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I have been waiting and looking forward to Sergeant Mark IV´s “Brutal Doom 64” for a very long time, because I never got around to finish playing through the original version of Doom 64 (the game was originally released back in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 console, ). Any ways, my eternal-like wait ended on the 30th of October. Because that was the day that “Brutal Doom 64” was unleashed up on the world of PC Gaming. So as you might imagine, I was pretty excited to boot up the game and just blow everything and everyone to hell. Well, did the game live up to all my expectations then? Very much so.

For starter, “Brutal Doom 64” is like a mix of “Brutal Doom”, “Quake 1” and “Doom 64.” Furthermore, “Brutal Doom 64” looks and feels better than Doom 64 ever did. Not to mention the fact that you can indeed play “Brutal Doom 64” online (Doom 64 had no multiplayer support), and you can jump, crunch, and you have a free-mouse look feature as well (which Doom 64 lacked off). Better yet, since “Brutal Doom 64” isn´t a port per say, but a brand-new game. You get to experience new levels, enemies, textures, sprites and a new plot. In the matter of fact, the very first stage of “Brutal Doom 64” didn´t even exist in Doom 64 (Brutal Doom 64´s first-stage works as an explanation of what went down before the first stage of Doom 64).

So that was quite a cool surprise I have to say, as I didn´t expect to experience a new level right away. However, the first thing that I did experience was a very pleasant start menu. You see. “Brutal Doom 64” have tons of options and settings which you can customize as you please (think Doom 64 goes Project Brutality or Brutal Doom). In other words, you can modify “Brutal Doom 64” into the game that you want to play (you can change pretty much whatever you want). Me, I turned up the blood and gore levels to max, then I tried to make “Brutal Doom 64” as scary and dark as possible (I did so by adjusting the gamma and lightning settings). Well, I got the game experience that I was looking for. So much so that I can now consider “Brutal Doom 64” to be the REAL Doom III (don´t get me wrong, I really like Doom III, but “Brutal Doom 64” really is a true sequel to Doom II).

A fair warning though, if you´re not familiar with the original version of Doom 64. Then I´ll have you know that Doom 64 is a rather dark, scary and hard game, and “Brutal Doom 64” tops all of that with ease. You see, “Brutal Doom 64” offers even more difficulty levels than “Doom 64”, and the Brutal difficulty made me think about that one time when I played through “Final Doom” on the hardest level on the PS1. Well, let´s just say that you better be a damn good FPS player, or else you´re dead meat for sure. However, that´s the way that I like to play my games (I have always been like that), as I love the challenge and the kicks that it gives me (it takes very few hits for you to die if you play on the Brutal level, and even fewer hits if you play on the hardcore level).

I also believe that the enemy A.i is somewhat smarter and more aggressive in Brutal Doom 64 than they were in Doom 64. At least, that´s what I felt while playing through the game´s first eight levels (there are 32 levels in total, all of which have been remade in “Brutal Doom 64”). As my enemies felt much deadlier than they ever did in Doom 64. Hell, some of the demon bastards even jumped out of nowhere and almost made me wet my pants (there are plenty of dark and narrow places for your enemies to hide in).

In a way, “Brutal Doom 64” made me think about “Resident Evil Rebirth” (which is a remade and pimped up version of the original Resident Evil game). Because I experienced a similar feeling to RE Rebirth while playing “Brutal Doom 64”. You know, that pleasant feeling of returning back to an old and beloved game that´s now a million times better than the original game? I actually have very few negative things to state about “Brutal Doom 64”, as the game is a huge step up from “Doom 64” (no offense to the N64 players, but “Doom 64” had quite a few cons to it). I mean, just the flawless controls alone make “Brutal Doom 64” into a superior experience next to “Doom 64”.

So, all in all, “Brutal Doom 64” is an enhanced and far more superior version of “Doom 64”. In other words, if you enjoyed “Doom 64” and loved the old-school Doom games. Then you´re going to have a real blast with “Brutal Doom 64”. Just make sure that you play the game in a dark room all alone, because that enhances the gameplay experience a whole lot (at least, in my opinion).

Pros:

+ Tons of different options (you can customize Brutal Doom 64 like crazy!)

+ Far better than the original Doom 64 game (better graphics, better everything)

+ Brutal Doom 64 is the REAL Doom III

+ There are plenty of gory ways to kill your enemies

+ Brutal Doom 64 = Doom 64 + Quake 1 + Brutal Doom

+ Multiplayer support

Cons:

– Some people “might” dislike Aubrey Hodges soundtrack (it´s nothing like the previous Metal soundtracks)

– Brutal Doom 64 is a very dark game, so that might not be everyone´s cup of tea

– You tend to get lost quite a lot

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound/music: 4/5

Controls: 5/5

Replay value: 5/5

Verdict: 4.5/5

“Brutal Doom 64” is with no doubt a really well-made and enhanced version of “Doom 64”. Hell, the game is so awesome that I even consider the game to be the real sequel to Doom II. In short, “Brutal Doom 64” is a must play for those who still enjoy old-school Doom games. In the matter of fact, the game actually even tops Doom 2016 on quite a few levels.

Title: Brutal Doom 64

Developer: Sergeant Mark IV

Format: PC

Genre: FPS

Resolution: Highest possible on PC

Release date: 2016-10-31

Difficulty: Brutal

Spent time: +8 hours

Average grade internationally: 81% Metacritic.com

PEGI age rating: 16+

Price: Free!



Robin “V-Act” Ek

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @TheGamingGround

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Tags: Brutal Doom, Brutal Doom 64, Doom 64, PC games, PC review, Sergeant Mark IV