Doom 64 was released in 1997 on Nintendo 64 (hence, the 64 in the name) and re-released this year on PS4, Xbox, Windows and Nintendo Switch. It’s a sequel to Doom II which released back in 1994.

Story

Doom 64 takes place after Doom II in which the Doom Marine returned to earth after destroying the Icon of Sin. A planetary policy is established to quarantine the UAC bases, which the demons took over after a portal to hell opened (in the first doom), with apocalyptic amounts of radiation. Years passed with no response from the old UAC bases until a satellite sends it’s final message to earth. A single entity which survived the high amounts of radiation is bringing demons back from the dead. As the only experienced survivor of the DOOM incidents, the Doom Marine must take up arms and once again kill every single demon that dares stand in his way.

Having the Doom Marine return to mercilessly kill all demons again is just as you expect. Awesome. The story of this game, specifically it’s ending, makes this game’s story easily one of the best so far! Now, with the re-release of the game, a new chapter titled “The Lost Levels” has been added to link the story of Doom 64 to Doom (2016). The story of Doom 64 is great but I felt that the brand new Lost Levels don’t really show how the Doom Marine ended up where he is in Doom (2016). I give the story an 8/10.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Doom 64 is more or less exactly the same as Doom, Doom II and Final Doom. A run & gun in which you shoot down as many demons as you can and find the exit to the level so you can progress to the next one. Players must pick up keys, press switches, and avoid traps and ambushes to reach the exit. New enemies and weapons have been added and the game now sports 3D environments. The more exploring you do the more weapons you find but you will lose all your weapons if you’re killed and will have to start off with the basic handgun from the beginning of the level. All the weapons featured in Doom II make their return in this game with brand new sprites and sound effects. As for the demons, alot of them got redesigned (yes, even our boy the Cacodemon) and a few new demons were added including a brand new final boss. A new weapon, called the “Unmaker”, has been added which fires laser shots that uses cells (similar to the plasma gun). There as some demon artifacts which can be obtained from secret levels which will power up the Unmaker and will also help in the final boss fight. These artifacts aren’t needed to beat the game though but they will make the final boss much easier.

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As with any Doom game, the gameplay was really fun but I felt it wasn’t as impactful as the previous ones. The new graphics are a treat and alot of things have changed for the better but I was disappointed with a few of the demons redesigns. I also felt the game was slow in comparison to the other games fast-paced gun play and there’s much less space to explore compared to Doom II’s huge maps. I give the gameplay an 8/10.

Soundtrack

Honestly, would a Doom game be a Doom game if it didn’t have a badass heavy metal soundtrack? Well this game is as Doom as it gets with it’s gameplay and story but I cannot and will not say the same for it’s soundtrack! The heavy metal music that pushes you to have the demons begging for mercy while you wipe them out has been switched to plain, supposedly “suspenseful” background noise! No music just weird demon roars and jingles! I love Doom and I especially love it’s music but this… This is just bad I’m afraid. I give the soundtrack a 2/10 because at the very least they ACTUALLY put some noise the background (not like I could really hear it anyway).

Conclusion

This game is similar to it’s predecessors but at the same time it really isn’t which has it’s pro’s and it’s con’s. Now it’s about time I put down a rating for this final classic Doom game.

I don’t know if this is one of those Doom games I’d play again or not but I guess time will tell. Maybe I’ll come to appreciate it more sometime in the future. Well, there’s lot’s to do (and hours upon hours UPON HOURS of sleep to catch up on) so it’s about time I let my laptop cool down for a while.