I know 3 stars is alreay selling this game short with respect to the absolute feat it was when it was released, but I'll try to evaluate it as it stands today not how groundbreaking it was when it released. While the gameplay is tight and captivating, very few games can rank highly for me on gameplay alone, and that may be due to my habit to focus on characters and vicarious feeling in any given piece of media. While there's much to say about how this game controls, the inventiveness of the level-design, and the massive creativity that went into creating such a work, it is difficult for me to care much when there's little to no real plot and the protagonist has only the most extremely basic motives. I know this may seem a grossly extraneous qualm in the scope of what most computer gaming was designed to be back when this was released, but I believe it to be a core necessity in any piece of fiction and any fiction that undersells in this department will be hard-pressed to achieve great heights unless it really does showcase some extraordinary superbness in other departments which I just don't quite feel DOOM does for me. All in all I felt a kind of blandness while playing, trudging on to complete the game just to be able to say that I did, all the while not being terribly gripped by world I was immersed in.

Though most people lament the controls, I personally found them perfect for the game and highly fluid, though that may be me forgetting a steep learning curve since I played my first time through when I was much younger. While the characters are bright and the plot is enough to keep you interested, I feel the gameplay was the standout feature of this game for me. The fluidity, responsiveness, high energy combat, and level of individuality in said combat create an experience where you feel truly engrossed in the battles that take place throughout every level.

Simplicity in both gameplay and storytelling refined into a tightly controlled and slow burning experience. The magnitude of your task is expertly and subtly conveyed throughout the game, and despite playing a character with no dialogue of their own, the emotional weight of the adventure is powerful and displayed environmentally and through the colorful cast of characters met along the way.

This game delightfully breaks the mold of high-paced instant gratification, asking that the player give some of their time and attention more purposefully to it due to the overall slower pacing, and this pays off by communicating a more intimately felt gaming experience that lets the player feel more closely the highs and lows of what passes.