DOOM, id Software's successor to WOLFENSTEIN 3D, really broke new ground in the world of 3D gaming back in 1993. Among other things, it was the first ever first-person shooter to feature multiple floors per map, different levels of lighting, varying wall heighth and width, and the ability to play with up to four friends over a dialup modem or network connection. Of course, we all know what REALLY made it popular: the astonishing amount of violence, gore, and heart-pounding action.
DOOM took the world by storm, causing millions of users worldwide to become hooked to their PC's as they blew away demon after demon for hours at a time. I was one of those people. Not since LEMMINGS had I been so addicted to a computer game. I burned away hours, days, and even months of my life pumping rounds into various Hell-spawned creatures.
DOOM still has its flaws, however. The lighting is much too dark at way too many points in the game, causing you to bump blindly into walls and be attacked by monsters you can't see. At first, this is a scary and exciting situation, but you soon find that it is a cheap trick used by the level designers way too often. It quickly becomes irritating and frustrating.
Also, there are too many no-win situations that you can easily fall into. For example, at any given time the floor could move out from underneath you and you fall into a pit that you can never escape from. Or, you could become trapped in a room where there is no way out. Many of these situations occur because of programming bugs and have been corrected in the later versions, but you still do run into these problems even with the most up-to-date release. You never had problems like this with WOLFENSTEIN 3D.
Even the most excellent games of all times have a few errors, though. DOOM will always remain an unmatchable cult favorite in my heart and the heart of every die-hard gamer. To be honest, though, I still like WOLF3D a lot better.
DOOM took the world by storm, causing millions of users worldwide to become hooked to their PC's as they blew away demon after demon for hours at a time. I was one of those people. Not since LEMMINGS had I been so addicted to a computer game. I burned away hours, days, and even months of my life pumping rounds into various Hell-spawned creatures.
DOOM still has its flaws, however. The lighting is much too dark at way too many points in the game, causing you to bump blindly into walls and be attacked by monsters you can't see. At first, this is a scary and exciting situation, but you soon find that it is a cheap trick used by the level designers way too often. It quickly becomes irritating and frustrating.
Also, there are too many no-win situations that you can easily fall into. For example, at any given time the floor could move out from underneath you and you fall into a pit that you can never escape from. Or, you could become trapped in a room where there is no way out. Many of these situations occur because of programming bugs and have been corrected in the later versions, but you still do run into these problems even with the most up-to-date release. You never had problems like this with WOLFENSTEIN 3D.
Even the most excellent games of all times have a few errors, though. DOOM will always remain an unmatchable cult favorite in my heart and the heart of every die-hard gamer. To be honest, though, I still like WOLF3D a lot better.