In May of 1994 I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Id Software in scenic downtown Dallas. Keep in mind, this was well after the release of Doom, but a few months prior to the arrival of Doom 2. Naturally, the bulk of our conversations focused on their upcoming sequel, but I made it a point to ask them what other projects they had in the works. Specifically, I asked them if they ever planned to create extra levels for Doom 1. More than one person told me, in no uncertain terms, no. Collectively, they said that once a game is done they move on to the next project and don't look back. (You may remember that two mission disks for Wolfenstein 3D showed up last year, but these were produced by FormGen, and Id had no hand in their design.) Doom 1 was a done deal, and they were concentrating on the sequel, and then on whatever they decided to do next. They conceded that they might release the occasional patch, but they would not be doing anything radical with the first Doom. They were officially done with it. End of story.
So why do we now have The Ultimate Doom? I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived at our office, but I was a little puzzled as well. It's been nearly a year since Doom 2 was released, and all of a sudden we have a new version of the first Doom. What gives? What about never looking back? What about boldly going where no game company has gone before? Damn it, what about Quake???!! Why is Id back-pedaling? After all, most of us who give a damn either bought or bootlegged Doom a year-and-a-half ago. Incidentally, I am honor-bound to remind you that if you illegally copied Doom you will burn in the fiery bowels of hell, where you and Karen Carpenter will sing duets of "Feelings" for all eternity in front of a crowd of hostile Dead Kennedys fans.
By now you're probably wondering just what the hell The Ultimate Doom is. Put simply, it's a new commercial version of Doom 1 with extra levels and a few little trinkets. Is The Ultimate Doom worth buying if you already have a registered copy of Doom 1? In a word, no. If you overlooked the first Doom game and have been thinking about picking it up, this is definitely the way to do it, but if you already own Doom this is a product you can safely skip.
Let's talk about the little features first. The Ultimate Doom updates Doom's operating system to version 1.9, the same version as Doom 2. What does that mean for most of us? Very little. Id has also included copies of the "official" Doom FAQ files. This is nice, but since they're available free to anyone with a modem, this is hardly worth paying for. Also included is the software that will allow you to connect to Dwango, an on-line multi-player Doom service. This is nice if you enjoy paying large long distance calling charges, but most of us can find local opponents. Finally, The Ultimate Doom includes Death Manager, the multi-player utility that also shipped with Heretic. It's really nothing more than a shell for the SETUP program, and not a particularly helpful one at that. If you've amassed a large collection of WADs, don't expect it to make your life any easier. There are plenty of WAD managers out there on the net that put Death Manager to absolute shame, so it's hard to think of its inclusion here as any great boon.
The eight extra levels, on the other hand, are worth their weight in medikits. They take the form of a fourth level group called "Thy Flesh Consumed," and that name is the most accurate description I can think of. Pain, misery, and suffering, most of which will be felt by you and not the monsters. There are a number of excellent WAD authors out there in cyberspace (along with scores of useless hacks that pretend to be WAD authors), but nobody can do it like Id can. "Thy Flesh Consumed" is basically Id's way of saying, "So, ya got to the end, huh? Well, take that, you smug little bastard!" The architecture is some of Id's best to date, featuring a large number of deadly courtyards as well as treacherous rooms that will test the limits of your dexterity--one misstep and it's a long drop into a pool of hellslime for you! Naturally, the monsters are diabolically numerous. They also have the nasty habit of teleporting quite frequently, quite often appearing in a room you were just in a minute ago; this makes it feel as if the monsters are following and stalking you, without necessitating any changes to their AI. Very tricky, guys!
If you don't yet have a registered copy of Doom 1, get The Ultimate Doom. If you've already shelled out your money on the original game, you'll have to decide how much the eight extra levels are worth to you. Id's designs can't be beat, but for the price of this package you could download hundreds, probably thousands, of WAD files from your on-line service of choice. Decide for yourself.
