10 Reasons Why We Love DOOM

(The movies don't count)

By Ash Jacob /

For any Doom fan, we're currently living through a golden age.

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The post-early 90s road has been rocky, and yet Doom is a title which somehow does not die. More miraculous is that, due in particular to the 2016 reboot, the franchise remains a supreme titan in its gung-ho, first-person-shooter stomping ground.

It might be true that alongside Doom's gothic cousin Quake, id Software have reaped the majority of their success off of this singular four-letter brand, but hey! What a brand it is.

In an era where household game software companies are turning the idea of annoying fans into an art form, it's wise not to underestimate what a grand and noble product id have given us in the form of Doom.

In possessing the ability to physically rip out the eyeball of a Cacodemon, and chainsaw a Hellhound to bits, you are in fact being treated like royalty, and that's not the only privilege flung in your direction.

Here are just some of the reasons why the ongoing Doom saga has earned itself mighty big praise over the years.

10. An Unbelievably Empowering Experience

Doom is survival horror, but one which puts players firmly in control of the experience.

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Wading through murky industrial complexes, while they gradually subside to the outbacks of Hell has always been atmospherically daunting, even back in the glorious pixel days of the original 1993 Doom. However, as the challenges grew and the demons got bigger, so did the plethora of weaponry, from the military clunk of shotguns and chainguns to the gloriously over-the-top carnage of rocket launchers and plasma guns.

This made Doom the perfect splice of horror and action, where players could feel the triumph of having the explosive upper hand over their unfolding personal horror ride. This might seem like an arbitrary point to make, but keep in mind that back then, there was no other game like Doom, and besides its Wolfenstein senior, this manner of structure and progression was pretty much nonexistent in that format.

It wasn't easy, but you were able to take on Hell and conquer it. It doesn't get much more geekishly cathartic than that.

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