It's 2011, and I'm playing DOOM.
By PirateNipple 18 Comments
If anyone bothers to take the time to read this, I thank you.
I've been using GiantBomb for a while now and have been thinking of a topic for my first blog post. A common topic for someone's first blog is what games they've been playing recently. I'll go down that road. I've been playing Red Dead Redemption and really enjoying it. I never got around to it last year and decided it was time to get to it. I've also been playing some Dirt 3 (which came out the day I'm writing this) and it's slick and really fun. I played through Torchlight again and am eagerly awaiting the sequel. The recent indie hit Terraria has taken some of my time as well. Most people, at first glance, are crying "Minecraft ripoff!" and moving on, and while there are some easy comparisons to make, they're very different games. Boiled down, Terraria is more about (or, at least more open to) combat and loot, while Minecraft provides more of a canvas for you to create things in.
I find it interesting, considering how good these "current" games are, that I've also been playing some DOOM. I'd say it's a safe bet that, apart from World of Warcraft (and maybe Diablo II), I've played DOOM (including DOOM II and Final DOOM) more than any other game.
Specifically, right now I'm playing through No Rest For the Living, a 9-level episode included with the XBLA version of DOOM II. It was made exclusively for the XBLA release, and it's pretty good. I played through it first last summer, when it came out, and am running through it again now. It's not mind-blowing or anything ridiculous like that, but I think the level design and style (the looks and architecture) are pretty sharp. It stands in somewhat stark contrast to the original DOOM II level set that it was released with. If you have the means, you should try it out. DOOM II XBLA is only 800 Microsoft space points, $10. I think my favorite map is map 5, Vivisection. I really dig the look and design.
After this, I'm planning on playing through both Final DOOM episodes, doing TNT first followed by Plutonia. Part of me thinks TNT is really boring, but there are some really good levels. After that, I might try playing Plutonia 2 again, after quitting on the Arch-vile map. If you didn't know, Plutonia 2 is a fan-made sequel to Plutonia, with a very similar look and style. It's pretty good, but hard. You can find it here: http://www.rabotik.nl/pluto2.html
With the exception of having to play No Rest For the Living on my 360, I play DOOM through ZDoom, one of the more common and popular source ports. It's really easy to get set up and running. When I play through TNT and Plutonia, I plan on doing so using Re-Doom. Re-Doom is a mod that includes some pretty slick weapon animations and other effects, and adds some flair to the regular DOOM games. It has to be loaded on-top of an IWAD, such as DOOM I (Ultimate DOOM), DOOM II, TNT, or Plutonia. If you wanted to use it in conjunction with a custom level set, you'd have to edit them together into one wad file, as far as I know. Check it out here, it's really neat: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=26656
That about wraps it up for now. Again, if anyone bothered to read this, you have my thanks, and I'd love it if you left a comment.
18 Comments