Intro
This October's Halloween Sale on Steam has given me the excuse I needed to snatch up the classic Doom collection that I'd had my eyes on for years. It's been a dirty little secret of mine that I've actually never played Doom for any significant amount of time up until now. But that has finally been remedied with the 2024 Nightdive Studios re-release called DOOM + DOOM II, which itself came out only two months ago in August of this year.
As someone who didn't grow up with Doom and is familiar with classic (and neo) boom-shoot more as an awed observer rather than a long-standing fan, I'm far from the most equipped to give a detailed breakdown of all the nuance that this release brings (and doesn't) for series and genre veterans. Instead, I'll come at this from the angle of someone who's always had a distant reverence for Doom, but took until now to dive into the game itself.
That said, I've spent plenty of time on my homework on Doom to make sure my experience is both fun and faithful. That means looking into the differences in the censored IWADs from Doom 3 BFG vs the much-less-heavy-handed changes made to the Unity and KEX IWADs (and how to access the originals!), as well as the basics of source ports like GZDoom and Chocolate Doom. On my personal GZDoom setup I am using a gzdoom.ini preset from Doomworld intended to mimic Crispy Doom, with my own adjustments on top. I'm serious about my reverence for Doom, but I'm also not above running an anything-goes setup in addition to chasing vanilla. We'll get into that tug-of-war between accuracy and modernizing later.
What is DOOM + DOOM II?
My understanding is that classic Doom enthusiasts have been enjoying the main standards (G)ZDoom and Chocolate/Crispy Doom for years while generally avoiding the official modern re-releases, and as someone fascinated by video game history and a modding enthusiast, I would be silly to not try those options for myself. But I do also believe that Nightdive deserve some massive props for this 2024 re-release, which makes the classic games and both old and new expansions incredibly accessible.
This August 2024 release runs on Nightdive's proprietary KEX Engine, replacing Unity in the prior, now-delisted set of re-releases, and comes with compatibility for the BOOM, MBF, and MBF21 standards (as well as establishing the new ID24 standard). This is kind of a big deal that Nightdive went through the effort to ensure this compatibility, as well as built-in mod support and integrated browser. It's admittedly not the most feature-rich and at the time of writing the selection of custom content can't come close to rivaling the encyclopedic selections available on something like the idgames archive. But it works as advertised and the under-the-hood work required to achieve explicit compatibility with those aforementioned standards is something I absolutely want to highlight. That is huge, thank you Nightdive.
You'll notice that there is no mention of GZDoom or Zandronum, and any mods that require either of those will not work directly with this 2024 re-release--one of the reasons why I use a separate GZDoom install to complement the package. Because many mods in the built-in browser are uploaded by the community, there have been some instances of users (re)uploading WADs they haven't made themselves and were designed for GZDoom or another source port, resulting in DOOM + DOOM II failing to load the content. The game used to even crash when this happened, but this has been since patched to fail more gracefully. Quality moderation is a bit lacking in this regard, at least at the time of writing, and I wish this were handled more elegantly.
So what can Doom on KEX do? It runs at 60 FPS up to 4K and comes with a slew of modernizations, QoL, and options to boost accessibility, in all senses of the word. Font styles and contrast, toggles for screen flashing and view bobbing, FOV slider, control and UI presets with modern FPS standards in mind, always-run, quicksave/load, crosshair options... the works. You have also cross-platform online play, including a deathmatch mode that I've yet to try out. What you won't get is vertical aiming (freelook), jumping (at least, jumping bound to an input), "remastered" texture packs, or level design adjustments. It seems like the primary focus of this re-release is options for the sake of making the original Doom experience easy to get right into, with fair, optional compromises made in the name of accessibility. And that's something I respect.
So, What's in the Box?
When you buy DOOM + DOOM II you get:
- The Ultimate DOOM
- The original 3 episodes of Doom's original 1993 release
- The additional fourth episode Thy Flesh Consumed from 1995's The Ultimate DOOM release
- DOOM II
- The original 3 "episodes" of Doom II's original 1994 release ("episodes" in quotations as DOOM II was a singular, non-episodic release)
- Final DOOM
- The two standalone IWAD expansions to Doom II, TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, released as a package called Final DOOM in 1996
- Master Levels for DOOM II
- The 1995 Doom II expansion released in 1995
- No Rest for the Living
- Nerve Software's 2010 expansion for Doom II, originally made for the XBLA re-release of Doom II
- Sigil
- John Romero's episode WAD for (Ultimate) Doom from 2019 and billed as a continuation of Thy Flesh Consumed
Note: Sigil II is not included as an official part of this release but it is accessible as a download through the mod menu
- (NEW) Sigil II
- The 2023 sequel to Sigil, ascended from "featured mod" status to officially a part of the DOOM + DOOM II collection as of April 2025.
- Legacy of Rust
- A brand-new, two-episode expansion released alongside 2024's DOOM + DOOM II as a collaboration between id, Nightdive, and MachineGames
This re-release also includes 26 new Deathmatch maps (bringing the included total up to 43) and the option to use Andrew Hulshult's IDKFA versions of the Doom and Doom II soundtracks.
The demon's in the details because you also get a DOSBox setup to emulate these games in DOS, as well as the original IWADs/PWADs for the above-listed. Let me repeat that: buying DOOM + DOOM II doesn't just give you these games playable in Nightdive's KEX engine, it also gives you the original, uncensored, hash-perfect WADs that you now own and can plug into GZDoom, Zandronum, Chocolate Doom, or any other source port you please. I feel like even the staunchest DooM purist could see the value proposition of this package, at least to recommend to a friend. They probably still have their original floppies or CDs from the 90s.
So for someone like me, who has never owned a copy of any classic Doom game outside of perhaps an incidental basic port of the three episodes from 1993, this is a mercifully complete and comprehensive way to get started, with plenty of new and old content in a variety of formats for easy play both in and out of the KEX Engine.
So What's the Big Deal?
And play I did. Doom is an incredibly important game and is in many ways synonymous with "first-person shooter," having effectively codified the genre. But you knew that already--I'm here to say that Doom is, even beyond its historical significance, a damn good time. You've probably heard this song-and-dance before and I'm here to add to the already existing chorus of voices that shout and scream: classic Doom holds up today, no qualifiers, no exceptions, no strings attached. You can't look up and down, press Space to jump, or press R to reload your weapon, and you absolutely won't need to. The game is designed tightly, accepting its limitations and bringing some devilishly clever ideas to the table regardless. Doom is blood-stained lightning in a flaming brimstone bottle, and it captured my heart in 2024 the same way it did for generations of gamers since 1993.
In one of his videos, Clint of LGR mentioned the "Doom zeitgeist" of what people think Doom is and how it plays, and those expectations might have to be tamped down to get the most out of the real game experience. As mentioned before, Nightdive's port seems primarily occupied with serving up a faithful but accessible version of Doom, and that means it comes with all of the high-octane action, yes, but also all of the keycards, switch puzzles, damage-floor traps, and occasionally tricky first-person platforming. Doom is not nonstop hold-LMB kill-roomfuls-of-demons action, and in some ways it'd be a disservice to the game to simplify it as such. Doom is a tightly-wound ball of combat puzzles, map exploration, and secrets, with the core gameplay and modularity to earn it the longevity that it so deserves. In its best moments Doom is split-second decision-making mixed with resource management and planned map navigation, all with long-term consequences on how you clear the level: how fast, how loaded full of armor and weaponry, and how much in one piece you are.
Now, in its worst moments, Doom can feel unfairly disorienting and frustratingly hands-off. Some of the maps can feel impossible for a newcomer to unravel, a drawn-out, aimless scavenger hunt with low health and even lower ammo. Part of this can be remedied by trying to meet the game where it is and putting yourself in the mindset of a 90's player, but certain quirks can be tough to swallow. Doom is not perfect, but it is still excellent. I'm here to tell you brand-new players that your frustrations are real and valid, but that Doom is absolutely worth pushing through the rough parts to get the amazing experience that always lies underneath as the foundation. Turn down the difficulty if you need to, maybe even toss in a cheeky cheat code if you're soft-locked or want some time to learn the level (Thy Flesh Consumed, I'm looking at you). Use and abuse the save system, both between levels and mid-level. This port gives you all of these options to utilize and get comfortable with a game that really wants to be played, and is wholly worthwhile to do so.
Closing Thoughts
Nightdive's DOOM + DOOM II has utterly converted me into a Doom fan for life, and I think that's because this re-release gives an excellent selection of classic games the best chance it has to be played and enjoyed by pretty much anyone. With all four episodes of The Ultimate Doom under my belt and currently ten maps into DOOM II, I am having such a good time that I honestly feel obligated to talk about it. Don't let your eyes gloss over at this release as "just another retro game port" because this is so much more. The love and care that's gone into DOOM + DOOM II is what makes it such a fantastic place to start, or revisit, your Doom journey. I won't call it "definitive" because this just scratches the surface of the myriad ways you can experience Doom, but for someone who has yet to make the first step, this re-release is an easy recommend. Whether you launch into the KEX version, try out the included DOS version, or simply copy over the IWADs for use with your source port of choice, just play some Doom. You'll have a good time.
Looking for more DOOM? Check out my write-up of tips and lessons I've learned after beating Doom and Doom II here.