And that brings us to the end of DOS week! I had a lot of fun doing this, I hope you all enjoyed it as well. I’m thinking I’m going to do more themed weeks in future so please send me your ideas by either leaving a comment here on the site or, better yet, reach out to me on Twitter @vg_oftheday. I’d love to hear your ideas. I already have some great ones in the pipeline but hey, there’s always room for more. Next week, we’re back to all sorts of random games. I think we’ve got some interesting ones planned.
5/4 – Doom
Hello and welcome. My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.
Today is the last day of DOS week and let’s end with one of the most iconic DOS games of all time: Doom. The original version of Doom was developed by id Software and released in 1993 on MS-DOS.
After completing Wolfenstein 3D, the team at id wanted to work on something new using an upgraded engine that John Carmack had been working on. They decided to base the concept on a tabletop RPG campaign they’d been playing which used high tech weaponry to fight demons.
The finished game kept the foundation that Wolfenstein 3D had built but revolutionized everything else about the burgeoning first-person shooter genre. Doom’s upgraded engine gave the illusion of verticality, allowing for rooms higher up or lower down from the starting point. Doom could also use non-standard room arrangements as they weren’t limited to right angles with their walls. Lighting effects could detect how far something was from a light source and make the room look darker and hide enemies. Rooms and stairways could even move if players hit switches scattered throughout levels. Finally, Doom featured competitive multiplayer in the first ever Deathmatch mode for a shooter.
Doom released with 27 levels spread across three chapters and was an immediate success. Estimates have said that within 2 years, the first chapter of the game, which was distributed as shareware, was played by 15-20 million players. Many schools and businesses with dedicated networks had to block Doom from being played as it would crash their networks. It may be surprising today but the critical reception was actually relatively lukewarm. Critics enjoyed the graphics and music but found the gameplay to be simplistic. Many criticised the lack of real 3D gameplay, as Doom’s engine only allowed for the illusion of actual verticality, hence why the game doesn’t allow players to look up or down. It didn’t take long, however, for critics to realize the influence the game would have and it started appearing on award lists after only a few months. Today, it is often regarded as one of the most influential games ever made.
With that, we come to the end of DOS week. Did we miss your favorite DOS game or maybe a game that deserves to be hated by the masses? Follow me on Twitter @vg_oftheday and let me know about it. We may very well be able to feature your game in the future. Also, please leave us a review on Amazon so we can get the word out there. We need your reviews in order to grow so please consider taking some time to write your thoughts. It means a lot to us. Check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day!
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Video Game of the Day 