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Doom, Command & Conquer revived for iPhone
Doom Classic brings the ancient, pixelated first-person shooter to the iPhone.
Welcome to today's episode of Recycling Old PC Games for Fun and Profit. Our first contestant: Doom Classic, the first-person shooter that spawned a thousand imitators, several hundred ports, and one horrendous movie.
Next up: Command & Conquer Red Alert, the real-time strategy classic responsible for a massive drop in global productivity.
In my youth I was a tremendous fan of both games, so it stands to reason that I'd welcome them to my iPhone. However, neither is getting a permanent home.
Let's start with Doom. While id Software's official port offers a pixel-perfect recreation, the game is 16 years old--and it shows.
Indeed, juxtaposed with Doom Resurrection, a made-for-iPhone game with 21st century graphics, Doom Classic looks positively ancient. It plays that way, too: You can't even jump.
Part of this is personal bias: I don't think FPS games work well on small screens, especially when touch controls are involved. For me, Doom Classic feels cramped, confined, and seriously out of date.
Command & Conquer Red Alert for iPhone offers real-time strategy nostalgia.
Command & Conquer Red Alert may look a little dated as well, but it delivers a much better gameplay experience overall.
EA did a great job adapting the controls to the iPhone's touch screen, and in-game tutorials make learning them a snap.
Red Alert also features an in-game store, which is good and bad: A mere 99 cents buys you half a dozen new skirmish maps--but the main game ($9.99) comes with only two. You also get only 10 single-player missions, which most players will breeze through in a jiffy.
As for multiplayer, it's "coming soon" as part of a free update. Alas, it's limited to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi; so you can't challenge other players online.
Consequently, I think most RTS fans will be happier with Robocalypse, which offers modern graphics, Internet multiplayer, and a 99 cent price tag.
Of course, if nostalgia is what you're after, Red Alert definitely delivers, as does Doom. I just think there are plenty of modern, made-for-iPhone games that play better than the classics.
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Other PC/console classics enjoying the mobile life:
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog.
In Warfare Inc, the way in which units are selected via 2 finger touch is more natural than what Red Alert uses. The interface is small enough as it is, so unit selection is make-or-break for a game like this. Red Alert uses a button to trigger a unit selection command, in which afterwards you'd pinch or expand a box to select units. Warfare on the otherhand does not resort to buttons to select units, rather one would tap a region using 2 fingers, and a rotatable, expandable box would appear.
Graphically, Red Alert takes the cake. The units are crisp, detailed, and nicely animated in Red Alert.
Gameplay-wise, Robocalpyse is nice, but just doesn't have that classic gameplay I remember in the 90s. Robocalypse resorts to a plethora of menu commands to manage units. Red Alert is close, but ironically, Warfare Inc matches the old Red Alert 2 closer than Red Alert for iphone.
A major flaw in Warfare is the inability to group units. Without a keyboard, I guess it's understandable why it wasn't implemented. Red Alert for iphone tries to do this but it's clumsy at best.
Finally, multiplayer can be played in Warfare Inc... as opposed to EA's "feature available soon" promise, to which I might add:
How long has Madden for iphone been promising multiplayer with the same promise, feature available soon... Also, how far into the NFL season are we? Integrity matters.
Multiplayer is the whole purpose of RTS games. So here comes my plug again... Warfare Inc is the way to go if you have a jones for RTS in iphone/ipod touch.