Aug 24, 2024 review:

There's a lot to unpack here. This is my favorite game of all time and there's nothing I could praise that hasn't already been done so over the last three decades. I started playing Doom on the PS1 when I was about four or five and of course I'm going to say it's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, game of all time. To me, it IS the greatest game of all time. To others, it's at least legendary status.

This update further consolidates the classic games under one title, though I think calling it "DOOM + DOOM II" is ehhh. Anyway. First thing looking at the port is it's better than the Unity version. It's put together and presented significantly better than on Unity's engine. Kex is probably the ultimate retro shooter engine out there in today's time so I'm glad that these older games are getting a fresh coat of paint to captivate a younger audience. Leave it to a Doom modder to code something so profoundly significant on breathing new life into classic games that newer generations can love. If this is your introduction to the classic Doom games, it doesn't get better than this officially. This is the ultimate way to play the game in the modern era if you're new to the game. Yes, unofficial source ports ARE better, but Kaiser didn't set out to program a port to combat the likes of GZDoom, Zandronum, or whatever other source port people say is best.

This is also the ONLY time in DOOM's 30+ year history that EVERY CLASSIC TITLE is together, excluding the new expansion. For example, The Depths of Doom Trilogy in 1997 included Doom 1 and 2 like this one did along with Master Levels, but not have Final Doom. Doom Collector's Edition, my favorite version, in 2003-2004 had Doom 1, 2, Final Doom, and the latter year had Doom 3 pre-release content but no Master Levels. Doom 3 BFG Edition had Doom 1, 2, 3, and NRFTL, but no Master Levels or Final Doom. I think you can see my point. This is the complete version of the classic games. This is also the first time since 1995 that Doom 1 and 2 sold as one combined product on consoles, including what I've said previously. One purchase, one product, every game. It's a fantastic deal anywhere made that much more amazing for a legendary game.

It comes with the IDKFA soundtrack that Andrew Hulshult composed and it's nothing short of videogame music perfection. When I first heard his music in Dusk, then Doom Eternal, I fell in love his work. He's got a long career ahead of him and he can add this to his resume. It would be nice to see Bethesda pay him to continue it in Final Doom, but Doom 1 and 2's soundtrack are just fine.

There are -some- issues. I didn't like the new font, but you can swap it with the classic. I also didn't like there was no blood flash taking damage, but another issue easily toggled. I also notice that crashes aren't exactly common, but you can easily get into a crash loop when restarting the game and doing the exact same things. I'm sure it'll get patched in the future considering Kaiser's repetoire. This is more my opinion, but I wish they kept the Ultra-Violence+ difficulty option from the Unity version. A bridge between Nightmare! and Ultra-Violence was really fun as somebody whose life is invested in the game. The community mod section is unfortunately rampant with credit theft as anyone can upload somebody else's mod and call it their own or they can upload straight garbage. There definitely needs to be moderation there.

Aug 24, 2014 review:
I like to play Doom.

I like to play Doom.