Retro Wildlands #53 - Doom (1993)

[00:00:19] Greetings fellow travelers, vagrants, explorers, wildlanders, and welcome to episode 53 of The

[00:00:28] Retro Wildlands.

[00:00:31] My name is Nomad and this is my gaming podcast where I like to share my thoughts and experiences

[00:00:35] with a video game that I have discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming

[00:00:40] wildlands.

[00:00:42] Thank you very much for tuning in to the show today.

[00:00:45] Expeditions into the gaming wildlands are always a good time, but they are infinitely

[00:00:49] better when we have such good company.

[00:00:53] Whether this is your first time hanging out with us, your 53rd or your somewhere in between,

[00:00:58] it's an absolute pleasure to have you with us.

[00:01:01] DD, our canine expedition leader, will be around as per usual and greet you all with

[00:01:07] an obligatory sniffing of the leg.

[00:01:11] If you get the chance, give DD a good scratch behind the ears when he comes around.

[00:01:16] He's been hard at work the last few days stocking up on wood for the campfire and making

[00:01:21] sure the cooler is stocked with good drink and I think it's the least we can do for

[00:01:26] our fearless leader.

[00:01:28] How he coordinates all of this, especially without any thumbs, is a mystery, but I for

[00:01:34] one am extremely grateful.

[00:01:37] I will say, if there's ever been a time to make sure our expedition is properly stocked

[00:01:42] up, it is today.

[00:01:44] Along with all the wood and drinks, DD has brought out a few other things.

[00:01:50] We have several crates of combat armor, a pile of med kits, a few radiation shielding

[00:01:57] suits, several shotguns, and what the hell is this thing?

[00:02:02] A BFG-9000?

[00:02:03] DD, hey DD, what is this?

[00:02:10] Oh right, BFG.

[00:02:16] Big fucking gun.

[00:02:18] Good call boy.

[00:02:21] What do we need all of this hardware for you might be wondering?

[00:02:24] Well my friends, our wildlands expedition usually finds itself in some pretty interesting

[00:02:31] places.

[00:02:32] So far we've been to the Mushroom Kingdom, the land of Hyrule, Raccoon City, Silent Hill,

[00:02:38] Planet Zebes, but this time our expedition is going to hell.

[00:02:46] On today's episode we're checking out a video game that has had an undeniable influence

[00:02:52] on gaming as a whole.

[00:02:55] It's a first person shooter that was made famous by its smooth gameplay and glorious

[00:03:00] violence.

[00:03:02] While the crazy levels of violence were pretty shocking in the early 1990s, what made this

[00:03:07] game stand out was its buttery smooth gameplay and badass visuals.

[00:03:13] This game would go on to influence hundreds of video games over the years and be referenced

[00:03:19] in countless others.

[00:03:21] This game raised the bar for immersive gaming experiences.

[00:03:27] Over time it became a household name and a game that would spawn new entries into its

[00:03:32] franchise for the next 30 years.

[00:03:36] And it all started with one lone space marine who stood tall against the demons of hell.

[00:03:45] Today on the Retro Wildlands we're going to be talking about Doom.

[00:03:52] First person shooters, specially violent ones with grotesque imagery and subject matter,

[00:03:57] are pretty commonplace today.

[00:04:00] But back in 1993 the world had not seen anything like Doom.

[00:04:07] While developer id Software had just released Wolfenstein 3D a year prior, Doom was a step

[00:04:14] up when it came to the violence, visuals, and overall subject matter.

[00:04:20] While some were put off by the violent nature of Doom, gamers of all ages were in heaven.

[00:04:27] Doom was a step up in all aspects of game design.

[00:04:31] From the 3D visuals, exceptional game design, and lighting effects, Doom was a must play

[00:04:37] experience.

[00:04:39] And while there really wasn't much of a story to speak of in the early days, that

[00:04:43] did not matter.

[00:04:45] What mattered was that you were a lone space marine facing down the armies of hell, and often

[00:04:51] times you only had a pump action shotgun to see yourself through.

[00:04:56] And maybe a chainsaw.

[00:04:58] And at the end of the day it doesn't get any more pure than that.

[00:05:03] I remember firing up my parents home computer and working my way from room to room taking

[00:05:09] out enemies, finding ammo, health and armor pickups, and pushing every single wall in hopes

[00:05:16] of finding that one secret room that would grant me even more firepower.

[00:05:22] And it didn't stop there.

[00:05:24] Doom was originally a 3 episode game containing multiple levels to play through.

[00:05:31] It was a one of a kind experience back in the day and one most gamers have either

[00:05:35] taken or at the very least have heard of.

[00:05:39] But that was over 30 years ago and I was barely 10 years old when I played Doom last.

[00:05:47] Does Doom hold up as a game that you should play today, or has all the hype and luster

[00:05:53] faded over time and Doom exists only to be used as a roadmap for the bigger and

[00:05:59] the better?

[00:06:01] After playing mostly laid back games lately like Super Mario Wonder, Mario vs Donkey Kong

[00:06:08] and Breath of the Wild, my palette needed cleansing and I could not think of a better

[00:06:13] game to wash everything away than Doom.

[00:06:18] I played this game through to completion on both PC and my Nintendo Switch the last

[00:06:23] couple weeks and I'm eager to share my thoughts and experiences with you by launching

[00:06:28] the game with you and putting it through the paces one shotgun blast at a time.

[00:06:35] Now if you're new to the show, I'd like to kick things off by chatting it up with

[00:06:39] you all first and giving everyone a peek behind the scenes here in the Retro Wildlands.

[00:06:45] Depending on what's on my mind, I like to share what's going on with the show

[00:06:48] itself, what games I might be playing, what projects I might be planning, what's

[00:06:53] going on in my personal life, or whatever else I feel like babbling about.

[00:06:58] I also want to take some time to read and respond to any comments I received about Doom

[00:07:03] from our Retro Wildlands social media pages in an effort to give the community a moment

[00:07:08] in the spotlight before I hog it all.

[00:07:12] Now if none of that interests you and you're just here for my thoughts on Doom,

[00:07:16] no worries, you can skip ahead in this recording about 15 minutes or so and you should

[00:07:22] get into the game talk.

[00:07:25] I'll also put timestamps in the show notes so you know exactly where you need to go if

[00:07:29] you don't want to stick around.

[00:07:32] But I encourage you to stick around.

[00:07:35] We're going to talk a bit of video games and your fellow Wildlanders will get a

[00:07:39] chance to sound off their thoughts to the rest of us, and I cannot think of a better

[00:07:44] way to start our expedition today.

[00:07:47] So without further ado, let's get into our opening segment that I like to call Campfire

[00:07:55] Ketchup.

[00:07:56] So this may be a somewhat of a shorter ketchup this time around.

[00:08:21] I don't really have too much new to talk about since we spoke last, but it's been

[00:08:25] busy in my neck of the woods as per usual.

[00:08:28] One housekeeping thing I wanted to get out of the way really quick involves the Retro

[00:08:32] Wildlands YouTube channel.

[00:08:34] For those that have been around the Wildlands a little while may know this, but there was

[00:08:38] a point where I was publishing the podcast over on YouTube for people to listen to.

[00:08:44] In the beginning, I didn't just want to post the podcast feed and have the audio

[00:08:49] play over a static image.

[00:08:51] I wanted to construct a video that would look cool and I came up with the idea of

[00:08:55] taking gameplay footage from the game or about the topic we were talking about and I

[00:09:00] turned the video into a slideshow of sorts.

[00:09:04] It just looked nice and spoke to the level of quality that I had in mind for the Retro

[00:09:09] Wildlands as a whole.

[00:09:11] I think it was around episode 37 where I had stopped posting new videos and that was a

[00:09:16] couple of months ago.

[00:09:18] It was just hard to find the time to put everything together and then rendering the

[00:09:23] entire video took anywhere between 5-8 hours on my dinky little laptop, so I started

[00:09:29] to deprioritize the whole idea.

[00:09:33] And seeing as I've only put out 4 new podcast episodes this year, not counting this one,

[00:09:38] it's fairly evident that I have not had a lot of time to devote to the show so far this

[00:09:43] year.

[00:09:44] However, I decided to set the RSS feed up on our YouTube channel so the rest of our

[00:09:50] backlog is up on YouTube now if you enjoy listening to your podcasts over there.

[00:09:57] They aren't the cool looking slideshows I wanted but at the end of the day I

[00:10:01] do want to get the podcast into more ears regardless of where those ears listen to the

[00:10:06] show.

[00:10:07] So, if you haven't already subscribed to the Retro Wildlands on YouTube, feel free

[00:10:12] to give it a follow.

[00:10:14] And while we're on the topic, feel free to follow us on all the other social

[00:10:18] platforms that we're on.

[00:10:20] The easiest way to pick and choose those would be to visit the link tree that I

[00:10:24] set up that has all of our socials in one place.

[00:10:28] All you need to do is go to linktr.ee forward slash retro wildlands and you can find

[00:10:35] us on your favorite social platform.

[00:10:38] The best part is I'm typically not someone who posts multiple things every day so if

[00:10:43] you're just looking for a nice little bit of retro spice to add to your timelines

[00:10:48] and feeds and then you're good for the rest of the day, the Retro Wildlands

[00:10:53] is for you my friend.

[00:10:55] Sometimes I post pictures of my game collection, sometimes I make posts about

[00:10:58] what's going on around here but our social platforms are where you can interact with

[00:11:03] the show when I put a call out for comments about the game or topic that

[00:11:06] I'm covering on our next show.

[00:11:09] So if you want to have a comment read and responded to by moi, our social media

[00:11:13] pages are where you can hang out to do that.

[00:11:17] And be sure you continue to stay tuned.

[00:11:19] We're going to dive into comments about Doom left by our community later in this

[00:11:24] section of the show today.

[00:11:27] So beyond all that, I've greatly consolidated the games that I've been

[00:11:31] playing lately into three.

[00:11:34] First I'm playing a retro title for our next episode and if you're curious as

[00:11:38] to what that might be, stick around to the end of the show and I'll get

[00:11:41] into what's coming up on the podcast next.

[00:11:45] Second I have been playing the absolute crap out of Hogwarts legacy on my

[00:11:50] PlayStation 5.

[00:11:53] If you caught our last podcast episode, I mentioned that my wife got into Hogwarts

[00:11:57] when I came back from my work trip a few months ago.

[00:12:01] But I had also picked up Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth the day after I got back as well.

[00:12:07] I had started both games and both games hooked me pretty good but I could only

[00:12:12] realistically balance one open world modern game and I needed to decide

[00:12:16] which one.

[00:12:18] Originally I was going to stick with Rebirth, especially since a bunch of

[00:12:22] online knuckleheads were starting to post story spoilers online.

[00:12:27] But the more I played Hogwarts, the more it sucked me in.

[00:12:32] It was especially fun playing for a bit and then watching Justine play her

[00:12:36] character.

[00:12:37] We shared secrets, we learned, and we helped each other with the occasional

[00:12:41] puzzle.

[00:12:43] My sister-in-law and my niece had recently played the game as well.

[00:12:47] It's been a really fun few weeks being able to play a game that my family has

[00:12:51] been into so that's a big reason I gravitated towards Hogwarts over Rebirth.

[00:12:58] Plus the game is genuinely fun and I've had a blast completing as much of it

[00:13:03] as I can.

[00:13:04] The way the game tracks quests and side objectives is very cool and

[00:13:09] anytime I sit down to play I never feel like my time is wasted.

[00:13:13] I'm always progressing and I'm always acquiring something new.

[00:13:18] After a while, checking everything off on the quest list and hitting all the

[00:13:22] side objectives became a little obsessive actually.

[00:13:27] I just had to get and do all the things.

[00:13:31] I finally did though and after about 50 hours I consider my time in

[00:13:37] Hogwarts complete.

[00:13:39] Overall it's very easy to see why it sold so well.

[00:13:43] I personally am not the world's biggest Harry Potter fan but I had a blast with this game.

[00:13:50] It's very easy to get into and it did a really good job of striking a balance

[00:13:54] between story, exploration, and combat.

[00:13:58] But I will say my absolute favorite part was fully embracing the dark arts

[00:14:04] and using the three available unforgivable curses in battle.

[00:14:08] After 50 hours I became a force to be reckoned with

[00:14:12] and I loved mowing down my enemies in droves.

[00:14:17] I doubt I'll ever go back to this one but I highly encourage anyone listening

[00:14:22] to give this game a try if you haven't.

[00:14:25] It is one of the best games that I've completed so far this year

[00:14:29] and all the hype about this game is 100% real.

[00:14:34] So while my wife was busy carving out her legacy playing Hogwarts

[00:14:38] I slowly started developing an itch to play an RPG of my own on my Switch

[00:14:43] while I was on the couch watching her play Hogwarts.

[00:14:47] And that's when I decided that I wanted to finally play Final Fantasy IX.

[00:14:54] Square Enix will sometimes discount their games across various platforms

[00:14:58] and when they discounted it on the Switch last I scooped it up.

[00:15:03] This game occasionally pops up and I continually get reminded that I need to play it.

[00:15:09] Now for those of you who have been with the podcast for a while you may remember

[00:15:14] I started a playthrough of Final Fantasy VI last summer when I was on vacation.

[00:15:20] I got a good way through the game but ultimately abandoned it for other games

[00:15:24] and I just spent too much time away from it.

[00:15:28] While I considered going back to VI or I even considered restarting it from scratch

[00:15:33] because I really did enjoy playing the game and I wouldn't mind such a thing

[00:15:37] a couple things drove me to play Final Fantasy IX.

[00:15:42] First, IX is coming up on its 25th anniversary next year

[00:15:46] and I thought it would be cool to finally partake in this game

[00:15:49] so I could celebrate with all of you nerds who hold this game up in such high regard.

[00:15:55] Second, one of the gaming podcasts that I listened to in my limited free time

[00:16:00] called Pixel Project Radio did a four episode spread on Final Fantasy IX.

[00:16:08] Rick Firestone over at PPR does some amazing work

[00:16:12] and I wanted to be able to listen to him

[00:16:14] and host of the Unlockables podcast Eric Guess talk about Final Fantasy IX.

[00:16:20] And I mean that in all seriousness and sincerity

[00:16:24] neither Rick nor Eric asked me to plug their shows.

[00:16:28] Both of these gentlemen do some amazing work on their shows

[00:16:32] so I encourage you to give their shows a listen

[00:16:34] if you're looking for more gaming podcast content.

[00:16:39] So yeah, I'm about 17 hours into Final Fantasy IX

[00:16:43] and I am having an absolute blast.

[00:16:46] Story-wise, without spoiling anything,

[00:16:49] I'm at the part of the game where you discover the outer continent

[00:16:53] for the first time and I'm about an hour or so into exploring it.

[00:16:57] If you play the game before, I'm sure you've got a decent idea of where I'm at.

[00:17:02] Also worth mentioning,

[00:17:03] while the Nintendo Switch version of the game has some nice boosters

[00:17:07] that I can use to max out my party from the start

[00:17:10] or do things like make all my attacks land 9999 damage,

[00:17:15] I'm playing this game as purely as I can.

[00:17:19] I may speed up time every now and then when I'm grinding out levels

[00:17:22] but I'm going for the most authentic experience possible.

[00:17:27] I'd love to cover Final Fantasy IX on the podcast at some point

[00:17:31] but I often wonder if I'd be able to do a big game like this justice.

[00:17:36] There is a lot going on in this game

[00:17:38] and there's several thematic elements consistently in play.

[00:17:42] I don't know if I'm smart enough to really articulate those things

[00:17:45] but we'll see.

[00:17:47] If you would love to hear my take on 9 when I'm finished,

[00:17:51] do not hesitate to reach out to me and let me know.

[00:17:55] Alright, and with that I think that's all I've really got this time around.

[00:18:00] It's time to start transitioning to the reason that you're all here today.

[00:18:04] It's time to talk about DOOM.

[00:18:09] We had a few listener comments submitted through social media about DOOM

[00:18:12] so let's check in with some of your fellow Wildlanders

[00:18:15] and get their take on DOOM before we get going.

[00:18:20] First up we had Aaron from the SuperPodSaga podcast

[00:18:23] chime in over on our Twitter slash X page.

[00:18:27] He said,

[00:18:28] Dude, my grandpa liked to tinker with computers

[00:18:32] and always had a stack of floppy disks with DOOM on them.

[00:18:36] One time he gave my brother and me a computer of our own

[00:18:39] and we played DOOM over and over and over.

[00:18:43] It's just so good.

[00:18:46] Ah yes, the old stack of floppies.

[00:18:50] You know there was a point I had to explain to my stepdaughter

[00:18:54] what a floppy disk was and holy shit did I feel old as hell

[00:18:59] by the end of that conversation.

[00:19:01] But that's how it was at our house and even at some of my friends' houses.

[00:19:06] Just a stack of disks held together with a rubber band.

[00:19:09] But for DOOM it was totally worth it.

[00:19:13] I envy you and your brother Aaron.

[00:19:16] I know if I had a brother guaranteed that's what we would have done.

[00:19:20] We would have stayed up late at night and took out demons.

[00:19:24] That's how solid lasting relationships are built.

[00:19:28] I would have loved to see your grandfather play some DOOM back in the day.

[00:19:32] I'll bet that was magical.

[00:19:35] Thanks for the comment and memory Aaron.

[00:19:39] Poppy the Keaton reached out over on our Blue Sky page and said,

[00:19:44] I don't have any actual memories of the original game but I do love that soundtrack.

[00:19:51] I'm glad you brought up the soundtrack Keaton.

[00:19:53] While I think most everyone is fairly familiar with the music from the game's first level called

[00:19:58] At DOOM's Gate, I do think the rest of the soundtrack is pretty solid.

[00:20:04] The game does swing back and forth between two extremes in some cases though.

[00:20:09] The music is either Balls to the Wall or it's slow and dark and melodic.

[00:20:16] I love that the music was largely inspired by metal and I read that the music composer

[00:20:21] Bobby Prince took inspiration from bands like Pantera, Slayer, Metallica, Black Sabbath and others.

[00:20:30] Whether the music was dialed up to intensity or dialed back, it all really works here

[00:20:37] and really helps immerse the player into the world.

[00:20:41] Whether you're the lone space marine slinking through corridors picking off enemies methodically

[00:20:46] or you're ripping through a swath of demons with a chainsaw,

[00:20:50] the music absolutely works and is even good enough to listen to outside of the game.

[00:20:56] Thank you very much for your comment today Poppy.

[00:20:58] I appreciate it.

[00:21:01] Curtis had a pretty fun story that he shared over on our Facebook page.

[00:21:06] He said,

[00:21:07] I mentioned it before but my first memory of the original DOOM was playing it at another family's

[00:21:12] house. They were family friends and when the parents got together I got bored.

[00:21:18] So they let me play on their computer.

[00:21:21] I remember being so focused, killing monsters and demons, loving my chainsaw and slowly

[00:21:28] feeling worse and worse the longer that I played until I had to stop completely and lay

[00:21:34] down on the floor dizzy. Back then we had no idea that a computer game could cause motion sickness.

[00:21:43] So it was years later working at EB games when I actually realized that was why I

[00:21:49] had felt so sick. We had always thought that I drank too much soda or something.

[00:21:57] I laughed while I was reading this for the first time but I promised Curtis I was not laughing

[00:22:01] because I was making fun. Motion sickness while gaming is something that I think I'm

[00:22:07] pretty resistant to so I've never had that experience first hand. Even playing games in VR

[00:22:13] doesn't really impact me that much unless I'm falling for a long period of time.

[00:22:19] And any time I ever felt sick for any reason soda was the one thing that my parents blamed

[00:22:24] it on too so it's funny that you say that as well. I think it can be turned off in

[00:22:30] modern versions of Doom but that back and forth sway that players would experience when

[00:22:36] moving around the game world was pretty intense. I found it more disorienting than anything else

[00:22:42] but I can see some people being thrown off by that and just the nature of FPS games in general,

[00:22:48] especially Doom. Hopefully you had some good memories with Doom Curtis despite the setbacks

[00:22:55] and thank you very much for sharing the story. Our last comment comes from Squidge who is one

[00:23:02] half of the Waffling Taylor's podcast. He reached out over on our Twitter slash X page and said

[00:23:11] Ah Doom, what a game. Pre-circle strafe on console was a test of pure determination in Will.

[00:23:20] Post-circle strafe on PC a few years later, pure demon carnage and slaughter.

[00:23:27] Chain saws and chain guns aplenty. Shoot it until it dies.

[00:23:33] So circle strafing in Doom was a strategy that I would employ very often. To the uninitiated,

[00:23:41] circle strafing would see you as the player walking sideways in a circle around your enemy

[00:23:47] while you face them so you could keep your sights on them and keep attacking them without interruption.

[00:23:53] This is a great way to avoid incoming attacks, especially from enemies like the imp or the

[00:23:58] barons of hell that would throw fireballs at you. Plus I noticed that because enemies are

[00:24:04] pretty good about just following you when they spot you, strafing is a great way to

[00:24:09] herd them all in a clump together. That makes them ripe for a rocket launcher,

[00:24:14] but sometimes enemies would strike each other and then fighting each other and ignoring me

[00:24:19] altogether. It was a great strategy and I'm pretty sure the speed at which you strafe is

[00:24:25] faster than your regular movement, but don't quote me on that. Still it was the perfect

[00:24:31] technique to do exactly what you said, Squidge. Shoot it until it dies.

[00:24:37] Thank you very much for the comment by the way, always a pleasure my friend.

[00:24:42] Originally released on December 10th, 1993, Doom would take the gaming world by storm and become

[00:24:51] not just one of the most influential first-person shooters of all time but one of the most

[00:24:56] recognized video games in history. Doom quite literally changed the game itself with regards

[00:25:03] to its graphical presentation, sound design, and gameplay. And wrapping it all up was a

[00:25:10] simple premise. Players would take control of a lone, unnamed space marine stationed on the

[00:25:17] planet Mars. After receiving a garbled message from a facility on Phobos, one of Mars's two moons,

[00:25:25] it becomes clear that something evil is lurking. You and an assault squad head in to take a look.

[00:25:33] Your order to secure the perimeter while the main attack squad goes into the heart of

[00:25:37] the Phobos facility. After several hours of hearing nothing but gunfire and screams over your radio,

[00:25:45] it all goes silent. With no way to get off Phobos, the only way out it seems is through.

[00:25:54] Or we could just sit back and wait for the inevitable, which would be so much easier.

[00:26:01] Maybe a simpler person would be okay with curling into a ball and hiding in the broom

[00:26:05] closet, but we are not that type of person, are we? We may be the last human alive, but we are not

[00:26:12] going down without a fight. So gear up, Wildlanders. Strap on your body armor, secure your helmets,

[00:26:20] and make sure that pistol you're carrying is locked and loaded. If we're fated to die alone

[00:26:27] on this moon, we're going to make sure we do it with a bloody smile on our face

[00:26:31] and a trigger finger that gets plenty of use. One of the best things about video games today

[00:27:33] in 2024 is how there are thousands upon thousands of games that have been made up to this point.

[00:27:41] And while not all of them are readily available, a good chunk of them are still accessible

[00:27:46] whether that's through physical means or digitally. And these games encompass so many

[00:27:52] amazing genres and ideas. And a lot of those games are thanks to not just the major triple A

[00:27:58] developers like Sony, Square Enix, Ubisoft or Nintendo, but a bunch of independent studios

[00:28:05] that are making even more unique experiences. Developers like Supergiant Games that brought

[00:28:11] us gems like Bastion, Transistor and Hades. Or developers like Hazel Light Studios that

[00:28:17] brought us Brothers, A Tale of Two Sons. It takes two and a way out. There are so many

[00:28:24] amazing ideas and concepts today that there is quite literally something for everyone.

[00:28:31] Hell when you take a moment and step back and look at it all, it really makes me proud of our

[00:28:36] fellow humans. Lots of people put countless hours of work and piles of creative energy into an

[00:28:44] idea that we get to see come to life and that others can enjoy. It always makes me smile

[00:28:50] thinking about that and I absolutely mean that. However, back in the early days, we didn't have it

[00:28:57] quite like we do today. In the early 1990s while video games were certainly popular and

[00:29:03] somewhat plentiful, developers were still experimenting and working through unique ideas

[00:29:08] that hadn't quite seen the light of day yet. The world at large seemed to know video games existed

[00:29:15] and they seemed fun enough, but what would bring it all to the next level? And another question

[00:29:22] being was the world ready for it? I've mentioned my own video game upbringing here

[00:29:29] and there over several episodes now. I mainly grew up a Nintendo kid going from the original

[00:29:35] NES to the Super Nintendo but ultimately transitioning to the Sony PlayStation where it was then that I

[00:29:42] truly embraced the concept of quote-unquote being a gamer. But between it all, I did dabble in some

[00:29:51] early bouts of PC gaming. My stepdad got us a Packard Bell computer at some point around 1994

[00:30:00] if I'm remembering my dates right and it was a sight to behold let me tell you.

[00:30:07] The one thing I remember most about it was the set of games on several CDs. Or maybe there are

[00:30:14] floppy disks, anyway. The main game was called Knowledge Adventure and within it there were

[00:30:21] smaller games like Undersea Adventure, KidZoo, Body Adventure, and 3D Dinosaur Adventure.

[00:30:29] These games used a lot of full motion video along with some pretty cool 3D effects for the time.

[00:30:37] Please tell me at least one person listening to this right now is nodding their head and you

[00:30:42] know exactly what I'm talking about. These games aren't anything to write home about or

[00:30:47] anything today, but man I would spend hours upon hours going from game to game.

[00:30:53] Eventually though my stepdad did get more games for the PC. One game that I played a ton of was

[00:31:01] a game called Strike Commander. This game was a flight combat simulator, but it came equipped

[00:31:08] with voice acted story segments and it had some basic forms of character choice that decided

[00:31:14] what missions you tackle in relation to the narrative. I'm sure it was my love for the

[00:31:21] movie Top Gun, but I loved flying in a fighter jet and dog fighting bad guys.

[00:31:27] I had absolutely no idea what the hell the story was supposed to be about, but I had a blast nonetheless.

[00:31:34] Eventually though my stepdad put Wolfenstein 3D on the computer and that game changed everything.

[00:31:42] There was no game quite like it at the time. Released in 1992, Wolfenstein 3D was a first

[00:31:49] person shooter where you're laying waste to Nazi scum in an attempt to escape castle Wolfenstein

[00:31:55] where you're being held prisoner. I often hear this game referred to as the grandfather of 3D

[00:32:03] first person shooters and I believe that is 100% accurate. Wolfenstein 3D's premise was pretty

[00:32:10] simple. Find the end of the level by taking out as many enemies as you can and maybe find

[00:32:15] some treasure along the way to pad your score. It was the beginning of a game genre that would only

[00:32:22] get better and better with time and talent. Anytime I could sneak onto the computer at home, I would

[00:32:28] fire up Wolfenstein and work my way through it. I was in awe of the presentation, the sound design

[00:32:36] and fast paced nature of it all. My best friend growing up had this game on his computer as

[00:32:42] well and we would spend hours upon hours mowing down Nazis together. I can even hear the sounds of

[00:32:49] this game in my sleep today. That will never not be satisfying. Soon though, my stepdad got a hold

[00:33:09] of Doom and the amount of time he spent on the computer quadrupled from that point forward.

[00:33:16] While Doom was pretty violent, bloody and had the occasional bit of demonic imagery sprinkled in here

[00:33:21] and there, I honestly remember being captivated just by the visuals in general and the sound design.

[00:33:29] The game was so much smoother than Wolfenstein or anything that I have played up to that point.

[00:33:35] The sounds of gunfire and the growls of the enemies were music to my ears, but what really caught my

[00:33:42] attention was how the levels had verticality. Wolfenstein levels were all done on a flat plane.

[00:33:50] You couldn't climb up or climb down, which is fine. It really wasn't anything that I

[00:33:55] thought I wanted or needed at that point. But I still remember the very first level

[00:34:01] of Doom and how, as soon as the level starts, your eyes immediately go to the center of the room.

[00:34:09] There's a small blue area of the floor and a few steps on the left that led down to it.

[00:34:16] That alone was cool, but then you take a left out of the room that you start in

[00:34:22] and you're faced with a set of actual stairs. Very basic stuff by today's standards,

[00:34:29] but holy shit was the concept of climbing stairs in a computer game something else back then.

[00:34:36] Programmers John Carmack and John Romero and the rest of the team at id Software

[00:34:42] masterfully constructed this game, and it became the basis for many great things to come.

[00:34:48] And while I'll probably touch on some of that as we go along today,

[00:34:52] there was one thing I kept wondering to myself as I was thinking about diving back into Doom

[00:34:57] for the podcast. Was Doom still fun to play today? Or did this game solely exist to elevate

[00:35:07] other games in this genre and nothing more? Does the fast-paced yet simplistic approach hold up

[00:35:14] today? Or is this game a relic of the past? Well my friends, I've spent a decent amount

[00:35:20] of time with Doom over the past few weeks and I have thoughts.

[00:35:25] Now, I ended up playing Doom two ways. First, I immediately downloaded it off Steam and played

[00:35:32] it all the way through on my PC. Second, I downloaded it on my Nintendo Switch and played

[00:35:38] it over there. I wanted to have an authentic PC experience when playing this game again,

[00:35:44] but I also wanted to see how things were changed up when playing it on console,

[00:35:49] both in the Switch's handheld mode and when docked using the Switch's pro controller.

[00:35:55] I'll touch on some of the subtle differences, but overall, the experience was solid both ways.

[00:36:03] So that said, let's get into this shall we? First things first, let's power up our PC.

[00:36:10] Huh, while I was preparing this script, I was actually wondering what version of Windows we had

[00:36:18] on our old Packard Bell at the time. Doom was originally released for the MS-DOS operating

[00:36:24] system, but I think we had a Windows version? Or maybe we just launched MS-DOS as an

[00:36:30] operating system separately? I can't really remember, but as I think about it,

[00:36:36] I think we had Windows 3.1 as our main operating system.

[00:36:44] Remember that sound? If it wasn't Windows 3.1, maybe it was Windows NT?

[00:37:00] No, I don't think so. At least to me, that chime does not sound familiar.

[00:37:06] I know, I'll bet it was Windows 95.

[00:37:14] Yeah, I have no idea, but let's just run with this gem of an operating system for the

[00:37:18] sake of imagination. Now, I want to make something abundantly clear before we move forward.

[00:37:26] While I certainly know my way around a computer these days, I am not an expert.

[00:37:31] I can't remember the specifics as to how I accessed Doom back in the day, and nowadays

[00:37:36] I would not consider myself a PC gamer in any capacity. So if I misquote something, use

[00:37:42] a wrong term or otherwise sound like an idiot when calling out how this game ran on PC back then,

[00:37:47] or now, you continuing to listen to this podcast waves your right to call me out or complain.

[00:37:55] Sound good? Good. When we do boot the game up, however we decide to, we are met with the game's

[00:38:02] title screen. At the top of the screen we see the iconic Doom logo in its blue, yellow, and

[00:38:18] orange-ish glory. Surrounded by literal demons of hell is our protagonist, the nameless space

[00:38:25] marine that fans of Doom have affectionately called Doom Guy. His eyes are visible from behind his helmet,

[00:38:33] and they relay a sense of determination mixed with a little bit of fear. It's a pretty bad

[00:38:39] ass title screen to be sure, and perfectly sets the stage for what's to come.

[00:38:44] Once we press a key on our keyboard or a button on our switch if you're playing along with a

[00:38:49] different console, we're taken to the main menu. Now the main menu options have certainly evolved

[00:38:57] over time. Back in the day though they were pretty simple. You had an option to start a new game,

[00:39:03] load an existing game, an options menu to tweak some settings, and a readme file that had

[00:39:10] some instructions on how to play the game as well as how to get your hands on additional episodes of

[00:39:15] the game. Originally when Doom was made available, the developers marketed the game using the

[00:39:22] shareware model. All told, the game had three episodes with several levels in each episode.

[00:39:30] The first episode was free to play, but to unlock the rest of the episodes and get the

[00:39:35] full experience, players would have to pay cold hard cash for that. The method is still around

[00:39:43] today in a roundabout way, though we don't really call it shareware anymore. It's not the best

[00:39:50] example, but the one game that comes to mind right away for me is Life is Strange, the episodic

[00:39:56] adventure game developed by Don't Nod Entertainment. I don't think it was this way in the very

[00:40:02] beginning, but I do know the first of its five episodes is available on Steam for free. It's a

[00:40:09] great way to start the game and if you want more you pony up the dough. That was the shareware model

[00:40:16] in a nutshell and it was widely successful. According to the interwebs, Doom ended up

[00:40:23] selling 3.5 million copies by 1999 and that to me is pretty damn impressive.

[00:40:31] Anyway, back to the menu options. Today's menu options are a bit different. First you can select

[00:40:38] single player for the traditional experience. Next there's a local multiplayer option. I didn't

[00:40:44] really dabble at all with the local multiplayer option, but I did mess around with it a little

[00:40:49] bit on the Switch. You can either take on the missions from each episode with up to three friends,

[00:40:55] which I think would be one hell of a time, or you can jump into a game of deathmatch where

[00:41:00] everyone is out to murder each other. And now that I think about it, I can't think of a

[00:41:05] better couch co-op experience. From what I remember, multiplayer like this was available

[00:41:12] back in the day, but I couldn't tell you a damn thing about it though. But I will say

[00:41:17] what I did test out on the Switch on my own makes me think playing multiplayer Doom today

[00:41:23] is still a fun time and I could see having a blast with some friends with this one.

[00:41:29] The last two options are pretty unique, but nothing I really messed with.

[00:41:33] In 2009, Xenomax Media, the parent company of Bethesda, ended up acquiring id Software

[00:41:41] and went on to publish future games for the series. So, on our menu here, we can see an option to

[00:41:48] access Bethesda.net as well as an option for add-ons. Now I don't want to get too far off track,

[00:41:56] but I did want to call out these add-ons really quick. From what I understand, there are several

[00:42:01] add-ons that you can attach to Doom that will add new levels and completely enhance or

[00:42:08] possibly alter the experience even further. One such add-on is called Sigil, which was created by

[00:42:16] one of Doom's original programmers John Romero. Sigil 2 was just recently released,

[00:42:23] which added even more content on Doom's 30th anniversary, which took place on December 10th,

[00:42:29] 2023. This game is still going strong today and I haven't even talked about the modding

[00:42:36] yet. I'm hoping I can devote some time to exploring some of these add-ons one day, but for now,

[00:42:43] we have plenty of game already in front of us and we're already past due jumping into this experience.

[00:42:50] Let's select single player and get rolling. From here, we can now select new game,

[00:42:57] load game, or we have the option for a level select. I don't remember if this option was

[00:43:03] available on the original release of Doom at launch, but the level select is an awesome feature.

[00:43:10] Each level has a bunch of secrets and multiple paths, and I can see this option getting some use

[00:43:15] if you really wanted to master a particular level. In our case, we're going to start from

[00:43:21] the very beginning, so let's select a new game. Next up, we need to select what episode

[00:43:27] that we want to play. The very first one, which was the free-to-play episode back in the

[00:43:32] day, is called Knee Deep in the Dead. The Shores of Hell and Inferno are episodes that you had to

[00:43:40] pay for in order to get access to them, but pretty much any modern version of Doom today will have

[00:43:46] these episodes included. There's also a fourth episode called Thy Flesh Consumed. In 1995,

[00:43:55] a version of Doom called Ultimate Doom was released and it contained this fourth episode.

[00:44:00] For us, though, we're going to start where it all began by selecting Knee Deep in the Dead.

[00:44:09] Awesome, we're almost there, but before we get into it, we have one more choice we need to make.

[00:44:15] We need to select the level of difficulty. Hurt Me Plenty is what I would consider

[00:44:22] the game's normal mode. If you go to easier modes like, hey, not too rough, or the easiest mode called,

[00:44:30] I'm too young to die, you'll see less monsters and you'll take less damage.

[00:44:37] Now if you really want to challenge, the ultra-violence difficulty increases the amount of

[00:44:42] monsters in a level and those monsters start to hit much harder. But maybe you're a psychopath

[00:44:49] and you get your jollies by playing our video games. The nightmare difficulty would be perfect for you.

[00:44:57] This difficulty includes more enemies who deal much more damage, who move much faster,

[00:45:04] and who frequently respawn after you kill them. I remember trying this difficulty as a kid

[00:45:11] and I swear, I was getting damaged by invisible enemies or something. It was absolutely brutal.

[00:45:20] In my opinion though, while I absolutely respect anyone who plays their game on easier

[00:45:26] difficulties, I really think this game is meant to be played at the standard level of difficulty,

[00:45:32] Hurt Me Plenty. It's a solid challenge and not too overwhelming.

[00:45:38] So, with that, let's select Hurt Me Plenty with Gritted Teeth and get ready for action.

[00:45:55] Oh man, there's plenty of awesome music tracks out there from both retro games and

[00:46:01] even modern games today, but name one track that gets you pumped up quicker than this one,

[00:46:08] At Dooms Gate. I'm sure some come close, but anytime I jump into this first level and this track

[00:46:15] comes on, I am immediately ready to kick some demon ass. When the game begins, we are immediately

[00:46:23] thrown in. There's no story text to explain what's going on or why we're here. All we know

[00:46:29] is we are alone, we have a handgun clutched in our fist, and there's the mutilated body of

[00:46:35] something just a few feet in front of us on the floor. Whatever caused that to happen is probably

[00:46:42] still around, but we've no time to worry about it. Our goal here, which will be the same as every

[00:46:49] level, is to find our way to the level's exit, plain and simple. Standing in our way will be

[00:46:56] several enemies as well as some locked doors and the occasional environmental hazard.

[00:47:02] Now before we get moving, let's take a look at our heads-up display, which is at the bottom of

[00:47:06] our screen. In the center we have the face of our hero, Doomguy. Just like in Wolfenstein, our hero's

[00:47:14] face is displayed and will gradually change as we take more damage. It's probably one of my

[00:47:21] favorite little touches. To the left we have our ammo counts. This is the amount of ammunition

[00:47:29] that we have in the weapon that we're currently holding in our hand. One of the best, yet somewhat

[00:47:34] unrealistic things about Doom, is the fact that we don't need to stop and reload our weapons when

[00:47:40] our magazines run dry. We start with 50 bullets and we can put all 50 through our handgun without

[00:47:47] pause if we really want it. And not to scare you or anything, but sometimes we may have to.

[00:47:53] While I appreciate the reload animations of some modern games, the lack of reloading in general

[00:48:00] just means we can concentrate on what we came here to do. Next to our ammo is our health,

[00:48:07] displayed in a percentage. This is fairly self-explanatory as we take damage that

[00:48:13] number will go down. Once it reaches zero, we're dead and we'll have to start the level

[00:48:18] all over again. To the right of our health is a section of the HUD called Arms. There are six

[00:48:26] unique firearms that we can collect in this game and as we collect them, the corresponding number

[00:48:32] will highlight. On PC, you can press a number on your keyboard to automatically switch to that weapon.

[00:48:40] On my Switch, I had to use the shoulder buttons and cycle through what weapons I had

[00:48:44] available to me. Either way, it's a nice way to keep track of what instruments of death that we have

[00:48:50] on hand. Moving to the right, we have an armor percentage. While we start off at zero percent,

[00:48:58] we can and we will find armor upgrades littered throughout the levels. The higher our armor

[00:49:05] percentage is, the less damage that will take from enemies. The caveat being, as we take

[00:49:12] damage, our armor will also decrease so we need to be mindful of that. Finally, we have an ammo

[00:49:19] counter all the way to the right of our HUD. While there is a backpack item that will increase how

[00:49:26] much ammo that we can carry, we are limited to only being able to carry so much. Starting out,

[00:49:32] those limits are 200 bullets, 50 shotgun shells, 50 rockets and 300 plasma cells.

[00:49:41] All we have right now is our 50 bullets, but not to worry, there will be plenty of firepower to

[00:49:47] procure as we go. Alright, that's pretty much the basics. We've got our bearings,

[00:49:54] our weapon is drawn, let's get going. Now controlling your character in Doom is obviously

[00:50:00] different depending on whether you're on PC, console, potato, pregnancy test or whatever it

[00:50:06] is that you're using to play Doom. I am primarily a console gamer, so going back to PC controls took

[00:50:14] me a hot minute to get used to. To move forward, backwards, left or right, you'll be pressing

[00:50:20] the W, A, S and D keys on your keyboard. I thought when I originally played Doom back in the day,

[00:50:28] that movement was relegated to your arrow keys, but I can't really remember if that was true

[00:50:33] or not. Anyway, using your mouse, you can change what direction you're facing.

[00:50:39] Even though there's some verticality to Doom's levels, you cannot look up or down, and honestly,

[00:50:45] that is fine by me. We can still shoot in those directions when the time comes,

[00:50:50] and that's really all that matters. While the PC controls aren't all that complicated,

[00:50:56] I still prefer console controls and think Doom has been made to work on console exceptionally

[00:51:02] well. I had a blast using either control scheme, so just for the sake of being a purist, we'll stick

[00:51:09] to the PC controls here. The area that we're in is your classic industrial looking interior.

[00:51:16] While these were 1993 graphics, the wall textures and graphical presentation overall

[00:51:23] still holds up today, and really sets the gritty tone for things to come.

[00:51:28] Now, I don't know about anyone listening who's ever played Doom before, but I always start off

[00:51:33] the first level by hanging a left from the starting point. When we do look left, we can

[00:51:38] see into a room that has the game's first instance of verticality, and that is in the

[00:51:45] form of a set of stairs. As we walk over to them, we'll automatically ascend them, and

[00:51:51] we'll come face to face with our very first items in the game. On the floor, we'll find a helmet.

[00:51:59] Walking over it, we'll have our character automatically pick it up and when we do,

[00:52:04] we'll notice our armor will increase by a whopping 1%.

[00:52:09] The armor bonus may not seem like much, but every advantage we can get is going to matter.

[00:52:16] Levels are going to be littered with armor bonuses and health bonuses too,

[00:52:20] so keep your eyes on the ground. There's two more armor pickups in front of us as a matter of fact,

[00:52:26] so let's grab those. I always wondered if Doomguy just put multiple helmets on his head when we

[00:52:32] collected these bonuses. Was it just me? Tell me somebody else had that mental image too.

[00:52:40] Anyway, further in front of us, we'll find a much more valuable item.

[00:52:45] On a pedestal, like it was set there for us to find, we'll see green body armor.

[00:52:52] Grabbing this will increase our armor to 100% and put us in a pretty good spot to start off,

[00:52:58] so let's strap that puppy on. Nice, looking good, Marine.

[00:53:04] Now as we make our way back, there are several health bonus items around the staircase that

[00:53:09] we can pick up to increase our health a few percentage points, as well as a couple more

[00:53:14] armor bonuses. Let's grab those really quick before moving on.

[00:53:20] Awesome, we're good to go. There is a secret switch in this area that we can flip to open

[00:53:26] up a secret area, but I'll let you discover that one on your own.

[00:53:32] There are secret switches and movable walls that will contain hidden areas and items at

[00:53:37] all levels, and half the fun is trying to discover those. Pressing the space bar on your keyboard

[00:53:44] is more or less your action button. You can use this to open up doors and flip switches.

[00:53:50] If you do this against a wall, you can hear Doomguy grunt as he tries to push on it or

[00:53:55] interact with the thing that's in front of him. If you were anything like I was when I was a

[00:54:01] kid, I was dragging my face along every wall trying to find false walls and secrets.

[00:54:11] You would have to get used to hearing Doomguy strain himself constantly.

[00:54:18] Anyhow, as we go back into the room that we started in, let's hang a left down the hallway.

[00:54:25] As we get to the end of that hallway, we're met with a large metal door.

[00:54:29] When we press our face against the door and hit the space bar, it'll open the door if it's not

[00:54:34] locked. This door certainly is not locked, so let's open it up and proceed onwards.

[00:54:43] Even that noise gives me the nostalgic tingles. I feel like that door sound is used in all sorts

[00:54:49] of media even today, and it all started with Doom. Once the door opens, we're greeted with a

[00:54:57] wide open room. There's computer monitors to the left and to the right of us, but what we see in

[00:55:03] the center is what should grab our attention. In a small area in front of us, we spot two threats.

[00:55:12] Two humans who clearly look like they used to be part of your military outfit start making

[00:55:17] their way towards you. These enemies are called zombie men or former humans. These guys are

[00:55:26] either the zombified remains of your former brothers and arms or they're actively possessed by whatever

[00:55:32] evil is running amok. While these guys may have been your friends in a former life, all they want to

[00:55:38] do now is see you dead. But we are not going to let that happen. Firing at these guys is as easy

[00:55:47] as pointing your weapon in their direction and pulling the trigger, or more accurately pressing

[00:55:52] the left mouse button. Let's get to work and mow these demons down. Nice. This demon will be the

[00:56:03] first to fall to our fury of bullets. Former humans like this will fire on us, and we need to make

[00:56:10] sure that we're constantly moving so we can try and avoid taking damage. The other demon in

[00:56:16] this area is pretty close to us now and he opens fire on us. Crap, looks like we took a

[00:56:25] round of the chest there. When we take damage, the screen will flash red and our health will

[00:56:31] decrease. The face of Doomguy on our HUD even grimaces with the pain. Our armor did a good

[00:56:38] job of lessening the blow a bit, but let's not give this guy the chance to injure us more.

[00:56:44] Let's fire back and take him out.

[00:56:50] Well done, soldier. When human enemies are taken out, they tend to drop ammo at their feet,

[00:56:57] so make sure you walk over their bloody corpses just in case.

[00:57:02] There we go. A few more bullets to add to our pile. Always be on the lookout for more ammo

[00:57:08] lying around, especially from the enemies you've dispatched. You do not want to be caught in a

[00:57:14] firefight and have to only rely on your bare fist to get out of it. Trust me, I have been there,

[00:57:20] it is not fun. Shooting at enemies in Doom is pretty intuitive for what it is.

[00:57:27] It's literally a point and shoot sort of system, and while I don't really understand

[00:57:32] the coding behind the scenes, bullets tend to hit their mark even if you aren't 100% zeroed in right

[00:57:39] at your target. Modern games now give you the ability to aim down sights and when hip firing,

[00:57:45] you're given an area on screen your bullets will sort of spray into, but Doom does firearms

[00:57:51] combat very well. You can put the focus on movement instead of having to worry about

[00:57:57] whether or not your shots are going to hit their mark. Speaking of the intuitiveness of shooting

[00:58:03] things, the next room is the perfect showcase for how shooting an enemy on a higher plane works.

[00:58:10] After we search the immediate area for more items, we move into what I like to call the

[00:58:16] zigzag room. The path in front of us sort of zigzags to the left and then to the right,

[00:58:22] or was it to the right or to the left? Anyway, the floor on either side of the room is filled with a

[00:58:27] green biohazardous liquid. We'll see much more of this green liquid as we move throughout Doom,

[00:58:33] but the long and short of it is, you can step on it, but you will take environmental damage

[00:58:38] over time and it will kill you if you let it. That said, let's do our best to avoid the

[00:58:44] green goo. We have more important threats to worry about in this room. Right in front of us

[00:58:50] is another former comrade that needs put down. There you go, you're not messing around now are you?

[00:59:01] Now there's an enemy further down the path that's pretty far away, but we can still hit them from here.

[00:59:08] I have to say by the way, I did enjoy aiming using a mouse. It felt very precise and quite

[00:59:14] fluid. See what I mean? Now there's one more new threat in the room. On our left, up high on a ledge,

[00:59:27] is an actual demon staring at us. This brown, humanoid demon is called an imp and what makes

[00:59:35] him dangerous is his razor sharp claws. The nice thing about where the imp is right now is

[00:59:41] that there's absolutely no danger of it ripping us apart with its claws. However, the imp does have

[00:59:48] one other way to attack us. It can summon and throw fireballs at us. Because the imp is so far away

[00:59:58] though we have plenty of time to strafe out of the way. But how do we shoot something so high up

[01:00:04] when we as the player cannot look off? Simple, just point your weapon in the direction of the

[01:00:10] imp and the bullets you fire will fly upwards and find their mark. See how easy that was?

[01:00:19] With the room clear, it's time to keep moving. Be sure to grab any ammo dropped by the two

[01:00:25] chaps that you dispatched and you'll definitely want to grab the shotgun shells on the floor

[01:00:29] heading towards the next room. There's one more room that we need to clear out and then

[01:00:35] we'll be at the end of the level. Let's move through the last big metal door in our way.

[01:00:44] Uh oh. Right in front of us is one of those imps that we just took out in the room behind us,

[01:00:49] except now he's on the same plane as us. Even this close the imp has no problems

[01:00:56] slinging fireballs at us in this narrow corridor so it's gonna be hard to sidestep these.

[01:01:05] Damn took one right on the chin. Well what are you waiting for? Pump this demon full of lead already.

[01:01:16] Shit he can sure take some punishment. He's getting closer so we need to use our mobility

[01:01:21] and reposition ourselves. Just watch that it doesn't swipe at us when we move past.

[01:01:27] Ah damn it. It would certainly help if we had a bigger weapon on hand or some other way to take

[01:01:35] this creature down. Aha do you see the gray drum in the middle of the hallway? The one that has

[01:01:43] what looks like the same green biohazard material in the room that we were just in?

[01:01:48] We can use that and even the odds considerably. Gray barrels like these are explosive and

[01:01:56] if we put enough bullets into them they'll explode and do some serious damage to anything caught in the

[01:02:01] blast. Let's use this to take out the imp. Whoa make sure you back up there champ. If we're too

[01:02:10] close to the barrel when it explodes we will also take massive damage and...

[01:02:18] Son of a bitch. Well we took out the imp but we also took ourselves out in the process.

[01:02:25] Since we didn't really think to save our game anywhere during the level now we have to

[01:02:29] start it all over from the beginning. It seems like such a dumb way to die but I remember that

[01:02:38] being exactly how I died when I played Doom for the very first time. I remember seeing my stepdad

[01:02:44] play and use that barrel as a way to take out enemies but for some reason it never donned on me

[01:02:49] that the explosion could potentially take me out too. But I was undeterred and immediately went back

[01:02:56] in for another go. Everything about the opening level told me exactly what I needed to know about

[01:03:03] the experience I was about to have. The graphical presentation set the stage beautifully and in

[01:03:09] that last room we were in there were some amazing lighting effects that were amazing back then

[01:03:15] that we absolutely take for granted nowadays. Even though the lights were just flickering

[01:03:22] anything in the dark areas were actually darker and harder to see. There are some levels that use

[01:03:28] lighting to great effect and it creates some amazing tense moments when you hear your enemies

[01:03:34] but you can't quite see where they are. The sound design was on another level and whenever I

[01:03:42] would hear the growl or roar of a monster I would find myself turning my actual head in the direction

[01:03:49] of those sounds. The presentation allowed you to get fully immersed in this world and I cannot

[01:03:55] count how many times I would play this game with the lights off and the speakers cranked to near

[01:04:00] max level. When you complete a level in Doom you're taken to the result screen.

[01:04:07] You're shown the area that you're in as well as several structures which serve as the levels

[01:04:13] themselves. We started off our journey in the hangar area. On screen the game would tally what

[01:04:21] percentage of all enemies in the level that we killed, a percentage of all the items that

[01:04:29] we picked up, and a percentage of how many secrets we discovered in the level.

[01:04:39] At the bottom of the screen were shown how much time we took to complete a level and a par time

[01:04:45] for the level. Apparently the par time for the first level was only 30 seconds.

[01:04:51] Do-able if you know what you're doing but I highly doubt you will get 100% in all areas

[01:04:56] and hit the par time. Still these results always found a way to push me to see if I could get 100%

[01:05:05] level completion. Personally I always strived for a 100% kill ratio but it was fun at times to try

[01:05:13] and pick up everything that I could find and see if I could locate all the level secrets.

[01:05:19] Once everything is tallied the game shows us the next place that we're going.

[01:05:23] And in our case now we are heading to the nuclear plant.

[01:05:31] While the first level of the game is a nice and perfect way to get your feet wet,

[01:05:36] mission 2 is where I feel the game truly begins. The music here is much more reserved than the

[01:05:43] last level and it creates a bit more of a tense atmosphere. I find that I slow down a little

[01:05:51] level and take my time. A new game mechanic is introduced in this level as well and that

[01:05:56] is the key card system. Some doors are going to be locked with either a blue, red or yellow

[01:06:03] key card and the only way you're going to find the exit to the level you're in is finding the

[01:06:07] right key card which opens the right way forward. As we continue to play through levels we'll

[01:06:13] notice that the sheer size and scope of the levels increase as well. The first level got

[01:06:19] you comfortable moving around and pulling the trigger but now the real fight begins.

[01:06:25] Now while you could find one in the first level if you open the right secret passage,

[01:06:30] the nuclear plant is home to arguably the best weapon in the entire game.

[01:06:36] Well maybe not the best weapon but it is absolutely my favorite.

[01:06:41] And that weapon is Doom's iconic Pump Action Shotgun.

[01:06:45] Once you pick up one of these bad boys, everything changes.

[01:06:51] Even Doomguy knows how awesome the shotgun is because as soon as you pick one up for the first

[01:06:56] time his stoic image at the bottom of the screen turns into a sadistic grin.

[01:07:03] While the shotgun fires slow it packs a serious punch. Most of your basic enemies

[01:07:09] and even some imps can go down with just one close up shot.

[01:07:14] And let me tell you, there aren't many things more gratifying than clearing a room out one shotgun

[01:07:21] blast at a time. See what I mean? I'm sure at least one of you listening has at least

[01:07:33] a half a smile on your face. Actually you know what I take that back. You know what is

[01:07:39] better? Getting to use an explosive barrel properly and watching several enemies just

[01:07:45] dissolve into piles of flesh and bone. This level has several instances where you can

[01:07:51] pull this off and man does it make me smile every time.

[01:07:59] That never gets old. A lot of what made and still makes Doom so enjoyable to play

[01:08:06] is wandering around each level and exploring. Other than finding health items to keep you alive

[01:08:12] and ammo to keep your weapons fed, the real rewards come in finding new weapons to add to

[01:08:17] your arsenal. I think we all have our preferred weapons or at least our favorites. I do love

[01:08:24] the shotgun personally, it just sounds awesome and for some reason it actually has pretty

[01:08:29] decent damage at long range too. But the next weapon most players are probably going to come

[01:08:36] across is the chain gun. Much like the chain gun in Wolfenstein 3D, this monster spits out

[01:08:44] bullets at a rapid fire pace. Oh yeah definitely grab a towel off the rack over there if you

[01:08:57] need one. What I find most useful about the chain gun is how it seems to stun lock

[01:09:03] enemies in place while you pump them full lead. It's almost like they're shifting between

[01:09:08] sprite animations back and forth causing them to stay in one place. The instruction manual

[01:09:14] actually calls this the quote unquote chain gun cha cha and it is 100% accurate. It can be easy

[01:09:21] to blow all your bullets using the chain gun though but you cannot beat the stopping power.

[01:09:28] As long as I had bullets to use, I would use this over my starter pistol nearly every single time.

[01:09:35] The rocket launcher is a great addition to any game and it's certainly a great addition to Doom.

[01:09:41] While my personal favorite gaming rocket launcher is the one from the original Resident Evil,

[01:09:46] Doom's rocket launcher is no slouch either. Rockets never seem to be very plentiful in

[01:09:52] this game but they do pack a punch. A blast from one of these will kill most rank and file

[01:09:58] enemies outright and seriously injure some of the bigger bads. Like any rocket propelled

[01:10:04] explosive ordinance, rockets explode on impact and damage anything around them.

[01:10:12] It's hard to gauge the blast radius but I can promise, as soon as you accidentally kill

[01:10:17] yourself with one of these, you will learn. I never used the rocket launcher unless there was a bunch

[01:10:23] of enemies together and I could guarantee I'd hit the crowd. There is nothing like turning a mob of

[01:10:30] demons into paste. Oh that's the stuff. If I'm not using the rocket launcher against a mob of

[01:10:41] lesser enemies it's certainly a great weapon to use against the bigger enemies so don't count

[01:10:46] out the rocket launcher, just make sure you're not standing too close. Doom also featured some

[01:10:53] futuristic weaponry that the player could find. Probably the most useful and relatively easier

[01:11:00] one to use was the plasma rifle. I don't know if this weapon was lying around somewhere in any

[01:11:06] of the first episode levels but I did start seeing this weapon when I jumped into Episode 2,

[01:11:11] The Shores of Hell. This wonderful killing instrument fires plasma energy at your enemies and the

[01:11:18] plasma keeps flowing until you let off the trigger. Once you do, there is a moment of recoil before you

[01:11:25] can fire again but this beauty is perfect for laying waste to clusters of enemies or even

[01:11:31] keeping some of the bigger baddies at bay. The problem here is plasma cells don't seem to be

[01:11:38] very plentiful so I kept this gun in reserve and only really brought it out when shit hit the fan.

[01:11:44] Plus there's one last weapon that used plasma cells and I would try to save up as many as I

[01:11:50] could if I wanted to use this beast. That's right, I'm talking about the BFG-9000.

[01:11:59] I believe the BFG, according to the game's story, stands for Bio Force Gun.

[01:12:06] But that sounds boring, we all know what the BFG stands for.

[01:12:11] No no no, not big fricking gun and no not big fancy gun. It's big fucking gun and this beast

[01:12:20] absolutely deserves the name. Using 40 plasma cells each time you fire it,

[01:12:27] the BFG pumps out a huge green ball of plasma that will kill almost everything on impact that

[01:12:34] isn't a boss monster and it will do considerable splash damage to anything around the impact site.

[01:12:42] The best part about this weapon though is that the splash damage that I just mentioned

[01:12:46] does not harm the player which dramatically increases its usefulness.

[01:12:52] There is a pretty big delay between pulling the trigger and the weapon actually firing so it

[01:12:57] does take some getting used to in practice. While I can make arguments about the versatility

[01:13:03] of other weapons compared to the BFG, it is still the best weapon when you want to redecorate a room

[01:13:09] with the entrails of your enemies. Ah that looks nice, I do enjoy that particular shade of red.

[01:13:21] When I finished playing through enough of Doom to where I was satisfied enough to start

[01:13:25] preparing this podcast episode, I found myself continuing to go back and play it every now

[01:13:30] and then. Sometimes I would jump into a specific level to see if I could find more secrets or

[01:13:35] sometimes I tossed in a cheat code to see if I could spend a few minutes vaporizing everything

[01:13:40] with the best weapons. I cannot think of a time where I was not having fun playing Doom.

[01:13:48] While looking for secrets did start to wear on me a little bit, since there's really only so

[01:13:53] much rubbing my face on a wall and hitting the spacebar that I could handle in one sitting,

[01:13:57] I enjoyed playing this game. I was fascinated to learn about the game's development as I

[01:14:03] went too. While I used to make websites in past life, I didn't really have an appreciation for

[01:14:10] what went into the development of a game like this and why it was so significant.

[01:14:16] However Jay from the Waffling Tatlers podcast summed this all up perfectly and I wanted

[01:14:21] to quote a tweet that he had sent me a few weeks back. Jay had said,

[01:14:26] I always tell people this, but the thing that I love about Doom is John Carmack's amazing code.

[01:14:34] The reason it runs on pretty much anything is because he took the time to really think about

[01:14:40] the design of the code and applied software engineering processes when writing the code base.

[01:14:46] He was using techniques that weren't standardized in the dev industry until the year 2000.

[01:14:52] And because he did that, and most game devs don't, hoarding it to a new system is a doodle.

[01:14:59] You twiddle a few lines of code and voila! There's a reason why he's one of my

[01:15:05] software engineering heroes and Doom is it. Dude really is a grand high wizard

[01:15:12] and all the other names that Civvie calls him.

[01:15:16] Well said Jay and even when I talk to others they gush over the techniques used and

[01:15:21] how revolutionary the development process was for this game.

[01:15:25] Wolfenstein 3D was a great game in its own right, but Doom started pressing the envelope in terms of

[01:15:31] game environments, incorporating things like verticality and even angled walls.

[01:15:37] Not only was this game coded masterfully, I think I was more impressed with the character

[01:15:42] and enemy designs in the game. I had read that clay molds were created for the enemies

[01:15:49] and that those were scanned into the game, which is why they look so badass even on a 2D plane.

[01:15:55] A Hollywood monster maker was even brought in to help with some of the designs.

[01:16:01] The presentation on the outside and under the hood is still appealing today

[01:16:06] and very rarely do I find myself thinking about the fact that I was playing a 30 year old video

[01:16:12] game. During the actual gameplay experience itself I genuinely had a good time for the majority

[01:16:18] of the time that I sunk into Doom. While I don't play a ton of them, I am genuinely a first person

[01:16:25] shooter fan through and through. And while I'm sure this isn't true for all first person

[01:16:30] shooter campaigns out there, I feel like most of the modern ones nowadays are just glorified

[01:16:36] roller coaster rides. There's plenty of highs and lows when it comes to the storytelling

[01:16:42] and the action set pieces, but ultimately you're on rails. You have some dialogue to further the

[01:16:48] story, you make your way to an area, shoot bad guys and things like you're in a carnival shooting

[01:16:53] gallery, talk some more, move to the next area, maybe get blown out of a helicopter,

[01:16:59] participate in the next shooting gallery, you get the idea. And while I know not all first

[01:17:05] person shooters follow this formula, it just seems like all the more modern ones I play

[01:17:11] follow this formula. And I want to be clear though, I like this formula, I definitely enjoy the action

[01:17:17] set pieces and I don't mind standing in place and putting a couple bullets between the eyes of

[01:17:22] some enemies. But that said though, Doom was a nice change of pace from all of that.

[01:17:28] I enjoyed being tossed into a level with just the goal of reaching the end

[01:17:32] and I loved exploring a level and discovering things within it instead of just being led

[01:17:37] by the hand from place to place. There were no objective markers or waypoints. While there was

[01:17:44] a map that I could access in Doom at any time and it was certainly useful to see places that I had

[01:17:49] been yet, it was all on me to discover and I needed to find the way forward. I needed to

[01:17:56] find the key that opens the door or I needed to locate the passage that gets me into the next

[01:18:01] section of the level. All the while I had a blast hunting down enemies that I might have seen or heard

[01:18:09] and while there were times I would find myself stuck in some of the larger levels unsure of where

[01:18:14] I needed to go and what I might have missed, be it a keycard or a switch on the wall,

[01:18:19] it never really frustrated me. Well hold on, I take that back. Sometimes it was frustrating

[01:18:26] to hit a switch and hear something in the level open up and not know exactly what opened.

[01:18:32] Even more agitating is if the door was timed and I couldn't get to it fast enough or I didn't even

[01:18:38] know what opened so I didn't even know where the hell I needed to go. It's minor gripes in

[01:18:43] the grand scheme of things but that did sting a little bit. If this ever did happen to me,

[01:18:49] it was in the late game or where the levels were much larger. Once you put time into a

[01:18:55] level though it's just like anything else. You learn the layouts, you commit the secrets to memory

[01:19:00] and then from that point on you're golden. As we start to wrap it up I don't think I have much

[01:19:06] more to say when it comes to Doom. Whether you're a hardcore gamer, casual gamer or just someone

[01:19:13] who's been anywhere near the hobby, Doom is a game that undoubtedly holds meaning to you.

[01:19:20] It could be an appreciation for its development for instance. How a few talented people came together

[01:19:27] and found a way to not just make a video game and take it to the next level but find ways to set

[01:19:32] the standard in game design using techniques that even AAA developers aren't using today.

[01:19:39] I will say if that's something that tickles your pickle, Jay recommended a book called

[01:19:44] the Game Engine Black Book, Doom, which goes into detail around Doom's development and how the game

[01:19:51] engine works. From what I see it's a fairly technical but highly recommended read for anyone

[01:19:58] interested in that side of the industry. That's not a paid endorsement or anything,

[01:20:03] it's just more of an FYI. I may pick up a copy myself if for no other reason than to just

[01:20:08] keep learning. Another appreciation you might have for Doom is the constant community support.

[01:20:16] I am not one for modding the games I play mainly because I don't think I'm smart enough for that,

[01:20:21] but there's a large community who are still playing Doom and finding ways to inject new

[01:20:26] life into it. Just the other day actually I saw someone on Twitter talk about how they created

[01:20:33] a new lightning gun that they had developed that would zap enemies and other enemies around them.

[01:20:40] Between mods and the numerous add-ons already developed, there is plenty of content to go around.

[01:20:47] Maybe your appreciation for Doom is the fact that this game is still very playable today.

[01:20:53] I was talking to my stepson Landon the other day about Doom and he, a 16 year old and I,

[01:20:59] a 39 year old, were talking about how awesome this game was to play.

[01:21:04] There is no generational divide with this game and that speaks volumes. He plays a ton of first

[01:21:10] person shooters and multiplayer arena style games and the fact that he has fun with Doom today

[01:21:17] makes me smile. One of these days I'd love for the two of us to play cooperatively through

[01:21:22] the game together. That would be pretty awesome. But maybe your appreciation comes from a different

[01:21:29] place, say that of nostalgia. I've had people I know talk to me about how they would stay up for

[01:21:36] hours and hours playing through this game or how they would play with friends or siblings.

[01:21:42] How some would find ways to raise their own money or save up their allowance so they could

[01:21:47] have a hope of convincing their parents to get the other episodes of the game.

[01:21:53] Everything about this game invokes a memory, even from myself. From the games opening music to just

[01:22:00] the sound of picking up a shotgun, my mind goes back to when I was a kid and I had nothing

[01:22:05] to worry about other than making sure I did my chores so I could continue to game.

[01:22:10] I have some good memories playing video games with my stepdad growing up but as an only child,

[01:22:16] video games were my main companion. Thinking back, some of my favorite memories with this game

[01:22:23] were ones where I would settle into the desk chair, a blanket would be pulled over me,

[01:22:28] I would have a bowl of pretzels to my left and all I had for light was the glow of the

[01:22:33] computer monitor. I didn't know it at the time but I was incredibly lucky and

[01:22:39] blessed to be able to do the thing I was about to do.

[01:22:45] And when I booted up Doom to replay it for the podcast, a lot of warm memories flooded back

[01:22:50] for me. My parents getting our first computer, how my stepdad beamed with pride as he showed

[01:22:57] it off to our family and friends, how my mom would play mahjong at the tile matching game

[01:23:03] for hours after work to de-stress, how I eventually got my own second hand computer for my room and

[01:23:11] I would spend hours on it gaming and learning how to make my own video game websites.

[01:23:17] While Doom will go down in history for a lot of important reasons, it will remain an important

[01:23:23] game to me because it's a direct link to my past. A past that is certainly filled with a bunch

[01:23:30] of wonderful memories. And all it takes to bring all those warm and fuzzies back to me

[01:23:38] is the sound of a shotgun and a mental image of Doomguy with that shit eating grin on his face.

[01:24:25] And with that we've come to the end of another expedition into the retro gaming wildlands

[01:24:31] my friends. This has been episode 53 of the retro wildlands Doom, originally on the MS DOS but

[01:24:40] available on pretty much everything. Thank you very much for tuning into the show today.

[01:24:47] Before I started to write the script for this podcast I really had no idea how in-depth this

[01:24:53] game really was. While the gameplay and all that aren't super deep per se, I learned a

[01:25:00] lot about this game's development and its impact on gaming as a whole. I'm sure I did not do this

[01:25:07] game complete justice on the show today but I hope I at least captured the basics. Mainly what makes

[01:25:13] this game fun today and why it's special to me personally. And now that I've replayed it and

[01:25:19] know my stepson has an appreciation for it, this certainly will not be the last time I dive into

[01:25:26] it. If it's been a while for you or you somehow have not played this game I definitely think you

[01:25:32] should get on that. Doom isn't overly expensive and it's available practically everywhere.

[01:25:40] I bought this game twice and didn't spend more than 10 US dollars on it. Worth every

[01:25:45] single penny back then and certainly worth every single penny today.

[01:25:51] If you like the show and want to show it and myself some support please consider subscribing to the

[01:25:57] Retro Wildlands on your preferred podcasting platform. Because I find the need to make these

[01:26:03] shows the way that I do they can be time consuming to make and publish while I balance

[01:26:09] all the other aspects of my life. That being said, while I try to make episodes as often

[01:26:16] as I can, your best bet is to subscribe to the show so that you are immediately notified when a new

[01:26:22] episode is dropped. Now if you really like the show and you have a few minutes to spare,

[01:26:28] I would absolutely appreciate it if you left us a good review on your podcasting platform

[01:26:34] if you're able to do so. You can leave a star rating on Spotify or a written review over on

[01:26:40] iTunes, PodChaser, PodBean, which is the platform I use to host the show, or on this brand new site

[01:26:47] that I just recently discovered called Goodpods. Good reviews will help circulate the show around,

[01:26:53] but more importantly, I would love to hear that you enjoyed what it is that I'm putting

[01:26:58] together here. I am just a middle-aged man who loves video games and talking at a microphone,

[01:27:05] so it would absolutely make my day if you could give us a good review.

[01:27:09] But as always, do not feel obligated. Your time is precious and just the fact that you spent some

[01:27:17] of your time with me today listening to my show is much more than I could possibly ask for, so

[01:27:24] above all else, I just want you to know I really really appreciate you being here.

[01:27:30] So, what's coming up next? Those that have been with us for a while may know this already,

[01:27:37] but I was more or less a Nintendo kid growing up. While I did have access to a Sega Genesis,

[01:27:45] I've barely played anything on the platform. Through other gamers and, well, through some

[01:27:51] other podcasts that I've listened to, I have heard about a lot of great games on the

[01:27:56] Sega Genesis. But there's one game that I've been meaning to dive into for a while now, and I think

[01:28:03] it's finally time. People say it is a must-play game, and they often compare it to Contra,

[01:28:11] which immediately gets my attention. It's a run-and-gun shooter that has some serious,

[01:28:17] fast and furious action, and to me, that is all I need to be even remotely interested.

[01:28:24] So, if you'd like, be sure to subscribe to the Retro Wildlands so you're notified when we

[01:28:29] head back into the gaming wilderness. Because next time, I'm going to be checking out

[01:28:36] Gunstar Heroes. It should be an awesome time, and it'll be even

[01:28:41] awesomer with you here, so I'm hoping you decide to stick with us and join us on another

[01:28:46] awesome adventure. Until then, my friends, my name is Nomad and you can find me...

[01:28:55] Roaming the Retro Wildlands.