So I believe that I have revealed in my last post that one of my all time favorite games of all time is the “Doom” series. These installments of games have held me captive in deep, dark polygon like mazes for hours. It was probably only up until about 4 or 5 years ago that I started to get really into the series of games. I also have to clarify that I primarily am speaking in regards towards the classic “Doom” games, considering that I like to indulge in older retro classics. That being said, I can never really figure out why I became so connected with these retro shooters, maybe it was just the nostalgia and memories that hit the right chords of my interest.
I very descriptively recall making an attempt to play these games as a child, or well like 12 or something years old actually. When I say “attempt”, I mean I had sort of fear of these games to a certain degree, I used to jump and curse when I saw a pink demon sprinting out of a corner, though I was always kind of pussy as a younger lad. I do also believe that the music may have got to me as well, the minimal yet terrifying old school sounding drones and guitars playing alongside the slow and subdued drums. Actually now that I think about it there is a certain something or maybe even a vibe that emits from old games that still to this day gives me some quivers. With my flowery vagina to the side, “Doom” was one of the games that I always tried to get an illegal download for on my gorgeous Gateway 98. As a younger boy I used to spend hours upon hours just searching for any kind of game. I would take and download anything I could get my hands on, software, shareware, and the best finds were always FREEWARE. Hence “free” means I can get the whole game! FOR FREE! Though “Doom” certainly was not freeware… I always knew about “Doom” when I was younger, considering I used to watch my dad play “Wolfenstien”. And who didn’t know about “Doom”? It was the biggest thing since sliced bread considering it set the bar for basically every other shooter to this day. So I searched and searched for this “free” download for “Doom”, always to be greatly disappointed with demos and trial versions of the games. I just remember playing even the demos and falling head over heels for these classic shooters. Giving up was not an option… I set out for more countless hours of searching and basically giving my computer type two diabetes from all the viruses that these “freeware” and “shareware” files were boasting. My computer was falling apart, I could barely even run the demos of the games anymore. I then actually became better at fixing and maintaining computers in this sense, regardless, downloads can lead to disaster. And I must also point out, I was like 10 or 11 years old, I had no conscious notion of torrents or any related programs, I mean come on I was using “Kazaa” and “Limewire” to download music, the leading causes of cancer in the cyber world. Well, besides all the beating my computer did take I finally came across some random website that hosted a FULL VERSION download of “Doom II”. God damn it was I happy, and I could finally play past the first episode! There was so much for me to see and explore now!
Considering my admittance into the “Doom” craze, I wasn’t very good at it. I don’t even recall beating the game entirely when I was 12 years old, I just remember skipping to certain levels just to see everything the game had to offer, I mean it was still great and I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time, and this was how it was for most games I played in that era. I learned of the notorious “God Mode”, cowered in fear from the endless fleet of pixellated enemies, and viewed and desecrated John Romeo’s (one of Id’s head programmers) head perched upon a stick. I love the aesthetics as well, from the high level of detail punched into each monster. I always loved to ponder the fact that these artists had to make each individual view of each monster. As seen in the following picture each individual view is produced to replicate a sense of 3D (considering the monsters were 2D sprites).
These were reasons I fell in love with the game, and from then till now I have become well versed and immersed in the “Doom” culture.
Now a days I seem to pick this game up all the time, it is consistently being played throughout my life span. Some times I won’t even have certain reason to play it, I just have at it I guess, just “being in the game” is enough to please my palette.
Though besides relaxing and having a cup of tea alongside a few hours of “Doom”, I do get serious about it. I have completed all three of the classic installments of “Doom”:
Doom I
Doom II
and Final Doom
And there are many newer installments to the series, which actually I have only completed “Doom 3” for the original Xbox and PC (though not the expansion). I just wanted to cover ground on the originals, the ones who set the table.
Now, when I mean I get serious about the games all I mean is that I plunge into the in and outs of the entire game. This of course includes completing these titles, on top of that I will be wary to be sure and get all of everything the game has to offer. Now if you are good friends with “Doom” you should know that at the end of each completed level you are prompted with percentages. These percentages calculate total Kills, items found, and secrets. It gives you the time it took you to beat the level, along with a set par time you can shoot for. I have nearly got 100% on all Kills, Items, and well maybe not secrets, but those are of the highest difficulty to achieve in my eyes. I have also kept track of my progress in a notebook, with all of the percentages, times, deaths, and saves for each level. I won’t post my stats just yet for they need to be organized accordingly for my next post, so I’ll soon have those up if anyone cares to see my progress. So until then happy gaming folks.
Spicy Jamb 