Watch today's episode on Black Mesa early at the link! www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/black-mesa-zero-punctuation/

"did you think it was an old one, dredged up by the youtube algorithm?" are you implying I may have enough worthwhile endeavors going on in my life to *not* memorize every game review by you, Yahtzee?

If I ever do actually rewatch this video later on when the KZfaq algorithm regurgitates it that opening bit will be very confusing

“Explain how a game that needs that many mods still holds up” Every bethesda game starts nervously sweating

“Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon...” Sir Terry Pratchett

I never get tired of Yahtzee’s portrayal of the Carmack/Romero duality

Around the time of Dooms release someone was promoting her book (I forget who) and somehow weighed in on the subject of Doom saying it was "a disgusting game where you scored points for the severity of the method you killed babies that hung from the ceiling". When it was pointed out to her the game didn't feature hooks, babies or even a scoring system she admitted she'd never seen it and that was just what she'd heard about it. Her new book was subsequently review bombed with all the comments being a variation of 'ive never read it, I just heard it was shit. " :)

I just Started playing DOOM "93 before this retrospective came out, and while you need to mod the game to modernise the resolution and the controls, I didn't install any other mods ( Brutal DOOM or otherwise) and played the game as close to vanilla as possible, and while I needed some time to get used to the controls and the jet engine strapped to my player character, I was genuinely immersed in the game by level 3 of episode 1.

As a Christian who was a kid at this time, the only real reason to be against Doom was that it was violent. I reasoned with my dad about it, and he agreed it not really the same as killing people. Basically, it was just ignorance about videogame violence, and not anything about demons, at least, not amongst the sane ones. That said, if demons ever show up in my group's DnD game, my paladin is playing the Doom theme as he charges into the fray.

Coming from someone who has just recently played the first Doom start to finish, it's just super entertaining because of its simplicity. No long load times, no unnecessary cutscenes. It's just, start, shoot, explore.

as someone who never grew up with doom, i can tell you that i really enjoyed the original, not many shooters like it these days.

"...the plasma gun, which is like stomping on tubes of spearmint toothpaste while blowing raspberries" I haven't played DOOM in quite awhile and that took me right back. Perfect description.

*Doom mods peaked with that one where all the textures are replaced with porn* I mean... Obviously.

The Doomguy face on the status bar delivers characterization better than a lot of shooters. - The military cut and strong jaw scream marine. - His default expression is scanning for danger with a serious expression. He's not overconfident or a jackass wisecracker like Duke. - He grits his teeth while repeatedly firing, shows pain when hurt, and grins evilly at finding a new weapon. He may be a badass, but he's still human, experiencing stress and triumph. - His face gets bloodier and bloodier as he's injured. While he's tough enough to fight through it, he's still mortal. All with no dialog beyond some grunting.

Having recently played through most of Doom II, I can honestly say I think it holds up really well. The main reason for that is the selection of both monsters and weapons is quite small, but each of them has a distinct, unique role to play (e.g. the hit-scan zombies encourage the player to try to find cover, while the Pinky demons chase you _out_ of said cover; the Super Shotgun does great burst damage, while the Chaingun can effectively stun-lock enemies, &c.). Nothing about the game feels extraneous; it's a very tightly-designed game where all the pieces feel like they're contributing something to the experience. That's why I've never understood the appeal of the Brutal Doom mod; adding new guns and mechanics to Doom is like changing the movement rules in Chess. Also, the limited graphics leading to increased clarity, as mentioned in the video, is a huge point in the game's favour. Not only did the low resolution require the design to use clear, easily-readable shapes, but the limited animation frames mean you can _instantly_ tell when a monster has started its death animation and you can move on to the next one. I wasted a lot of bullets shooting dead enemies in Doom 2016 (especially the zombies, who take forever to actually fall over); never had that problem with the original.

I first played DOOM around 2013 or 2014, so I can tell you that even without any nostalgia it's still a very fun time.

Original unmodded Doom is still one of the best gaming experiences to be had. Holds up quite well. Love it forever. Get off my lawn!

eh, I'd say original Doom holds up, played it a year or two ago for the first time and enjoyed the experience, didn't even feel clunky like it usually is with older games. Quake seems alright as well so far.

What I love about the classic Doom games are their almost strategic gameplay. Yes, they're fast-paced, but you're not tested on how quickly you can leap up several ledges, kick through a demon's face and 180-degree snap your reticle onto the fast-moving head of a hell knight and snipe it with pinpoint precision. You don't really MISS shots in Doom. Projectiles will clip objects or closer baddies, bullets can hit the wall at longer distances instead of what you're aiming at, but for the most part when you're aiming at a demon, you hit the demon. You don't have to react super fast to projectiles coming your way because they're all pretty slow - the goal is more to be aware of your surroundings and move well enough to not get caught off-guard or stuck, unable to go anywhere but into a fireball. Classic Doom baddies don't pose a threat on their own and in ideal arenas. Put the player in a tight space with the right demons or throw a variety of hellspawn at them, and that's what really gets you. The new Doom games don't feel that way. An imp can totally ruin your day and dodge several shotgun blasts if you're not a twitchy Overwatch-playing creature of the modern shooter era. That's exactly why I don't get on with it. It's too quick, too twitchy, it's hard to feel like you're in control, and while you can totally argue that in an age of mouselook and WASD controls as a standard this is what these games should evolve into, I don't think this is the only option. I've said it before, but to me, Risk of Rain 2 feels more like the modern version of what classic Doom/2 play like. Nothing about the setting or weapons or enemies really makes it directly comparable, but that strategic feeling of positioning yourself and prioritizing targets, getting overwhelmed with enemies, having no trouble at all making sure you hit what you're trying to hit, enemies being pretty easy on their own and quite predictable, those things are so much closer to what I get out of classic Doom. At least in terms of the moment to moment shooting and such. Level bosses, roguelike elements and currency aside~ IMO, there's always something to learn from the classics. Doom doesn't entirely hold up to modern standards, and that's okay. I truly believe the reason it's withstood the test of time for so many people is that the gameplay it delivers on has been lost and forgotten by modern game devs who believe that things like tight hitboxes, realistic weapon physics and AI that rivals player skills are simply superior to not having those things.

When I tried Doom for the first time last year myself, I did so without a sourceport and mouse look. While the controls take getting used to, I think even in its vanilla form Doom still holds up. To this day I don't think there's any shooter that provides the same feeling of being a hunter dropped into a maze, looking more for the next thing to kill rather than the exit itself.

I disagree, being that I was born 5 years after it's release and didn't play it till 2015 I can say it is very fun even for a guy that would have no nostalgia for it. Also before you say it, it was on the 360 so I've never played modded Doom

"WHOLE FOODS WOULDN'T TAKE MY COUPON" I'm dead lmao

I've been playing Doom on the Switch, and I've been loving it. The keycard finding can be a little frustrating, but the gunplay is great and the story... Barely exists, but who comes to Doom for story? In case you think I'm blinded by nostalgia, I was born in 98, and this is my first time playing Doom.

My litmus test for whether or not Doom holds up is pretty simple: If you can boot up and play the game in DOSbox and still have fun, then it holds up. I first played Doom about 3 years ago (so I have no nostalgia for it), using DOSbox and no mouselook, and while I can definitely say now that while playing with a source port and mods is definitely more entertaining, the original still holds up in it's own right, and is still pretty enjoyable, if aged. IDK, to me saying that preferring mods/source ports means that the original doesn't stand up is weird. I never play Minecraft without mods these days (and usually with a custom launcher, too), but I'd never think that it "doesn't hold up" or that it's "aged poorly". It just means the game makes for a good base to be built upon.

Doom - and by the same obvious token Doom 2 - had one feature we rarely see in most 3D shooters - enemies killing each other. If you could get them to hit each other - easier in 2 where they are everywhere - they would happily start blasting each other while you sit in a corner and watch the carnage. Then single pistol shot to put down the last survivor. One bullet; 60 enemies; smug. Now the enemies happily take 5000 rounds from a minigun in the back and never bat an animated eyelid. Yes, you can use them as a shield in that way, but they never take offense to being shot by their allies.

"Like a freshly spanked flamingo" I swear, i cant get enough of Yahtzee's writing.

As someone who didn't play original Doom until after I'd played Doom 2016, I was absolutely not expecting it to but it totally holds up. I think I ended up getting more playtime out of it than I did Doom 2016. Granted that's because I ended up playing many of the seemingly infinite supply of surprisingly high quality fan made level packs, plus that Sigil thing John Romero did. The pure simplicity of the gameplay seems to have allowed Id to polish the primary loop of strafing and shooting to an absolute mirror shine. I do usually play a source port because 320x200 is not enough pixels in 2020, but I did make a point of playing all the way through the original game at least once using the original binary in dosbox and it does actually have proper mouse look and always did. You just have to turn it on. (with the included configuration utility) Honestly its status as the the real father of mario maker is as much a part of its legacy as having started the genre of first person shooters.

You don't need Brutal Doom to enjoy the original, if anything it just makes the experience feel more cheap and boring. That aside, yes, you do need a source port that allows mouselook in order to get the best experience, but that's just one mod. Once you get that out of the way, the original Doom still holds up. The level design is still a lot more creative and intuitive than in most FPS games that came since, and the shotgun still feels fun to shoot.

"If you have to mod the game so much to even enjoy it, does it really hold up?" I feel like that statement could apply to several other games off the top of my head.

That intro won’t work well in 6 years’ time

"...or you might as well install the Brutal Doom mod" - Imp Get out.

I find no better way to celebrate the release of Doom Eternal than this 😁👌

So i never played doom when i was a kid. It came out the same year i was born. I played doom 2016 first and instantly fell in love and wanted to go back and play the originals. I played the first doom and i loved it. So no nostalgia clouding my judgement here. I like the original for what it is. It also opened my eyes to a whole world of retro shooters out there like dusk and amid evil. Retro shooters are now one of my favorite game genres

Doom does hold up today. Also, that joke at the beginning is not going to hold up once this video becomes old.

Finding a ZP video uploaded 20 seconds ago by random chance? What a day this is!

Ive been playing the original Doom for the first time on my switch and mostly loving it, no nostalgia involved.

Actually one of my recent Christian podcasts talked about Doom being on their side. Also Black Sabbath was generally Christian as well - the hell and Satan imagery they used was mostly in a negative light, while they wore crosses. Check out the song After Forever which they were playing on their last tour.

Yes, I thought this one was older and was shocked to find out it wasn't. You're disterbingly in touch.

Yahtzee “Quip and Swear until it is done” Croshaw

While DOOM 1 didn't amazed me when i played it, but DOOM 2 is actually a masterpiece in Gameplay and Level design though

GZDoom + Beautiful Doom (mod) + disable mouse look & jumping = a beautiful way to re-experience such a classic game. I’m currently about halfway through Doom 2 and having a blast....blasting blasted demons....xD

Original doom still holds up because of its simplicity. When I want to play an FPS with few strings attached, Doom delivers it in it's most pure and primal form. Plus it loads up practically instantly on a modern PC, and it even works on my android phone!

1:07 "Floors with multiple levels" I think you meant that the other way around

In 8th grade my friend snuck Doom onto the homeroom computer and a bunch of us would play it secretly after school. That is to say, I played Doom with five 14-year-olds screaming in to my ear about everything I was doing wrong. So for me, Doom was exactly like a modern-day FPS.

"Body parts fly spectacularly away from each other like former highschool friends promising to keep in touch". Best analogy ever. This video is full of gold nuggets, great job. And yes, playing this back when it released was crazy, me and my friends were constantly leaning to the side to peek around corners.

I grew up with Doom as I was born in 1994. I remember getting a demo disk for Doom from my dad and after you beat Knee Deep In The Dead, you had to buy the rest of the game and there was a number to call to order the full game. Good times.

i still love playing old Doom, it feels so satisfying

As someone who's never liked fps games too much, playing doom for the first time in 2019 was an eye opening experience, it was amazing, and that's exactly because of the arcaic engine giving it such a distinct feel

What I remember of the original doom is how every mall had a kiosk of a shady guy selling flop disks of location specific doom maps, like local colleges or that very shopping mall.

0:45 if I say “You forgot Animal Crossing,” How do you think he will react?

Doom is amazing. I recently played it again on the GZDoom engine and loved it all over again, it 's been years since I played it and Doom 2 too. Great stuff. It may show its age at times but it's so damn fun and no regenerating health or chest high wall crap.

Honestly, a lot of people's complaints about Doom being old and dated can also be applied to the Half Life games (though for some reason you're not allowed to say that online). But like Half Life, it's the novelty and old school appeal that keep them going despite there being several mods that update them or other games that improved on their ideas. Even though I like Half Life, I feel Doom edges out as the best, imo. And a lot of that is what Yahtzee said in the video. It's the simplicity of Doom that makes it timeless, that is the gameplay. Of course Half Life had a good story and good shooter mechanics, but Doom was all about the gameplay. Now when it comes down to what's more important, gameplay vs story, there are genres where story is the most important thing. But gameplay is where games originated from, like Pong. So I would say that gameplay is the most important thing in a game. And simplistic, arcade style games will never be dated. That's what Doom is and that's why it still holds up (from a certain perspective at least). It boils down to taste. Do you want a face paced arcade shooter to let loose on or do you want a more immersive, story based world to explore. For me, I'd say the more simplistic choice is a little more timeless. After all, the more moving parts, the more likely it is to break down. Take your pick, but for me, it's DOOM!

2020 sure is a year for bringing back the classics. Sometimes even the good ones.

As someone who only recently started getting into the Doom franchise, I think that the notion that the old games are held up by nostalgia is simply not true. I had a blast playing both of the older Doom games with literally no modding.

No joke; I just bought Classic Doom a week ago for the Switch when it was on sale and I’m playing it for the very first time. Before this my only contact with Doom other than cultural osmosis (you couldn’t escape Doom in the 90s even though I never played it) was the amazingly good Doom 2016 and I’m happy to inform that... holy crap Classic Doom does hold up very much so! I can’t sit with it for long periods of time and I can’t put my finger as to why exactly. Two, maybe three levels per session is the most I can take, but I’m enjoying it very much. I can only imagine how brain melting it must’ve been in 1993 for those who played it.

GZDOOM along with the maps and total conversions from the cacowards easily elevate it to the best game of all time even today. Absolutely phenomenal. Pirate Doom, Ashes2063, Adventures of Square, Blade of Agony, etc (there are probably dozens of others that are also superb that I've missed).

Yeah, OG Doom still holds up. Hilariously, tough, it's actually too easy close to most modern shooters.

1:31 As a Christian I must say Yahtzee has a great point.

I played through the original Doom a few months ago for the first time and loved it. I've never been much of a fan of shooters that don't at least offer some unique gimmick in either gameplay or story, but Doom being so fast paced and stripped of all the modern day fluff made me love it more than most games I've played today. Still haven't gotten around to playing 2 or 3 yet.

I like vanilla Og Doom 1 and 2. Don't need me no mods.

Say what you want about the graphical and technical limitations of the 90s, I still prefer satisfying shooting in a shooter, rather than Pre-Baked Takedowns: The Game

Uh. No. Doom '93 still holds up. No mods needed.

Man i love it when i find old episodes i haven't watched yet thank you KZfaq algorithm

Yahtzee: Explain how you can say this game holds up if you need to mod it this much to enjoy it. Me: *slowly turns to glance at Skyrim*

Yeah... no, I still like Vanilla Doom. Of course noone is wowed by the graphics these days, but the simple and straight-forward gameplay is still ludicrously enjoyable, especially thanks to the brilliant movement. Together with the great soundtrack and monster sounds, it's still a blast to play. Yes, even without mouse look. Just take the 2 minutes it takes to getting used to it. I never understood the point of having mouse look in Doom.

Doom (Doom II) loads fast. I love it as a snack. If I have 30 min to kill I load up (moded) Doom (II) and enjoy a power fantasy. As a kid I had a "games are art" moment, because it terrified me. But I was the only human left in the world who could save humanity. That tiny amount of exposition motivated me to turn that corner and OH GOD ITS A MANCUBUS. OH FUCK IM OUT OF SHOTGUN AMMO! Doom taught me bravery. The closest thing to bravery without having to actually risk life and lib. Because unlike a horror film, YOU have to turn the corner. The clunky controls created that fear. Moded DOOM is a power fantasy, very different but very enjoyable.

My church hosted Doom LAN parties. Of course our pastor was a Green Beret in Vietnam and taught a programming course for local high schools.

It may not 100% hold up, but you can't dispute that it's iconic as hell, and without it, many games wouldn't exist, especially FPS games

Looked through the comment section and, so far, no sign of Jim Sterling. I figured a mention of Boglins would have him rushing towards it like a lab rushing towards its owner after a weekend vacation.

I completed Doom about a year ago as part of a chronological history of FPS 'project'. No mods, and on a proper DOS PC. So I don't have any nostalgia when I say it remains a fun game. The controls are of their time and take a bit of getting used to, but once you do, they're functional enough (and I'm sure proper mouse look can be forced through the console or somethin). The on-screen map is both adequately functional and helpful and the maps don't have the maze like qualities of Wolfenstien 3D or Rise of the Triad. To be honest the relatively quick levels, straight into the action without watching a cutscene and its relative simplicity I see as positive points in 2020 when games like Division 2 have horribly convoluted GUI with different currencies and layers of padded depth and you run for five minutes and then die and spawn back at your Theatre base.

My wife is an amazing court reporter... she said taking your depo would be impossible!😂

Im playing doom without any mods and I have to say: its not a problem at all, how it looks without mods, I don't get your problem

Jesus Christ! At least ONE reviewer didnt post a Doom Eternal review, like 2 DAYS BEFORE THE DAMN RELEASE! ]:

I am in my early 20s and just recently started playing classic doom. And honestly the gameplay still holds up even today without viewing it through nostalgia lenses. I just like that the gameplay is really easy to get into but hard to master. I just use gzdoom and smooth doom for the sprite animation and that's it. It is an unrivaled masterpiece and endlessly replayible, especially with the truckload of fanmade mappacks you can find online.

Yahtzee's wit never ceases to cheer me up. "As luridly pink as a freshly-spanked flamingo," (who stands there saying, "I've been very naughty daddy") really made me laugh out loud, and I'm laughing again as I type it. Thanks for being an island of joyous cynicism in a sea of existential despair, Yahtzee!

How well timed of this video considering that I’ve almost completed the classic doom Edit : I did it

Jim Sterling: “Did someone say Boglin!?”

It does hold up well enough. I played it like 25 years after release for the first time unmodded and had a blast. It's because while certain things didn't hold up (it's nice to have cool mods to modernize certain elements) the gunplay is still solid and the enemies are still fun to fight.

"Explain how you can say it still holds up if you need to mod it this much to still enjoy it" That sums of 90% of the arguments I'm in involving Skyrim.

Well, I did notice it strange that youtube gave me a "new" tag on what I thought was made years ago.

DOOM 93 is still one of the best games ever made, no mods needed at all.

People still speedrun Doom, which is a big sign that it's got something going for it. People don't speedrun things they don't have love for.

That was high-quality. I especially found the little one-liners of the sprites very entertaining to read.

Hey Yahtzee! If games start to come out less frequently, feel free to talk about the industry again! They're some of my favourite episodes, tee hee hee.

"The first demon invasion occurred in 1969 when Mick Jagger...."

I'm pretty sure the doom devs got the message on faces that Yahtzee makes here, all the demons in eternal are WAY more readable in face and expression than the 2016 ones.

I played doom on the switch just before downloading the 2016 version. It was loads of fun in part because of that simplicity but overall I think the graphics still hold up pretty well. It really turns its limitations into advantages

Went back and played the original doom games this week, and I must say, Doom 64 is the best one.

Nice. And I can not remember how many times I got lost In OG doom. Those levels while big were basically shooting arenas. With not much incentive to look around.

I can't explain why, but I played doom 1 and 2 for the first time just before eternal's launch and I enjoyed them more than eternal. They have something very concrete in them. Something that feels right. If I were to describe it it's like it presented itself raw naked, just as it was and you try it and think "I like this", while eternal has all those flashy clothes, jumps at you shoving presents at you saying "I studied what you like, please like me, I've changed I promise". While also trying its hardest to control everything in your life. It felt like a step back from doom 2016. It just pushes you around telling how and what you should enjoy instead of leaving you to show how and what you like about it. The doom shotgun is a term people recognize for how a shotgun can be good in video games (feels powerful, sounds powerful) as opposed to wet towel that you slap at things to annoy them before they kill you. They hated that people had fun with shotgun back then and had to make it a wet towel (the super shotty gets an exception I guess because you get it later in the game). The old doom weapons were also kinda cool looking unlike the futuristic, uninteresting metal blocks that are doom 2016 and eternal weapons (aside from couple with personality). However eternal took a step in the right direction with demons from 2016, they look more demonic instead of overweighted space marines in armor. Just don't know why they had to make doom guy samus aran in his space ship and make him the teenager reading comics, listening to vinyl records and collecting toys and leaving everything around, like the developers were back in 1993. The cutscenes are also rather awkward, 2016 at least made you somehow interested about the story before shoving it all on you. One thing in the first games that really left an impact was the sounds. The demons yapping their mouths behind the walls with you having no idea where they are, but scared shitless about those noises. I thought 17 or so years would've changed that feeling from when I watched/tried it at friend or relative and heard the demons, but no, it was still unnerving. The first two games also have the advantage of being able to recognize a song and hum it later, unlike the two recent games that have just plenty of noise in place of soundtrack. To be honest eternal has way too many buttons for my brain. And the upgrades for every piece of equipment you have. Two for every weapon and suit and equipment and runes and so on. The old ones you were good to go if you had ammo and hp and that's all you had to think about. Eternal makes it like a dance game where you have to memorize a bunch of equipment keybinds and cycle through all the weapons with different keybinds while dashing and jumping around the arena like a madman to avoid getting killed. Because if you stand still for 5 seconds you're gonna be surrounded and dead and your armor, health and weaponry don't make any difference. And the arena battles. Just a big no. It's not cool that you walk to an empty area that gets locked up until you clear x waves of enemies. That's not what you do. The player is not a gladiator, you don't throw them in for your entertainment. They should be the ones enjoying. Instead of feeling like a wimp thrown to wolves, you're supposed to be the guy who made the hell an actual hell for demons.

I didn't think this was the older Doom video again, because I religiously refresh the Escapist page every Wednesday morning in anticipation of the new ZP video. I might just be the guy that keeps breaking into Yahtzee's house

That intro is gonna be so weird once the algorithm farts this video back up in 2025. EDIT: Aaaaand everyone had that exact same thought already.

My Favorite time of the week! It's Yahtzee Time!

As a total zoomer pampered by modern video games, I actually purchased the old DOOM games on steam, played them, and had a total blast with them. While the games are simple I still think they are super fun.

I played the GZDOOM port last week with only mouse movement (no mouse look) and running always on and had a fucking blast. So satisfying and to the point, plus the gunplay is oddly relaxing. It's easy to get into a zen state and I can't find another shooter that does it as well as DOOM 1 thanks to its simplicity. Also, you can play throught episode 1 (it's free) in about an hour

I still play this game, but Doom II is the one that still really holds up.

Strange, I'm having a deja vu like I've watched that episode one week ago on another site. 😉

Actually played through Doom I (Episodes 1-4) and had a blast. Some of the level design in "Thy Flesh Consumed" was downright assholish but honestly for such an old game series it was really enjoyable.

I absolutely DID have to check the date because I thought this was an old one. That was frikking hilarious! XD

Frankly I kind of disagree with the pure nostalgia goggles thing while yes everyone still playing doom uses source ports now a days that doesn't mean the original has aged poorly. Frankly for me The main part of doom that has aged poorly is the controls and frankly they are still enjoyable. So yeah I play with a source port with keyboard and mouse but past that I'm good.