Rogue-likes are classic in gameplay and art, which means that they almost always utilize ASCII graphics. DoomRL is no exception, with the graphics being reduced to various colored symbols moving around on the screen. It may seem difficult, but it's actually very easy to get used to, and the lack of fancy graphics allows you to focus on the excellent gameplay. The sounds are all of the actual Doom sounds, which is a very nice touch. The music, gunshots, cries of enemies, and every other sound you can think of is pure and intact. It feels authentic, as though id decided to goof around and make a Doom-based rogue-like instead of just a fan. That's a good thing.

The basic gameplay of DoomRL is equal parts Doom and rogue-like, as the name suggests. The story starts off with you and your squad landing on Phobos to answer a distress call, and your squad promptly being slaughtered. Your goal is to descend all of the levels and kill the leader of Hell's armies in order to both escape and complete your mission. In other words, it's Doom. However, the game mixes things up with a turn-based combat system, player stastics, and inventory management, much like your normal rogue-like. If you think that these two genres of shooter and rogue-like can't combine, you're dead wrong, as DoomRL proves that with just a little tweaking, it can be fun for everyone. You control with the arrow keys and press f to fire and r to reload, with your fire reticle automatically homing in on any enemies (although you can move it from there if you want)

Unlike standard rogue-likes, DoomRL simplifies the role-playing elements quite a bit. There are no standard character statistics like agility, constitution, or any of that sort. Rather, your statistics are things you would normally see in an FPS, such as reload speed, movement speed, dodge, accuracy, and health. In the case of accuracy and dodge, they are there to simulate the player's skill rather than as a simple calculation. Inventory is also far more limited, with only 26 slots (one for each letter in the alphabet). Items do not stack on the ground, instead scattering whenever an enemy dies. There is no money, and ammo s the most valuable commodity. However, it does apply some other rogue-like tropes. Levers act much like the random wells or sinks in Nethack, durability plays a major role in armor and boots, and you can only equip a few weapons at a time. Likewise, everything you do, from reloading to moving to weapon changing, takes a certain amount of turns to accomplish.

Along with regular shooting comes traits. These are perhaps the coolest addition to the game, as they allow you to customize your character how you want. Reloading a little slow? Take the Reloader trait. Want to rocket jump with impunity? Fireangel trait is your godsend. A different build of traits can result in a completely different gameplay experience, so it is worth experimenting to find which one suits you. In regards to weapons, traits become mods, and there are four available: Agility, Bulk, Power, and Technical. Agility improves your movement or accuracy, Bulk improves armor protection or clip size, Power improves armor protection or damage, and Technical improves fire rate or knockback resistance. You can only put one mod on a single weapon, or four on advanced weapons, with multiple mods of the same kind stacking. Want to deal crazy amounts of damage? Stack 4 power mods on an Advanced Assault Shotgun!


DoomRL has everything that Doom has with some added benefits. There are multiple difficulty modes, and they are named the same. The monsters all behave like they do in Doom, although they may be named confusingly (pinky demon is just demon, for example). However, by virtue of being a rogue-like, the whole game is semi-random. Levels and monster distribution are random except for the few unique zones, start, and end. Weapons and armor are mostly the same, but will sometimes be much stronger than normal. For example, The BFG 10k functions much like the BFG 9000, but has a higher damage and lower blast radius. The Assault Shotgun functions like the Combat Shotgun, but does not require pumping between shots. Not only that, but these weapons can also get the Advanced trait, making them even more powerful with weapon mods.

Those looking for replayability will have a great time with DoomRL. It is much easier than your standard rogue-like, which makes it a good entry point into the genre for those intimidated by the likes of Nethack. Playing different builds changes your experience but will usually not gimp you so bad that you can't play. There are also sets of challenges and medals to shoot for. Challenges are first unlocked after reaching level ten, and function like the "behaviors" of other rogue-likes. One challenge forces you to only use your fists and a shotgun. Another requires you to use only pistols. Yet another expands the game to 100 completely random levels. These challenges are unlocked as you gain rank, which is acquired by pulling off feats in the game known as medals. Much like achievements, these are saved to your game and show that you have beaten a part of the game on a specific difficulty or following a specific challenge. As you gain more and more medals, your rank continues to increase and you unlock new challenges and medal opportunities. This is a game that has a lot of longevity.

DoomRL is the perfect example of a lunch-break game. It can be completed from start to finish in about 30 minutes on the standard difficulty, and is packed with enough action to keep most people interested. Thanks to the ranking, medals, and randomization mechanics, it almost never gets old, even after you have beaten the game many times. It avoids the high difficulty of other games in the genre while engaging the player in a wave of delightful nostalgia for the games of the past. It's a great interpretation of Doom, and thanks to a small size and extremely small minimum requirements, can be played by everyone. And it should be. Easily one of the best freeware games this year.

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