The classic game Doom gets its first new level in 21 years
And you can play it on your PC without needing the original.
WHEN IT WAS released back in 1993, the first-person shooter Doom became a hit with PC gamers.
Its speed, visuals and violence won it many fans and its multiplayer modes like deathmatch came at a time where PCs were able to connect over a network (and on the web as it grew in popularity).
The last time new levels were created for it was in 1995 when The Ultimate Doom was released, but fast forward 21 years and one of its creators, John Romero, has released a new level that’s free to play, using only the shareware assets from the original.
Offering it through a Dropbox link, the level can be played without having the original game installed. Romero says the game took several hours over a two week period to build and called it “a warm-up”, alluding to the reboot that’s being developed for PC, Xbox One and PS4.
1993 was a very different time for games. When Doom was released, it was on floppy disk and required 8 MB of RAM to run. The decision to make it shareware was a way to encourage people to pass it on and get more playing it, helping it grow in popularity.
Since then, it remained popular with fans who continue to play it online. Others have designed and created their own levels after the source code was released in 1997.
