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The history of ID software is depressing. Masters of Doom, though, is a really fun book to read. I’m a video gaming fan, not so much of playing games, but looking into the industry itself and the business. This is a look at the start of ID software, the guys behind it all, and a game called Doom.

I am young enough (28 late this year) that I remember the first company the guys (John Romero, Tom Hall, Adrian Carmack, John Carmack, etc.) worked for, Softdisk. My dad used to buy their bundle packs for me to play with, I loved them, though this was after those guys had left Softdisk.

When Doom hit, I don’t really remember how exactly I felt, but I remember that everyone I knew who had a computer loved it. Commander Keen, which came before that, was pretty darn cool too.

I remember Quake more accurately though. That game hit right in my mid-teens, when I knew a little bit more about computers, and could get an occasional modem game going with a friend. That’s also when I learned how to use the mouse for first-person shooters.

I’ve always known about John Carmack, graphical genius. I knew less about John Romero- I knew he used to work at ID, I knew about the Daikatana fiasco, he sounded like a jackass. I never knew he was (or at least the book claims he was) such a huge gaming icon.

But when you read this book, as you might expect, no one is so perfect, no one is such a jackass.

As the book puts it, discussing the late 90’s at ID, people complained about not having direction, but at the same time people wouldn’t take direction either.

Romero is a guy who loves games, but cannot manage. He’s not such a responsible person in life, but deep down he’s not a bad guy. Carmack, is a of course a technical whiz, but he’s not a great manager himself, and doesn’t really consider other people.

There just seems to be constant trouble at ID for about 5 straight years, from the mid 90’s to around the time of when Doom 3 is announced (that’s when the story ends) and it makes we wonder how the ID Software guys are now. Back then, I always imagined that things were wonderful, but that’s normal for a teenager to think that way. I even remember I used to read the Voodoo Extreme posts of a guy named Brian Hook- he had worked for ID a little, than 3DFX I think, then for Sony on Everquest. He quit ID because he was so frustrated.

In the end, it just feels like if Romero and Carmack could find a way to get back and work together again, maybe they could do something special. Carmack is still fantastic at what he does, but so are a lot of other people- Tim Sweeney (Unreal), Gabe Newell (Half-Life), the Cry Engine guys, it’s not so obvious he’s the best. Even the games themselves, when Quake I was out, holy crap. Now, I barely cared about Doom 3 (it did look amazing), and Quake 4, I wonder if that even sold well.

Romero is off flipping projects, I really think that most people college age right now probably don’t know who he is- they would have been less than 10 when he was a superstar.

On my wishlist is that they somehow make a reunion and try something, even if something small, try to get the magic back.

In the midst of reading the book, I looked up ID on Wikipedia, and it turns out Adrian Carmack left a few years ago. Unfortunate.

The book reminds me of so many people and games of the past, it’s a really interesting read, but much more so if you’re a fan. Duke Nukem, Jazz Jackrabbit, Rise of the Triad, Anachronox (Tom Hall’s game was good, but it’s obvious why it didn’t sell too, it feels like a low-grade Japanese-rpg).

Makes me want to look up Stevie Case again as well…..

Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner Read more about this book…

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Orcs and Elves is Doom RPG in a fantasy-dungeon-style setting with better music. And that is good if you like simplicity, and linear progression, which I do.

There you go, the quickest review I can do.

But wait, there’s more!

In more detail, Orcs and Elves (OE) is another mobile game from John Carmack and ID Software, with their first being the previously mentioned Doom RPG (DRPG). OE, like DRPG, featured a really nice 3D engine and quick, if somewhat brainless, gameplay. Where DRPG has only been released for mobile phones, OE was also released for the Nintendo DS, and features a nice musical soundtrack.

Where DRPG was a first person shooter in turn-based trappings, OE is more of a traditional dungeon crawler- go through the dungeon destroying trolls and evil to save the world. You’ll become more powerful through time, earning or buying new weapons and potions and learning new magic spells on the way. Again, it’s all nothing fancy, but it’s enjoyable. The game is probably a bit too short (6-7 hrs) for a DS game (I think I read it had added content versus the mobile version, which also happens to be much cheaper), and for me, replay is low. Linear, and light on story (that doesn’t mean the plot is badly constructed however, I liked it), it’s hard for me to want to get back into it. It’s one of those games were you just try to race to the finish, rather than cherish every moment of the experience and hope (subconsciously) it never ends.

I’d recommend it to everyone for when it goes on sale for around $20 USD.

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Books:

• Comics:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 1: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Jo Chen Read more about this title…

Strangers In Paradise Pocket Book 5 (Strangers in Paradise (Graphic Novels)) by Terry Moore Read more about this title…

Strangers In Paradise Pocket Book 6 (Strangers in Paradise (Graphic Novels)) by Terry Moore Read more about this title…

• Video Games:

Game Over Press Start To Continue by David Sheff, Andy Eddy Read more about this title…

The Making of Doom(r) III: The Official Guide by Steven L. Kent Read more about this title…

Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner Read more about this title…

The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon–The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World by Steven L. Kent Read more about this title…

• Work:

The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials) by Clayton M. Christensen Read more about this title…

• Basketball:

Seven Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin’ and Gunnin’ Phoenix Suns by Jack McCallum Read more about this title…

DVD:

• Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, $36.58

From Amazon, Half.com, and DeepDiscountDVD.

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I’m not scared. I’ve been through this before. I’ve got the weapons. I’ve got the skills. When they come for me, I will lay them down. Equipped with the most powerful weaponry known to man, I laugh at them as they hide in the shadows. I’m not scared of the dark. I laugh, cursing under my breath as I pull the trigger. I keep pulling, they keep falling, but more keep coming.

I hear the screams. Slowly, my mind unravels. They are coming for me. I am not scared. I glance around. I am NOT scared.
I run.

—-

Doom 3 for the Xbox is a technical marvel. Fantastic graphics, tight controls, and bone-chilling sound effects make Doom 3 a slick, easy-to-play, production. After you play try it for a few hours, you’ll have no doubt that you’re in for a fantastic experience. Unfortunately, while there is nothing that feels wrong about the game, when you beat it, you’ll find yourself thinking, “well, that’s over with finally,” more than “wow, that was fantastic!” Doom 3 can be a lot of fun, and oftentimes, downright creepy, but there’s something missing from the gameplay that would make the game truly memorable.

Doom 3 is a sci-fi horror first person shooter (fps) from ID Software, the makers of the Doom (of course) and Quake series. When you first start the game, what immediately stand out are the incredible lighting effects. As you get farther in the game, the lighting does more than hide creatures or make things tough for you to see. Shadows convincingly create a certain mood in the game, and shadows are used to frighten rather than just look good; when you see a shadow of a swinging body overhead before you actually see the body, you’ll understand what I mean. The character models are well-detailed, while the faces and mouth-syncing look realistic as well. Overall, Doom 3 looks spectacular, and you’ll marvel at a lot of the special effects (all in-game) that you’ve seen before in movies but not video games.

The sound in Doom 3 is very good, but doesn’t distinguish itself as the graphics do. For the most part, I didn’t notice the 5.1 effects that much, though the surround definitely establishes itself more towards the end of the game. I liked the bass effect used to create a feeling of tension and unease. Music isn’t really part of the game, but like the surround effects, is more present at the end. Voice acting is solid as well- most of the voice acting is used in voice and video logs rather than in character interaction.

As mentioned before, there is nothing inherently wrong with Doom 3. It looks great, sounds great, and the controls are tight. When you first start the game, everything seems great. As you progress in the game, though, nothing much changes. You’re essentially going from corridor to corridor, room to room, clearing each room of monsters, then moving on. I suppose this sounds like every fps out there. After all, what fps game doesn’t involve shooting everything in sight? I think the best way to explain is that 75% of the game feels exactly the same. What you do in hour two is what you do in hour eight, and if you asked me to plot out the game, I would just say, “That’s all I really did the entire game- I cleared a room, the lights turned off, a demon spawned out of nowhere, roared, and I shot it. The lights came on, I got some armor, repeat cycle.” There’s no real feel of progression in the game other than a new loading screen. It’s fun, but straight-forward.

The last parts (10-25%) of the game are slightly different though. The pace picks up, ammo is always a problem, and there’s a constant feeling of unease. The best parts of the game are definitely towards the end. For some players, however, they may find themselves not caring enough to keep playing past the first few hours.

There isn’t much of a story to the game. You’re a nameless marine who’s just arrived on Mars. Things are kind of weird, and suddenly you find yourself in the middle of a disaster. As you progress, you’ll pick up logs from dead characters and by reading their emails or listening to their logs, you can learn a little more about what’s been going on. Essentially, though, there’s nothing interesting in all the extra stuff you pick up; they all say the same thing: there’s been a lot of weird stuff going on, and people are scared.

The monsters that you can encounter can be genuinely creepy. While I didn’t find myself in spots where I was “scared,” the art design, screams, and creepy laughs all helped me feel a little antsy at times. I would find myself thinking, “What is that dripping down?” look up at the ceiling and think, “Oh,” and then “Ugh.”

Doom 3 is not a game for kids. The violent and demonic themes present throughout the game definitely make it a game suited for mature audiences only. The game is of medium length, and while I enjoyed the game, I can’t imagine wanting to play through it again. I might want to take on the later levels on a higher difficulty, and a nice feature that the game has is a level selector that enables you to do just that. Based on my experience with the single player, I would recommend this game as a rental or a discounted purchase ($30). If you have Xbox Live or are interested in the bonuses present in the Limited Edition, Doom 3 may warrant a full-priced purchase for you. It’s a very good game, with outstanding production values, but it doesn’t do quite enough to establish itself as a must-buy.

Note: I didn’t try the Limited Edition version that comes with Doom 1 and 2 or any of Doom 3’s online modes.

(originally published in GamersInfo.net)

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When I was growing up, Doom was the PC’s equivalent of the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat franchises- it didn’t matter where you lived, you knew of Doom. Even if you weren’t fortunate enough to have a PC to play it, you knew someone who had it. Before the days of multi-player gaming over the Internet and $500 video cards, Doom was a shining example that computer games could offer an experience not replicable on consoles and in the arcades.

Doom RPG (role playing game) in many ways retains the uniqueness of the original PC games in the transition to cell phone gaming. It keeps the original’s graphics, plot, enemies, and first person perspective while converting the shooter into a turn-based role-playing game. The control scheme has been perfected for the platform, removing the original’s emphasis on twitch-based gameplay. Yet, as well as the game plays despite the gameplay redesign, its decade-old source material also becomes a hindrance the father you progress in the game.

In most facets, Doom RPG can be considered a near replica of Doom PC. You take the role of a marine exploring a military base in Mars, which basically means you go into a level, clear everything that moves, and find an exit. It’s pure, simple gunplay. There won’t be any stealth or strategy involved and you’ll have a wide assortment of weapons to choose from, including the standard Doom pistol, shotgun, plasma gun, rocket launcher, and infamous BFG. Compared to the original games, Doom RPG places a greater emphasis on encounters with non-player characters. As you travel through the base, you will learn more about the game’s story through interactions with these characters and computers. While the overall story isn’t particularly interesting, the writing in these encounters is often laden with inside jokes, so talking to people and using computers is one of the better aspects of the game.

The RPG gameplay revolves around your character being able to make one move at a time, in which firing a weapon or moving 1 step counts as a move. Enemies generally follow the same rules as well. You can use the joystick on your cell phone for movement if you have one, but the keypad works just as well. As in most RPGs, as you progress through the game, your abilities will increase- you will gain additional hit points, your aim will increase, etc. Unfortunately, the leveling aspect of the games seems shallow as you never feel that you’re actually getting stronger. It’s more that as you get farther in the game, you get access to better, cooler weapons. This is why someone’s enjoyment will come from how much he was a fan of the original games in the first place. Doom RPG is extremely long (the game lasted 8+ hours for me) for a cell phone game, and while I was glad of this at first, I was tired of the game by its end. The switch to turn-based gameplay removes much of the tension and anticipation I felt playing the originals. Most fights feel the same, and there’s no particular difference in excitement in fighting a dog versus fighting the last boss in the game. The shooter gameplay in the original was repetitive as well, but this problem is highlighted more in the RPG.

Graphically, Doom RPG looks like Doom, for good and bad. The good is that the original’s 3D engine has been moved to the cell phone display perfectly, down to the limited animation of the sprites. Aurally, sound effects are usually only present when you’re firing weapons and there isn’t any music in gameplay. While it may come from a limitation of the cell phone platform, the absence of in-game music contributes greatly to the lack of atmosphere in the game and the monotony that builds over time.

Ultimately, your enjoyment of Doom RPG will depend on your past experiences with the game. The more you enjoyed the originals, the more you will like the cell phone version. Doom RPG really is Doom PC in RPG form. It is an excellent translation of the originals and the optimization for the cell phone platform is clearly evident. The original’s weaknesses are bigger problems in the RPG, however, because of the length of the game and the slower pacing of the gameplay. I didn’t feel much sense of accomplishment when I finished the game, and I don’t think I would be too excited to go through it again. Nonetheless, Doom RPG is a great value and worth checking out.

Test System: Sony Ericsson W800i

(originally published in GamersInfo.net)

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