Doom vs Half Life, which is a better FPS?

[Arioch]

Pa3PyX said:

True, but the atmosphere in Half-Life just isn't as gripping and immersive as it is in DooM, despite the fact that HL uses a much more up-to-date engine. So much so that the fiction books induced by DooM (Knee Deep in the Dead, ...) still have no rival from the HL side (wrong?), even though HL makes a much more detailed and elaborate plot. And given that, these DooM inspired books are about as immersive to read, which can very rarely be said about books induced by action games/movies (Rainbow Six etc) - in the sense that pure action is fun to watch and play, but extremely boring to read.

Thus DooM gets my vote.

Worst reason to vote for Doom, ever.

[Captain Red]

dsm said:
But I guess it's an attempt at making a game out of it - although personally, I'm sure the author could have come up with a better reason why the government would send military personnel in like that.

it made perfect sense. The government wanted to recover as much of the transporter technology as they could, not to mention all the research on the border world. Nuking the facility isn't the best way to do that, and people tend to notice things like a mushroom cloud in a military zone. Of course, somebody severely underestimated the threat, and in the end nuked it anyway. And I'm pretty sure G-mans orders weren't from the president.

I will say that doom has a better concept. Having it out with Satan is always fun. but it dosn't really have a story.

[myk]

Arioch said:

Worst reason to vote for Doom, ever.

Agreed.

[Stealthy Ivan]

I always tryed to kill that guy in the suit that ran around in half-life...!!! But Doom is the god of FPS!!! Nuff said...

[Use]

I tried clipping through the walls to get at that bastard but you can't kill him.

[Sharessa]

I can't believe there is actualy an argument going on here.

[Sphagne]

If someone post this thread in a HL forum I want to see the replies!

Just for curiosity. ;)

[Torn]

Sphagne said:

If someone post this thread in a HL forum I want to see the replies!

Just for curiosity. ;)

heh, good idea... Someone go to planet halflife and post the question... :P

[dsm]

Ct_red_pants said:

I will say that doom has a better concept. Having it out with Satan is always fun. but it dosn't really have a story.

Go back and read my reply to Cyb again - Doom has a story, period!

May not be as elaborative as HL's but it has a story, both background story and ingame storyline. Fuck, even Quake 3 Arena has a story.

A game which has no story is a game like Tetris or Pacman.

[Rotting Corpse]

Well for me I cant deside they both have there ups and downs.
Story:doom
Art:tie
Grapics:H-L {thats a given)
Sounds:doom
Online play:Half-Life
Replay:tie I can never get enuf of both
Controls:Doom
Monsters:Doom
Guns:tie
Skins:Half-life

That cover every thing I guse.

[dsm]

Demons Hand said:

Well for me I cant deside they both have there ups and downs.
Story:doom
Art:tie
Grapics:H-L {thats a given)
Sounds:doom
Online play:Half-Life
Replay:tie I can never get enuf of both
Controls:Doom
Monsters:Doom
Guns:tie
Skins:Half-life

That cover every thing I guse.

Well, here's my list:
Plot: Doom - I want to be a soldier or at least someone specifically trained to kill. Being a scientist in an fps does not appeal to me at all, no matter what (no disregard towards Scientist), plus there's something very suggestive and kinda creepy about Doom's backstory imo.
Ingame storyline: Actually Doom's, although Half Life does have some neat twists.
Story enhancing tools (scripts, NPCs etc.): Half Life's of course, 'cause Doom barely has any story enhancing tools at all.
Art: Hmm, as a matter of fact, Doom's art appeals to me the most. It's more mysterious and fucked up.
Engine: Half Life's of course.
Graphics: HL
Sounds: Hmm, that depends on which sounds - HL has more sounds in general and many are damn moody (others, like the walking/running sound, are annoying). Half Life has some damn good weapon sounds, but I gotta say that Doom's monstersounds ownZ you all and Doom's weapon sounds are badass too (some of them are cooler than some of HL's imo).
Let's just call it a tie.
Online Play: Screw online play - I am not a deathmatcher and I've only played Doom coop, never HL coop so I can't judge.
Replay value: Doom - Half Life sucks hairy assholes after the first three times you've completed it imho.
Controls: Doom's - Half Life's suck pretty much imho (I hate having to use so many buttons to go all stealthy), though the mouselooking is wonderfully smooth.
Guns: Doom, definitely Doom. Doom's guns are infinitely more satisfying to use and I prefer their looks too. Also, Half Life mostly uses real life weapons which I find boring and slightly unoriginal in a game set in the future.
Monsters: Doom, DOOM, DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

[Cyb]

DSM, if you have to fill in the details of the story yourself, I don't call that a story. Obvisouly I'm fighting a losing argument here, this being a Doom forum, but let me point out a few flaws in your argument. The top one being Half-Life's story is similar to Doom, where it's really similar most games. One lone guy against some form of unstoppable evil with a bunch of minions, blah blah blah. Even games like the mario bros, which predates Doom, follow that forumla. It's the details and how the story unfolds as you play. Doom's ENTIRE story is told in the paragraph in the manual. The gateway experiments, what happens, etc etc, you never see any of that. Why is the Doomguy (who doesn't even have a name by the way, how's that for bad character development) there? Why does he want to fight off these huge hoards of demons that have overtaken some moon base? It's not his fault, he didn't even ask to be there, he's just a marine who got stationed there for being a jerk to his boss. While playing through the levels nothing significant happens. You meet new monsters and blast your way through a bunch of maps that perhaps could be real structures, but there's nothing to do. Get a key, hit a switch, exit the map. And even the progression between maps doesn't make any sense. Hit a switch and you're in a new area completly cut off from the rest of the moon.

Half-Life on the other hand, you are the CAUSE of the experiment, and it actually happens in the game. Furthermore the story unfolds as you play. First there's just a couple little monsters running around, caused by your accident, then they come in bigger numbers. The you get word (something that never happened in Doom either, interaction with the enviornment) that the military is headed here. The you realize they're hostile and want the entire base shut down. So now you're fighting off not only the aliens but also the military. On top of that all the maps which take place in the base are extremly realistic looking, and there's no weird transitions between maps, it's all one continuous thing and the flow of it makes sense. There's no hunt for this key or switch type things (why exactly would they set up a starbase (in Doom) where a switch waaaay on the other side of the base opens a door in front of you?), the most you have to do is find a scientist to open a door for you.

Anyway, it's simply a matter of opinion, and obviously you aren't going to get an unbiased opinion off these forums, and I am simply presenting the opposite side of the argument. Personally, in terms of story and what it did for the FPS genra, I believe Half-Life is the most significant FPS game released to date, and also the best when it came out in terms of single player (I would go as far to say that Deus Ex is better overall, and Red Faction more fun). Not to say I don't love Doom, obviously I wouldn't be here if I didn't, but this is just what I feel.

Personally I don't believe that what is essentially the first FPS game is also the best. People have had nine years to improve on the overall aspects of the game, and until Half-Life that was never done. Look at Quake and Q2 for example. They're nothing more than Doom with better graphics really.

But like I said, just my take on the whole thing, not the last word and obviusly few (if any) are going to agree with me, but that's fine by me, heh.

[Rotting Corpse]

dsm said:

Online Play: Screw online play - I am not a deathmatcher and I've only played Doom coop, never HL coop so I can't judge.
[/b]

Well I like half-life online cuz of the diffrent types of games. Try TFC I think you will like it.

[Scuba Steve]

Hell, Cyb for President.

[Job]

Cyb, maybe I'm wrong, but the way I understand it, one of the aspects of the Doom scenario that DSM values is not what is IN it but that it's almost skeletal in some respects. It allows afficiandos of writing, like him, to write fanfics that do stretch beyond what is stated in the paragraph storyline. Half-Life leaves little to the imagination, which, to some, can be rather unappealing. In the end, the preference for storyline is just like preference for the respective games: objective and unique to the individual.

[Pa3PyX]

Arioch said:

Worst reason to vote for Doom, ever.

That doesn't weigh for a reason, that's a subjective opinion. Give a better reason.

[Fletcher`]

Cyb said:

...There's no hunt for this key or switch type things (why exactly would they set up a starbase (in Doom) where a switch waaaay on the other side of the base opens a door in front of you?), the most you have to do is find a scientist to open a door for you...

Umm, because it's just a GAME? :P

[Cyb]

Vulg@r said:

Cyb, maybe I'm wrong, but the way I understand it, one of the aspects of the Doom scenario that DSM values is not what is IN it but that it's almost skeletal in some respects. It allows afficiandos of writing, like him, to write fanfics that do stretch beyond what is stated in the paragraph storyline. Half-Life leaves little to the imagination, which, to some, can be rather unappealing. In the end, the preference for storyline is just like preference for the respective games: objective and unique to the individual.

No you are 100% right, it is all opinion, hehe.

[Tyockell]

Doom beats everything different from it and always will its the king thats final.It was perfect in everyway it gave you the feel of total evil while giving you an awesome arsenal to deal with it.

[kristus]

Games prior to Half Life to do that stuff:
Strife (beats Half life by a 1000 miles IMO)
Daggerfall (more like a FPRPG but it is still a First person with bunch of blah blah blah...)


I never played through half Life actually.. It was cool and nice. but I prefer the more flowing gameplay that is in Doom..

wth is this BS about Q3 even being a good DM game?