Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The Ultimate Doom refines the core blasting mechanics that defined the original franchise, delivering fast-paced, run-and-gun action that remains thrilling more than three decades after its debut. Armed with a diverse arsenal—from the classic chainsaw and shotgun to the devastating BFG 9000—you’ll feel the satisfying weight and impact of each weapon as you carve a path through waves of imps, cacodemons, and cyberdemons. Movement is crisp, with fluid strafing and precise aiming that reward quick reflexes and map awareness.

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Level design in The Ultimate Doom strikes a masterful balance between open arenas and claustrophobic corridors, challenging players to learn enemy placements, memorize secret passages, and conserve ammo in equal measure. The first three episodes introduce iconic arenas and escalating difficulty, but it’s the fourth episode, “Thy Flesh Consumed,” that ramps up complexity. With nine new levels, you’ll encounter more labyrinthine layouts, hidden switches, and gauntlet-style combat scenarios that demand both strategy and speed.

Replayability is another strength. Secrets are sprinkled throughout every map—sometimes tucked behind illusory walls or concealed in remote alcoves—encouraging thorough exploration and rewarding curiosity with ammo, health, or powerful pickups. Whether you’re a newcomer eager to experience the seminal shooter or a veteran speedrunner chasing faster completion times, The Ultimate Doom’s gameplay loop remains as addictive and exhilarating as ever.

Graphics

Visually, The Ultimate Doom employs the hallmark sprite-based art style of the early ’90s, blending moody, pixelated textures with gore effects that were groundbreaking at the time. While it may not compete with modern engines in polygon count or high-resolution textures, there’s an undeniable charm in its retro aesthetic. Every demon model and environment tile feels meticulously crafted, contributing to an immersive, hellish atmosphere.

Modern source ports and community mods can enhance the original visuals without sacrificing authenticity. High-resolution texture packs, dynamic lighting shaders, and widescreen support breathe new life into the game, allowing you to appreciate the detailed murals, industrial facilities, and demonic altars in sharper clarity. Even vanilla, the art direction’s stark color palette—flaming reds, cold metallic grays, and sickly greens—sets the tone for the relentless tension that defines each level.

Performance is rock solid on current hardware. The engine runs smoothly at high frame rates, ensuring that your movement and aiming remain responsive. For purists, a “retro” toggle can reproduce scanline effects or lower resolutions, offering a nostalgic flashback to CRT monitors. Whether you stick with the classic look or upgrade to modern enhancements, The Ultimate Doom’s graphics continue to captivate and engage.

Story

The Ultimate Doom’s narrative is refreshingly concise: you are the lone Space Marine sent to Mars after the Union Aerospace Corporation’s experiments unleash demonic hordes. There’s minimal exposition within the game itself—most lore is gleaned from the manual or textual interludes between episodes—but this deliberate simplicity keeps the pace relentlessly focused on action. You move from one blood-soaked facility to the next, each level serving as a visceral chapter in your fight for survival.

“Thy Flesh Consumed” introduces a darker, more surreal tone to the series. The environments grow increasingly twisted and otherworldly, reflecting the demons’ growing influence over UAC installations. Brief text screens hint at the Marine’s dwindling awareness of reality, effectively deepening the game’s unsettling mood without bogging down the gameplay. This narrative economy has been emulated by countless successors, proving that a strong atmosphere can outweigh elaborate storytelling.

While you won’t find character arcs or branching dialogue here, The Ultimate Doom delivers on its core promise: a straightforward, high-intensity descent into hellish chaos. The few plot beats it offers are timed to heighten tension at key moments—just before you open that door to the next massacre or uncover a secret pathway leading deeper into the inferno.

Overall Experience

The Ultimate Doom stands as an essential package for any shooter aficionado. It combines the original three episodes of Doom with the fan-beloved “Thy Flesh Consumed,” yielding 36 levels of pure, unadulterated demon slaughter. The result is a seamless expansion that feels both faithful to the source material and bold enough to challenge veterans with new puzzles and combat scenarios.

Beyond its core content, The Ultimate Doom benefits from a vibrant modding community and robust support in modern ports (such as GZDoom and ZDoom). Player-made megawads, multiplayer servers, and quality-of-life upgrades keep the title fresh, ensuring you’ll return for countless hours of custom maps and cooperative slaughter fests. Whether you’re hunting for every secret or speedrunning against the clock, there’s always a new twist waiting around the next corner.

For potential buyers, The Ultimate Doom represents not only a landmark in gaming history but also a timeless experience that continues to influence modern shooters. It’s a testament to design clarity—streamlined gameplay, iconic visuals, and a pulse-pounding soundtrack—all wrapped in a package that delivers relentless excitement from start to finish. Strap in, load up, and prepare to face the legions of Hell once more; The Ultimate Doom remains as exhilarating today as it was in 1995.

Retro Replay Score

8.4/10