Doom from 2016 is a reboot of the legendary series that deliberately turned its back on the era's cautious modern trends and returned to what made the original games from the nineties so addictive. The player wakes up as the Doom Slayer at a Martian base belonging to the UAC corporation, where experiments with hellish energy have, predictably, ended in a demonic invasion, and the only answer is relentless forward momentum. No cover, no regeneration around the corner, no two-weapon limit: the game forces you to run, jump, and attack, because standing still means death.
The key mechanic is the so-called glory kill, a finishing execution on a weakened enemy that restores health, while the chainsaw replenishes ammo. This simple economic loop turns combat into a constant aggressive dance through arenas full of elevation changes, jump pads, and crawlspaces. The arsenal ranges from the shotgun through the plasma rifle to the iconic BFG, and every weapon can be upgraded with mods, just like the suit and its abilities. Between arenas the game offers exploration, secret rooms referencing the original levels, and collectibles, so the pace regularly gets a chance to breathe.
Technically, this was a showcase piece of work: the id Tech 6 engine managed to hold a high frame rate even with dozens of enemies on screen, and the game was one of the first major titles on PC to bet on the Vulkan API. Visually it's a mix of a metallic industrial station and blazing hell, Mick Gordon's music combines industrial metal with synthesizers and can time the onset of combat with precision. Critics and players alike embraced the series' return, and Doom became proof that old-school fast action still has something to say on the modern PC. Today the game is held up mainly by its flawless controls and combat readability, so it still works great as a short evening's entertainment. At the same time, it's a title that reopened the door to fast, cover-free action games and inspired an entire wave of successors.
Game 3 of 583 for PC / moderní (64bit a GPU)
The same title elsewhere (3)
The PC/DOS version is the original and remains the definitive edition — it ran at higher resolution, supported mouse-and-keyboard controls, and had music through sound cards like the Sound Blaster or AdLib. The Atari Jaguar port became famous for a different reason: under time pressure the developers cut the music entirely, so you play through in near silence with only sound effects, even though the speed and smoothness of the action were praised at the time as remarkably good for a console. The SEGA 32X version came off worst of all — its levels had to be shortened and rearranged compared to the original, resolution and frame rate were lower, and its thin music plus sluggish pace still make it the weakest and least recommended way to play Doom.
