Review for Doom 64. Game for Nintendo 64, the video game was released on 31/03/1997
In 1997, the year of the release of DOOM 64, cassettes were slowly and inexorably giving way to compact discs and, in a similar way, even in the videogame field we were witnessing the decline of the cartridge in favor of the modern CD. Those were the years in which the console war was a two-way battle in which PlayStation and Sega Saturn competed for that slice of the market of fans who, after years of 16-bit sprites, were looking for more modern and futuristic tools to enter the myriad of dream worlds that video games could offer.
Nintendo, with the still alive success of the SNES, aimed to get in the middle of this dualism by perhaps making its biggest gamble: to create a 64-bit console, more powerful than its opponents, but which could not break away from the past - using the justification of the fight against piracy - and remaining anchored to the now outdated cartridges.
Nintendo 64 thus arrived on the market and a whole series of franchises were transferred to this new power, which also happened to DOOM with DOOM 64, direct successor of the first two historical chapters admired on PCs of the time. Id Software entrusted Midway with the arduous task of bringing hell to the Nintendo 64 and the results are still appreciable, after 22 years. Let's face it though, DOOM 64 remained a bit of a mysterious object on consoles for a long time, partly because it belonged to a genre that was mostly enjoyed on PC (although there were many other successful FPSs on N64), partly because many they considered it a sort of reinterpretation of the famous 64-bit ID titles and, finally, simply because many players were not lucky enough to get their hands on the Nintendo console.
As we said, DOOM 64 is the direct sequel to DOOM II, technically superior to its predecessor thanks to the power of the Nintendo machine and which today becomes usable for everyone, thanks to the operation chosen by Bethesda to combine a piece of the past with the new chapter of the series, DOOM Eternal. This HD port, because this is what it is, was entrusted to Nightdive Studios who managed to perfectly integrate modern resolutions with an already exceptional fluidity for the time. Our beloved marine is sent here on a UAC installation with the aim of eradicating the demonic forces that are proliferating within the abandoned base. As usual we will be alone in front of an infernal army, armed to the teeth and ready to unleash hell against the very creatures that come from it.
The Doom Guy can count on an important arsenal that starts from fists and pistols and arrives, passing through the inevitable shotgun, to the heaviest weaponry that is glorified by the destructive BFG-9000. In addition to all these classic weapons we find the new Unmaker, an interesting weapon with a demonic appearance and able to emit a single beam and which, without taking too many chances, turns out to be an ancestor of the railgun admired in the Quake series and of the Gauss Cannon of Doom (2016).
DOOM 64 is still enjoyable and fluid today, as well as damn difficult and fun, and presents technical innovations for the time (think for example of the animated sky) that are not indifferent. Going crazy to find the classic colored key, in the maze of walls that all look the same, will be the order of the day with a monster around the corner, ready to take us by surprise, and which will almost always be announced by the classic grunts and snorts typical of these bestial enemies. We are one step away from Hell but we are also in that middle ground of the videogame industry that from the sprites, here decidedly improved, moved towards more complex textures that would have led in subsequent productions to the three-dimensional polygons that would have made the history of FPS and more.
Accompanied by a good soundtrack and all those effects such as explosions, shots and groans typical of the series, we will find a vast corollary of enemies (almost all those present in Doom II: Hell on Earth) ranging from the weak but always difficult Imp to get to the heavier Mancubus and Infernal Barons. In short, this nostalgia operation is satisfying, difficult and long-lived thanks to the over 30 levels made up of hidden keys and enemies, stalking, ambushes and so on and will delight both those who grew up in the nineties but also those who love the most complex challenges. and aspires to the highest level of satisfaction in discovering every little secret useful to completely 100% of the title.
DOOM 64 is a well-made HD port with no infamy and no praise. The sensations and atmospheres appreciated over 20 years ago are re-proposed without any retouching or almost. Could Bethesda push Nightdive Studios to be more daring? Probably yes, but this Doom is still fluid, fun and impervious as it is, that is, as it was the one released in 1997 on the Nintendo 64 and much appreciated by fans. This release with an amarcord flavor is even more appreciable if combined with the pre-order of the brand new DOOM Eternal and thus completes a package capable of guaranteeing several hours of videogame entertainment. Once again the Doom Guy, here still struggling with the transition from 2 to 3 dimensions that will determine the success of shooters in the following years, is ready to tear and tear through Hell.
► Doom 64 is a Shooter type game developed by Midway Games Id Software and published by Midway Games for Nintendo 64, the video game was released on 31/03/1997
