Fairy Tale Spotlight: Doom + Doom II [Video Game Review]

"Doom + Doom II" is a remaster of the original classic Doom video games. It was released in 2024 and developed by NightDive Studios. I have been mentioning them like crazy lately, but I never actually reviewed the game itself. I was more-or-less talking about the original games that I was playing on this new port. I'll be brief.

The whole genius around this title is that it makes an old game so wonderfully accessible to everyone. Indeed, the classic Doom episodes were already available by different independent ports that you could download. These were not always friendly to people who were less PC savvy. I was able to figure it out a little, but what I really wanted was a simple, easy-to-understand port of Doom that would just.... you know... work.

I did not just want it to work, I wanted it to work well with controller support and all the bells and whistles that make modern gaming so friendly. Games today are not like they used to be. Today we have widescreen monitors, better graphics and sound capability, and a host of other quality of life improvements. "Doom + Doom II" takes advantage of all of these things while still basically keeping the game the same as it always was. In fact, a lot of these new features can simply be toggled on and off to your own preferences.

An example of an improvement is that you can now hear if a sound is happening to the left, right, or even forward and behind. Yes, sound design was a major design element for this port. Not only that, but everything is perfectly crystal clear to look at. You can play with a superb resolution with no slowdown at all. Everything is fast and wonderful.

This port also brought together all the main episodes for Doom and Doom II. It also included a brand new episode for you to play which I have already reviewed. Gentlemen, this is the best list I have ever had the pleasure of looking at:

-Doom

-Doom II

-Master Levels for Doom II [Assembled into a single campaign.]

-TNT Evilution [Final Doom]

-The Plutonia Experiment [Final Doom]

-No Rest for the Living

-Sigil

-Sigil II [Only just added in 2025.]

-Legacy of Rust [A brand new modern campaign.]

This is it, baby! This is everything in one package. Not to mention the sheer massive amount of extra episodes and mods available on it's mod browser. Oh yes! You can download tons of alternative games made on the Doom engine from some of the best and brightest map-makers the world has ever seen. It's all here.

The crazy thing to me was the price. This entire package was only $9.99. Ten freaking dollars! There is no better value anywhere on anything. It's insane. And what was kind of crazy was that I kind of got it for free. Because I already owned the old antiquated Doom titles, NightDive just gave this to me for nothing. What did I do to deserve this?

There have been some complaints that this port does not include some of the improvements of the popular independent ports, such as the ability to jump or look up and down. NightDive was not trying to reinvent Doom. They were just trying to make the original experience more friendly and accessible. They succeeded.

If you are a Classic Doom fan, this is the ultimate and easiest way to play it comfortably. And for ten bucks, how could I not recommend this. It's worth it in so many ways. Rip and tear, my friends! May Classic Doom live forever!

This blog was written on April 22, 2025.

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