On a PC, Xbox X or S, or PlayStation 5, you can play Doom at 120 fps at 4K. You are moving so ridiculously fast, speed-skating across those Marine bases and/or hellscapes, that the imps tossing fireballs at you feel like they're a parent gently coaxing their kid to catch a softball. Even the enemies with instant-hitting guns feel like they're winding up a tree sap cannon. The one time I died inside the first three levels of classic Doom was when I jet-walked right off a circular path and into an inescapable poison moat.
It's easy to recommend this newly packed-up and enhanced edition of these two first-person icons, released Thursday as part of QuakeCon. For one thing, it's being offered by Nightdive Studios, which has been turning out fan-favorite (and generally Ars-approved) remasters of games like Dark Forces, System Shock, and more.
And then there's how playing these levels feels, which to me is as close as I can get to the caffeine-pulsing, speed-metal-blasting flow state I remember from much younger days. I've installed Doom and played a few levels now and then, but this is the first time I've made plans to keep going after the first session.
Further along, new weapons await me, and I am eager to pick them up.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]