Justin interrupts this Gamethrough to bump up the difficulty a notch and enjoy the first five classic maps.

What's the Checkpoint all about?

  • I unintentionally took a break from DOOM and I'm getting back into it.
  • I wanted to take this opportunity to raise the difficulty to ultra-violence before I got any deeper in the game.
  • I started the game over and took some time to get caught up to where we left off with our last episode.
  • This also seemed like a great excuse to play through the classic maps that I've discovered offline.

Welcome Back to Hell

For as much as I love DOOM, it's really kind of silly that I had to take a break from it. There are some games that I just enjoy playing in the dark, and DOOM fits that bill with its harsh setting. The problem with playing DOOM late at night though, isn't the problem I normally have. Usually "midnight games" scare me too much to continue, but DOOM isn't scary. DOOM is intense. Every new battle in DOOM gets my adrenaline pumping. I die multiple times on the tougher arenas and when I break through to win, I couldn't be more excited. At the end of each session I couldn't calm down to the point where I was having trouble sleeping. After a few restless nights I found myself naturally staying away from DOOM.

In my down time though, I was talking to friends and reading/hearing/watching stories of other gamers time with DOOM. Two things stuck out:

1. The ultra-violence difficulty settings started to sound even more rewarding than the default difficulty.

When I was a kid, I loved using those famous cheat codes in DOOM, but bumping up the difficulty in the original DOOM gave that game new life for me. It felt like a totally different game when I was focused on my survival and it sounds like ultra-violence may be the way to go for me in the new DOOM.

2. I was missing out on all of the classic maps because I sucked at finding items hidden in each of the maps.

The first level of DOOM just made me want to sprint through the entire game. Upgrades and collectibles be damned. As I spent more time with the game though, it turns out that all of those upgrades and collectibles are pretty cool and actually kind of fun to find. So instead of rushing through to the next fight, I'm going to do some thorough exploring and reap the nostalgic rewards that these designers took the time to include in the game for lunatics like me.

Hell

With those two ideas in mind, I knew when I came back to DOOM that I wanted to get the most out of it as I could. I devised a new play schedule and have plan to finish the game. It's been working great so far and I can't wait to share more of my failures and gory triumphs. I've found that DOOM makes me yell a lot more than other games, so apologies in advance.

Goodies

  • Those classic maps are well hidden, holy shit. I'm finding that I can identify where they are on the map, but finding the trigger to open them has been next to impossible.
  • The classic maps may actually be harder than the main game. Thanks mainly to weapon selection, tighter corridors, and the higher difficulty of the Possessed Soldiers. This pistol just won't cut it.
  • I had no idea that you can upgrade both modifications for a weapon and switch between them. I thought I was committing to one upgrade path and had to stick with it for the entire game. This opens up so many different combinations to attack the demons. Which is a good thing, because more demons are showing up in different combinations and my old techniques aren't working as well these days.
  • Double jumping with the keyboard is trickier than I'd like, but I do like the platforming elements that are mixed into the game. Another modern addition that doesn't break the game away from feeling like DOOM.
  • Oh yeah, the story is secretly awesome. Well, your character is secretly awesome. Replaying the intro made me appreciate how zero fucks the Doom Marine gives. Gleefully destroying machinery and the hopes and dreams of robot scientists is almost as satisfying as ripping out the vital organs of demons.

Will I Finish?

There's no stopping this. DOOM is awesome. It is in control now. I will see it all. I will do it again. DOOM.

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