Summary
- Doom franchise known for fun, gritty shooters with solid narratives.
- Doom 64: Dark atmosphere, slow-paced play, puzzles mix with action.
- Final Doom: High difficulty, complex maps, challenging for veteran players.
The Doom franchise is one of the longest running and most loved in all of gaming, consistently delivering gritty shooters that redefine the violence every time and demonstrate that FPS games can simply rely on fun to be successful. Each game follows a pretty similar formula of running through corridors and across the land, slaying demons to save the world, with each title having a slightly different plot or setting to keep things fresh.
Best Doom Games, Ranked
The Doom franchise is one of the most well-known and beloved first-person shooters, and these are the best ones in the series by far.
While the games are most known for the gore and gruesomeness, the campaigns are actually pretty high quality and offer a decent narrative thread to follow that stops the shooting from becoming mindless and instead poses an actual objective to follow. Each game has its own charm and positives, but there are some stories that sit above the rest and feel more complete and enjoyable to play.
8 Doom 64
The Cult Classic With A Darker Edge
Doom 64
- Released
- April 4, 1997
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Midway Games
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo 64, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
An N64 title that was so much more than a simple port, Doom 64 is a fully fleshed-out entry into the franchise that brings a dark, atmospheric design that really plays with the setting and environment in a big way. Moody lighting and an eerie soundtrack made every stage feel like a drawn-out battle that maintained all the same tropes of the previous games, while introducing a few new tricks of its own.
The level design focused more on puzzles for progression, which pushed exploration in a big way whilst still keeping intense firefights at the core of the loop. The combination of slower, more methodical gameplay with heavy action sequences makes the game feel perfectly paced, and while it may not have been the most exciting storylines, the campaign is still well worth revisiting even today.
7 Doom 3
A Slow-Burning Horror Reimagining
DOOM 3
- Released
- August 3, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox (Original), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation (Original), PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Doom 3 is perhaps one of the most dramatic shifts in the franchise's history, opting for a far slower, horror-driven tone that looked to build tension over time rather than have jam-packed action from start to finish. Claustrophobic environments and fear-filled encounters contrast significantly with the series' usual emphasis on speed and aggression.
Best Doom Games For Multiplayer, Ranked
The Doom franchise is an iconic staple of the FPS genre, but which of its games has the best multiplayer functionality?
With a new engine that allowed for dynamic lighting and an enhanced audio design, the game leveled up the immersion in a big way. It may have been a divisive game among fans of the original games, but it remains a distinct and bold experiment into a new genre that shares more than a few parallels with the Doom universe.
6 Final Doom
Difficulty And Challenge On Another Level
Final Doom
- Released
- May 31, 1996
WHERE TO PLAY
Final Doom delivers one of the most challenging campaigns in the series, featuring two long episodes that incorporate over 60 different levels into a single title. A combination of community designers and the publishing of id Software, the game pushed the engine to its limit and elevated the map design to new heights.
The game focused on difficulty and map complexity, bringing to life some notoriously challenging stages that often required near-perfect movement and awareness to clear. It is a proving ground for veteran players, giving them a campaign that rewards precision unlike any other and remains a strong title in the franchise.
5 Doom (1993)
Birthing An Era
Doom (1993)
- Released
- December 10, 1993
WHERE TO PLAY
The original Doom revolutionized gaming with its blend of breakneck combat, maze-like levels, and aggressive enemy design. Its campaign spans three iconic episodes, each showcasing escalating intensity and increasingly complex layouts that have become more than iconic in the years since their release. The visceral feedback of weapons, combined with a thundering soundtrack, makes every level feel like a fight against hell itself.
Even decades later, the campaign remains remarkably high-quality, thanks to its intuitive design and precise gameplay loop. Every level encourages forward momentum and spatial awareness, demanding both speed and strategy, which are two aspects that have been carried forward all the way to the most recent releases. As the foundation of the franchise, it established the DNA that every subsequent Doom title would expand upon.
4 Doom (2016)
Reviving The Classic Formula
DOOM
- Released
- May 13, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
Doom (2016) brought the franchise roaring back with a campaign that reimagined the original’s aggression with a modern lick of paint that was more than welcome. Fast, fluid, and brutally efficient, it emphasized mobility and allowed players to seamlessly cycle between weapons and chain together kills, offering a pure power fantasy grounded in skill.
Level design is expansive and layered, with many secrets and hidden details that blend well with the overall sense of momentum. Backed by an adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, the campaign revitalized the franchise without compromise, and it successfully bridged old-school design with contemporary mechanics, earning its place as one of the genre’s most influential modern shooters.
3 Doom 2
Bigger, Better, And More Enemies To Kill
Doom 2
- Released
- October 10, 1994
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, PC, Sega Saturn, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation (Original), Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Doom II expanded on the original with more complex maps, tougher enemy encounters, and the introduction of iconic foes that have now stuck around for over three decades. Its campaign is faster and denser than the first game, emphasizing chaotic firefights and tight resource management that elevated the original experience without straying too far from what fans loved.
10 Most Iconic Moments In The Doom Games, Ranked
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While it lacks the episodic structure of its predecessor, the 32-level campaign compensates with escalating challenge and greater scale that still feels cohesive throughout the playthrough. The game remains a cornerstone of the FPS genre and demonstrated that follow-up titles could take an original idea and build upon it, whilst not sacrificing the DNA that made the first so compelling.
2 Doom: The Dark Ages
Medieval Meets Big Beefy Guns
DOOM: The Dark Ages
- Released
- May 15, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5
The trailers alone sent goosebumps all over anyone who saw it, Doom: The Dark Ages is an absolute ride when it comes to pure FPS chaos and demonic destruction. A narrative that is told through cinematic cutscenes and codex entries dotted around the map, and a campaign that sees players taking on increasingly insane chapters that no longer have the Slayer running around on just his two feet.
Robotically-enhanced dragons and giant mechanical suits, every action and every gunshot feels responsive and satisfying, and every chapter feels like a meaningful leap in progress towards pushing back the scourge that taints the planet. It has everything a Doom fan could ever want and so much more, and demonstrates that the franchise is still capable of delivering exceptional campaigns all this time later.
1 Doom Eternal
Setting The Bar Higher Than Ever Before
DOOM Eternal
- Released
- March 20, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- id Software
- Platform(s)
- Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
One of the best games in the franchise, and for good reason, Doom Eternal is modern Doom at its best. More movement and more guns to juggle between, every encounter is an elaborate combat puzzle that really rewards aggression and precision in a way that few other games in the genre come close to. The level design is pure perfection, and the campaign is a technical showcase in both enemy and world building.
With Hell quite literally knocking on the door, it is up to the player to save humanity and to rid the world of the evil that seeks to destroy it. Every battle is pure cinema, and it is hard to put the controller down once the momentum really starts rolling, as there is just so much fun and joy that comes from every scene, and every aspect of the game is at the highest quality it has ever been.
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Some of Doom: The Dark Ages' new combat mechanics truly shine, setting up a must-have weapon combination for the franchise's next major project.