Doom Guy by John Romero - (Audiobook Review)

Doom Guy Review

It was the mid-to-late 1990s, towards the end of the dot-com bubble and a few years before the crash and Y2K. I was in my mid-20s and had just started working in web development. Most days at work were fast-paced and exciting, and it was a fun time to work in technology, with new startups launching seemingly every week, disrupting businesses and business models, as well as entire industries, including the rapidly growing computer gaming industry.

My friends and I had played multiplayer many times before, but more so on early consoles like the Sega Genesis in the early and mid 1990s, when we maddeningly played endless marathon NHL sessions. Our PC multiplayer gaming had been limited mostly to turn-based military strategy games, like Panzer General, the Lost Admiral, and others.

That began to change for us with Quake in late 1996 when three of us would bring computers and gather at my friend’s house on a Friday or Saturday night for a long evening of in-person LAN party gaming. It was fun and boisterous, with excitement and fragging, always a good way to unwind during the weekend in those days. Quake was the first truly immersive multiplayer 3D game we all played together, and while we eventually would play others like Unreal Tournament and Alien vs. Predator, Quake was our root multiplayer shooter.

Doom Guy is the autobiography of John Romero, designer of Quake as well as its even more famous predecessor Doom, the truly ground-breaking 3D computer game that would invent the FPS genre and pave the way for Quake and all PC shooters to follow.

In retelling his story, Romero recounts the highs and lows of his professional life, including the formation of Id Software, the journey to Doom, the fracturing Quake development process, his relationship with John Carmack, how and why he left Id Software, and his work and projects after leaving. He details the rise and fall of Eidos and takes accountability for his actions and part in that company’s well-documented challenges.

Throughout, Romero opens up about his personal life and talks candidly of his struggles growing up while also sharing stories with joy and pride about his (Mexican, Yaqui, and Cherokee) heritage. The interweaving of personal and professional help show the many influences that contributed to his ultimate path to computer game design success.

For audiobook listeners, the author does the narrating and he delivers. For me, as a listener, knowing I was hearing directly from the author made the telling more relatable and interesting.

I recommended Doom Guy for anyone who loves gaming or just a good autobiography.