3/11/2012

DOOM (the Roguelike)

 (This is going to be relatively short, as I'm splitting my writing time between this, and writing a HUGE article. Fortunately I write fast)


Do you like Doom? Of course you do. Do you like Roguelikes?

...

Ahem, so anyway, now that you've read about what those are, what if I were to tell you that there was a game that combined the gritty, metal-album inspired imagery, and violent, over-the-top shenanigans of Doom with the slow, strategic, and painfully difficult gameplay philosophy of Rogue? Yeah.



DOOM: THE ROGUELIKE (PC)
Developed and Published by: Kornel Kisielewicz and Derek Yu 
Released on: February 28, 2012 (β, latest update to version 0.996)  

So, basically, a Roguelike, as it's name implies is a game that is similar to Rogue, a classic PC dungeon-simulator. It was like D&D, only you played it by yourself, and getting wasted would make you worse at the game, unlike D&D, where it makes you so much better.

 Rogue consists of a player character, who wanders around black, poorly-lit dungeons, fighting evil, numerical symbols by means of firing a gun/crossbow of some sort, or haphazardly slamming into them. Colliding with an enemy is supposed to "simulate close-quarters, weapons-based combat" but, it's more fun to just imagine this guy tackling everything like Bo Jackson. 

Speaking of tackling things, Doom RL  introduces our favorite beserker packing man and a half, as well as other aspects of the Doom canon (lol) into the world of tile-based combat. I mentioned earlier that in Rogue, you fought numeric symbols; Rogue didn't actually have graphics or sound; instead it utilized the computers built-in ACSII symbols, and used the computers "speakers", if you want to call them that. Rogue, due mostly to it's utter lack of components, is only 144k in size. 

Some, more modern Roguelikes make use of graphical tiles, like any other game would, though these are less common, as they are more time-consuming and difficult, defeating the main draw of developing an RL in the first place. For years, Doom RL was just another Roguelike, using ASCII symbols, and was visually indistinguishable from other games of the genre. That is until February 28, with the release of the latest version, which features graphical tiles, and music. Doom RL is considered groundbreaking in that it features music, and actual sound. And the graphics don't look too bad either.


"NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS!"

 But, I've wasted enough of your time with all this fancy-boy talk. In fact let's end this article right now! After all you're a 12.0 on the 10.0 scale of badness, you've got a handful or vertebrae and a headful of mad, you don't need a gun! 

 Or do you? 

Doom RL features a fucking absurd amount of weapons; some are dropped by slain enemies, some must be assembled, others are secret, and can only be obtained by performing arbitrary rituals known as "unlocking". The game sets you up in a fashion similar to Doom-proper,  giving you the classic pistol, x24 10mm slugs, and x2 medical kits, which you'll burn through in no time. Fortunately, just about every stupid imp you encounter is pretty well armed, so exhausting your ammo is not a realistic problem.

DoomGuy hurts em' plenty.
Since guns are for wussies, apparently, Doom RL retains the series classic, comically brutal cqc weapons; the chainsaw, the hunting knife & DoomGuy's "Night-Train", as well as plenty of new toys DoomGuy can build, including a chainsword, something called a 'ripper' (that presumably tears your enemies' guts), and another chainsword! This is to say nothing of the Dragonslayer, an un-unequippable sword that gives you unspeakable power, buffs your defense, and puts you in a permanent beserker mode. You know? Cause you're one man and a half- Ehh, it's losing it's luster. 

Guns, are far more plentiful in Phobos, which is no problem for DoomGuy, who can pack 2 guns at any given time. Doom RL boasts your standard Doom arsenal and then some: handguns, shotguns, two-shotguns, better shotguns, two-better shotguns, chainguns, RPG launchesr, plasma rifles, and the BFG 9000, plus at least two-dozen different variant thereof, as well as new guns altogether that DoomGuy can whip up. I wasn't aware the protagonist of Doom was such a craftsman. Among these all-new weapons are a Teleporter that puts physical distance between you and your enemies, a Nuclear Rifle, a VERY BIG FUCKING GUN 9000, the BIGGEST FUCKING GUN 9000, and the Super Shotgun. Yeah. Super Shotgun.


All of these look pretty much the same... Oh yeah, and "Doom Comic quote"


In addition to the 80 pounds of heavenly joy mentioned above, Doom RL, being an RL, also has various items. A vast majority of the shit you'll scrounge up on your journey through hell are just magazines of ammunition. The game also has two varieties of armor you can collect, body-armor, and armored boots. The game also includes 'skulls' which are pretty much exactly what their names imply. They're skulls, they give you status buffs, and they have names like  ' \m/ BLOOD SKULL', and 'HATRED SKULL \m/ '  There are also several power-ups, both temporary and permanent that increase your life, increase you capacity for holding certain things, or teach you skills.

As I stated before, gameplay in RLs is straightforward, and streamlined. You fire with 'f' and get shit with 'g'.  Walking directly into enemies triggers a simulated die-roll that determines how much you rip and tear. The game contains the whole command list, which is quite long, though not quite as long as some of the more hardcore RLs out there. Doom RL, in fact is considered the quintessential example of  "coffeebreak RLs" the genre's casual-form. They focus on action, and killing, rather than dwelling on resource management, and starving to death.


Uhhh... So yeah. See didn't I say this would be short?


Doom RL is awesome. Download it here from their site.

Straight-up, legit Rogue is pretty kickass too, so why don't you get that too, while you're at it.

In fact, why don't you download a whole bunch of them. You can probably fit them all on a floppy disk.

Oh, and yeah, you should read this too.


1 comment:

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