Ultimate Doom demos and downloads Doom 2 Demos and downloads

Does Doom really need an introduction? Id Software unleashed the definitive first person shooter back in 1993, and managed to utterly revolutionise action gaming in the process. The genre itself wasn't new - among others working in the field, Id had already served notice of what was possible with a certain fast-panning gore-fest called Wolfenstein 3D a few years earlier. But Doom set a standard in gameplay and technology which left its rivals trailing in its wake not by a matter of months, but by years.

First it took the flat-ceilinged, comic-book spaces of conventional 3D corridor shooters and replaced them with a believable ('non-rectilinear' if you want to get technical) architecture that is still Id's hallmark today. The fast moving 3D engine was so superior to anything else that Doom didn't have a remotely serious competitor until Build engined games like Duke Nukem started to appear around Christmas '95.

To this, Id added a blood 'n guts storyline that found the perfect blend of tension and in-yer-face action, plus superlative use of pseudo-positional audio and light 'n shade to further enhance the mood. Poisonous gunk, exploding barrels, imps, vicious floating tomato heads and a chainsaw. What more could you want?

Deathmatch, of course. Played on serial cables, modems, and office LANs the world over, Doom started the online revolution in action games. It introduced a brand new style of play - and an entirely new terminology - that will be with us for as long as there are people in desparate need of a frag.

To make Id's achievement all the more remarkable, Doom was a shareware game done on the quiet and without the benefit of big-name backing or huge marketing funds. To say that the glamour developers and corporate publishers of the day were somewhat choked would be one of gaming's great understatements.

Doom was followed by Doom II (more of the same), then Quake (Doom in brown, with true 3D characters), Quake II (multiplayer Doom as art form), and now Quake III (camp Doom).

The list of competing titles that owe a debt to this seminal game is too long to contemplate, including as it does everything from rank cash-ins like Virtuoso and Corridor 7 to classics in their own right, such as Duke Nukem, Half-Life and Unreal. Flaws? For its day, Doom was flawless.


Doom set a standard in gameplay and technology which left its rivals trailing not by a matter of months, but by years. Non rectilinear architecture, blood 'n guts, awesome atmosphere and the birth of the deathmatch... The quintessential action game

Golden Moments

• Discovering the joy that is your very own chainsaw
• The lights go out, a hidden wall opens and all hell comes pouring out at you. Inevitable response: loud swearing, finger glued to fire button hosing the area randomly while backpedalling like a lunatic
• Little Johnny's first deathmatch. Indeed, his first frag

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