Something I always loved about DooM 64 that is very overlooked...

[Chicken_Wang]

This is gonna be sorta long so if you're interested in reading feel free. What I always loved about DooM 64 was the subtle story behind it. For those that don't know yet, Doom 64 is basically the "low point" of Doom Guys character arc. In short, it's at this point in the story that all the carnage Doomguy was causing was starting to get to him. In the manual, it states that Doomguy is suffering from untreatable PTSD and constant nightmares and no amount of meds or treatment is helping at all. It's at this point he's called into action in Doom 64.

Of course the change of tone is obvious, and I always loved it.. In Doom 1, the whole sthick was Doomguy was a badass and he knew it, beating the ♥♥♥♥ out of demons and not giving a ♥♥♥♥. He knew he was the ♥♥♥♥, and just wanted to get rid of the demons for good. Doom 2, Daisy was killed and the demons ♥♥♥♥ed Earth up, so Doomguy came back with a beefier shotgun and a whole lot more rage. Kicking ♥♥♥ to some old school metal.

Then you boot up DooM 64 and suddenly everything is different. Theres a overbearing sense of dread, somber, hopeless despair. Doomguy is called to battle but is no longer like "♥♥♥♥ yeah time to kick some demon ♥♥♥" but is now more of "How long is this gonna go on?"

The intermission screens also seem to lowkey hint at Doomguy at this point is starting to lose his sanity BADLY, both in the manual and the intermissions.

Now the tone, of course plays the biggest part. If you actually listen to the background, you hear all sorts of horrible noises, satanic chanting, ghost whispers. and I feel it was to convey the actual seriousness of the situation. It's a mentally deranged man losing his grip every second while also fighting for the fate of humanity. You're in hell, you're losing it, the fight never ends, and this unimaginable evil wants to not only kill you, but wipe out the entire human race. I feel the tone is to show that Doomguy is no longer invulnerable, but that he's now very vulnerable and wants this all to be over. Every fight he's losing it more and more. The tone itself sums up Doomguy perfectly at this point. PTSD Strickened, depressed, psychotic, sadistic, and overall just ♥♥♥♥ed in the head.

if you think about it, each games tone kinda reflects where Doomguy is currently at in his point of the story mentally.

I think this was overlooked heavily because usually we just imagine our favorite badass as just that, an unstoppable force of nature of masculinity that kicks ♥♥♥, takes names, and doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥. I loved how here, it shows that even the strongest of people, will snap after too much pressure, and Doomguy was no exception.

Even a few of the stage names seem to reference his decaying mental state and the desparity of the situation. Such as Spawned Fear, Terror Core, Breakdown, and even the final stage name Absolution, translates to forgiveness; a release from guilt, obligation, or punishment. My take was Doomguy was searching for forgiveness in something. Wether it be Daisy, all the comrades and people that died that he feels indirectly responsible for; he's starting to hate himself. The final battle seems to be more than just "Save the Earth", he's also searching for said forgiveness by defeating The Mother, his death to pay for what he perceives as his failures, or both.

In the end, he decides to stay in hell for what may seem like a selfless act, but I think it also amounts to an attempt at suicide and take as many demons with him as possible.

Doomguys unused voice in Quake 3 seems to be the result of all this. For his unused voice, he sounds sadistic, apathetic, self-loathing, and completely detached from reality. And some of his lines are pretty interesting hinting at the trauma he endured.

Anyways, thats all. Just wanted to give some things I noticed about 64 and why I love it so much. When I played it as a kid, the serious change of tone threw me for a loop. I really liked it but just didn't know why they changed it. I thought it was just to give it a different feel not even knowing all the subtle hints of Doomguy's mental decay.

I loved how they handled this one. The atmosphere of Doom 64 feels like how the actual scenario would be. Horrible, brutal, unforgiving, and it's why it's my favorite Doom game.

[Immorpher]

Oh ya I love the tone as well. He's dealing with serious issues and the world from his eyes becomes more serious because of that. They introduce just enough storyline to get you believing in the new world they set up, but nothing more. Just the right balance! The tone and balance is something that I think is missing from some (not all) Doom 64 mods.

[Defective Dopamine Pez Dispenser]

Yes, while the story is rudimentary, and while Doom has never been all that serious, Doom 64 was a game that came out in that weird 90s period where everything had to be at least faux "gritty," and things needed to be "cooler" to be considered upgrades. While many Doom purists hated 64, for me it was a natural progression from the originals for its time for that reason.

Sure, in reality, it was just Doom but a little darker (nowhere near as much of a departure as Doom 3 - more like a happy midway point) but in the same way all marketing in the 90s chased being "more extreme" or "ultra," Doom 64 wanted to make it very clear that it wasn't the same Doom... it was Doom, upgraded, in a way "no previous gaming system could handle" Lol. Which sounds hilarious today but that was the marketing spiel back then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da3t4UlEdGo

More somber, and even the sprite work had more "attitude." Everything was dingey, shiny metallic, and gothic looking. And as you point out, the story & lore reflected that sensibility as well. As an adult, I can see it as just a slightly different take on classic Doom. But it's my favorite for that reason as well. Doesn't go as far into full on horror sci-fi as Doom 3, keeps the fundamental gameplay of the originals, remembers that it's a video game... but also makes some effort at immersion and atmosphere.

My favorite mixture of all the elements that make up Doom, personally.

[Punkiee~]

ETERNAL SPOILER
That's why in Doom Eternal we can see traumatized Doomguy.

[Chicken_Wang]

Originally posted by Punkiee~:

ETERNAL SPOILER
That's why in Doom Eternal we can see traumatized Doomguy.

Yep, thats why I love how they connected it all together. The moment I saw Doomguy talking the way he was I was like "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, they actually pieced it altogether"

[Chicken_Wang]

Originally posted by Aikido:

Yes, while the story is rudimentary, and while Doom has never been all that serious, Doom 64 was a game that came out in that weird 90s period where everything had to be at least faux "gritty," and things needed to be "cooler" to be considered upgrades. While many Doom purists hated 64, for me it was a natural progression from the originals for its time for that reason.

Sure, in reality, it was just Doom but a little darker (nowhere near as much of a departure as Doom 3 - more like a happy midway point) but in the same way all marketing in the 90s chased being "more extreme" or "ultra," Doom 64 wanted to make it very clear that it wasn't the same Doom... it was Doom, upgraded, in a way "no previous gaming system could handle" Lol. Which sounds hilarious today but that was the marketing spiel back then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da3t4UlEdGo

More somber, and even the sprite work had more "attitude." Everything was dingey, shiny metallic, and gothic looking. And as you point out, the story & lore reflected that sensibility as well. As an adult, I can see it as just a slightly different take on classic Doom. But it's my favorite for that reason as well. Doesn't go as far into full on horror sci-fi as Doom 3, keeps the fundamental gameplay of the originals, remembers that it's a video game... but also makes some effort at immersion and atmosphere.

My favorite mixture of all the elements that make up Doom, personally.

Very good point about the time the game was made, actually never thought about that either. The 90's and early 2000's were ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ badass. Everything was gritty and edgy (But in the right way, not Jeff The Killer cringe edgy lol)