It's been a long time since id Software has produced a game worth
admiration. It seems like their title and engine dominance ended
somewhere around the vicinity of Quake 2, way back in 1997. And while
Quake 2 spawned some of the greatest community multiplayer mods of all
time (Jailbreak, Action Quake 2 to name a few), Quake 3 had a much
tougher time in the market due to increased competition from both
Valve's Half Life and Epic's Unreal Tournament series. Despite healthy
sales, Quake 3 seemed more of a detrimental product to the company - a
relic of ages past where simple deathmatch was all it took to hypnotize
the masses into id's camp. Where innovation was abound amongst other
titles, id's Quake 3 felt stagnant. A grounded dinosaur among soaring,
better evolved birds.
It's
almost as if the gaming community had grown tired of the traditional id
approach to multiplayer: simple deathmatch skirmishes lacking
objectives other than to kill, kill, kill or be killed.
By the time Quake 3 was released the year was 1999. Their timing
couldn't have been worse - in 1998 Half Life was introduced to an
unsuspecting gaming public and seemed to radically change what gamers
thought a first person shooter could be, both in single player and
multiplayer experiences. Quake 3 seemed like a big beige box - a
functional and utilitarian construct that impressed few other than the
most die-hard of Quake fans. Around this time, Counter Strike was
igniting the first person shooting community with in-game reward
systems and tactical play. id's meager offering made the company seem
lethargic, content to rest on its haunches while speedier competitors
with better products flew by. The irony in all of that is id was
responsible for the engine technology powering these more popular and
robust experiences.
Fast forward to 2009. For months John
Carmack (founder of id and "father" of the first person shooting genre)
hinted a new Doom game based on a reduced Doom 3 engine (originally
tuned for much more powerful PCs) was heading towards the iPhone
platform (to set expectations, Carmack called it "only one level down"
in regards to Doom 3's PC resolution). On June 26th, unbeknownst to all
save for id's staff, Doom Resurrection appears, immediately and for
sale on Apple's App store. No previews, no advertisements and no
details were to be had before June 26th. An unusual launch methodology
for id, much less any game company out there, to say the least.
After
plunking down the hefty sum of $9.99 I fired up the game expecting only
the most modest of experiences. Having played id's port of Wolfenstein
Lite I was left with a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth: Yes, it was
Wolfenstein running better than any mobile port I'd seen before, but it
didn't control well. Its button layout worked fine for firing, but
controlling oneself with the faux directional pad was a nightmare. To
think even Carmack couldn't make Wolfenstein work on a platform that he
ported himself was a sobering notion. I began Doom Resurrection with
expectations in check and watched as the game launched into its intro
sequence.
Wow.
I believe I felt this same kind of amazement crossed with excitement
the first time I sat down to play DOOM on my friend's 486. After hours
of watching him play it by himself, he eventually had to take a
bathroom break and I clambered into his chair eager to take the pilot's
stick. The graphics, the sound, all of it came together to create a
sensory overload that -at the time- made me feel like I was trapped
inside the world id had made. Doom Resurrection evokes this same
reaction upon launch, and, to id's credit, for the majority of the
game, lingers.
The
game is on-rails, and, much like a light gun shooter, guides the player
down a predetermined path. With movement out of the way your task is to
aim the cross hairs, pick up health packs and guns, fire your weapon
and dodge imp fireballs with well timed button presses. Unlike most
games relying on pin point finesse in order to operate the pseudo
buttons correctly, id has wisely chosen to make the buttons large press
inputs. Nothing more is needed than simple tap on the button area to
execute the command, and the command is binary: off or on. There's no
analogue-esque control fidelity among the button's functions and the
only thing that comes close is the cross hair control which works
extremely well.
The aiming cross hairs are controlled by the
accelerometer. Simply turn the iPhone to adjust where you're aiming. It
sounds hokey in theory but in practice it works amazingly well. Coupled
with, dare I say, the best graphics on the iPhone and you've got one of
the most compelling experiences on the platform. Make no mistake in
thinking this is mini Doom 3, however, as textures are blurry and
effects such as blood spatter are more reminiscent of papier-mâché than
individual blood particles - but this is id's first attempt at
wrangling this engine onto the platform. For a first outing this title
looks amazing.
It's hard to imagine the impact Doom Resurrection
will have on future first person games on the iPhone to come. While I
don't think it's the apex of how this genre's controls can be
conceived, it is a fine architecture that amplifies the iPhone's
strengths and for fleeting moments makes you forget about it's many,
many weaknesses. As much monotony as there is presented in the game
there's equal parts brilliance both mechanically and visually. And
during those fleeting moments you can feel id's magic, defying your
expectations and reassembling them at the same time to demand something
more from your iPhone game experiences.
Isn't that what id used to do best?
