Doom

Doom (often referred to as Doom 1993) is a legendary 1993 first-person shooter developed and published by id Software. Released on December 10, 1993, for PC (MS-DOS), it is widely considered one of the most important and influential video games of all time. Powered by the groundbreaking Doom engine (id Tech 1) created by John Carmack, the game defined the FPS genre, popularized online deathmatch, and ignited the 90s PC gaming boom. It remains a timeless masterpiece of fast-paced, demonic carnage.

Core Story

You play as an unnamed space marine (affectionately known by fans as the “Doomguy”), stationed on the Martian moon of Phobos as security for the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC). When the UAC’s secret teleportation experiments between Phobos and Deimos go disastrously wrong, a gateway to Hell is opened. The bases are overrun by demonic entities, and the entire human garrison is slaughtered or possessed. As the sole survivor, you must fight your way through the infested facilities of Phobos, cross over to the corrupted moon of Deimos, and ultimately descend into Hell itself to stop the invasion and save Earth. The story is famously minimal—acting as a simple, atmospheric excuse for the relentless action.

Gameplay and Features

Doom established the foundational mechanics that would define the shooter genre for decades:

• Fast-Paced Combat: Movement is incredibly fast. Circle-strafing, dodging fireballs, and weaving through crowds of demons are essential to survival. The original game has no jumping or vertical aiming (weapons auto-aim on the Z-axis)—just pure, horizontal speed and positioning.
• Iconic Arsenal: The game introduces a legendary, perfectly balanced roster of weapons, including the revving Chainsaw, the punchy Pump-Action Shotgun, the rapid-fire Chaingun, the Plasma Rifle, and the devastating, room-clearing BFG 9000.
• Intricate Level Design: Designed largely by John Romero and Sandy Petersen, the levels are complex, interconnected mazes filled with secrets, monster closets, toxic slime pits, and the iconic hunt for Red, Blue, and Yellow keycards to unlock new areas.
• Deathmatch: Doom literally coined the term “Deathmatch,” allowing players to connect over LAN or dial-up modems for frantic, competitive multiplayer—a feature so popular it crashed corporate networks worldwide in the 90s.
• WADs and Modding: The game’s data was stored in easily accessible .WAD files, giving birth to a massive modding community that continues to create custom maps, weapons, and total engine conversions to this day.

PC Version

The original MS-DOS release was distributed via the brilliant shareware model, giving away the first episode (“Knee-Deep in the Dead”) for free and hooking millions of players. Today, the PC version is immortalized through advanced community source ports like GZDoom, which allow the game to run flawlessly on modern systems with mouselook, high-resolution widescreen displays, dynamic lighting, and limitless mod support. Officially, the definitive DOOM + DOOM II enhanced edition (released in 2024) is the best way to buy the game today, offering native 4K support, an official new episode (Legacy of Rust), and a built-in mod browser.

Console Versions

Doom has famously been ported to virtually every piece of electronic hardware in existence—from the SNES, Sega 32X, and Atari Jaguar to calculators and modern consoles. Today, the game is readily available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. These modern console releases are fantastic, offering smooth 60 to 120 FPS gameplay, gyro aiming on supported platforms, local split-screen co-op, and cross-platform online deathmatch.

Quick Note

Doom (1993) isn’t just a classic retro game; it is the blueprint for an entire medium. Its kinetic pacing, flawless enemy roster, and stellar level design have barely aged a single day.

In short: Rip and tear, until it is done. Whether you have somehow never played the original Doom, or you just want to blast an Imp with a shotgun for the thousandth time, it remains one of the most purely fun and violently satisfying games ever made.