Game Review: Doom (Mobile – Pay Up Front)

Doom on mobile… I mean it’s a no-brainer really. It’s not like modern phones can’t handle a game that was originally released way back in 1993. It’s a veritable classic that every gamer (and most non-gamers) knows, having been transformed into a franchise over the years. Although the resulting sequels, movie adaptions and modern re-imaginings have been a mixed bag.

The classic game though? It never gets old.

Boot up Doom on your phone and press play, you’ll be transported back to the days of old with classic FPS action. It looks, feels and sounds exactly as Doom should. Even more so with updates after updates. This review is for version 2.9.3 and sees 60FPS, added aspect ratio options, quick save and load, level select, quality-of-life features and performance optimisations. As well as add-on support which brings free downloadable maps including SIGIL, and the fan favorite ‘Final DOOM’. Although you will have to have Bethesda account and be signed in to access these.

It’s a wealth of content in a game that just never gets old, the price point of £4.99 seeming just about reasonable.

Doom as a game is a classic, it’s as simple as that. However, Doom on mobile? Well, it has a few issues mainly surrounding controls. The most notable being just how much you’ll wish you had a controller.

The left side of screen controls movement and the right side controls the camera. Double tap the left side of the screen to sprint and tap the right side to shoot your gun. Then you can double tap the right side to ‘auto-shoot’. If all of that wasn’t complicated enough, the middle of the screen is the action button and the lower part of the middle screen brings up the weapon selection option.

It’s a lot of options on a small screen but just about manageable. Aside from the fact you’ll spend a lot of time shooting your gun when you just meant to turn the view-point. It’s annoying but not the end of the world.

After starting you’ll quickly realise that you’ll need to lower the sensitivity as lining up a shot with the standard settings is just too difficult. Even then, it always feels just a little awkward and will make you really miss a controller.

These issues might give you some buyer’s remorse, making you wish you’d just picked it up on a home console or PC instead. These are the best ways to play the game and as great as it is on mobile, it’s just not quite up there.