| paleface [sys=PS1; cat=Shooter_3D; loc=NA] |
| | | This was an early PS1 game and you can tell from the implementation in several ways: it doesn't support memory cards (password only--ugh!) or analog sticks, and it requires the now-obscure Link Cable (and a second system and copy of the game) for multiplayer (co-op is a nice option, I guess). Passwords stink, and lack of analog stick control means you have to use the shoulder buttons to strafe (oh, here's something fun: I mapped strafe to Square and Circle as an experiment, but you can't circle-strafe right that way for some reason :p), which is hard to take in these days when all modern console FPS ports support dual-stick control.
Le sigh. I was hoping for so much more. It isn't ID's fault, I suppose--no, I blame the reviewers who raved about this game's impeccable control. Not by today's standards, it isn't. There's also just sort of jerky framerate issues sometimes--not low framerate, exactly, but just jerks when turning or something that you don't really consciously notice, but translate into a real unsmooth feeling. Sometimes I even feel like it's a physics thing, like I'm sort of sticking if I collide with a corner at a certain angle. It's uncomfortable, and far from the rolling, buttery feel of the PC original.
And okay, those reviews I read said that this game has Doom I and II in it. Well, it doesn't. It has a bunch of new levels, presumably from ID, as well as two more bunches of levels from top Internet modders selected by ID, or something. Well, this is a letdown, I want the original levels, darn it. Even the ID-made (supposedly) new levels just don't have the old Doom feel: while they have clever new tricks like light beam tripwires, they don't seem to have the right balance and pacing--the first level gives you the plasma gun, gatling gun and rocket launcher, for goodness' sake! Save something for later, wouldja?
Finally, they decided to re-ochestrate the original sharp MIDI-style music into a more melodic, instrumental-sounding affair, and while it sounds sort of pleasant, it just doesn't have the kick and the sharp edges that the old Doom music had.
I have to say, I'm a little bummed; the Internet led me astray on this one. I'll stick with the GBA versions (see entry 638 and entry 639) for my original Doom console kicks for now, I guess. |
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