not Doom 64?
There's no real good reason for 'Why not?'
Years later, I'm delighted to report that the re-release of this game has only made it better. It has aged well, like the cliched fine wine. Doom 64 was a good game that was hampered by sub-par controls. That's no longer a problem thanks to evolved console controllers and PC controls. If anything, modern controls have made Doom 64 easier, paving the way for you to enjoy it on a higher difficulty level than you might ordinarily. It plays buttery smooth on current hardware, still benefits from kick-ass ambiance and gameplay, and doesn't look horrible either. The original Doom engine hasn't aged well, but the Doom 64 engine, along with some digital wizardry, still looks fantastic most of the time, especially when played on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. If that were all, Doom 64 would be a fantastic buy, especially when you consider the fact that it's being sold on Switch for FIVE BUCKS. This is a no-brainer of the highest caliber.
But that's not all.
Many enhancements have been made to the game, allowing for greater control of your graphics, controller config, and best of all, there are now Quicksave and Quickload functions that you can map to buttons on your Switch's Joycons. This is a fantastic convenience, specially for on-the-go style gaming. It also serves to take difficulty from the game, since you can easily save before an encounter and reload quickly when it goes sideways. Many people will balk about how easy it makes the game, but I just consider it an even broader pathway to enjoyment.
Doom 64 was a good game when it came out. It's a great game now. If you ever played an FPS, if you ever enjoyed Doom, go and pick it up. Hell beckons. Heed the call!
When it comes to first-person shooters, id Software is the undisputed Alpha and Omega. They've given us some of the biggest titles and franchises in the genre and their impact to the gaming industry as a whole is equaled by few, surpassed by none.
For students of the old school, you'll immediately think of Wolfenstein 3D, the game that many people consider to be the progenitor of an entire genre. If we're being honest though, Wolf3D only lit the match. It would be id's next franchise that would pour gasoline on everything and then blow a massive breeze through the room. I am, of course, talking about Doom.
Anyone who has been a long-standing player of video games has heard of Doom. Almost everyone has played it. Even those who don't care for FPS games understand the absolute hammer blow that Doom was to the world.
Doom has gone through any number of iterations over the years, but its premise has always been a simple one: Move quickly through brightly colored environments killing demons as quickly as possible while rocking out to an amazing MIDI soundtrack. Over time, the graphics got better, the music got louder, but it was very much a 'Second Verse, Same As The First' type of situation.
...Except for that one time when someone turned Doom on its ear and released a special version for the Nintendo 64. We don't...we don't really talk about that.
...But should we?
Someone thought so, because Doom 64 recently went and got itself re-released on a variety of platforms, including the excellent Nintendo Switch.
Should you go back to hell?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Absolutely.
THE LONG VERSION:
At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I played Doom before it was cool. I played Doom before there was a world-wide gaming industry. I played it before there was an ESRB, before people gave a crap about blood in their video games, before teenagers started hurling insults at each other from their parents' basements online.
We did it in person, thank you.
As a long-time player of the franchise, I fairly well leaped at a chance to play it on N64 when the title dropped. I have a lot of fond memories of that console, and one of them was Doom 64. You have to understand, by the time Doom 64 dropped, the only thing we'd had to whet our appetites on was Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom. All three of those games were awesome, but they were all built on the same engine, with the same weapons, with the same monsters. Same, Same, Same.
Yes, I know that Doom 2 got the Super Shottie and the Cyber Demon.
Then we hear that a new version of Doom is coming to the N64. This was big magic for a variety of reasons. First, it was more Doom. 'Same' though it may have been, we still played the crap out of it, and more Doom was never a bad thing. Second, it was the N64, a console that was already destined for greatness as a result of monster titles like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64. Just the possibility of Doom excellence on a console known for taking the medium to a new and exciting level was enough to bring my anticipation to a boil.
Our parents let me rent it one weekend, and we dove in. What we found didn't disappoint, but it was also quite a bit different from anything we'd ever seen from Doom. Those differences, coupled with single-stick first-generation analogue controller technology, made for low sales and a reputation that, while not bad, allowed Doom 64 to slip into obscurity until its recent release on current-gen consoles.
In many ways, this was not your father's Doom:
- Gone was the gameplay that encouraged you to run, balls to the wall, through levels. Doom 64's level design encouraged slow, thoughtful playing. This was initially criticized, but in retrospect, was a brilliant decision for its time. The N64's setup just could not keep up with the fast, frenetic pace that you could achieve with PC FPSs. Playing that kind of Doom on a console would have been utterly punishing. Indeed, attempting to run into many of Doom 64's levels guns ablazing would only serve to get you killed. Quickly. Ambushes from monsters were common.
- Gone was the loud, brash, pulse-pounding soundtrack. Instead, you got a lot of ambient noise, synth music, and background audio that, at times, was extremely creepy. This just served to put your nerves on edge as you crept through the halls, waiting for things to go sideways.
- Gone were the brightly lit environments. Much of Doom 64's world was dark, muted, and eerie. Between that, the music, and the gameplay, it really changed the aesthetic of gameplay to something that was almost a horror shooter.
- Gone were the monsters we were so familiar with. Oh, sure, there were still zombie marines, but almost every other monster in the game was given a serious re-design that made them scarier and more ... bad. Imps, Pinky Demons, Cacodemons, Pain Elementals, Mancubus, they all received facelifts. As if that weren't bad enough, new monsters were added, including a variant of an Imp that could turn semi-invisible. And they all hit harder. They all looked better too, in my opinion. The N64's graphics were a damn sight better than the engine that the original game had been built on.
You roll all of these things together and it becomes somewhat understandable why the legions of Doom faithful might have spent less time with this entry.
"But Steve," you cry, "If this game was so crap, why did they re-release it?"
Let's be clear: I never said it was crap, just different. It was something that people weren't ready for. Now, years later, with better controls and better hardware, with a much more robustly evolved video game industry, the folks at id felt it was time to look back at Doom 64 again. Every other iteration of Doom has been made available in some form on most consoles. Why not Doom 64?
There's no real good reason for 'Why not?'
Years later, I'm delighted to report that the re-release of this game has only made it better. It has aged well, like the cliched fine wine. Doom 64 was a good game that was hampered by sub-par controls. That's no longer a problem thanks to evolved console controllers and PC controls. If anything, modern controls have made Doom 64 easier, paving the way for you to enjoy it on a higher difficulty level than you might ordinarily. It plays buttery smooth on current hardware, still benefits from kick-ass ambiance and gameplay, and doesn't look horrible either. The original Doom engine hasn't aged well, but the Doom 64 engine, along with some digital wizardry, still looks fantastic most of the time, especially when played on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. If that were all, Doom 64 would be a fantastic buy, especially when you consider the fact that it's being sold on Switch for FIVE BUCKS. This is a no-brainer of the highest caliber.
But that's not all.
Many enhancements have been made to the game, allowing for greater control of your graphics, controller config, and best of all, there are now Quicksave and Quickload functions that you can map to buttons on your Switch's Joycons. This is a fantastic convenience, specially for on-the-go style gaming. It also serves to take difficulty from the game, since you can easily save before an encounter and reload quickly when it goes sideways. Many people will balk about how easy it makes the game, but I just consider it an even broader pathway to enjoyment.
Doom 64 was a good game when it came out. It's a great game now. If you ever played an FPS, if you ever enjoyed Doom, go and pick it up. Hell beckons. Heed the call!
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