I’ve never been great at math, but Doom plus Indiana Jones seems like an equation for success. In the 30 years since Doom’s release, we’ve seen hundreds, perhaps thousands, of total conversion mods, from the excellent Brutal Doom to the cerebral and scary My House. Now, the defining PC FPS from id Software gets a dose of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, as an enormous Doom mod casts you in the role of a Stetson-wearing treasure hunter blasting his way through Mesopotamia and Egypt. If you’ve been waiting on a new Indiana Jones game, like for example the one from Bethesda, this will more than tide you over in the meantime.
Venturous is one of those Doom mods that essentially feels like an entirely different game. Across three episodes (I guess that is pretty Doom-y, if you think of the very first release in 1993) you battle Nazis while hunting for mythical artifacts in tropical and ancient locations. Six shooters, MP40s, a trusty machete – if it weren’t for the endlessly gratifying gallons of blood, this could be an entirely different FPS game.
Created by ‘Pixel Fox,’ Venturous boasts seven maps, 19 weapons, and 40 different enemy types. Fast, fluid, and full of loving homages to our beloved Dr. Jones (at the start of the first level, you collect your hat off the ground, and it even makes that iconic little Doom ‘pick up’ sound), you can play Venturous right now. You just need a copy of Doom and the essential ZDoom mod, which adds up and down look. If you’re still not convinced, get a load of Venturous thanks to Alpha Beta Gameplay:
More and more, it seems like we’re getting new and improved ways to experience the PC gaming classics. Check out this new Steam shooter, which feels like a spiritual remake of Doom 3, or maybe this gigantic Resident Evil mod, so big it’s basically a new standalone RE game.
Alternatively, you can feed your nostalgia with the best old games on PC, or scratch that Doom-inspired, Former Human-killing itch with the best zombie games ever.