I’m not exaggerating when I say that I consider Doom one of the great artworks of the last 100 years. Forget just videogames – id Software’s 1993 FPS is a landmark moment in the history of contemporary culture. Half-Life, Quake, FEAR, Halo, Call of Duty, and myriad others may all owe various influences to Doom, but more broadly speaking, this is one of the games that pioneered and galvanized the entire medium. You take Doom out of the equation, and all the other areas of modern culture that games touch and interface with, would not be the same. But it could have been very different. The Phobos base, Cacodemons, and BFG-9000 that we all know and love once existed in a very different state. You might have heard about the abandoned, prototype versions of Doom. Now, they’re restored, combined, and fully playable. This is Doom as it exists in an alternate dimension.
Doom Delta is the work of legendary modder ‘DrPyspy.’ Put simply, it takes all of the concepts, characters, assets, and ideas that were abandoned by id Software before launch and rebuilds them. You might have heard of The Doom Bible, the extensive design document created by Tom Hall that outlined an initial vision for the FPS game.
Doom, for example, may have included four different playable characters. It may have used a different style HUD based on the inside of a space helmet. Extra guns including a rifle and bayonet might have been included, while familiar weapons like the BFG originally had very different designs and functions.
Doom Delta takes concepts from not only The Doom Bible, but also alpha and pre-release versions of the shooter, and makes them real. There are new power-ups, a different score system, extra enemies, new guns, and of course you can play as any of the four original characters. As well as the base game, you can play Doom Delta via a range of map packs and WADs, including the brilliant Sigil 2 recently released by John Romero himself. Check out Doom Delta right here.
Alternatively, return to the heyday of the boomer shooter with the best old games, or try some of the other best zombie games if you want to get knee-deep in the dead.
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