Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

Okay, this isn’t going to be your typical review/impressions post, so bear with me. I’ve said before I still want to do a write-up on Life is Strange 2, but didn’t know how to put my experience with it into words or turn it into a proper review. I’ve realised that the only way for me to write about it is to also address how a lot of deeply personal aspects contributed to my experience of the game as a whole. If that’s not your thing, feel free to scroll away. I just need to get this out of my system, and hopefully maybe convince one or two of you to try out this incredible piece of storytelling.

For a little background of my history with the franchise so far, I only played two episodes of Life is Strange 1 and watched the rest on YouTube after I encountered a nasty bug in the middle of the second episode that softlocked my save file. I enjoyed that game throughout, particularly the time travel elements (which I admit I’m a total sucker for). I can’t say that it ever changed my life or affected me in the long term like it seemed to have done for some, but it was good enough that I had a positive perception of the franchise. When I then read @RogerRoger’s review of this second installment in this very same thread a couple months ago and realised it was about two brothers making their way across America, I knew I had to give it a try. I bought it not long after that, and ended up finishing it roughly a month ago.

Coming into Life is Strange 2, I am someone whose mental health is very far from the best it could be. I’ve been in an emotional rut for well over a year now, and depression seems to have mostly taken over my being. Not to throw a pity party here, but I believe it’s an essential factor of how my journey in Life is Strange 2 affected me, and thus — unfortunately — relevant. To add to that, I currently have a little brother of Daniel’s (the younger brother) age, and there’s a similarly large age gap between the two of us. Years larger than in the game, even. That definitely adds a layer of relatability to the relationship between them, and one that hit close to home way more than I would’ve liked to.

Games for me, and I’m sure for most people, are a way of escapism. Getting the opportunity to live a life wildly different from yours and sink yourself into a world unknown to you. Investing yourself in these characters, in these stories, and maybe even shedding a tear or two. At least, that’s how I would describe the general appeal of a narrative game such as this. I went into this with that exact same expectation. I’m going to get to live out a lovely brotherly relationship on a road trip where everything will end up being fine and where I will get the best and most perfect ending that I could ever possibly want. It may be what I expected, but it’s certainly not what I got. Emotional attachment to characters is one thing, but I can now say with full confidence that projecting yourself as well as another person you love onto two video game characters certainly creates for a way more intimate, and what turned out to be eventually heartbreaking, of a relationship.

Now, on first sight, my life looks absolutely nothing like that of Sean and Daniel. I’m not a minority who has had to deal with racism, or had to go on the run with my little brother after my dad bit a cop’s bullet. I’m not a 16-year old high school student who is now missing out on all these things he should be doing instead of dealing with this tragedy, nor am I a 9-year old on the run with his big brother with no understanding of what is happening or what will happen to him going forward.

What I am, is stuck. Stuck in a rut that I didn’t ask to be a part of, and with a view of the future that is so uncertain I might as well not have one at all. What I do have, is a little brother with whom I grow increasingly worried that he might not actually have the big brother he deserves or one that’s helping him grow up in all the right ways to become the fantastic human being I hope he will become. Where I am at in my head, is trying to come up with all these fantasies where my life would be what I want it to be, and what I need it to be. Fantasies of escapism, seemingly unrealistic tales of what’s to come and constant, unending uncertainty cloud my brain and judgment. Incredibly so, all these themes that I still am and have been dealing with for over a good year are touched upon in this experience. All my worst fears and best hopes translated out of my head into a narrative experience that only ups the stakes and dramatizes them to the point where I can’t help but feel something any time anything happens. Suddenly everything starts to feel a bit more familiar, to the point where it might even become slightly uncomfortable.

Choices and consequences. They’re certainly far more prevalent in real life than in video games. I can tell you that I have been avoiding making any choices or dealing with any consequences for a good while now, yet here I put myself in a position where I have to finally face up to my worst fears and start making decisions. Decisions that may resonate with me all too well, ones that I have been dreading to make. Decisions that suddenly become so much easier, yet have so much added weight to them as a consequence. Decisions that could validate the worst thoughts in my head, or decisions that could end up making me feel useless.

Suddenly Life is Strange 2 is no longer a game. It has become an escapade in my head. One that is viewed and experienced as entirely all too real, one that plays into everything I’ve been struggling with for the longest time. One that touches me deeply, on a level no other game has managed to reach. Here is where I’ll get a bit more in-depth on the storyline of the game itself, and will start spoiler tagging certain sections for anyone who hasn’t yet played and is interested.

Sean and Daniel set out on this unwanted adventure to Mexico to try and create a new life for themselves. Away from all the sadness and the bad memories. A second chance at the good life. Unfortunately for them, it’s not an easy task. Throughout it all, Sean remains confident. He has to. It’s all in or nothing. There’s a very clear goal, and not reaching it will be a totally destructive endeavor for these two boys. It’s simple, but it’s not. Both afraid, unsure of what to do. They meet lovely strangers on the way, but there’s plenty of despicable human trash on the way as well. A world of chances so to speak, and the odds aren’t in their favour. Still, it’s of utmost importance that they reach this goal.

Quickly, Daniel starts to figure out the implications of what they’ve been doing. Their father has died and he’s now completely dependent on Sean to teach him the right things and guide him on the right path. An enormously big task for Sean to take on, and one he seemingly fails at one too many times. Daniel starts to lash out, making Sean believe he’s been doing a horrible job at being a faux-parent. Is he not doing the right things? Should he have done everything differently? One time, Daniel goes as far as to choke his new girlfriend, Cassidy. What for? Betrayal? Jealousy? Has he gotten too power-hungry and is Sean turning him into a supervillain rather than the superhero he knows Daniel is inside? Has he wronged him? Not long after, Sean loses him entirely. What now? How can he take care of him? He’s failed. The dream is over.

A fantasy has fallen apart. A dream quickly tossed to the wayside. A loss that’s unbearable. All this time spent dreaming, all this time spent in escapism; it all amounted to nothing. Maybe they’re even worse off than they already were. He rolled the dice, and he lost. What was the point? Will it ever go back to normal? To the happiness we felt before? To the love, the emotions that once consumed us? What if it all led to nothing? Everything is lost, not much is gained.

Those last three paragraphs may sound incredibly dramatic, but there’s a reason it was all in third person. Sean may not have necessarily voiced all of those concerns in-game, and yet they were there for me. They were there because it was real. They were there because I felt everything that happened as if it was a real life event. As if it was between me and my brother. As if it was me doubting my future. As if it was me believing everything to be ruined. This experience made me embody Sean in a way that no other game has managed to make me identify with a character before. And it hurt. It hurt a lot. Finishing this game, I wasn’t just sad that it was over. In fact, during my ending I did not shed a single tear. Why? I wasn’t sad. I was grieving. I was grieving the loss of my little enano as if he were my real one. I was grieving the loss of myself in the game, being able to make all the hard decisions despite the consequences. I was grieving the loss of my dream, of my real escape. Of my happiness.

Neither Sean nor Daniel will ever be the same after this adventure, but they’ll be happy again. They’ll build new lives. Hopefully, in the non-existent epilogue everything will turn out to be okay. These characters are going to live their lives without me, yet here I am still stuck in my reality. All my fears having been validated in this experience, and all my hopes having been crushed. There’s still room for hope after the ending I received, but it’s none that I will experience. Now, I can differentiate a game from my real life, most certainly. I’ll get over all the immediate emotional responses that I’ve felt. I won’t take them into my real life, at least not as drastically. Maybe eventually, I’ll even finish grieving the experience. What I won’t forget, is how it all felt in the moment. How different my life was in the hours I was making my way through this journey. What I won’t forget… is the experience, one that deeply touched me. Am I emotionally in a better, worse or same place for playing this game? I can’t tell. As uncertain as I am, there’s one thing I can tell you with full confidence and ease. I’ve never had such a deeply emotional experience playing a game before, and am unlikely to have one on a similar level again. For that, I am grateful. For that, it’s a fantastic game… but lord, it broke my heart.

Graphics are good, too.

Ended up being a bit of a big post, so thanks to anyone who gives it a read. Really poured my heart out in that one to express my personally unparallelled experience with that game. I strongly urge anyone who is into narrative games to give it a fair shake, even if it might not affect you as personally as it did with me. Again, not looking for a pity party, but just had to get all these feelings I've felt in the time since finishing off my chest. Hope this was an okay place for it. Now that I've finally gotten this off my to-do list... time to move onto some more happier things on the forum again as well!

@Tjuz That was a pretty great piece of writing! I'd never ask someone to integrate such deeply personal aspects of their life into discussion of a piece of media, but I think it's fantastic that you feel comfortable enough here that you can do so. The best aspect of art is the way it can mirror, commentate on, and help us to reflect on our fears, memories, and desires.

@Tjuz Bravo, buddy. Your words were touching and provoking. Thanks for sharing. Being moved emotionally and relating to a game in a visceral way is the sign of great art. Glad it resonated with you. Even if it didn’t give you real world translatable answers to life’s obstacles, the journey of self exploration usually leaves you stronger in end. And with that, you’ll have some clarity in your own choices going forward.

@Tjuz Huge congratulations, and thanks, for writing all this up. It's a beautiful post. You sure weren't kidding when you said the game had hit hard. I may or may not have cried.

From some of the in-game moments you've described, I can tell which decisions you made at key points; whether you made them because you were trying to do right by Daniel and Sean, or whether you were trying to explore your own options, I hope the act of actually making them has helped you in some small way. Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't, maybe you won't know for a while; things take time to sink in when you're stuck in a rut. All I know is that it's no bad thing to be a little reflective every now and again.

The specific ending you saw, the one in which things don't quite work out for the best, sits squarely in the middle of the available outcomes. I'm real glad you didn't get the worst ending; not sure what that would've done to you, although it might have driven home the game's fictional status and snapped you out of your immersion a little. Replaying and making different choices sounds out of the question for you right now, but might be of benefit someday, a bit further down the line. Perhaps for you, this game isn't an unchangeable blueprint of one single chance, but a way to explore the many diverse possibilities available in life and play out some alternate scenarios. It's obviously made you stop and think with one of its conclusions; maybe the others might help you think a little differently, and find some new answers.

Or maybe I'm being insultingly wide of the mark here, for which I apologise. Because no matter how you play the game, there are certain story beats that are engineered to be hit; after all, this is a structured narrative, written by people in an office somewhere, trying to hook gamers in and make them buy the next episode. It's frightening when something so fabricated can ring so true. Recently I spent forty-five minutes watching the first episode of a new television show which hollowed out my emotional core and left me sobbing in a corner. I cowardly refused to watch any more, and that was the end of it, so for you to see through a five-episode, fifteen-hour game whilst carrying all of this weight makes you a far braver man than I.

Thank you again, for sharing so much and eloquently conveying what this experience uniquely meant to you. I'm not sure whether I should be glad my recommendation led to this, or whether I should be apologising for it; either way, I hope you're gonna be alright going forward.

Speaking of which, if I may make a personal observation; the fact that you're worried about your role as an older brother, the fact you have all these doubts and fears for your younger sibling's future? That's what makes you a good brother. It may not feel like it at times, but trust me. Being somebody who cares enough to care is the fundamental distinguishing baseline in life and so, regardless of your actions or circumstances, your brother is gonna grow up knowing that you do.

There's your certain future, buddy. You can build the rest around that.

@Ralizah @Th3solution @RogerRoger Thank you all very much for the kind and thoughtful words! It really does mean a lot to me. So much so that I've sat here for five minutes thinking of ways to properly put it into words without getting all smarmy-sounding, but failing. Hopefully the attempt speaks volumes in and of itself. Thank you, really.

@RogerRoger It seems like you've correctly surmised the ending I got despite my vague hopping around spoilers, haha! I'm indeed glad I didn't get either of the low morality endings, since they would be even worse bummers to end the game on. I don't think replaying will end up being in the cards for me, as I'd like to remember them as they were in the original narrative I experienced. That's more of a general gaming thing I abide by rather than a rule I've adapted specifically for this game, however. Certainly don't feel bad that my trying out of this game was technically thanks to your review! I in no way resent having had the experience, and judging from how easily I was convinced by its premise alone I would've found out about it sooner rather than later. I appreciate your honesty on the brotherly relationship too. I think (and hope) you're right, and there's no better way to find out than to keep going and hopefully, eventually find my full certain future. Thank you.

@Tjuz You're good, buddy. And you're right, whenever I replay a choice-based game and think "let's make an effort to see what else is possible" I always end up making exactly the same calls, and getting exactly the same outcome. Despite my best intentions, the ability to guide any part of your protagonist makes me feel way more connected to them, and therefore way more protective of "my" canon. So regardless of my suggestion, I can understand why you'd never go back and try new things with the game!

Well, it's done. My DOOM 64 review.

This can be kind of spoilery. I discuss pretty much every aspect of the experience. So if you want to go in fresh... don't... read it, I guess? I didn't include a screenshot of me blowing up the final boss, so there's that I guess.

DOOM 64 HD remaster

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC (reviewed)

Completion status: All Steam achievements completed over the course of three playthroughs, one of the original campaign on the second highest difficulty ("I own DOOM!"), another of the original campaign on the highest difficulty ("Watch Me Die!"), and then a third of the newly added post-game campaign that ostensibly connects this game to DOOM Eternal. All optional content was either completed or engaged with (I didn't bother to beat every single unlockable level, even if I tried them all), and all of the Demon Keys were collected across a second playthrough (more on that it a bit). This all took me roughly 28 hours, according to Steam's game time counter.

DOOM 64 has a curious history. This title was actually developed by Midway Games (although there was extensive oversight by and cooperation with some of the original developers of DOOM at id Software such as John Carmack and John Romero), and although it has maintained a dedicated cult following over the years, it largely has been lumped into the same basket of 'lesser' console conversions as the inferior Playstation 1 and (especially) Sega Saturn ports of the original DOOM, and was largely overshadowed by other popular shooters on the system, such as Perfect Dark and Goldeneye.

This couldn't be further from the truth, though, or more of a shame. DOOM 64 wasn't a port at all of either of the previous DOOM titles, and is still considered by some classic fans to be the "true" DOOM 3. In fact, DOOM 64 was a remarkable console-only DOOM game that featured significant improvements over the original, along with extensive changes to level design and aesthetics that made it feel like one of the more singular entries in the series. Thankfully, this classic was finally remastered for modern platforms, allowing the game to be experienced the way it always should have been: with a mouse and keyboard (I jest... kind of).

The first thing to know about DOOM 64 is that significant alterations were made to the DOOM engine, and all weapon and enemy sprites were completely overhauled. Indeed, while the basic flow of gameplay and subject matter are basically unchanged, the look of the game is pretty wildly different than previous iterations of the series.

The enemy sprites, for example, are much, much higher detail, and were created from 3D models, giving them much more of a sense of presence in the environments than they previously had. Guns, similarly, have so much more to them visually, and even the way they feel when using them can be somewhat different (I'm very, very partial to the physics, sound, and look of DOOM 64'd version of the chaingun; it's very satisfying to use. But the true hero of this title is the chainsaw, which blows any previous version of the weapon out of the water. I never used this weapon in previous DOOM games, whereas I opted for it whenever confronted with a horde of pinkies here, and even, in certain desperate, ammo-less moments, used it to take down Barons of Hell and Imps with little trouble).

The hardware accelerated DOOM 64 took advantage of the N64's (at the time) reasonably powerful technology to change up both the look of the game as well as how it plays. Room-over-room architecture, scripted events that would have been unthinkable in previous games (one cool level sees you activating a device that literally alters the configuration of the stage by pounding down a flat surface until it forms a stairway to a lower level of one of the UAC bases), scrolling skies, more naturalistic water scrolling, environmental effects, and a dramatically improved use of color make DOOM 64 feel like an almost generational leap over previous games in the series.

Unlike the samey labyrinths of DOOM I and the godawful city environments of DOOM II, DOOM 64's various environments actually FEEL distinct. They range from distinctly high-tech (primarily through the use of vibrant neon colors and strobe lighting that you'd expect to see in a space facility, as well as limited interaction with technology), to gothic (some of the mid-game Hell levels see you trudging through medieval feeling demonic keeps and castles, complete with black clouds billowing overhead, lightning flashing in the distance, and honest-to-goodness fog effects in dank, demon-infested corridors), to downright diabolical (late-game Hell levels make much heavier usage of Satanic imagery than previous DOOM games, which means you can expect to see human sacrifices impaled everywhere, pentagrams, inverted crosses, giant stretches of chain fences and cages like in a Silent Hill otherworld, and, in the last few stages, the brilliant billowing of gigantic plumes of hellfire on the horizon, rising far over the buildings surrounding you, reminding you just how deeply in the nest of evil you are really situated.

The soundscape of DOOM 64 has also changed pretty dramatically. As a supplement to the creepier visuals, the chirpy rock music of previous DOOM games has been replaced with moody, ambient tracks that sound much more like something you'd hear in a horror game, including one track that is primarily composed of demonic growls and moans.

It doesn't necessarily make compelling listening on its own, but combined with the revised visual design and strong gameplay it makes the experience that much more engaging and immersive. In many respects, DOOM 64 feels like a re-evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of previous games, and this extends to almost every aspect of the game design.

One way in which DOOM 64 attempted to further its unique fusion of horror and action is with its use of in-game brightness. Simply put. this is a rather infamously dark game. Not DOOM 3 'need to use a flashlight' dark, but it's rather telling that even with this re-release, which seems to have been significantly brightened compared to even the highest brightness setting in the original game, a lot of my screenshots that I'd planned on using were just... too dark to make out much of anything with small screenshots. Granted, in a dark room, on a wide-screen monitor, the various dark tones look quite brilliant and moody, but I can see why being able to see properly would have been something of an issue for players of the original. For this reason, I've opted for brighter screenshots from the game.

One benefit from this, also related to mood, is the really striking use of shadows in this game. There are many sections of this game where you'll see a dark corridor with a weak bit of torchlight illuminating a section ahead of you, or where the room is almost bisected by shadows. Along with the more subtle and nuanced use of color, this also helps the locations in DOOM 64 to feel more evocative and present.

DOOM 64's enemy variety is stronger than it was in the somewhat barebones original game, but it has lost a few of the more strategically interesting demons from DOOM II. Specifically, the Revenant, Arch-Vile, and Chaingunner enemies are nowhere to be found here. While you'll see a ton of Arachnotrons, the larger Spiderdemon is also absent (although given how frustrating that enemy is, I don't see this as a huge loss). In their place, there is a new monster type standing in as the final boss, and, on the regular enemy front, a faster and more powerful variety of the Imp enemy, called the Nightmare Imp, is introduced. It feels like the developers wanted to preserve the move away from almost entirely humanoid enemies while being able to keep more of the flow of movement in combat from the original (as @RogerRoger mentioned when we talked about DOOM II, two of the three removed regular enemies pretty dramatically alter the flow of combat and force you to attend to them before anything else).

This attempt might not have been entirely successful, though. While most of the enemies don't feel substantially different in this version of DOOM, the Lost Soul has seen a crazy bump in aggression and damage scaling. Simply put, even one Lost Soul will often be more damaging to the player than more traditionally threatening enemy types such as the Baron of Hell due to how quickly it'll attack the player consecutively. Combine this with the much higher damage scaling involved with playing on the highest difficulty settings, and suddenly two or more Lost Souls become an existential threat to the player. As such, the Pain Elemental, a mere nuisance in DOOM II, has become arguably the most dangerous enemy you'll encounter due to its tendency to spit out Lost Souls at an alarming rate.

I should also mention the final boss, which is also new for this game. It's... well, frustrating, but probably the best final boss in the series to date. While it's clear the developers are still struggling to create a fight that feels climactic as well as fun, considering the Mother Demon final boss is just sort of unceremoniously dropped in the middle of the room after clearing out an epic swarm of enemies beforehand, but she feels significantly less gimmicky than the Icon of Sin from DOOM II, and, unlike with OG DOOM's Spiderdemon, you can't just hide behind walls and take pot shots at it to avoid death, as she has Revenant-style homing projectiles that will rip you apart. In fact, she's probably way too hard (unless you have a certain difficulty-to-obtain weapon, which I'll discuss next, that sends her down hard within seconds). I didn't obtain this weapon until my second playthrough, so the best opportunity I found to survive the fight was to get up in her face ASAP and rhythmically move to avoid powerful projectiles she kept shooting at me whilst stun-locking her with continuous super shotgun blasts to the face.

Weapons-wise, aside from altered sprites that have some recoil/a somewhat different feel to them, not a lot has changed with the classic weapons aside from the chainsaw. The chaingun feels great, of course, but its functionality is identical to previous games. The super shotgun returns from DOOM II, and its as versatile and powerful as ever. The only real addition to your arsenal this time is the Unmaker (dubbed in-game only as "What the !@#%* is this!" by Doomguy), a fleshy, demonic beam weapon that's unremarkable unless you upgrade it (that's right: the very first upgradable weapon in the series). Upgrading it involves obtaining three "Demon Keys," which can only be accessed by finding them in secret levels accessed via alternate level exits during the main campaign. Unless you're following a guide, then, it's likely your first time playing the game (like mine) will see you rocking and largely ignoring a base-model Unmaker. Assuming you do go to the trouble of upgrading it fully, though, you end up with a hilariously overpowered weapon (far more useful than the slow-as-molasses BFG in this regard, really) that basically melts down the strongest enemies within seconds (even the final boss!), making the only (considerable) restraint on its full-scale adoption late in the game the limited amount of beam ammo that is shared between it, the BFG, and the plasma gun. Really, it's best to leave this for Cyberdemons before the final level.

One of the major changes made in DOOM 64 is in the puzzle/secret design and how you progress. Simply put, there's a significantly larger focus placed on environmental puzzles in this game. With some of them being real stumpers. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised how many of this game's secret areas and items were essentially hidden in plain sight, with the understanding that the player would read between the lines, so to speak, and figure out how to overcome a challenge. Granted, much of the game still is obtaining colored skulls to successively unlock different doors, but the game will also have you fire your gun at switches from certain vantage points (sometimes multiple in a row from different angles for particularly large secrets), use strobing lights and/or computer displays to communicate information about your environment wordlessly, make the player interact with switches in order to physically alter the terrain, remember and input simple codes from elsewhere in a level, and, in general, build entire levels around progression concepts that the player will need to grasp in order to progress.

It's not all honey butter with this game, of course. As is practically mandatory for a classic DOOM game, the general strength of the level design needs to be off-set by something aggravating and stupid. In this case, there are a few levels where the game likes to drop the player into pits from which there is no escape. There's often not even any warning before it happen. In one sequence during level... six, I believe, if you hesitate before rushing ahead in a room, the floor will crumble in front of you and sent you falling into a black pit filled with demons eager to consume you. But even if you barrel forward, you'll likely plunge to your doom (heh) thanks to certain large enemies suddenly appearing and blocking your path forward. There's also a rather infamous part later in the game where you'll be sent plummeting into inescapable lava if you're standing on the wrong part of the floor when it starts crumbling underneath you. And, in general, there are just far too many spots where you can casually fall into a place from which the only return is death. The game also occasionally likes to force the player to run through elaborate arrow trap sequences in order to obtain colored skulls, and even if these don't kill you, you'll often lose a lot of carefully preserved health in the process. These sorts of cheap traps aren't terribly common, but they're so unfair and poorly designed that they contrast harshly with the generalized excellence of how this game handles challenges.

While it's difficult to mention this as a negative, considering it's pretty universal among classic DOOM games, the narrative approach hasn't really changed, either. You'll get a few screens (with sensible color combinations this time that make them easy to read, thankfully!) with some delightfully overwrought prose, and a traditional descent into the heart of hell level design-wise, but otherwise, there's really nothing to the story presentation. The new campaign (which I'll discuss briefly soon) ostensibly connects this game to DOOM Eternal, but, really, what's to connect? It's just another set of levels, same as with any other DOOM game. Of course, nobody plays DOOM for the gripping narration, so it doesn't really matter. This apparently is a sequel to DOOM/DOOM II as well, but I wouldn't know that without researching the game a bit.

In addition to the forementioned secret demon key levels, DOOM 64 also has a handful of other secret levels to access. The first order of business is finding the secret exit to the game's very first level. To do this, you need to destroy all of the explosive barrels in the level, which makes a secret elevator appear. Despite how utterly obscure this easter egg is, though, it gets worse: after you finish destroying all of the barrels, you have, maybe 3 seconds to high-tail it to that elevator near the start of the level, which means you actually need to destroy the very first barrel in the game last, and then hope you don't get stuck on a wall or something as you rush to access the secret level.

This level, called "Hectic," is... well, I can't think of a family-friendly word to use when describing it, so, instead, I'll use a roundabout method of describing what playing this level is like. Anyone who has ever played the game Super Mario Maker, Nintendo's charming and innovative creativity suite on Wii U, will remember how, despite the number of supremely creative and well-thought-out levels they encountered online, there were also a huge number of levels that seemed designed to do little more than make life hell for the player. Perhaps this was due to a creativity deficit on the part of the players, who couldn't seem to find a way to create entertaining levels, or maybe it was born from some sick, sadistic impulse to inflict suffering on others that these people might not have known lurked inside of them, but, whatever the case may be, you'd find levels that existed purely to inspire frustration, and were frustrating also because of how poorly designed they often seemed. That's what Hectic is like.

The level is incredibly simple. You have one hub room that connects to three different challenge rooms, each with a colored skull key required to escape the level. This starting room entices the player by showing them nice stuff like armor upgrades and a Megasphere (a colored orb that doubles your health points by 100%). You quickly learn, however, that these are simply intended to troll the player: trying to grab the armor upgrade traps the player under a press that quickly crushes them to death. Similarly, if you grab the Megasphere, you become trapped in a tight space and watch as the ceiling above you slowly descends to crush you.

That really sets the tone of things, doesn't it? The yellow key challenge room is the easiest to to conquer, as it merely requires a few trial and error deaths. It involves crossing a small room filled with alternating platforms and traps that continuously spit out damaging arrows. It's irritating, but by my third or fourth death I'd found an optimal path that minimized the amount of damage I took. The next challenge room, however, quickly grew on my nerves, and took forever to beat. It traps you in a small room filled with three Arachnotrons (whose lasers can easily tear you apart in a couple of seconds) and gives you nothing but a rocket launcher to defend yourself. Now, rocket launchers are great against Arachnotrons... at a distance. Try to target anything close to you, however, and you'll endure inordinately large amounts of splash damage from the resulting explosion. So, cue a frustrating twenty minutes or so of me going into this room and trying to kill the Arachnotrons, usually to only end up killing myself with splash damage in the process. Somehow, I managed to get through this, and steeled myself for the last challenge. This one was less poorly designed, but seemed unfair and designed to frustrate as well. The floor space was limited to a few pillars erupting from the floor. Falling off these pillars meant certain death, as there was no way to climb up. Once you head into this level and collect the skull key, Hell Knights, four in total, appear on either side of the player and begin assaulting them with fireballs. So the player has to try to balance on these pillars, moving back and forth to avoid fireballs and kill all of the Hell Knights with rockets.

This is the section where I learned to regret that firing rockets actually knocks you back a few inches or so, as does taking damage from fireballs.

So, forty falls into the bed of lava below, and I was done with Hectic! In fairness to the developers, the reward is actually pretty cool. You unlock a "Features" menu that both allows you activate certain cheats, like invincibility (although doing this will disallow you from being able to collect trophies), and gives you access to the helpful "Level Select" option. Not only can you use this to replay certain levels again (although, going into a late-game level with just a pistol is its own form of Hell), but you can also access the remaining hidden levels in this game, called "Fun" Levels.

So, playing these, which are four in total, you discover that what the developer considers to be "fun" is apparently throwing you in a small arena or in a set of hallways and then relentlessly puking high-powered enemies and rockets everywhere, which quickly turns into a mess. It's that Mario Maker-style of level design again. I won't go into any depth on them. I did complete one (after, many, many tries) for a Steam achievement, but it wasn't easy, and probably wasn't worth the effort.

A significant addition to the re-release worth mentioning is the inclusion of a second campaign! As mentioned before, this campaign apparently connects it to the newest game in the series, DOOM Eternal, but, really, all you have here is a truncated campaign, maybe 1/3 as long as the original, that has to hit most of the same beats in less time. An interesting result of this is that these extra levels feel HARD. The developers seem to have designed it knowing that players will have beaten the game previously, giving these intricately design new levels the feel of challenge stages. This mini-campaign also has its own boss, which is pretty much identical to the original (it's the final boss' sister or something... no joke). Thankfully, the final boss fight here is actually quite a bit more fun, as it's set in a level where you can feel free to run, hide, and generally fight the absurdly powerful demon without having to resort to cheap exploits like stun-locking it.

But, yeah, once you finish the main campaign, selecting "New Game" will give you the option to play this mini-campaign instead, and I HIGHLY recommend everyone who enjoyed the base game do so. It's mostly more of the same, but considering the game, that's not a bad thing at all.

CONCLUSION

There are some drawbacks to DOOM 64. Some frustrating oversights in the level design. Less enemy variety than in DOOM II. A final boss that is either overwhelming or pathetic, depending on how many of the secret demon keys you can access to by the time the final level rolls around. Yet this is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best game in the series I've played to date. It's so good as a whole product, honestly, that it puts previous entries to shame. I never replay games right away, and rarely go back to look for secrets, and yet I continued to return to DOOM 64 to uncover all of its secrets and unlock all of the achievements. I can't recommend this strongly enough to anyone who has any love in their heart for old-school shooters or horror shooters. You won't be disappointed. A solid 9/10 from me.

@Ralizah Thanks for the nod partway through; last night I reached the final boss, but without any of the Demon Keys, so your review couldn't have come at a better time. Expecting a straightforward run-and-gun DOOM experience was my undoing, so now I feel slightly less self-conscious about repeatedly being handed my butt by the Mother Demon. I'll go back and look for those upgrades later.

I've been leaning on the chainsaw in pinkie-heavy environments as well, and the crying babies embedded in the soundtrack creep me the fu... [snip] ...ndamentally you're right, this is a very different feel for "classic" DOOM in many small ways, which all come together and contribute to a larger overall sense of a generational jump. It's incredibly memorable, put it that way. What it lacks in the tempo-driven revelry of its predecessors, it makes up for with its unique tone and style.

One thing I have noticed, however, is that the brightness (or perhaps moreso the exposure levels) of the PS4 version do seem a little more favourable than the PC port you've shown here. I haven't encountered anywhere I've felt to be too dark; quite the opposite in fact, and the early areas which deliberately play with neon lights in otherwise pitch-black rooms seemed to pop way more than they do in your shots (to the point where I chuckled "Well, it's the Nintendo version, so it has to be a colouring book!" to myself at one point). Wonder why there's that disparity between them? And I wonder if the XboxONE or Switch versions lean more towards the darkness or the light; should it be murky, or should it be brighter?

Absolutely cracking review. I was thinking of writing one as well, but knew you'd be presenting this at some point and frankly, I couldn't say it any better. Excellent stuff.

@RogerRoger I doubt there are version specific display differences. I only had my brightness level cranked up to 60% or so. I experimented with the brightness settings, and this was the result.

Does that look more like your version? That's with the brightness jacked up to max.

If it still looks different, maybe it's because of a color saturation feature on your TV or something? HDR support, maybe?

And thanks! I know my posts are a lot to get through, but I've been enjoying my journey through the DOOM series thus far. Common judgment has the original as the best one, but, so far, I've enjoyed each successive game more than the last. We'll see if that holds true with DOOM 3 (although I spent a LOT of time with this last DOOM game, so I might take a break for a few months).

@Ralizah I wouldn't describe your posts as "a lot to get through", they're fun reads and convey your passion for the franchise very effectively! It helps that I'm currently playing DOOM 64 as well but, even if I weren't, the above would've made me want to!

Thanks for playing with your brightness settings and grabbing that extra capture. That's much closer to what my PS4 copy looks like, so it might just be me. I posted two screencaps of my own in the relevant topic recently, so it's probably down to how I keep my various screens, as they look the same across my TV, my PC and my smart(ass)phone. I've long-since disabled HDR on my PS4 (because of its haphazard integration across various games) so things tend to "pop" a bit more anyway, as HDR flattens colours and makes contrast appear softer, at least to my eyes.

Am fascinated to see what you make of DOOM 3 (although no pressure; definitely take a break and play something that isn't all bullets and blood for a bit). There's a tiny part of me that thinks I could play it, under the right circumstances, as part of my "push myself further" drive this year.

@Ralizah, great DOOM 64 review. I can't imagine the amount of time it took to write it up, but it was a good read.

@RR529 Thanks! I've been enjoying your frequent reviews as well. They're much tidier and more concise than the gargantuan walls of text I tend to churn out every month or so. And I appreciate how people like you have been helping to keep this little thread alive with high-quality content.

@RogerRoger Yeah, the next few legs in my DOOM journey should be interesting, because DOOM 3 is wildly different than other games in the series, and 2016/Eternal are advanced, modern-gen games.

I also want to come around to Final DOOM at some point.

Hopefully all of them this year. I've been making good progress so far.

How are you liking the game, btw?

I couldn't quite read all your DOOM 64 review @Ralizah (I got to the soundtrack bit before stopping).

Purely because I want to go in as blind as I can into DOOM 64 mind and that seemed like a good place to stop. What I did read was well written as always!

I have got the page saved though for later... so expect a tag from me within the next few months probably going on about this review properly!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, that was a smart place to stop reading, then. It's a terrific game. I think you're going to love it.

@Ralizah Good idea skipping Final DOOM for now, I reckon. My brother loves the franchise and often says that it's the toughest of the lot, unfairly so in many places, so you might wanna mix things up a little before circling back around to try it. Best of luck when you do!

I'm with you (thanks for asking, by the way) and reckon DOOM 64 is the best of the classic games; since I haven't played any of the others, it's therefore currently my all-time favourite DOOM. Whilst I initially found its unsettling tone, well... unsettling, I quickly adapted to its challenging design and appreciated having actual puzzles to solve in some later levels. Coming in and expecting a straightforward, retro run-and-gun made those moments a pleasant surprise. It's a testament to its "just one more go" lure that, whilst falling head-over-heels in love with Spider-Man this week, I've still made time for a couple levels each evening.

Thanks to your review clueing me in about the Demon Keys, I finally beat the Mother Demon last night, and only have some scattered bronze trophies left to obtain; I'll be going for them later on, for sure.

@RogerRoger Oh yeah, you've really been taken with Spider-Man, haven't you? I need to get around to that one of these days. I'll make it the next game on my Sony AAA exclusives to-buy list after God of War.

Great to hear you enjoyed DOOM 64! I think the puzzle-y design really helps to add some needless diversity to the gameplay loop.

I mostly stuck to a three or four levels every evening as well, because I've found the levels are often long, complex, and take me anywhere from 15 - 30 minutes a pop to finish, which adds up quickly.

What difficulty did you play on? And do you plan on going back eventually to play the second campaign?

Hopefully I will @Ralizah! I seem to share quite a few of your views regarding games so I'm... well... Hopeful I'll take a similar shine to it 😁

The soundtrack for DOOM 64 and the way you describe it (Not to mention the actual link you provided) reminds me of what I thought of Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver's soundtrack

Not terribly great to listen to by itself, but wonderful for setting the mood & atmosphere. Just Soul Reaver's is not as unnerving as DOOM 64's 😅

I assume the next review from you will probably be FFVII Remake no? That'll certainly be an interesting piece to read through!

It's good to hear you've been enjoying DOOM 64 more as well @RogerRoger... The praise from yourself is only making me more eager to try it!

Also are my eyes playing tricks on me or did you have a different Spider-Man gif avatar earlier to this current one?

@Ralizah There will inevitably be many Spidey thoughts shared, yes. A preview would be that, whilst I can understand how some might not have been blown away, it's personally everything I look for in a game.

Last night I played the first level of the second campaign in DOOM 64 and was taken aback by how difficult it was (I've been playing the whole game on "I Own Doom!" because despite my famous aversion to challenge, I'm experienced with classic DOOM and find the lower difficulty levels often become an empty hunt for something to shoot... yet, even with the warning from your review fresh in my mind as I started, I was pretty humbled). After a bloody struggle and more than a few reloading of quicksaves, I saw the second level but immediately upon my first death there, I'd reached my limit.

I was in a determined trophy cleanup mood, however, so I used a password to skip to its final level and get the last trophy I needed, on the understanding that I'd play it all properly on "Bring It On!" someday soon. I appreciate having additional levels, but they do feel very unbalanced and dangerous when compared to the core of the original campaign, at least to me.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Oh, any fan of classic DOOM games (or retro shooters in general) should have a blast with DOOM 64 and so I hope you enjoy it as much as we clearly have!

And no, no tricks; apologies for the confusion. I've made a dozen Spider-Man GIFs in SHAREfactory and was trying on a few, to see which fit best. No doubt I'll find a better one further down the line, although I try not to change my avatar too frequently. This one's good for now!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Honestly, my gameplay habits are so erratic that I never really know what I'll be finishing at any given time.

I am dying to get my hands on a copy of FFVII Remake, though. Tuesday can't come soon enough.

@RogerRoger Yeah, the new levels are pretty difficult. Especially on the highest difficulty setting. Clearly designed for people who had already tackled the main campaign.

It was a good addition, though, and I can actually beat the final boss there without abusing the stun-locking properties of the super shotgun.