Doom RPG, id’s Doom game for pre-iPhone mobile phones, has been reverse engineerd and ported to Windows.
Even id Software’s official “Year of Doom” museum at E3 2019 left this 2005 game unchronicled. That’s a shame, because it was a phenomenal example of id once again proving itself a master of technically impressive gaming on a power-limited platform. And platforms don’t get more limited on a power or compatibility basis than the pre-iPhone wave of candy bar handsets, which Doom RPG has been locked to since its original mid-’00s launch. You may think that “turn-based Doom” sounds weird, but Doom RPG stood out as a clever and fun series twist to the first-person shooter formula.
Its abandonment to ancient phones changes today thanks to the reverse-engineering efforts of GEC.inc, a Costa Rica-based collective of at least three developers. On Wednesday, the group released a Windows port of the game based on their work on the original game’s BREW version (a Qualcomm-developed API meant for its wave of mobile phones from 2001 and beyond).
Very few people even remember Doom RPG – and the various other games from id using the same engine – so it’s great more people get to play these games now. Excellent work.
THIS, this right here, is why I frankly want to throw up when anyone suggest mobile as a gaming platform. I mean do you know how many games we have already lost, most likely permanently, because of them only being released on mobile? I mean say what you will about PC and console gaming but I can pick up a brand new Retron or an Emulation Station and play console and arcade games going all the way back to the arcade Pong from 1972, and on PC I can just go to some place like GOG and grab Akalabeth from 1980 and be playing it in seconds.
But lets forget even the pre Android/iOS games for a minute, you know how many “History of Gaming” videos I’ve seen where they will say “And then they released a spin off on mobile, would love to show it to you but it was taken from the store years ago and nobody has it”. I’ve watched vids on early crazy gaming gadgets like a blaster pistol with thumbstick that was designed to have your android phone strap in as a view screen where you could move the gun around to shoot baddies like an early VR and would love to see it play or maybe try it myself, but nope, it was removed from the store years ago and nobody has it.
So I worry that even if someone comes up with a perfect emulator for early iOS and Android it is really not going to matter because AFAIK there is no Internet archive style site backing up the insane number of games and apps for iOS and android so most are just going to be lost in the mists of time.
Hahah I had this! It was kinda interesting but I never got terribly far in to it. Flip phones were a terrible way to play games for any length of time.
I bought this game when it came out! I loved it. They did an incredible job of recreating the feel of a Doom game on a low powered flip phone with limited controller input.