Video: The DOOM And DOOM II Ports Are Now "Must-Buy Purchases" After The Recent Patch

Oh wow, yeah I may pick it up. I forget it even came out on Switch and the price isn't bad.

Been playing Sigil over past few days in handheld mode

Great patch, finally I can recommend these doom ports! Only thing missing really is online MP

I really want wireless local multiplayer to be added.

I have fond memories of installing the games onto our school computers during my high school years in the mid 2000s, and having LAN parties during lunch (and occasionally during class, which would prompt our teacher to pull the kill switch whenever we got busted, God rest his soul).

A physical release with DOOM, DOOM II, DOOM 3, and DOOM 64 with all updates and official add-ons (including SIGIL) would be wild, but only after no further patches/updates are planned. I would buy four copies. Your move, Bethesda.

Yeah I agree this is old school FPS heaven... or hell.

It seems like the only part of Bethesda Softworks that isn't trying to out-embarrass itself lately is iD.

Did they add cheats yet?

Funny on how “We will give you Final Doom for free” got me to cough up my email address.

Cool. Can we get all those initial reviews on Metacritic updated then?

Ditto for Bloodstained and Yooka Laylee and every other game out there that gets significant post-release patches to dramatically improve performance and/or add free new features?

This is a recurring issue with numerous modern games - they get pushed out in an incomplete or broken state, drown under bad reviews, then patched to perfection - but if anyone comes late to the show and tries to look up the reviews, all they find is “poor performance - 6/10”.

I was never a big doom guy when these games were new but I'm discovering them now and having a blast! It's great how pretty much every doom game will soon be available all on switch once Doom 64 releases and Doom Eternal! I only hope the new game won't be gimped somehow on switch because of the weaker hardware.

Man Doom 64 couldn't come out soon enough that's the only one I spent most of my Doom life with. I play it more than any other Doom.

Great update.

Needs the option to switch sticks still as Nintendo won't get off their arse and allow you to assign buttons at system level like Xbox and PS4 allows.

Actually get on that Liam Donlan please:
Ask Nintendo why they don't have this accessibility option. Ridiculous restriction in this day and age.

@gaga64 while that is unfortunate, it helps curve this trend of developers releasing games in broken, or incomplete states. I suppose word of mouth, and peer reviews would be there to save the day in this instance, as well as software discounts.

@Zeldafan79 panic button is handling the switch version of doom eternal like they did with 2016 version but the difference between the 2 is that doom eternal for switch is being built from the ground up not like the first one which was directly ported from the pc version.

All I want is a physical collection. Is it really that much of an ask?

Digital Foundry says it’s ok now so I’m on board 😊

@RiasGremory
Well that sounds promising.

@DrDaisy it has a menu where you can select the cheats

It's clear they fixed lots of things but I hate when devs add stuff that actually changes how the game looks in a way that does not really go visually with the original game, such as the new weapon scroll wheel when selecting weapons. I hope there's an option to turn that off because it just looks wrong to me, like some amateur fan hack, and it makes the game look lower quality than it looks without it. And, really, I don't think it was necessary. I played the entirety of PlayStation Doom back in the day without any such wheel and never really had an issue with getting to the weapon I wanted. This is just modern devs thinking all gamers are noobs who can't do the most basic stuff. But, if it's optional then that's fine.

Now I could only hope that after all these fixing with them games will lead to a complete Doom physical collection soon. A physical collection that includes complete versions of Doom, Doom II, Doom 3, and Doom 64 as well as all the add-ons for $30 all on one cartridge would be awesome. These games are just too good to be left stuck in the dark digital subspace of time.

@DrDaisy cheats were in day one on Doom 2 at least.

@Hagemaru : Not in DOOM I and II. I cannot speak for DOOM 3 as I haven't downloaded it.

@Silly_G @Hagemaru Not in Doom 3 either.

I've been playing Doom daily since the update landed and I'm up to the first map of Episode 4. I'm playing on Hurt Me Plenty and it's been a tough but fair challenge so far but this map is pretty difficult. I've read it's considered to be one of the most difficult maps in the entire series. I only played Doom on the 32X before and I don't think I got very far so most of the game is a new experience for me.

I can't get enough of the Doom series, I already spent 55 hours on Doom 2 before the update arrived and now want to go through it again once I'm finished with the original 4 episodes and Sigil. I'm also about 3/4s of the way through Doom 3 and have a strong urge to restart Doom 2016. Then there is Doom 64 and Eternal on the way. Love it!

I really want Bethesda to announce Hexen and Quake are on the way too.

I've bought these games several times already back in the nineties, but now that they've really got it all, I'm there again once the gyro and/or IR based aiming arrives. :3

This reminds me when Capcom fixed Street Fighter V, when Undead Labs fixed Stay of Decay 2 or when Rare fixed Sea of Thieves. They became great games eventually but the damage was done, on reviews at least. You can only blame the developers though. However, in this case is unforgivable because they are ports of two games from the early 90s!

Ayup, actually picked both Doom 1 and 2 up after they announced the add-on function.
With Sigel and the Final Doom stuff, it's pretty much "feature complete" for all i care.

The controls seem to have taken a hit from the switch to 60FPS though, they feel incredibly floaty. Playable, sure, but there's room for improvement.

But yeah, for as mush (deserved) sh*t i give Bethesda these days, they actually saved these ports. For their asking price, it's a steal at this point.

Now we have that sorted and once Doom eternal and Doom 64 release can we get Quake 1-3 please so I can relive some fragging good childhood memories

You can only aim sideways in Doom 1+2, so motion control is pointless.

Has "must buy" been taken out of context?

@OorWullie I only ever played Quake on the Saturn but I remember loving it.

@Silly_G someone donated you for suggesting that wireless play and lan parties are good things. That or they didn't like that you would purchase four copies. I wish we could see who the downloads were in cases like this. But I as well would buy four copies to host my own lan parties.

Absolutely love these games with the new updates, and I can't wait for Eternal and 64.

Personal rule: never buy a Bethesda game.

@Creature Exactly. Perfect motion controls would feel broken in Doom either way. There is no way to make it good unless you change the game too.

@Hagemaru : Yes, and that was one of my gripes with the ports (that the controls were dual-analog as opposed to using the directional keys like the DOS versions). What was even more annoying was that the directional keys didn't do anything at all with these ports! That was until the most recent update, where the directional keys can be used to switch between weapons. I did eventually get used to dual-analog, though I would overwhelmingly prefer directional keys when playing on PC.

@sixrings : Somebody could have down-voted my comment for any number of reasons. Some around here may not like me or my views, someone may not have liked that I incorporated a little prayer in my comment by wishing my departed teacher a pleasant afterlife (for whom I harboured a lot of affection and respect), or perhaps, like you said, maybe they thought I was stupid for wanting to buy four copies. It's not worth worrying about, really. I'm sure I have many, upon many comments with the dreaded 5+ down-votes. Mercifully, they don't let us see them, and it's probably for the best as I would probably agonise a bit over it.

@Rhaoulos : I don't blame you. I hate Bethesda, but I love iD Software (or at least what they used to be).

@USWITCH64 yeah Dojo and the Pygmy could do with an update as it slows down when the action gets intense and the frame rate could use a bump

Bethesda is botching everything Fallout but are doing great work when it comes to DOOM yes its a shame DOOM Eternal is delayed on Switch probably till next year as long as we get a smooth and solid game out of it the better

So does this mean the game now supports mods like Sonic Robo Blast, or?

@OorWullie First time playing DOOM. I was on Hurt Me Plenty until episode 4 as well, but this episode is so difficult (honestly, even beyond the first level) that I ended up dialing the difficulty back.

It is good, but after playing it for so many years with a mouse and keyboard it is extremely difficult with the joycons.

Got to admit, this excites me more than the modern Doom series. Those games are very good...but these are just magical.

@Ralizah I got stuck right into Episode 4 today and have made it to map 5 without lowering the difficulty. I had to make the most of the quick save though, something I've been reluctant to use too much up till now. Without it though, I would not have made it to Map 5. I'd read earlier that the 1st map was considered the most difficult and it was indeed, there is so little space to move around and not a lot of ammo to spare. I've found the following maps tough too but that first one had me for ages.

The intensity of these later levels is unreal, love it.

@Hagemaru I found it difficult at first in 3, perhaps because I had been used to Overwatch which does have gyro aiming, but then quickly got used to it and after an hour or so I stopped missing it.

@SquareOneMJ If memory serves me well, I bought Quake on either the Saturn or N64 and didn't really like it, so I exchanged it for something else. I found it too fast but I never really gave it much of a chance. Having watched some gameplay videos I know for sure it's a game I'd love now. Hexen I've never actually played but again, I know I'll love it. I really like its fantasy theme of Castles and witches.

Thanks, @PiXeLSteF. @PhilKenSebben said they were at least in DOOM II. Does that go for the Switch ports of DOOM and DOOM 3 as well?

@DrDaisy I only have DOOM 1 and it is there

@NEStalgia I hate the level design in these old DOOM games. It's so labyrinthine. I hate how the walls open to reveal more enemies behind you so often. I hate all the sections with poison/lava floors that damage you. I hate how the Cyberspider, or whatever it's called, has weapons so fast and powerful that you need to play peek-a-boo from behind pillars in order to kill it, which gets tedious quickly.

Despite all that, the simplicity of the gameplay carries it through.

But even with my small amount of exposure to these games, I can tell this has nothing on Doom 2016. Even the first level of that game has amazing, Metroid Prime-esque level design that emphasizes platforming, verticality, and houses plenty of secrets.

@PiXeLSteF Alright. Thanks anyway.

@Ralizah I mean, it was supposed to be labyrinthine. That's the point of it, so that's not really a limitation of the time so much as a preference, and the enemies from behind, I suppose kind of get annoying but on the other hand, it fits the gameplay and requirements of the key fetch quests.

Then again, I'm old school. I don't consider Metroid Prime a be-all end-all in design. In fact I find it kind of mediocre. I like Doom 2016 but its "Quake 2 era" level design is the wrong kind of labyrinth at times. I've found the game is at its worst when the platforming expects you to get to a specific exit that isn't clear. You could argue that's the same as the old games there and thus continues the tradition....but that means it's not actually better in the worst areas.

No matter what though, it's all better than the disaster of Doom 3. The game that killed classic id.

I like 2016, but I have to admit, Serious Sam 1 & 2 blows it away, still.

@NEStalgia Metroid Prime has some issues (especially the in-game map, which is SO confusing at times), but the developers did an amazing job of creating intricate 3D environments for the player to explore. Much nicer than the lazy mazes and sometimes irritiatingly limited floor space found in DOOM levels.

I actually really liked DOOM 3 when I first played it at launch, and probably would today. It's an excellent horror shooter. Very atmospheric.

The problem is that they called it "DOOM," but it's a completely different type of game. More like System Shock 2 or F.E.A.R. in terms of the tone than classic DOOM.

I confess that I have no familiarity whatsoever with Serious Sam games.

@Silly_G I think we will start seeing collections like that toward the end of Switch's life, when big cartriges are cheap. Happened with GBA, and PS3 to an extent.

@Ralizah I believe DOOM was always intended to be horror as much as action. The premise for the game was "Everyone else is dead and I might as well see how far I can get before they kill me too". It's annoying, but it did it's job of making 15 year old me feel claustrophobic and jumpy in a dark room back then.

I am just happy they are including WADs for the game because that more than anything is what made this game so huge, and a large reason why it still continues (Cacowards is an ongoing event). I still need to finish the FreeDOOM WADs that were created for the open source, and Bethesda still needs to get Chex Quest running on this.

I just wish Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM's precursor and engine it all began on, will make it some day to Switch, because that's the game that I played endlessly back in the day. I will however buy both Doom 1 and Doom 2 now to see what all the fuss was about

What would prevent Wolfenstein 3D from releasing?

These are great ways to play Doom, especially if you are a console only person. But I can't help but feel it's still better on PC. I compared this to the GZDoom engine on PC, and GZDoom stomps on the switch ports. It does so much to make it feel and look better on modern hardware without taking away the originals appeal. A ton of options to suit the players needs as well.

@Megal0maniac Not just Wolfenstein 3D, but also Duke Nukem 3D please. And then Half Life (1, 2), Portal (1,2).

@sanderev Yes! I would buy all of those (again)!

@Megal0maniac It depends on if Bethesda had the rights to the original Wolfenstein 3D game or not. Like the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro situation, the Wolfenstein series had seen different ownerships over the years so it's not very easy to simply just released an old game like Wolfenstein 3D as the current rights owner doesn't own the original source released. This means that Wolfenstein unlike Doom isn't as easy to bring back if we're talking on a remastered port of some kind as Bethesda may not had the rights to release the older Wolfenstein games unless they planned to remake it.

@Megal0maniac The Wolfenstein games on Switch already include Wolfenstein 3D in them. There is no point in releasing a separate port.

@gaga64 The problem is if people buy the game once the switch service goes dark/next console, they're stuck with a gimped game, with a good rating. It is better to leave the rating the way it ships, Devs.need to learn to polish games before shipping, not aft. That's just lazy, and bad business.

@Ralizah

"I hate the level design in these old DOOM games. It's so labyrinthine. I hate how the walls open to reveal more enemies behind you so often. I hate all the sections with poison/lava floors that damage you. I hate how the Cyberspider, or whatever it's called, has weapons so fast and powerful that you need to play peek-a-boo from behind pillars in order to kill it, which gets tedious quickly."

You literally described every hallmark of Doom.

It's of my opinion (and half of the gamers out there), that the first one had the best level designs (well above Doom II and the milions of fan .wads). Doom II and the .pwads go overboard with played out trap after trap, ad nauseam. Plus you get to be spammed with chaingunners, revenants, archviles and pain elementals. Oh joy.

People are excited about these wads being added, but Evilution is a boreish chore and Plutonia is for the hardcore freaks. They got nothing on levels like Trapped on Titan that were already included with the Doom II Swtich release on day one.

The Doom engine looks best while labrynthie. True, the labrynth/maze gameplay was a carryover from Wolfenstein, but Doom II really did a good job of showing the engines limitations by offering up ugly looking and lame open areas.

It truly was the first big internet phenomena; and, likewise, you had better bet that most of us relied on walkthroughs (and save states). Later on, Youtuber, Bigmacdavis did an amazing walkthrough series. Don't feel bad about watching them before playing. It's not reasonable to expect someone to find everything on their own.

And yes, Doom 2016 is way good.

@OorWullie

I can 100% my way through all of Ultimate Doom in Ultra-Violence mode except for E4M1. The difficulty is only because of the pistol start and short supply of ammo. Oncemore, I want that ammo for E4M2, so Bob's your uncle. Thy Flesh Consumed has some of my favourite levels in all of Doom; and it defintiely has the best boss level by a large margin.

@robr Fair play to you, that takes some skill. I finally completed it the other day, and yep Thy Flesh Consumed had some great maps. On my first attempt at the final map, I made it to the area where the boss is and got absolutely overwhelmed and obliterated. I thought this is impossible but with careful planning, Imanaged to clear it without much danger on my 2nd attempt. I will attempt an Ultra Violence run one day. What do you think of Sigil? I've played the first couple of maps.

I did my best to find the secrets on my own but some of them are so well hidden I would never have found them without the Doom Wiki guide. I only used it on some maps though, and 100% ten maps at most.

I agree about the map design in Doom being better than Doom 2's. Some of them are really cleverly designed. I really like Doom 2 as well but it definitely goes a tad overboard at times. There's one stage in it though that I absolutely loved but I can imagine many others hating, Downtown map 13. It took me a good few hours to beat it, it felt like it was the biggest map in the game. It took a lot of strategy to clear the city, which I really enjoyed.

@OorWullie

No skill to be had here. Only memorization and saves. If I had skill, I’d probably be able to play Doom II without caving in and using god mode. :0

I think downtown is the one that everyone points out at as showing how bad the doom engine can look out of it’s element. Pretty much all of the Earth levels expose the graphics for what they were for the time. Coincidentally, that’s one of the levels I like too. There’s a lot of cool levels, in there, it’s just not broken up by episode like Doom I and Wolfenstein 3D, and gets tiring. No room to breath? I don’t know, some sort of je ne sais quoi?

When Sigil came out, I so desperately wished I had a pc and I further so desperately hoped it would show up on these console ports. And then I was gifted with it’s presence and...well..I played a bit of the first level and got disinterested. :0 I’ll get around to it.