I must say that before I write this that, I have yet to finish the game. I know, I know, what the hell is wrong with me, being a Doom fan and all, right? Well, time is what's wrong, or lack thereof. I will, however, write a review anyway, because at least 2/3 of the way through the game.

Level design is very solid, and the lighting is gorgeous - For a game that doesn't require the expansion pak. Like Quake 2, but not Quake 2. The textures are also exellently done, and keep to the Doom theme very strongly, and that's a necessity, if you've ever played the original (you'd better have, you ignoramus!!!).

All of the enemies are hand drawn sprites rendered through the N64 renderer, whatever it is…I'm pretty sure it's not OpenGL, or it'd probably be slow as a turtle - on its back. Anyway, the hand-drawn sprites look very cool, and are definitely a step forward from the original, as many of the monsters look much more menacing…except for the Zombie and Shotgunners, who look less so. But that's only 2 critters of several, so it's all good. Also, all of the weapons are hand drawn, and most are also an improvement over the originals, except for the shotguns…but the chaingun and chainsaw certainly got an awesome improvement in the looks department. A new weapon was also added, but I'm not sayin' nuthin' 'bout that.

Sound effects are also improved, and with the ambient music, the sound effects are also excellently complimented. Weapon sound effects are also, for the mostpart, greatly improved.

Controls are also very simple and even customisable, as is brightness (the game can get very dark), and a few other things that are standard with other games.

Overall, I would have to say that the Doom 64 console port is excellent because it maintains several elements of the originals, adds some new stuff, and still keeps it together. The hand-drawn sprites for enemies was an excellent touch, I think, because it allows us nostalgia freaks another rant about how bad polygons look…Yes, that's right, hand-drawn can look much better. So suck it.

NWC