Doom64

Before the Doom64 Nintendo game was released, the series hadn't really progressed from the first instalment. Doom 2 and Final Doom were only really pseudo sequels, using the same graphics engine and introducing a few new foes and a new gun (the double barrelled shotgun). Doom 64 however, heralded a new chapter in the Doom lineage. Coupled with the unrivalled power of the relatively new N64 (and being only the second 1st person shooter on the console after Turok), Doom 64 had a lot to live up to. Did it deliver? Well, yes and no.

While the graphics have been upgraded significantly since the original Dooms, it all still feels a bit 'old.'Turok displayed what the new hardware was capable of, with chunky polygonal enemies and spectacular real time lighting effects. Doom64, however, still utilised a comparatively archaic sprite based engine that was still tied down to the old spatial restrictions of the originals. This means that there are no rooms above rooms, you can't look up and down, and all of the enemies are flat sprites. In some ways, the inability to look up and down really adds to the claustrophobic nature of the series, but the total disregard of polygon enemies (given the then untapped potential of the N64) is somewhat bizarre.

It isn't all bad though, as even in their sprite based state, the enemies in Doom64 have all been totally redesigned since the original (and in some way look like early prototypes for the more recent Doom3 enemies - the imps in particular). Yes, they are flat and crudely animated (and the N64's over-the-top anti-aliasing gives them the appearance of plasticine up close), but they do look pretty impressive on first glance - much better and slightly more demonic looking that the pixelated blobs of old.

All have been given a makeover, from the mindless zombie soldiers and face munching Demons, to the warped Arachnotrons and Barons of Hell. Plus, everything seems a bit more colourful. In some ways this is a good thing, but in other ways can give Doom64 an almost cartoon like feel. For instance, in the opening level, everything is bathed in a pink light, which is far from spooky.

Speaking of the levels in Doom64, they are all newly designed (all 38 of them), and vary in quality quite drastically. Some are exceptional with lots of hidden areas and great set pieces, but others seem quite amateurish. There are also some new techniques employed, such as the way that in one level you must activate a sort of pneumatic drilling machine that smashes into the floor and reveals a new path. Other highlights include giant machines that you must actually travel though, and other levels that contain mist laden bridges. The sound effects are quite good considering the lack of CD sound, and the music isn't that bad either - one stage's music consists of babies crying, which I'm sure you'll agree is rather disturbing. When it comes to weapons, the original Doom arsenal is all present and correct, albeit with new designs, and there is also a new weapon the succeeds the BFG as the top dog. It's a sort of bio-mechanical laser gun with a pentagram on it, but in all truth isn't much fun or particularly spectacular.

One criticism I feel I must point out though (and it's a pretty big one in my opinion), is the total lack of a reload animation for the shotguns. The pump-action shotgun reload sequence in the original Dooms (and to a lesser extent the double barrelled reload), is one of the most iconic images in video games history. In Doom64, all you get is a gun shot sound effect and the gun recoils, and that's it! Magically ready for the next round! The double-barrelled shotgun is just the same. Disgusting! The chainsaw now has two blades though, which is something of a bonus, although I'd rather have had shotgun reloads!

Surprisingly, Doom64 doesn't feature a multiplayer mode, which would have been a lot of fun, and probably quite easy to achieve on a console that later played host to such multiplayer masterpieces as Quake 2, Golden Eye, and Perfect Dark (all vastly superior games, by the way). It is probably this lack of multiplayer alone, that makes me speculate that Doom64 was rushed out in order to cash in on the lack of games situation, immediately after the US and UK launches of the N64. If the developers had been allowed more time with the game before release, then I'm sure those reload animations would've been included, along with some multiplayer or co-op modes. However, Doom64 is still a solid, smooth, action packed title, even if it's semi-retro roots are there for all to see. Doom64 maybe isn't the game it should and could have been, but as a stopgap between true sequels it's an interesting glimpse of what was to come some years later: Doom 3.