Rip and Tear Through This Retro Doom Ads and Cover Art Until It Is Done

John Summers • Contributor

Nov 16, 2024 11:00 PM EST

Can anyone explain to me how Doom managed to get everything so right straight out of the gate? How did it nail all the necessary ingredients to create the perfect first-person shooter at a time when there was virtually nothing to compare it to? Yes, I know it technically wasn't the first FPS, but let's be honest—aside from Wolfenstein 3D, it might as well have been. Sure, there were earlier games like Maze War or Battlezone, but they weren't even in the same league as what Doom brought to the table. Take the weapon progression, for example: it's iconic. You start with a pistol, move up to a shotgun, then a machine gun, then a rocket launcher, and finally some crazy energy weapon. That formula became the blueprint for FPS games, and they got it right on the first try!

And that's just scratching the surface. The level design was brilliant, the music unforgettable, the gore over-the-top but satisfying, and the enemies—oh, the enemies! The variety, the in-fighting mechanics, the lore, the silent but badass protagonist—it was all perfect. And then there's the multiplayer. Doom practically invented Deathmatch. How did they achieve so much without having any real FPS predecessors to draw from? It's nothing short of genius.