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Doom 64 picks up where all the other Doom games left off. After tearing through space, hell, and wherever else your Space Marine was sent, you thought that the threat of the demons was finally past. Of course, one survived, and it is currently reanimating all of the fallen monsters in a last-ditch attempt to revitalize their evil mission. Your task is to finally rid the universe of all the crazy hellions - from the dead guy with the pistol to the rocket-spewing Cyberdemon.
Of all the changes made for the N64 version, the upgraded graphics are perhaps the most striking. There are new images and texture maps for every weapon, monster, and wall. Every character looks crisp and maintains his sharpness at close range - finally removing the pixelation that previous versions have suffered from. True lightsourcing has also been added, so colored lights and shadows permeate the game's 30-plus levels. The sound has also been tweaked and now boasts a few new death screams and a hauntingly ambient soundtrack. Thrown in (seemingly) as an afterthought is a new weapon, the laser, which proves to be next to useless and is nowhere near as cool as it's made out to be.
The basic rules have been adjusted as well. Some changes are major - the switch system is no longer a "flip once" process - some are now used for multiple openings and must be returned to more than once. Several items teleport in now, making it much harder to find keys and other power-ups integral to completing the game. The minor changes, while not noticeable to everyone, will surely bother hard-core Doom fans. For instance, now that the engine is true 3-D, rooms can exist on top of each other - gone are the gratuitous staircases and ramps that dominated the original. It's almost as if the design team set out to make people re-think what Doom was capable of doing. While no one could argue that this is an unworthy ambition, if the team was prepared to make minor, annoying changes to the game, then why couldn't they throw in completely new features like jumping or the ability to look up and down. Better yet - why not just make an entirely new game instead? Play control remains the same in Doom 64 but seems somewhat restrictive when compared to that of the PC version. The analog stick enables you to force your Marine along at several different speeds - but it never feels quite right. In fact, this sense of being 'wrong' permeates the entire title. On paper, Doom 64 sounds better than the original could ever hope to be, but the end result feels more like a bastardization of the original.
Uninitiated or casual Doom players may get a kick out of Doom 64 - the graphics are fairly impressive and the game still has a spooky atmosphere. But anyone who has downloaded custom WADs for the PC with new levels, graphics, and sounds has already seen greater things from the world of Doom. Sigh... yet another mediocre N64 game. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
8 years later and still sleeping with the lights on...,
= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Doom 64 (Game Cartridge)
i dug out my old nintendo 64 this past week, and this humble little cartridge was the first that i pulled out. i've been playing it almost non-stop since. how is it that this game is almost 8 years old? amazingly detailed and jaw-dropping environments, excellent control, totally updated enemies, and a pitch-black ambience flow freely through this game. perhaps the most striking feature is the soundtrack. i remember playing this game when it first came out in 1997. i was still pretty young, and it scared the living hell out of me. playing it now i can understand why; the soundtrack is largely comprised of long, ambient organ swells and industrial sounds. far-off cries of terror and garbled, distorted radio transmissions are mixed with the soundtrack during the second half of the game. in some levels, the effect that this has on you can be too strong and will distract you from the game ("breakdown" and "dark citadel" are probably the best examples). turning out the lights and cranking up the sound is a truly immersive experience that is rarely matched, even with modern games. although some parts of the soundtrack can tend to resemble a broken air-conditioner ("staging area" and "the terraformer" for instance), the effect is well suited to the early levels amid the dreary industrial complexes of the base. the levels in hell are designed with one thing in mind: complete terror. the replay value of this game is beefed up by a plethora of secret levels, hidden exits, easter eggs, and a cheat menu that unlocks three "fun" levels that can't be opened any other way.
another reviewer mentioned how small the levels seemed and how there were no wide open areas. this doesn't make much sense to me; some of the levels in this game are absolutely huge and span an amazingly large amount of space; "pitfalls," "spawned fear," "blood keep," "unholy temple," and "dark citadel" are practically endless. the size of many levels dwarfs those on the PC versions. the lack of wide open space, on the other hand, is very intentional. most of the action in this game involves intense, close quarters fighting. the overbearing, crushing sense of claustrophobia is designed to give the player a feeling of no escape; truly a feeling of doom. this is a goal that is rarely missed. one thing that is instantly noticeable about this game compared to the "classic" doom is the renewed emphasis on puzzle-solving and brain-teasers rather than constant run and gun carnage. make no mistake about it, there is plenty of action in this game. but some of the puzzles in the later levels ("unholy temple" comes to mind) are maddeningly complex and extremely puzzling. all of the enemies sport new, terrifying models and are often tougher to kill than in the PC versions of yore. the pain elementals now release two noticeably more aggressive lost souls at one time and arachnatrons fire double blasts of plasma. these updated enemies cannot replace the chaingunner, spider mastermind, arch-vile, and revenant that were canceled from this game at the last minute during the development phase, however. even in the words of the developers, most of the classic elements of doom save for the single-player game had to be left out due to cart space issues. i recently read that a multi-player function for doom 64 was dropped at the last possible moment in an interview with the original developers. add a multiplayer mode, and this is a five star game. during the media blitz preceding the release of doom 3, much ado was made over the quantum leap between the carnage of the older dooms and the ambience and atmosphere of doom 3. doom 64 is the underrated, oft-neglected missing link between doom II and doom III. the new generation of doom fans never had the chance to play and experience all three of these as they came out like i did, and unfortunately the impact of those separate revolutions can't be duplicated playing these games today. as it stands, doom 64 is definately an acquired taste. if you're an open-minded doom fan, this one is worth a shot for sure. some hardcores might like it, as well. i'm a long-time fan of the PC doom series, and this one fit me just fine. give it a shot...you can pick up a copy for about $20 at most used/vintage video game specialty stores.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hardcore Doom Gamer,
By A Customer
= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Doom 64 (Game Cartridge)
Most people would believe that Doom is dead. I don't think so at all. This game is perhaps the best Doom game to date. I thought it was an awesome edition to the Doom lineup. The only reason in my opinion it didn't get a 5 star rating is because of the fact it has no multiplayer ability what so ever. However, keeping in mind that it is simply one player, it is a very good game. I recommend you buy it if you have always liked the Doom genre. It has everything you could ask for including weapons such as the Super Shotgun, B.F.G. 9000, the Rocket Launcher, and my favorite, the Plasma Rifle. It also has a new weapon, (the laser) which in my opinion can decide the fate of our Hero especially in the harder difficulties. It also has totally redesigned creatures, and 32 brand new levels of chaos. Not a game to play in the dark...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Upgraded version of the original FPS!!,
By
This review is from: Doom 64 (Game Cartridge)
Having read the other reviews on this game, I was forced to give my opinion, having played the original games when they first came out and changed the computer game world.Doom 64 is a wonderful enhancement to the original DOOM series. With 3D environments, upgraded graphics (nice Cacodemon), better AI (the Lost Souls are no longer "dumb" and on fire, just on fire!), this is a worthy successor to the original ID games. The new laser weapon is actually quite good once you learn to use it correctly (read -- fire a constant stream). For today's gamers, i.e. those who were raised on Quake or Duke Nukem, this game will not meet their standards for gameplay, level design, or graphics quality. However, for those who want to see the "next generation" of the original DOOM games, this is the best offering (I am not including the so-called DOOM 3 project here). Level design is improved over the original DOOM series, and the demons are more frightening and intelligent than ever. The puzzles are somewhat harder, and the hidden levels and secrets are much harder to find than in the original. Graphics are well done, and the levels are large and original. However, there are a number of corners that seem to appear that your soldier can get stuck on -- a problem that should not exist for any shooter -- however, this is a minor problem in an otherwise great conversion of DOOM.
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