16.6 hours played
Written 1 month and 1 day ago
Doom 64 was always 'the lost Doom', by virtue of only releasing (until now) on the N64 and, due to many other FPS games like Duke Nukem and Quake getting ports with 64 tacked on the end, I'm sure many assumed this was just Doom/Doom II for the N64. As it turned out, Doom 64 was an entirely new set of levels with a new weapon, the Unmaker. This remaster/rerelease was a long time coming (I had previously played the Doom 64 EX emulation which is why it took me so long to get to this remaster lol) and it's great to finally have it free from being permanently shackled to the N64.
Doom 64 is, essentially, classic Doom with fresh new visuals and audio design, including an eerie, unsettling soundtrack by Aubrey Hodges. Coupled with the more atmospheric lighting, this makes for a more creepy Doom, arguably doing a better job at being scary than Doom 3 did (no, making everything dark as s*** is not scary, just annoying). Doom 64 naturally had to work within the hardware limitations of the N64, not to mention limited cartridge space, so the maps may not be as large as Doom II's or contain the same amount of monsters, but they make up for it by clever enemy placement and composition as well as fiendish traps like totally-not-Revenant-missile-launchers mounted in walls (to compensate for the fact Revenants couldn't fit into the cartridge lol). That being said, it isn't too much of a challenge for seasoned Doom veterans on the Watch Me Die difficulty (Doom 64's version of Ultra-Violence).
The Unmaker starts off as a middling laser gun, comparable to the plasma gun...until you hit up the three secret levels that contain the demon keys which upgrade it. Your earliest Unmaker is actually in the first secret level! (discounting Hectic) And since you can also find your first demon key there, it gives the Unmaker a rate of fire superior to the plasma gun before you've even found your first plasma gun. By the time it's fully upgraded, the Unmaker can melt Cyberdemons within 15 seconds. Ultimately, it is the most standout weapon of Doom 64 with the exception of the new and improved DOUBLE CHAINSAW (TM), as most of the weapons function like their Doom/Doom II counterparts asides subtle knockback now being applied to the player with each shot.
Really the main shortcoming of Doom 64 is the limited content available. Particularly compared to the Doom + Doom II and other Nightdive remasters like Quake, Doom 64 comes off a little bare with only the original set of levels and the handful of new 'Lost Levels'. I feel like Doom 64 would greatly benefit from a level editor and maybe Steam Workshop support or an in-game mod/map browser like in Doom + Doom II. Regardless, Doom 64 is a nice piece of 'lost' gaming history and is very reasonably priced, so if you'd like to experience a different side of Doom, give it a try! It's certainly inspired many mods for the classic Doom games that emulate features of it, be it the lighting, graphics, audio or even just giving you the glorious Unmaker!
