THE list of DOOM games rated best to worst. This is the undisputed, correct, proper, true, SCIENTIFIC tier list of DOOM games and any disagreements should be ridiculed, looked upon with shame and laughed out of gaming.
It's called "The Ultimate Doom" for a reason. It's the bestest Doom. It's everyting DOOM I was, but with a new episode with more levels. So you can enjoy classic DOOM with more levels, or if you care not for the fourth levels, you can just ignore them.
The only reason why this isn't #1 is because The Ultimate Doom supersedes this.
If you thought DOOM was great, wait until you get a load of this. More levels and the alimighty Super Shotgun. When a shotgun doesn't cut it, get in the demons face and delete them with the super shotgun. Seriously, this gun practically trivialized any lesser demon, especially since it could already take 2-3 shots to kill some of them depending on your aim.
DOOM II also added new enemies, giving the designers and modders more tools for variety in map making. The game tech wasn't much different from the first, except for larger maps and support for bigger enemy crowds. While not big changes, these set DOOM II as a basis for the majority of DOOM mods to come after it. The non-episodic level progression in this game versus the first also meant a player could retain their inventory through out the entire campaign, instead of resetting it in each inventory.
Not everything is exactly better here, and there's a reason why it isn't higher despite the improvements. The biggest reasons are the level design and the use of new enemies in this design. The original game presented a story of sorts of gradually going deeper into a Martian complex before you're sent into Hell and eventually more grotesque landscapes before dueling with the Cyberdemon. Doom 2's level design feels less gradual and more random. Further more, there are more level design trappings that fans started to not love, such as platforming while dealing with long range enemies, extremely narrow pathways, and awful traps that leave you surrounded by chaingunners with long range, hit scan attacks or a cheap (but admittedly cool) hallway filled with explosive barrels that can easily kill you if you're not careful. Add to that, the awful archvile that not only creates pillars of flames that are extremely damaging and perfectly accurate unless you hide behind a wall, but also resurrects nearby dead demons - so while you're recovering from their attacks, they are making their resistance even stronger.
Truthfully, these changes did add some needed variety to the game. I feel if DOOM 2 just did what DOOM I did, but just with more levels and a few more monsters, then it wouldn't have been as special or necessary. Like I said before, DOOM II is a basis for many mods and level packs, making DOOM II in theory, a superior game to DOOM II simply for being the same game but with improvements and additions, and this as a whole package is why DOOM iI is so high on my list, even if the game on its own is more irritating to play at times than DOOM II in my opinion (but also more fun in other situations). That said, the Chaingunner traps are unfair, and I like the challenge of a hard enemy like the Archvile, i feel he could be redone a bit to not feel like such a roadblock to the flow of game.
In a time when gamers where getting fatigued CoD-clone shooters, games like Hard Reset, Shadow Warrior (2013) and Doom 2016 where a breath of fresh air to send us back to the fast paced, blast fest FPS's of old. It combined modern tech and conveniences with old school sensibilities along with a chainsaw that refilled ammo and glory kills that refilled health. Every weapon was useful in some capacity, and save for the pistol was fun and effective to use in every situation, thanks to upgrades that give each weapon new alternate fire abilities, along with equipment like grenades or decoy holograms to assist you while you reassess a battle situation. All of this, while looking great on IdTech 6 and to the tune of an amazing, beloved heavy, crunchy metal soundtrack from Mick Gordon, featuring remixes of classic DOOM tracks and new ones that set the MOOD for demon slaying with badassery.
DOOM 2016 became an all-time favorite for fans of the series, making it a Game of the Year for many gamers and arguably the best game of the series for many.
The highly anticipated sequel for DOOM 2016 here and... it's not unanimously loved?
Unlike the previous game, which set the world afire, Doom Eternal was met with disdain among some fans, and extreme praise among others. Much like Doom 2016, Doom Eternal was already claimed to be Game of the Year and others claimed it to be the best FPS or DOOM of all time. Others were turned off by the changes to the flow of the game, putting a strong emphasis on platforming, jumping like a Quake/Unreal madman, dashing around, constant weapon switching and resource management. These changes are contentious, as these exact changes are the reasons why some people love it and why others hate it, making it impossible to claim that Doom Eternal is inherently better than 2016, despite the Eternal fans saying otherwise.
Doom 2016 featured more corridors with occasional arena level designs, while Eternal was similar, but had more arenas and more open areas to fight. Secrets where made a bit more obvious, as some secrets where literally floating, rotating glowing yellow question marks. In fact, the entire game took a more "video gamey because it is a video game" art design, meaning more neon colors, bright green 1 UP tokens that give you a resurrection if you die, brightly colored and differentiated ammo stocks, platforming segments with lava pits and fire bars, reminiscent of Super Mario games and enemies exploding into a rainbow barf of colorful ammo as they are killed with the chainsaw. They game was overall more harder and arguably more unfair than the previous game, and required the player to constantly move and manage resources to stay alive, versus doing more "whatever the heck you wanted" as the badass slayer. It led to the feeling of feeling both extremely weak and extremely powerful at the same time.
This dissociation between fans is why this game is lower on this list. I personally enjoyed the game and because I feel it is so different from DOOM 2016, i feel my ratings for these two games on this list is interchangeable, because they so similar, yet so different, but both are extremely high quality by most people's standards. I suppose I will list DOOM 2016 above this one simply because it is more "classically good", beloved, and less contentious.
I want to say I rented it multiple times, but my memory is foggy.
Doom 64 was an underappreciated gem that used the feel and possibly the engine from the first two games to make what some consider the true Doom 3. It has very similar level design and gameplay of the previous games, but less monsters, new sprites, and completely new levels. The game took a turn for dark, unsettling mood by replacing catchy, rock inspired midi tracks with moody, ambient tracks. This made the game feel pretty weird, alient, dark, gritty and to some effect, kind of boring at the time, but I grew to appreciate it over time. It's not the kind of music you can really put on repeat like the older DOOM games, but if you ever wanted to have some creepy music for a Halloween party, look no further.
Doom 64 was different from other shooters at the time, that were going for primary 3D graphics, it instead used the same quasi-3d level design with 2d Sprites. While it make the game look "old and archaic" to gamers lavishing in the new 3D game era, it allowed the game to run smooth at all times on the N64 hardware and thus the art style of the game holds up just like the previous games, where as now games like Goldeneye 007 and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter look extremely dated by today's standards (Hey, I still LOVE those games though).
It's clear Doom 64 was a cult classic and thanks to fans, this game was made mostly playable, albeit with variations thanks to Doom 64 TC and Doom 64 EX. id took notice of this, especially in the wake of nostalgic gamers buying old things era, and repurposed Doom 64 EX into a re-release of DOOM 64 for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, making the game officially recognized again. Though, many people would argue you're better off playing the full Doom 64 EX, instead of this neutered one made to more closely mirror the original game's limitations.
So this entry is a bit of a misnomer. I haven't played DOOM II RPG. I played DOOM RPG, but alas there isn't a page for it on Giant Bomb at the moment. With both games being so obscure and niche, i feel this entry can fit the role of both games until a page is made.
DOOM RPG is probably the first roguelike I've ever completed. Yeah, you heard right, DOOM is a rogue-like now. DOOM RPG was a new campaign on its own, not a RPG version of the first game, though assets from previous games were used for this. Some enemies were recolors of other sprites, noting that they were more difficult versions of them.
DOOM RPG is a rogue-like - so the game is fully turn based and enemies only move after you complete your turn. A turn is completed every time you move a tile or complete an action such as shooting or interacting an object. The RPG/roguelike gameplay was needed for this game, as it was specifically released for mobile phones in the early 2000s, most of which used phone keypads that weren't great for gaming and are nothing like modern Smartphones of today. This was a great way to provide the DOOM experience on such a limited platform, and I feel in love it with. It is tough to find the game now, since the game officially only exists on dead platforms. However, fans have of course, modded DOOM RPG into modern DOOM source ports, allowing you to get an approximation of the game. I believe there are two or three variants of DOOM RPG, but none of DOOM I RPG
I've only played a couple levels in this yet and haven't got around to sitting down and completing it yet. Final Doom is a collection of third party made levels for DOOM II, so these weren't officially made by the id Developers and according to reviewers it shows. Many reviews complain about the level design of these maps
I'm pretty sure when I first saw this on Steam, the reviews were mixed. Now I see why. The Master levels isn't truly a game, or at least a campaign, but rather a set of loose maps made by Doom fans chosen by iD as an official representation of challenge levels. It boots into an archaic, DOS-like interface called DOOM-IT that often doesn't boot in some cases. And if you do get it working (usually by putting it in Compatibility mode), then it has a chance of crashing or stuttering. Then, you're also playing game exactly as it was in the early 90s, with all its limitations of small, crusty resolution, limited features, and awkward controls. Even using a modern source port to fix these issues makes the Master Levels an awkward experience, as you then have to load one of these new maps via console commands if it doesn't replace Map01. Oh, and if does replace MAP01, completing the map will just return you to MAP02 of the DOOM II campaign as if the game thinks you're just playing DOOM II.
Only through a complex (though not too hard) modding process can you play all the levels via an in game menu or via closing the game and re-entering DOOM-IT can you experience all the levels.
And what do you get for your trouble? Some of the most brain bending, confusing, time consuming, convoluted maps I've ever played. I need to be clear to say they aren't bad or poorly designed - they don't feel like "Doom modder's first amateur Map". The maps feel like they could be end game maps or bonus maps seen in the main campaign, but many of the solutions are very cryptic, and many challenges feel like they are there just to be a challenge to the player and not because they needed to be there, such as a critical switch in a tiny alcove that activates a mini-crusher ceiling that can kill you or destroy most of your health and when you finally press the switch, the wall opens up with a Baron of Hell, trapping you in a tiny space with a tanky enemy. Another Map has four way hallway that require awkward, diagonal strafe walking/platforming to get to the doorways. There's no need for these moments other than to make a surprise challenge that basically force the player to save scum on every map.
I feel these maps are only great for the kind of people who put dozens if not hundreds of hours into the DOOM games, that have played loads of maps and mods and are seeking an new challenge in the map designs. The challenges feel less like a challenge of exploring a map and more a challenge of understanding how Doom Maps work on a mechanical level.
I don't have VR to play this. I'm interested in playing this because it is a VR game based off of 2016 - though reviews on this are pretty mixed and thus may arguably be one of the worst if not the worst game in the series.
DOOM 3 ruined what I loved about DOOM. I didn't have a chance to play this when it came out, so I only played it recently via the BFG edition when I was going through classic shooters. I thought I would appreciate the new turn for Doom, but I hated it. Too many ambushes, enemies attacking you from behind and just overall annoying for me to play. I'm a bit desensitized to jump scares and 'this game is so dark you can see shit" level design, so most the game I was either deadpan or annoyed. I didn't enjoy the BFG edition which changed the fact that you can use a flashlight at any time instead of having to switch between the ability to see or the ability to shoot.
Honestly, DOOM 3 isn't a bad game and is clear alot of people have reverence for it. DOOM 3 had good tech advancements at the time and the horror aspect was a surprising breath of fresh air in the series that known mostly for mindless shooting of demons. That said, I absoltely hate DOOM 3 and didn't finish and never will. I see it's potential, but I don't want to play it anymore personally.
At least the BFG came with repackaged DOOM 1 and Doom II....though they changed the medkit sprite because of freaking Red Cross, so the game is even worse now.
More content for DOOM 3? Hard pass.
