The 10-Best Video-Game Franchises
- July 07, 2006 13:23 PM PST
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The excellent Doom: Special PlayStation Edition compiled both the PC Doom games, and even rolled many of Doom II's new features (like the Double-Barreled Shotgun and the Chaingunner zombies) into the first Doom.
6. Doom
Developed by id Software
What started as a modest shareware file evolved into one of the most popular and influential first-person shooters ever created. Doom was an edge-of-your-seat intense blast-fest that pitted you against monsters, ghouls and various demonic misfits. Because your goal was simple-to just stay alive-Doom's skeletal story was never really fleshed out. Initially, it had something to do with space marines stationed on the Martian moon of Phobos. The trouble started when a gate to Hell somehow opened and unleashed the forces of evil ...you get the idea. That's where your rough, tough space marine entered the picture. As the last surviving human (a theme that was later revisited in countless other FPS games) your only friends were the vast array of scattered weapons (including shotguns, chain guns and the mother-of-them-all, the BFG 9000), mystic relics, and your own frayed nerves.
Doom 64 for the Nintendo 64 added reworked graphics, brutal monsters (such as near-invisible Demons), and a new laser weapon to the mix.
The deeper you delved into the game, the more plentiful and horrific your enemies became. But there was a method (and strategy) to the madness, as monsters could be easily lured to fight one another. , and some seeming dead-ends required brainpower in the form of puzzle-solving skills. It also introduced some of the most frightening monsters in video game history: the towering rocket-launcher-packing Cyberdemon, whose thunderous hooves could almost be felt as it took each step. Or the Spider Demon Mastermind, a giant blob of brain mounted atop four cybernetic legs (complete with audible piston-like hiss) and a chain gun mounted below its devilish mug that could chew you to pieces in seconds. These and other beasts were true nightmares, and plenty of bloodletting added to the impact-whether it was killing an enemy at the end of a shotgun muzzle or the whirling blades of a handheld chainsaw. Atmosphere wasn't in short supply either, as the graphics were awash with blazing skies, creepy engravings, and pools of blood that added to the sense of oppression and unease. Another key feature was multiplayer competition, or "deathmatches," where you could take on other players via system link or modem.
The sequel, Doom II, made everything bigger, louder, scarier, and more intense, as the setting moved to Earth (don't ask) in the form of new levels, more monsters, and-yes-more weapons. The developers even cleverly concealed playable levels from their previous project, Castle Wolfenstein, within Doom II's massive architectural designs. With Doom 3, the series achieved a graphical benchmark, and the game (nicely) held its own against several franchises that it inspired, such as Half-Life 2 and Unreal 2.--Major Mike
Fear is the foundation of the Doom series, and the third, most recent game is no exception.
Key Entries in the Doom Series
- Doom (PC/1993)
- Doom II (PC/1994)
- Doom (Jaguar/1994)
- Ultimate Doom (PC/1995)
- Doom: Special PlayStation Edition (PlayStation/1995)
- Doom (SNES/1996)
- Final Doom (PC, PlayStation/1996)
- Doom 64 (Nintendo 64/1997)
- Doom 3 (PC/2004)
- Doom 3: Limited Collector's Edition (Xbox/2005)
- Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (PC/2005)
