While I was pretty much the spitting image of a console kid—aka someone who only played games on his television and handhelds—there was a moment in my pre-teenage/teenage years when I got into PC gaming. I can’t pinpoint why it happened, but it could have been as simple as my family PC being able to handle games. Or maybe it had something to do with my uncle introducing me to games like Warcraft, DOOM, and other popular titles in the early-to-mid 1990s.
Either way, I got sucked into it and wanted to try out every title I could, mostly because they were usually cheaper than their console contemporaries and my uncle was hooking me up with his old copies. Basically, I could game for cheap and have a lot of fun doing so.
And one title that really stood out was DOOM II, aka one of the most horrifying PC gaming experiences of my childhood. I think I was around 11 or 12 when I began playing it, because I distinctly remember having phone conversations with friends that went something like this:
Friend: Yeah, so school today was [blahblahblahblah—this is where I started zoning out].
Me: Uh huh. No way. Really? He did that? What?
This was essentially the entire conversation and I had my PC speakers’ volume at a lower level and navigated my way through DOOM II, taking out disgusting demons and trying to understand what the hell was happening. Until…
Friend: Yeah, I mean what the hell, why would…
Me: AHHHH! WHAT IS THAT THING?! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?!
[phone drops]
Me: Hey, sorry about that, I was playing DOOM II again… and… yeah.
Friend: So you probably weren’t paying attention, huh?
Me: Maybe.
Fast-forward to 2014 and I will tell you that DOOM II was one of my favorite games—or I’ll simplify things and just say DOOM—and that is also scared the living shit out of me. It wasn’t just that the game relied on some of those cheap GOTCHA! moments, because there was just something inherently creepy about the characters, enemies, setting, music—EVERYTHING. Yeah, I know, that’s kind of the point, but I thought I had gotten over being scared by things like movies and games after Pennywise (from IT) stopped appearing in my dreams, which quickly transformed into nightmares.
Anyway, I happened upon this video over at Kotaku showcasing the work of a sculptor named Jason Hite, who put together a mini-sculpture depicting some of the more memorable bits from DOOM II. The good news: it’s a fantastic piece loaded with detail. The bad news: you have to drop $6,000 to own the thing. Still, this is really rad and makes me wish I had the moolah to spend on it. Well, maybe not—I’m starting to remember how much DOOM II freaked me out.
You can watch a video showcasing Jason’s sculpture below.
