Bethesda Softworks proclaimed 2019 the Year of Doom. The ultimate first-person shooter is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and Doom Eternal will soon release on November 22. Recently, Bethesda also re-released the original Doom trilogy on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Android (except for Doom 3 on Android).
So what’s missing? The PC (and console too, fine) re-release of the one and only Doom console-exclusive, Doom 64. According to a rating recently classified by the Australian Classification by ZeniMax, there is a high possibility that it’s coming to PC. As per Bloody Disgusting, it’s been all but confirmed since late July. Gematsu also managed to screenshot the PEGI rating before it vanished:
PEGI has rated DOOM 64 for PS4 and PC. This was in addition to ratings of DOOM (1993) and DOOM II (Classic). There's no DOOM 3 rating. pic.twitter.com/5CtEBtV61X
— Gematsu (@gematsucom) July 26, 2019
Doom 64 on x64
Originally released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64, Doom 64 was developed by Midway Games, though id Software supervised the development since 1994. This was when Doom was blowing up all over the world. Doom 64 was visually impressive in comparison with the PC originals, though it also felt like just another port in terms of gameplay.
Narratively speaking, Doom 64 takes place right after Doom II. And, by all accounts, Doom (2016) takes place after Doom 64. So it would indeed make perfect sense to bring it back into the fold of PC gaming with this re-release, especially during the Year of Doom and as we gear up for the release of Doom Eternal. And though you can easily emulate Doom 64 on PC, a proper PC re-release would certainly be welcome.
If you just can’t get enough Doom this year, you might also want to check out John Romero’s Sigil, which had a few delays over the past few months, but it’s now available to download entirely for free. Of course, to play Sigil, you must own a legit copy of the original Doom, either from Steam or GOG. There’s also the Doom Reborn project. It’s a full conversion mod that allows you to play the original games with the Doom 3 engine. There’s no shortage of new Doom content this year.
