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I think we’re all pretty familiar with Doom by now, aren’t we? Game that proved shareware could work. Most influential FPS of all-time. Highly controversial. Great FPS. You know all that stuff. Well, what if I told you that you could play an almost perfect port on a handheld? Doom for Game Boy Advance is here, and it rocks.
Doom thrusts you in the role of a space marine in trouble. Your buddies are all gone (dead), and you’re left alone to fight off horde after horde of various demons and such. There’s no real story to the game…you just blast your way through three episodes of eight levels each. And once you beat it, there’s no fancy-schmancy ending scene. Of course, none of this matters because Doom is all about pure action. This action is carried out through a simple, yet intuitive control scheme: "A" controls your weaponry, "B" opens doors and such, and the "L" and "R" buttons are used to strafe. The level design is excellent, with multiple floors spanning indoor and outdoor areas, numerous corridors and passages, various switches that need to be toggled, and a lot more. There isn’t a wide variety in the different types of enemies, but each has it’s own unique attack patterns and weapons. And speaking of weapons, you’ll get to take on the bad guys with your fists, shotguns, chainguns, plasma rifles, and many more. Each has a different firing rate and strength, making choosing the proper one for each situation a critical part of gameplay. The AI is rather antiquated by today’s standards, but it’s still excellent for a handheld game and provides plenty of challenge. The graphics also shine, with character sprites and level textures that compare very favorably to the original PC hit. The color palette isn’t that varied, but that’s because it’s Doom. The PC original had a dark and spooky feel to it, and thus a faithful port must also. Luckily the player can adjust the screen brightness, so not being able to see what’s going on is rarely a problem. The framerate is largely consistent, although in tight spots with multiple enemies it can slow down considerably. To help offset this, they provided the ability to toggle between static and dynamic lighting. Despite the occasional slowdown, I recommend you leave dynamic lighting turned on as static lighting floods every nook and cranny with light, and as a result you’ll miss out on some truly awesome lighting effects.
Be forewarned however, that this port isn’t quite a perfect port. First, enemies ooze green blood instead of red. Activision (in the wake of recent events like Columbine and the WTC) wanted to tone down the game a bit to deflect any potential controversy from itself. This shouldn’t even be an issue (what does the color of the blood matter?), but obviously it’ll still matter to some people. Secondly, things get a bit blurry off in the distance as a result of the GBA’s small screen. It doesn’t hinder gameplay in any way however. Finally, the sound of surrounding enemies no longer fades away depending on distance. This was an important part of the original (you could tell by the sound how far away an enemy was), but it’s absence doesn’t effect gameplay as much as you’d think it would. The other major problem with this game lies in the fact that it is an almost-perfect port of Doom. Doom is old, very old. Having been ported to bazillion different systems, odds are you’ve played it in some shape or form. If you’ve had your fill of it elsewhere, there’s no real reason to purchase this one unless you simply must own it in portable form. Additionally, newer gamers weaned on more advance FPSes will find Doom very limiting. You can’t look up, you can’t look down, and you can’t interact with NPCs…you just kill things and try not to be killed. This simplicity is the big draw for many, but it will undoubtedly turn off others. Highs:
Lows:
Final Verdict: Doom has arrived, and it’s just as fun as it ever was. If you’re a Doom junkie, then add a full point to the overall score and buy it immediately. For the rest of you, Doom is a very solid purchase that you should at least take a look at. Overall Score: 8.3 Additional Images:
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