Doom #1: Knee-Deep in the Dead Book

The original Doom is a rather mindless and repetitive game, so to see this novelized was quite the curiosity. To further my resolve to read this, my friend went so far as to tell me the novel was actually very good. Based on this, I thought it was time to give this a try!

People expecting some grandiose literary work with a fully in depth story should probably look elsewhere. This book is written in the spirit of the game! Those complaining about the books sequence where the characters, mainly Flynn, go from room to room killing creatures have clearly never played this video game. Since I am writing this in 2008, Doom 3 has already come out, and I was appalled to see some reviewers comparing this story to that of Doom 3. This book came out long before Doom 3 was released AND it is based on the original Doom! How someone can sit here and attempt to make that logical comparison is absolutely beyond me.

Doom is a very straight forward game, you have no idea what's going on, but you clearly have to shoot these creatures and get out. The book plays off this concept and the largest edition you get is a developed character who actually has the goal of finding his friend. Otherwise this book captures the essence of Doom perfectly, it's also done very jokingly, which is great. It keeps the book moving with the cynical character and I found myself chuckling from time to time at the sheer absurdity of it! When Doom was originally created there was basically no story-line and the main object of the game was to "get out." While the objective remained the same for Doom 3, Doom 3 had a much more developed story, just don't expect that kind of treatment with these books.

If you're looking for an excellent adaptation in the spirit of the first Doom, then this is an absolutely must read. If you like dark and cynical sci-fi, this is also a must read. If you were looking for something serious, with detailed explanations about Doom and its background, or something scary... yeah stop whining about it and look someplace else. Enjoy this book for what it is; I sure did, and I consider myself to have a good sense of humor!