[i]Doom[/i] is probably one of the few games to hit the Xbox Live Arcade that surprised almost everyone. Fortunately, it was a pleasant surprise, because id software’s classic game is as fun as ever.

It took me a little while to finally get used to the simplistic(!) controls, as the game requires the use of only a few buttons on the controller. As you may know, nowadays most (FPS) games use all buttons for at least one thing. What do you do in [i]Doom[/i], in case you don’t know?

With the help of some awesome weapons, you, the lonely marine, will have to battle through four episodes of hell, destruction, and macabre. Since the game is essentially a port of the original PC game (with a few graphical and sound updates, more on those later), the gameplay is the same. Run around, kill stuff, collect keys and items, and repeat six million or so times. Monotonous for some, but it’s [i]Doom[/i]. What did you expect?

The graphics, by today’s standards are…well…just plain crappy. 2D sprite monsters aren’t that intimidating, and after a while, can make your eyes hurt. I personally think that you shouldn’t play more than 30 minutes at a time, because with these graphics and effects, you could get epilepsy or a seizure quite easily. However, these graphics also provide a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor (how “awesome” graphics were not that long ago) and nostalgia to those that played the original game.

Sound-wise, the game matches the graphics department. [i]Doom[/i] sounds old and outdated but also fun and nostalgic at the same time. The music is meant to be creepy, sort of like an 80s horror movie, but I was smiling the whole time. A few sound effects have been added, such as fireballs from imps, groans from zombies, and so on. These little add-ons by Nerve (who ported it over) improve the overall game experience.

The game, depending on how good you are, should take you only a few hours to beat, maximum. There are multiple difficulty levels, but I don’t suggest playing on the first two, easy, difficulty levels- unless you are a complete noob in life and video gaming.

There is also a multiplayer portion of the game which I did not try, as whenever I wanted to play online, there was no one to be found. Deathmatch, ranked and unranked, is offered, along with co-op. Go ahead and try your luck online if you can find anyone to play against.

If you played and liked [i]Doom[/i] on the PC back in the day (or enjoyed one of the many ports), then I suggest cashing out the 800 MS points (10 dollars) for this incarnation. The Xbox 360’s [i]Doom[/i] is fun, replayable, online capable, and not that expensive.