Final Doom

The Good
Quite frankly, everything. The quality is superb, the gameplay, divine. Final Doom is actually two games, TNT Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment. TNT was designed by a group of dedicated Doom fans, known as TeamTNT. The Plutonia Experiment was designed by the very talented Dario and Milo Casali, also (at the time) avid Doom mappers. And judging by the professionalism that went into making these, you could swear these maps were made in-house. John Romeo and co. would've been left red-faced when they saw these two beauties.

The Bad
To be honest, nothing, except for maybe a bug involving the yellow key card on MAP31, but hey, that's nothing that IDCLIP or IDKFA can't fix. Enough said.

The Bottom Line
Frankly, it's better than both the original Doom and Doom 2, in my opinion. Especially in terms of graphics and music. Heck, even Doom 3 doesn't quite stack up in some ways! And given the fact that this was made by Doom fans, and not id Software themselves, this should rightfully make this little gem a true classic. So, if you love Doom, and you haven't bought this yet, go and get it. That's an order.

The Good
Final Doom is not actually a new game, but two new Doom II episodes that were created by members of the fan community that belong to TeamTNT, a company that was purchased by id Software. The aforementioned episodes are called TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, and they have thirty-two levels each.

In TNT: Evilution, demons have raided one of Jupiter's moons, and it is up to the player to destroy them all. One of the things that I noticed is the new soundtrack Evilution has to offer. I particularly liked the music you hear in Level 4. However, there are a few tunes taken from Doom II as well.

There are new textures as well, although the only ones that I noticed are several walls with the words TNT etched onto them, as well as pharaoh murals in the secret Egyptian level. As well as these new textures are the backgrounds that change about every seven levels. The space-like background made me feel that I was fighting demons in space rather than on Earth, and it would have been amazing if that background wasn't pixelated.

For most of the levels, it's vital that you look at the map every now and then to avoid going around in circles, and find out how to get from point A to point B quicker. Also, the levels are quite long and challenging. More often than not, I remember spending about thirty minutes trying to get a keycard so that I could unlock the corresponding doorway.

Joining Evilution is another episode called The Plutonia Experiment. There are no new textures to speak of, but there are new backdrops. Each of the thirty levels has an unique setting, and the creators decide to throw in some puzzles you must get through. For example, in a level entitled “Hunter”, the player is chased by Arch-Villes inside a labyrinth. To get out, they need to step on certain floor tiles to open a door, and they must speed to it before it closes again.

Sound-wise, most of the music is taken from Doom 1, including that evil bunny theme heard at the end of the game. There are a few other tunes that I would have liked to hear here, but I'm happy that most of them made the cut.

The Bad
Nothing – unless you consider the Doom series too violent.

The Bottom Line
Final Doom consists of two episodes with thirty levels each. Although their stories are different, the objectives are the same. The enemies that the player encounter from Doom 1 & 2 are here, but there is new music, backdrops, textures, and puzzles. Furthermore, most of the levels take about thirty minutes to complete and they are challenging, but the hint in completing most of them are the maps themselves.

So is this the final Doom? The short answer is no, considering that Doom 3 and its expansion made their way out. And even though it says so at the back of the box, what id meant to say is that this is the final Doom to use their old Tech 1 engine.

If you've completed the first two Doom games and still can't get enough, you can give Final Doom a try. If that's still not enough, then perhaps it's time to download some user-created levels out there.