Doom 64

About Doom 64

Doom 64 (1997) is Midway's darker Nintendo 64 Doom, with all-new monster and weapon art, coloured lighting, shape-shifting levels and the artefact-powered Unmaker.

Doom 64 in Depth

After the Doom Marine's victories in Doom, Doom II and Final Doom, the UAC research installations are quarantined under apocalyptic radiation. Years later, a barely working satellite reports that a "single entity with vast rejuvenation powers" has been hidden by the radiation, and the Marine is sent back. Play follows earlier Doom games: across 28 story levels and four secret levels, the player fights demons, collects weapons and keys and hits switches to reach the exit while surviving ambushes and traps. Pressing switches often makes whole rooms rearrange and fold into new shapes.

All of Doom II's weapons return with new sprites and sounds: a two-bladed chainsaw, bloodstained gloves, a sparking plasma gun and a faster-reloading, kicking super shotgun. The new Unmaker, a hitscan weapon using cell ammunition, first imagined in the 1992 Doom Bible, can be upgraded by three hidden artefacts until it fires three independently aiming lasers. Most Doom monsters return with redesigns, though the revenant, arch-vile, spiderdemon and heavy weapon dude are missing; new are the nightmare imp and a final boss, the Mother Demon. Critics agreed it was by far the best-looking Doom yet, beyond even the PC version, with imaginative, more challenging levels, though IGN said players who had "played the PC, PSX, SNES, Mac, Saturn, etc versions to death" could do without it.

Making Doom 64

Midway's San Diego studio developed it from late 1994 under id Software's supervision, using a customised Doom engine with new kinds of level geometry and dynamic coloured lighting. Midway wanted every demon from the originals plus extra levels, but deadlines and cartridge space forced cuts. Released in 1997, it received positive reviews for its graphics, levels, soundtrack and atmosphere; Next Generation warned that "even the most skillful Doom fans will have their hands full", while some critics felt it added little new. It gained a cult following with fan source ports and mods, and Nightdive's remaster, published by Bethesda, came to Switch, PS4, Windows and Xbox One in March 2020.