Doom was pulled from Xbox Live Arcade in October 2010. A few days ago, the January 18, 2012, was re-released by Bethesda. In 1993 John Carmack and id Software team give us speechless with Doom, an action game in first person that came when the genre was still in its infancy and we were trying to recover from the impact that marked the classic 3D Wolfestein. This particular trip to hell that we participated for almost two decades, popularized this kind of games so that today it is impossible to understand the rise and success without Doom. After receiving countless conversions to all imaginable types of platforms and mods of all types and colors, Xbox Live still receive the original title of the series a few years after it was removed from the bazaar.
Despite being one of the pioneers of the genre, Doom has little or nothing to do with what we're used to seeing today. The games first person shooter has evolved greatly over the years and at first glance may seem extremely simple title because of its limited gameplay. We can only move, sprinting, look sideways, change weapons and shoot. Therefore, we can not point up or down and also have the option to jump. So, for example, to target foes in high places will suffice to have the gun pointed to his direction. Currently, this system can be targeted very strange, but just because of its simplicity it take to get used to it. But where Doom shows his true weapon is with great level design. Forget corridors where sticking straight forward shot and waiting for some kind of script to jump in this game every level is a maze filled with enemies who do not hesitate to round to catch them unawares as have the opportunity.
The exploration and memorization will be essential. The scenarios are filled with secret areas, corners and shortcuts, and its design will force us to be vigilant at all times to guide us. Moreover, these switches will be amended as we go to press or sites accessed, something that will give more than one rodeo. Nor can we forget the keys. We find three colors (red, blue and yellow) and will be key to open certain doors and power forward. Another feature of the gameplay that has been lost today is their health system. Here not recover life when no damage. We will have a health meter will decrease with each hit to suffer. To recover we have to find many kits all over the stage and depending on their size will cure us more or less. In addition to these kits, we can find armor that we fill a secondary meter will go down well when we suffer damage, but dampen the amount of life lost. This system gets rather give some strategy to the game and take advantage of its level design, and that often leave without picking up kits and memorize their location to do it later as it suits us.
As for the enemies that we will, given the time that created the title, do not expect complex routines in their behaviors or Artificial Intelligence remove their hats. Here the only strategy they know is coming at us head-attacking with everything they have, but this does not mean either that it will be a walk, because they are usually quite hard and normally attack us in great numbers. We will have five levels of difficulty to choose the most suited to our level of skill.
To kill these hellish hordes will need a good arsenal of weapons and in this case is no exception. At our disposal we have a gun, iron knuckles, a shotgun, a machine gun, rocket launcher, plasma rifle, chainsaw mythical and powerful BFG 9000. Something to note is that we take them all at once (although there are some that are replaced by more powerful weapons equivalent), so we are not limited to only two or three guns. Know when to use each one will be key to our progress, something that clashes a bit with the system that we have to change from one to another. This time we'll have to scroll through one by one until you reach the desire, without being able to directly choose who we want, something that limits us enough time to adapt to situations that confront us by forcing us to lose several seconds for be vital looking for the gun you want. Another feature of the time we find in Doom, is the existence of power-objects, which for a limited period of time will give us several advantages, such as viewing in dark areas or the possibility of walking on acid without harm us. They are often quite hidden, so we ask ourselves enough to explore them and enjoy their benefits.
Note that this version is based on The Ultimate Doom, the extended version of the original PC game that included a fourth chapter with nine bonus levels. The title itself is not particularly long, so that we can complete it in about 6 or 7 hours, depending on our skill level and our sense of direction. To extend the life we have several multiplayer modes, both cooperative and competitive. The options are pretty limited, but we must acknowledge the possibility of playing split screen with up to four friends, which is especially fun in the cooperative mode, where friendly fire is present and each one can explore the levels to your liking. Where does water everywhere in this area is in a disastrous online, where the lag and slowdowns are the order of the day, turning this way and avoid something unplayable.
In 1993, when it was released originally for PC, automatically became a reference chart and forced more than one to update their equipment so that it can play. Complex scenarios, defined characters, a quality never before seen animations, etc. However, after almost 20 years, Doom has aged pretty badly in this area, with huge pixels constantly assaulting our television, animation definitely are not what they were and graphics that ultimately, are heirs of his time, becoming and in paragraph hardest hit by the passing of the years of the whole.
As for the conversion is done, we realize that is quite lacking in options. Although it has support for displaying the game in high definition, the filter used is not as effective as it should. Neither have been adapted for widescreen graphics and we can only enlarge or diminish the image, something we do not recommend playing too, because if we enlarge the pixels will become much more noticeable. Another option that is missing is the ability to configure the controls to our liking, and that has not been included. At least the sound has gone off better. Let no one expect epic and orchestral compositions. Here we have are MIDI melodies that still work just as well as past and a series of environmental sounds, grunts and screams are in tune with what we see.
Doom is a pretty cheap price a good trip back in time to the nostalgic appeal to all who yearn for a time there was no automatic health regeneration and where the exploration of the levels was a key part of the gameplay. This is a new opportunity to revive a classic and many of the games of today owe their existence. A work that marked a before and after in this industry. However, the poor conversion is done, how badly it has aged in some respects and the disastrous online which boasts, will make the other players will think twice before taking it.
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