My 100 Most Favorite Video Games of All Time #88: Doom

DOOM. How could it not be on the list? It was the game that changed all games and solidified first-person shooters as a force to be reckoned with in the gaming world.

The story involved ... well, forget the story. Who cared about the story? All you needed to know was that you were an unnamed space marine (or soldier, or whatever) who was battling demons in what looked to be Hell. That's it. 3D graphics, creepy looking environments, chewing noises ... all of that worked to immerse you into this world you had never been to before and it worked wonderfully. The game was a huge hit and spawned several sequels; novels, which I never read; and two films, which I never saw. Why did I avoid them? Again, who cares about the story? I just wanted to shoot demons and blow them up. I think those who try too hard to throw a story onto a game are usually misguided at best, and this was one of those cases.

I did, however, play a few of the sequels, and found them to be much of the same. None of them were able to match how groundbreaking that first game was, though. And that speaks volumes to the developer, Id. This was gold straight from the box, and sequels in no way made it better, but nor did they dilute what the first one brought to the table.

It's been years since I've played it, but writing about it makes me want to pick it up again just to see how it holds up, but being currently addicted to Marvel Puzzle Quest makes that unlikely to happen any time soon.