The creator of first-person shooters, the inventor of many demons, the game behind the super shotgun, Doom has been alive for 32 years now, all starting with John Ramero and John Carmack. 

Doom blasted the shooter genre to the top of the charts in 1993 when the first game in the franchise was released. It followed a simple premise: solve puzzles, shoot demons, beat the level. With only around 3.5 million copies being sold, how did it get so popular? “…Carmack released portions of Doom’s source code to the public, which allowed its dedicated fan base the opportunity to modify levels and graphics,” stated Britannica.com. With the source code released, players began to experiment and modify the code, thus leading to the creation of WADs.

Mods, more commonly known as WADs (Where’s All the Data?), were a huge part of Doom’s initial popularity. Brutal Doom is one of the more popular WADs, essentially turning the game up a few dozen notches. Alien TC, which drew inspiration from the Alien series, is another famous WAD mainly known for having the infamous Xenomorph alien in the game.

 Doom II: Hell on Earth, was published in 1994, following in the footsteps of the first game. Despite having nearly identical gameplay, it is widely considered to top its predecessor. “The game just kind of improved on what the first game set up… overall just easier to enjoy and play,” said Genevieve Bittel, freshman. Doom II follows the same marine from the previous game, who just escaped hell, as he fights more demons on Earth.

With Doom 3 came large improvements towards graphics, as well as fully fleshing out the 3D aspects of the games. Instead of the usual warm-toned, empty layout of the original maps, Doom 3 opted to create a more dark and atmospheric environment. The new, bloody and dark tone created a much creepier experience throughout the game.

Doom 2016 was the starting point of a new era in the franchise, it was more than just a reboot, according to Professor Xmas, youtuber. While still following the basic premise of the other games, it began to popularize Doom again, almost restoring its previous glory. Released in 2020, Doom Eternal introduced battle mode, a multiplayer system that allowed players to switch between being the Doomslayer and a variety of demons.

With Doom: The Dark Ages coming out fairly soon, Doom fans have a lot to expect from the newest game in one of the most popular and influential franchises of all time.