Doom: Good Times
A couple of weeks ago Doom was released on Xbox Live Arcade, forcing me to buy some more MICROSOFT POINTS™ so I could actually play this classic. Yes, I hereby admit that I’ve never really played Doom. The extent of my Doom experience was playing the Shareware version when it came out. So now was a perfect opportunity to play a game that will probably make me mow down my classmates.
As I was struggling to even complete the first episode on the default difficulty setting (which I still haven’t accomplished if you check my achievements) I realized something: This game has some kick-ass level design. I started comparing it to other recent FPSseseses I’ve played and Doom came out on top in just sheer fun. Sure, the levels aren’t even remotely realistic, but they are challenging in other ways other than the fact there are lots of enemies.
There were games that tried to go the old-school Doom route (I’m thinking Serious Sam, Will Rock, Painkiller) but they still failed to capture the level design that’s in Doom. I admit that I’ve only played Serious Sam and Painkiller but their level design was atrociously linear. When Doom wants you to find x-card for y-door, at least it’s somewhat entertaining, in the other games it usually consisted of “SHOOT ALL THE ENEMIES, OK DOOR OPENS TO NEXT ONSLAUGHT OF ENEMIES”.
I guess what I’m saying is that contemporary leveldesigners could take a page from guys like John Romero and American McGee. Make something else than SEWER LEVEL 3302 or OFFICE BUILDING 6831.
Except for Valve, you guys keep on keeping on.