[Riffs] I can't stop playing Doom.
Originally posted to our sadly now-defunct old website (RIP) late 2024, authored by fellow contributor Hamza. It’s a great little retrospective on his experiences in the video gaming space, particularly with one of the OG greats in DOOM. Check out some interesting thoughts and custom content he’s discovered via the community below.
Peace, Love and Grindcore xoxo - Brady.
Possibly one of the most iconic images in FPS history.
I’m not exactly a gamer, but I’ve always kept a foot in that world. There are a few reasons for this, and I had to cut this article down to stop myself from psychoanalysing myself into an entire thesis - but a couple of mains ones are that staying up-to-date is draining and new games are expensive. But really, the crux of it is that most games, especially modern ones, don't really engage me much at all. Instead, my game choices skew older and my relationship with them can be a tad obsessive; it’s rare that I actually get super into a video game, but when I do it tends to rule my world for months. Some recent obsessions have been (Bungie’s) Halo, whose campaigns I played so much during the pandemic that I have the CE and H2 levels basically memorised; and, uhhh, strangely enough Rocket League, the only free-to-play game I've ever loved*. Lately however, I think I've discovered the final boss of my gaming obsession - my Icon of Sin, if you will.
Guys, I can’t stop playing Doom. I’m not talking about Eternal or 2016 – I mean the OG, ’93, not quite 3D, DOS PC shooter classic. I must’ve run through three original episodes of Doom least 7 or 8 times over the last few months; the first episode Knee Deep in the Dead on its own probably more than 15 times; Doom II… well, in full just once,** but if it was split into 8 or 9-level episodes like the first game I would’ve gone through the first one probably 5 or 6 times. I'm falling asleep to decino's and BigMacDavis’ strangely soothing walkthroughs, and Civvie 11's highly quotable Pro-Doom ("if I ever have kids, they're coming out circle-strafing") series live rent-free in my head. If I'm not in the mood for those, I'll check out some of the many genericretrospectives on the game's history and influence. I’ve been reading about how it was made, the people behind it, it's legacy and influence. Lately I've toyed with the idea of downloading a map editor and trying my own hand at modding, and I've even pitched WAD (read: map/level) reviews as a possible ISC contribution. I think this is the first gaming obsession I've ever had that has even hinted at becoming creative.
So, what is it about this game that has me so thoroughly hooked? Normally when I become as familiar with a game as I am with Doom, it'll end and I'll duck out; there are 10 levels in Halo: CE, and when you're done your choices are either to re-play them or do something else. But Doom is the forever game. It was always made to be accessible to its community, and with the release of its source code in 1999, the Doom engine is essentially open-source. And so we have mods. Many mods. Many, many mods. Doom has one of the most passionate, storied, and well-archived communities on the internet, and they're constantly creating new content, some of which try to push the engine as far as it can possibly go - and with limit removing source-ports, even beyond. As with any game, mods range from shitpost quality to holyshitIcan'tbelievethisisfree, but Doom modding by its nature sits in this interesting place where anyone can do it, but not anybody will, so even the shittiest mods this charming sense of exploratory passion behind them. The community's age and longevity is another big draw for me, as there are many tantalising remnants of the old internet that have stuck around in Doom community lore. It's a lot of fun getting acquainted with their legends and heroes, and even half-written, wholly forgotten corners of the Doomsphere that have somehow managed to escape the ravages of internet entropy are thoroughly charming to stumble across.
I could go on, but I won't. At least for now, suffice to say that I'm supremely glad that I will never run out of Doom. It's the forever game. Doom is love. Doom is life. Doom is Eternal.
*...and my obsession with which is only winding down now that I’ve hit Diamond 3 and can apparently climb no longer.
**It gets a bit shit after those first 12 levels or so, but the way I’m going it’ll probably start growing on me soon