Doom 64 was initially titled "The Absolution" but for unknown reasons Midway changed it. The name was retained for the final level of the game. Regardless of the name change, the game was a somewhat different beast from its PC origins.
The original game, concieved as a mixture of Aliens and Evil Dead II, was nevertheless set largely in daylight or some approximation thereof. This had the effect of creating a feeling of relief when looking out upon those strange mountains after a few very long moments in the dark tunnels of the Phobos base, a snatch of daylight, however grey it was. Doom 64 on the other hand takes a more Aliens-style approach. The sky is dark and starry, a permanent night on an alien surface. The original version of Doom had no coloured lighting (a feature that wouldn't appear in id Software's own games until Quake 2) and while much of it was set in dimness or outright pitch blackness, much of it too was set in stark bright light. Doom 64's levels on the other hand would be nearly pitch-black if not for the dim glow spilling from the floors and ceilings providing light, just barely enough to see in some places.While Doom on the PC had a focus on action, despite its dark tunnels, Doom 64 seemed intent on creeping the player out, creating tension and a sense of dread. The enemies and weapons were largely the same as always, but their appearances had been altered, in some cases quite drastically, and are overall much less cartoonish. Some of them had slightly different behaviour, as well- Lost Souls, the annoying flaming skulls that flew around and slammed into you, were much more aggressive; the Arachnotron fired two streams of plasma and the Pain Elemental, probably the most drastically different in appearance, fired not one but two Lost Souls. Some of Doom's monster lineup (such as the Spider Mastermind, but also most of Doom 2's new additions such as the Arch-vile and the Chaingunner) had been dropped due to cart space, and indeed the weapons themselves were less animated for the same reason. In the PC version, firing the shotgun resulted in the weapon being pumped- in Doom 64, the weapon, and its
double-barreled counterpart, simply cocked back a bit, before resuming the ready position- behaviour which was previously seen in Quake. The plasma rifle no longer kicks back when you release the trigger, but does have a constant buzzing noise. A new weapon, called alternately the Alien Laser or the Unmaker, was originally described in Tom Hall's Doom Bible but never made it into the final game. The message upon pickup is "What the !@#%* is this!" and for good reason- it appears to be a lashing-together of alien and human technology framed by bones and dried skin. It fires a reasonably powerful laser that can kill a baron in a few seconds. However, where it really comes to shine are the 3 special keys scattered throughout the game. These keys serve two purpouses- the first and foremost is that they seal up the teleports in the final level from which an endless stream of monsters pour from, and the second is that they power up the laser. At its most powerful, the laser can kill the final boss in a matter of seconds.
Doom 64 had two basic settings- the haunted base, and Hell itself. The PC version of Doom often had a mixture of the two, particularly i
n its second episode where human technology and architecture was slowly being subverted. Tall steel support pillars became marble; monitors gave way to gargoyle reliefs. The third episode of Doom is set in Hell itself, and is portrayed in a fairly traditional way- hot, volcanic, under a red sky that could barely be considered a sky due to its nearly organic appearance. Doom 64's version of Hell is something else entirely, a much darker, more ambiguous world of caverns, ruins, forgotten tombs, small fortifications and structures floating in a void of misty nothingness. Thunder would roll out from the ominous clouds swirling over it, and in later levels the sky itself seemed to be on fire, huge flames broiling up in the distance. However none of the subversion present in Doom 1 can be seen in Doom 64- the two settings are kept wholly separate.Doom 64 has often been compared to the original Quake, and it's easy to see why- aside from coming out within months of each other, Doom 64's environs, particularly its hellish portion, is similar in style and mood to
Quake's. The original Doom's level design was in many places somewhat abstract, whereas design in Doom 64 is much more purpouseful. Its haunted castles and forgotten dungeons are reminiscent of Quake's... haunted castles and forgotten dungeons. They're both placing emphasis on moody lighting and unsettling shadows, with vaguely disturbing monsters to populate it. They both had a dark ambient soundtrack, as well, Quake's composed by Trent Reznor and Doom 64's by Aubrey Hodges, returning from the success he had with the similarly themed soundtrack for the Playstation version of Doom (which was mostly a "best of" version of Doom, combining Doom and Doom 2 into a single game.)Doom 64 was a bit of a flop. It was not universally accepted as part of the Doom canon, and at the time was vastly overshadowed by Quake's fully 3D environments and monsters. Copies of it are hard to find nowadays and the Nintendo 64 is no longer in production. However, the game was ported, rather successfully I might add, to PC by a dedicated team of fans. Aside from some minour differences (and some majour ones like new levels) it's largely faithful to the original.
On August 3rd, 2004, Doom 3 was released. While its numbering would suggest that it is a continuation of the (rather sparse) storylines of Doom and Doom 2, it is in fact a retelling of Doom's story. Moving the action from Phobos to the more plausible Mars, it tells the story of the Union Aerospace Corporation and the utter decimation of its staff and the Marine units charged with their protection by an invasion from the forces of Hell itself- an invasion which you are witness to. Right way this sets it apart from the original game's plot- where in Doom and Doom 64, you are a soldier
sent in to investigate and exterminate the threat (which draws from Aliens and its plot of the Marines investigating an abandoned colony only to discover a nestful of aliens) you are a soldier who has just been assigned to the place and were on your rounds when the invasion hit. Doom 3 seems to draw a great deal of influence from sources such as Event Horizon in terms of general aesthetics- in many places you will hear creepy whispering, and the appearance of any given area will without warning become a twisted, hellish version of itself- only to suddenly change back. Unfortunately any sense of dread or fright is undone by the nearly constant stream of action- around every corner is another monster to kill. While some would say this is what Doom is all about, I have to disagree. Doom 3's failings lie largely in its constant hinting at wanting to be something else but continually reverting to type. It wants to be System Shock 2 with its reliance on horror and telling an admittedly compelling story through audio logs, but those just seem tacked on to a generic post-Half-Life first person shooter.Doom 64 has no pretensions. It is what it is- a significantly darker version of Classic Doom. It's a relic of the pre-Half-Life era, before the emphasis on realistic surroundings (realistic meaning a place that a person could believably live and work in, rather than plain empty rooms with no furniture, regardless of its overall setting of sci-fi or present day or historic/fantasy.) Its scares are more genuine than Doom 3 because it relies on a constant sense of dread that manages to persist even in the midst of a firefight. Doom 3 had very few truly tense moments- one in particular that I remember clearly is a hallway where a loud rumbling noise accompanied hellish symbols, strewn all over the walls and celing and floor, pulsing their way down the corridor- for once, you had no real idea of what was next. While such a visual effect was not possible in Doom 64, the older game managed to keep up its dark mood and maintain its creative roots in Aliens. It manages to do for Doom what Doom 3 failed to do- make Doom truly and honestly creepy.
