Arrgh! I hate those unfair ambushes! (A PSX Doom 2 gameplay story inside!)

I was playing PSX (Playstation) Doom, and you can't save the game during gameplay so if you die you have to start the whole level all over again. It's not so bad for anyone who is good at Doom though. However, one thing that i have been noticing lately while playing PSX Doom (as a result of having to restart the whole level when i die) is that some of the ambushes and monster encounters in Doom 2 are just bullshit. During my playthrough of the game i have found my self dieing a good number of times as a result of either traps of monster encounters that i never had any good chance of defeating without already knowing in advance that the attacks were coming. For example, i was playing the courtyard level and i had been playing for at least 10 min and once i got the yellow key i opened the yellow door and walked over the teleporter only to find myself in a room where i was completely surrounded my cacodemons and imps and there was no place i could go. My only chance of escaping was by using force but by the time i had switched to the BFG i had already lost most of my health and it was to late to save myself :(

What the fuck?

I mean these sort of events are not so bad in the PC version since you can quick save but these sort of things can be extremely frustrating when playing the PSX version of the game since dieing means having to replay the whole level. I don't have anything against a good challenge, but i still expect the game to give me at least a remotely fair chance of surviving the slaughter, and teleporting me into a room full of monsters without warning with no place to go to or seek shelter from the fire (something that is pretty much a death sentence unless your lucky enough to be holding the BFG when it happens) is just a cheap trick to get the player and even worse it's also a mood killer (spending 10 min fighting valiantly through a level only to die because of some bullshit like this destroyed my immersion into the game).

Am i the only one who feels this way? Or do other users here agree with me?

I grew up with PSX Doom, so got used to not being able to save. I also memorised most of the annoying and completely unfair traps after 30 or so playthroughs, so they just don't bother me these days. I did, however, feel the same as you do now when I first encountered them about a decade ago.

The biggest problem with Doom that I've found recently is that I abuse the save feature way to much, after not having one for 10 years. It's something that has affected my enjoyment of Doom for the time being, and I refuse to start playing Doom again till I get over this problem.

I will admit, Doom 2 is VERY unfair when it comes to the later levels. Then you also have the colored lighting of the PSX version, in which sometimes you can't see what the hell is going on.

All I can tell you is don't be afraid to turn on God Mode ;)

Reevys said:

I grew up with PSX Doom, so got used to not being able to save. I also memorised most of the annoying and completely unfair traps after 30 or so playthroughs

Yea, but there are always some spots that you can't remember all the time. Like the pillars that lower into the slime without warning at the end of MAP08: Tricks and Traps thus dooming the player if he does not get across during his first and only try. MAN i was pist once i had played the whole level only to die a pathetic death as the floor/pillars beneath me lowered into the slime without offering any means of escape once i was there! I think i actually cursed out loud at the TV after it happened if i remember correctly....

Why anyone would find it a good idea to put a "step here and die" traps at the near end of a level in a game where you can't quick save is beyond me. They should have changed the pillar sectors to prevent them from lowering like the do in the PC version since running across them is no easy task when using the PS1 controls to do so (and if you die then it's game over for you).

I always remember that bit. Always. It's also a pathetically easy section when, again, you've completed the game 30 times or so. :P

I have never played PSX Doom. I have to get my hands on a copy D:

r_rr said:

I have never played PSX Doom. I have to get my hands on a copy D:

When i bought my copy's of PSX Doom and PSX Final Doom they were already hard to find. I bought them on Amazon.com and the stock was not very large, and if i remember correctly the British version of Amazon did not have fresh copy's of PSX Doom at all.

Time is not on your side, just keep that in mind.

You think that's unfair/hard? Try playing the SNES version of Doom 1. No game saves, no passwords. You die, you gotta start the whole EPISODE over!

mkfanatic said:

You think that's unfair/hard? Try playing the SNES version of Doom 1. No game saves, no passwords. You die, you gotta start the whole EPISODE over!

You don't start all over, just by level.

Both PSX Doom and Final Doom come up almost weekly on eBay and are cheap as chips. They aren't in the slightest considered rare.

mkfanatic said:

You think that's unfair/hard? Try playing the SNES version of Doom 1. No game saves, no passwords. You die, you gotta start the whole EPISODE over!

First, that isn't correct, as previously stated. Second, if you really played the game, you'd notice that the game has a nice feature that makes it much easier if you die on a level: normally, when you restart the level, you start with the pistol 50 bullets, that kind of thing. However, here, if you restart the level (dying or just hitting "restart level"), you have every gun and ammo count you had when you first reached the level on that playthrough. Sure, the health always resets to 100 and armor to 0 (if I recall), but that's just like PC. Be happy you get the gun stats, right :) Besides, you benefit if you had less than 100 health when you first got to the level. Consider it a half-compensation for the lack of save/password.

Similarly, in PSX Doom (maybe Saturn Doom and PSX Final Doom), if you die, don't just restart the level directly. Go to the password menu and you'll see that the current level password with your stats is there. Just confirm it to restart the level with all the ammo and health you had before (in fact, it rounds up the stats by increments of 25, so it's even easier).

Super Jamie said:

Both PSX Doom and Final Doom come up almost weekly on eBay and are cheap as chips. They aren't in the slightest considered rare.

Ebay sells used copy's. Finding fresh copy's with the retail case and the manual is a different matter.

My copy is pretty fresh, even if it is used... I actually got my hands on the original cardboard longbox version as well, so I ain't complaining.

My copy of SNES Doom is pretty much brand new. No dents or dings (Billy Mays pun intended) in the box or instructions, and the red cart plays like a charm.

Wasn't SNES Doom the only game with a colored cart (With the exception of Killer Instinct)?

Edit: After doing a quick check on Amazon here in the U.S., you need to pay at least $20 for just the disk, and at least a whopping $150 for the game still in shrink wrap. Same goes for Final Doom. Now that's ridiculous.

Mattfrie1 said:

My copy is pretty fresh, even if it is used... I actually got my hands on the original cardboard longbox version as well, so I ain't complaining.

My copy of SNES Doom is pretty much brand new. No dents or dings (Billy Mays pun intended) in the box or instructions, and the red cart plays like a charm.

Wasn't SNES Doom the only game with a colored cart (With the exception of Killer Instinct)?

Edit: After doing a quick check on Amazon here in the U.S., you need to pay at least $20 for just the disk, and at least a whopping $150 for the game still in shrink wrap. Same goes for Final Doom. Now that's ridiculous.

Lol! I bought my copy's on Amazon for much less then that!

hardcore_gamer said:

Lol! I bought my copy's on Amazon for much less then that!

Same here. I think I only payed about $25 to get the longbox version.

Honestly, we know Doom is awesome, but paying $150 for it is a little overboard.

Mattfrie1 said:

Same here. I think I only payed about $25 to get the longbox version.

Honestly, we know Doom is awesome, but paying $150 for it is a little overboard.

Here.

I would easily spend 200+ dollars for all of the original Doom games if i were for whatever reason to loose my copy's of them.

Not that it is ever going to happen with me owning like a sillion copy's of the main iwads on a considerable number of computers and hard drives you know what i mean.

Mattfrie1 said:

Wasn't SNES Doom the only game with a colored cart (With the exception of Killer Instinct)?

Only in north america, the PAL version module is gray.

My bad, it's been a long time since I've played the SNES version. I could have sworn you had to restart completely over. I'm wondering if maybe I would just restart the whole episode myself cuz I couldn't stand to start that level I just died on over again with just my pistol.

mkfanatic said:

My bad, it's been a long time since I've played the SNES version. I could have sworn you had to restart completely over. I'm wondering if maybe I would just restart the whole episode myself cuz I couldn't stand to start that level I just died on over again with just my pistol.

If you read my previous post, it pretty much solves your problem.

Reevys said:

I always remember that bit. Always. It's also a pathetically easy section when, again, you've completed the game 30 times or so. :P

I have only beaten the games like a dozen times as i don't see any reason to keep playing the original levels when i can download new custom Iwads/Wads.

I didn't have a computer to play Doom on till about a year ago, so PSX Doom was the only version of the game I could play for almost a decade. Trust me, as much as I love that version of the game, I wouldn't have played it that many times if I had PWADs to play instead.

To post on topic, i agree completely. I prefer to be able to beat a level, while of course being challenged by it, my first time playing it. I do save sometimes, but more than that i just forget about saving and just play. Makes it a bot more scary sometimes. And yes, those ambushes you either have to be VERY lucky to survive or have to know of beforehand are one of my greatest enemies in Doom. (the others being overdetail, slaughterfests, texture misalignments, etc)

I was going to end my PSX Doom thread with the Doom 2 part, as I'd been posting my thoughts on the levels all through Ultimate Doom, but I kinda got distracted and never bothered.

The later levels are pretty insane on UV, I had to break my own rule of no saving just to not go mad with frustration. I have no idea how I beat the last few levels so many times, I must have died about 20 odd times in Abandoned Mines at least. Bloodfalls had me running around wth 2/0 for a while as well. Too bad the Spider Masterminds at the end were more of a joke than ever before, since I found out about the BFG-hug OHKO trick. I cant not use it anymore.

hardcore_gamer said:

[...] (something that is pretty much a death sentence unless your lucky enough to be holding the BFG when it happens)

If you find yourself teleported into an "OH SH!T" situation holding the wrong weapon, you can pause the game and cycle to something better. (A nice feature I usually forget about. ;)

Heh, it looks like the PSX DOOM guy has mastered the Matrix.

Ledmeister said:

If you find yourself teleported into an "OH SH!T" situation holding the wrong weapon, you can pause the game and cycle to something better. (A nice feature I usually forget about. ;)

But it still takes a few moments to switch between a weapon, and then it takes a few more moments for the BFG to fire and that's more then enough time for the demons to turn you into crisp.

(cough)Chaingun(cough)

scalliano said:

(cough)Chaingun(cough)

Yea, those commandos/chaingunners can really tear you to shreds if your not careful.

The Chaingun gets you out of many a tight spot. Anytime you teleport into the middle of an ambush, equip your chaingun and watch them all drop! Working examples are that bit in the Courtyard you mentioned and that other bit in the Factory level (the imp X-shaped room).

Heh, all this PSX Doom talk has inspired me to play through it again. I think I'll stick it on my PSP when I'm done with Final Fantasy IX.