Classic Doom: What's What

Recently I have seen discussions online about Doom, and it seems some people are confused for one reason or another about what each version of classic Doom is. Today I'm posting a quick cheat sheet that will hopefully answer any questions those people may have.


If you're a person who is confused by what's what when it comes to classic Doom, maybe this will help.

Doom (1993)
Doom is a three episode WAD consisting of Knee-Deep in the Dead, The Shores of Hell, and Inferno. Each episode consists of eight main levels with a ninth secret level. The shareware version of Doom contained only Knee-Deep in the Dead.

Ultimate Doom (1995)
Ultimate Doom is a four episode WAD consisting of Knee-Deep in the Dead, The Shores of Hell, Inferno, and Thy Flesh Consumed. It is more or less the same game as Doom (1993) with an added episode. Like the original game, each episode consists of eight main levels with a ninth secret level.

Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)
Doom II: Hell on Earth flows differently than the original game, in that the game isn't broken up into selectable episodes. That being said, the game is broken up at various points by story intermissions. The game has 30 main levels and two secret levels based off of the game Wolfenstein 3D. It features new monsters not found in the original Doom or Ultimate Doom. Those monsters are the Arachnotron, Arch-Vile, Chaingunner, Hell Knight, Mancubus, Pain Elemental, and Revenant. This game also introduced the double-barreled shotgun to the series.

Master Levels for Doom II (1995)
Master Levels for Doom II is an official retail released expansion for Doom II consisting of 20 main levels and one secret level.

Final Doom (1996)
Final Doom is an official retail released follow-up to Doom II. It consists of two 32 level WADs: TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment. TNT: Evilution has new music and textures, while The Plutonia Experiment only has new textures and uses existing Doom music. Neither episode features new enemies or weapons, instead using those found in Doom II.

Doom 64 (1997)
Doom 64 is its own unique game and is not a Nintendo 64 port of any existing Doom game. It uses sound effects and music from the PlayStation version of Doom, but everything else is new and exclusive to this game. Though this game doesn't really belong on this list, I am including it because it does tend to cause confusion among some gamers.

Doom II: No Rest for the Living (2010)
Doom II: No Rest for the Living is a nine level expansion for Doom II. It was originally created by Nerve Software for the Xbox Live Arcade release of Doom II.

Doom: Sigil (2019)
Doom: Sigil is a nine level WAD for Doom created by id Software co-founder John Romero. It is a free download created in celebration of Doom's 25th anniversary. It is an unofficial sequel to Doom, taking place after Episode 4: Thy Flesh Consumed but before Doom II: Hell on Earth.

This list is by no means every Doom release, but it should be enough to let you know what's what when it comes to classic Doom.