Project MSX DOOM mod review [Mod Pit 02]
5A retro game review of the project MSX mod for DOOM. Subscribe to Blown Cartridges for more retro game review videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoDQj54Gd-w8RTdukMrQScQ?sub_confirmation=1
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Project MSX is a Doom Gameplay mod released in 2013 that updates the original Doom to play more like a modern First Person Shooter. It results in fast-paced gameplay that rewards aggressive action over defensive styles.
Looking at the screen the first big change you'll notice are the UI, and this is much more than cosmetic.
On the left you'll see two bars, one for your shield, one for your health. Your shield in this game doesn't lessen the damage you take as in vanilla doom, but instead acts as an ablative that takes the hits entirely until depleted.
Given time the shield will recharge on its own, though you can collect shield packs to allow you to give it a boost in a pinch.
Another benefit of the shield is that while active it'll protect from environmental hazards like slime, eliminating the need for hazmat suits.
On the right side of the screen you can see the ammunition load of the current weapon - both how much is in your current clip or magazine, and how many rounds total.
That's right, in MSX you'll need to reload your guns - the lack of which threw me in my recent playthrough of vanilla doom. Reloading isn't especially fast, so it'll often be better just to switch to a different weapon until you have a moment to breathe.
This is one of the keys to playing MSX - it's fast, you need to be faster, taking out enemies quickly rather than playing defensively, despite the power of your shields.
Another lack I'd felt in vanilla Doom was grenades. Well, now we've got them, and they clear rooms exactly like they should. As an added bonus you can charge the grenades before throwing them for an even greater effect, though make sure you pull it off, because this'll deplete your shields when you do it.
Assisting with your ability to chuck grenades is another gameplay enhancement - freelook, making it possible to arc lobbed weapons over walls.
Now, this isn't really a property of MSX, but instead the ZDoom Source Port it runs on. This becomes a necessity with the alternative fire mode of weapons that come with a scope.
Likewise you can jump - another ZDoom enhancement I typically disable when playing vanilla doom - though in MSX you actually have a super jump that enables you to skip large portions of early Doom levels.
That's another point - MSX is only a gameplay mod, it doesn't provide new levels, and it only functions well in Singleplayer mode.
All the same it does provide for an excellent single-player experience, allowing you to experience the vanilla Doom campaigns in an entirely new way.
Back to the weapons, all of them are changed, from pistols on up.
The GW35B pistol is powerful enough to bring down even the higher tier enemies.
The automatic shotgun is great against groups of unarmored foes but suffers against tougher ones.
The Assault Rifle has great long range capabilities, including a scope for precision work, and ends up being my go-to standard arm.
The autocannon functions almost like a rapid-fire rocket-launcher with powerful explosive shells.
Play long enough and you'll find a pulse rifle and a gauss cannon.
MSX gives players new capabilities and weapons, but enemies are beefed up as well.
In line with the faster-pace of the game's play everyone's a glass cannon, nobody's a bullet sponge, but this doesn't work out in your favor as everybody moves, attacks, and kills faster.
Even the humble Grunt has become a danger, armed with an automatic rifle or shotgun that can tear through your shield fast enough to leave you vulnerable to stronger attacks or to put you down directly, and many of them carry grenades.
Imps have become a quickly moving satyr like demon that can go from throwing rapid fireballs to clawing at your face in mere moments, and the invisible Demons are now functionally invisible - at least until they're lunging to attack you.
Ultimately Project MSX, while still in Beta, provides a shockingly fresh take on a thirty-year old game at a blistering pace, turning well trodden familiar ground into a new nightmare altogether.
If you're willing to give it a try I'll put a download link in the notes below the video. Thanks for watching, and I hope you'll join us for the next doom mod video.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/project-msx
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The Mod Pit is a #retrogame review series where I cover mods for games released in the 90s and early 2000s.
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