DOOM: E1M1
As of April 19, 2019, according to an article in PCGamesN, the first level of DOOM has been “beaten” in 8 seconds.
On April 19 2019 I took two photographs of my cat. In the first one he was sitting in a cardboard box he didn’t fit in, and in the second I was holding an energy drink can on his head.
I suppose we all were having our own unique adventures that day.
I placed the word “beaten” in quotes because I watched the accompanying video of the run and I noticed that the player in question “finished” the level by running directly to the exit without killing a single Imp or possessed soldier(sometimes referred to as “shotgun jerks”). I want to be transparent here and admit that I didn’t think this should have been considered as “finishing” Episode 1, Mission 1 (known hereafter as E1M1 for non-Doom players) of DOOM at all. I understand that speedruns are a genre of playing games unto themselves, the aesthetic goal being to begin and end a level as quickly as possible. DOOM, the 1993 version anyway, certainly fits well for this play style as the speed from which Doom-Guy moves is partly why the game was as successful as it was critically, financially, and technologically.
DOOM was fast.
DOOM was about moving fast.
Had DOOM been a slower game it might not have landed as well with gamers.
About the same time I read this article I began watching Tim Rogers’ Action Button Review of DOOM for the second time. If you haven’t watched it I would definitely recommend it. Clocking in at 3 1/2 hours it’s obviously a time investment, and I’m the sort of nerd who loves deep analysis like the kind Rogers offers. What’s important for this essay is the way Rogers points out the “flavors” of DOOM. He says:
“The fewest flavors a game can have is two. A game with one flavor is not a game. DOOM has two flavors, think of them as meat and potatoes. Usually these two flavors intertwine like red and white stripes on a meat and potato candy cane. Though occasionally one encounters a spurt of one flavor that for a moment erases the flavor of the other. DOOM’s flavors are simply put search and destroy.”
In case you want to hear Rogers’ delivery of those lines, which sound way, way better in his ironic/unironic dramatic diction you can find this quote around the 1:19 minute mark.
Reflecting on his argument I thought about how I play DOOM, specifically how I tend to play E1M1 over and over again.
I believe, as of this writing, that I’ve played E1M1 at least 53 times. I picked that number partly because it’s a prime number, but also because I know I’ve played the mission enough to be in the double digits. I’ve played it on every difficulty available to me, and in preparation for this essay I sat down and played E1M1 back-to-back on each difficulty in succession. In case you don’t have those memorised they are as follows with the easiest being listed first going up to the most difficult: “I’m Too Young to Die,” “Hey Not Too Rough,” “Hurt me Plenty,” “Ultra-Violence,” and “Nightmare.” I was able to beat E1M1 on each of these settings, and the only time I died was during my playthrough of the Nightmare difficulty.
I died like, a lot.
Like a, LOT.
I died so many times, and every time I did I laughed because of how goddamn fun it was.
Before I continue I just wanted to say that I have never played a run where I exclusively used my fists. I suppose my brain has figured that it would be simply impossible to punch the imp on the high level near the zig-zag walkway to death. That space can only be accessed by progressing through the next red door and standing directly under a pre-coded square which will lower the platform and allow the player to find the secret shotgun waiting alongside some health. I’ve played E1M1 on almost every level at this point, so I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t experiment with this. The worst that could happen is that I die in the acid pit punching the wall over and over again while the Imp stares down at me and laughs.
What I love about the level is how fun it is, and how similar it is to World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. Both levels have been compared to each other by game critics and it’s obvious to see why. They’re both entertaining levels which gave players instructions on how to play the game and what to expect moving forward. They both rely upon movement for the bulk of the player’s experience, and they both involve human characters encountering arguably surreal landscapes which only further helps the player escape into a simulated reality different than their own.
And then there’s the music dude.
Researching for this essay I found a great article on gamesradar.com by David Houghton titled “Why I love: DOOM’s E1M1 Theme.” Houghton says:
The reasons that E1M1 is so brilliant are many. For literal starters, there’s the fact that it’s the very first tune in the very first level of the very first Doom. You start the game, the Hangar level loads in, and that opening riff rolls out. And it immediately just works. That clipped, tumbling salvo is a perfectly charged set of noises, the sustained hit at the end of every phrase giving it a sense of ascending energy that you just can’t not go along with. But crucially, there’s a cheeky playfulness to it as well.
“C’mon”, it says. “Don’t be scared. Let’s get out there and wreck some shit. This is going to be great”. And so you listen to E1M1’s assurance, and you go along with it, and it is great. There’s no better start for an intense, horrific, fast, bloody action game, especially one built around the player’s ability to survive by charging in and taking control on the offensive. It subverts intimidation and nervous early energy by grabbing hold of it, harnessing it, and turning it into giddy, exhilarating enthusiasm.
Houghton sums it up perfectly for me. Everytime the music begins I know exactly where I am and what I want to do. I want to rip and tear until it is done. I want to find every secret (even though I can never get to the elevator in time to get the last one). I want to feel the surge and chemical rush of the endorphins that are released with every shotgun blast. DOOM is fun, and no matter how many times I have played E1M1 I haven’t lost the joy of it.
There is a problem however, how am I supposed to write about it?
Gallons of ink, and gigabytes of digital space have already been spent writing about DOOM and E1M1 specifically. Trying to add anything unique outside of an in-depth technical analysis seems like a futile effort and so I hesitated numerous times while writing this essay. What more could honestly be said, or, really, is there anything else of substance to note about E1M1 at this point?
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that question.
DOOM by now is bordering the retro game classification, assuming it already isn’t considered that. When considering the discourse of retro games, conversations about said games tend to break down either into observing “how well it stands up” or “how valuable it is” as a collector’s item. The game is often discussed more in the first category because as soon as any new technology with a screen is released someone somewhere ports DOOM to it to further the memes. And thanks to the programming philosophy of John Carmack and John Romero, finding old copies of DOOM isn't terribly difficult.
What I come back to is simply how frequently I return to the E1M1, and how unlike the openings of some triple-A titles it is at capturing my attention. I love Resident Evil 4, I love Metroid Dread, I love Arkham Knight, I love Skyrim, and I understand that their opening level designs are far more designed to be a cerebral, narratively-centered structure. And that’s the point. These games are trying engage the mind that wants to hear a story.
DOOM is trying to engage the mind that wants to move.
I would argue that it’s the physicality of E1M1 that continually hooks me. Playing this level is a physical experience and it immerses me in its physicality from the second the game begins. As soon as I hear the Metallica/Not-Metallica metal start to play DOOM becomes a game about experiencing the simulation of fast-first person movement. There isn’t any game I’ve played that makes me feel as fast as DOOM.
I guess then I understand on some level the idea that a player has “beaten” E1M1 by proving they can move quickly through it in under a few seconds. But leaving the level there feels like a missed opportunity.
I can’t say that I’ve ever “beaten” DOOM or E1M1, partly because I can never seem to get all the secrets, but also because there really isn’t an “end.” No matter how many times I shoot the Imp or imps on the tall platform I know that they’ll be back because I will. DOOM persists infinitely, and like ants walking across a Mobius strip the player will return to the same place over and over again. A game that can create this simulation and not leave the player tired is more than just a great design, it’s a great work of art.
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
9.3.2023
Like what you’re reading? Buy me a coffee & support my Patreon. Please and thank you.