First-person shooters have come a long way since Doom popularized the genre. What was once a desperate struggle for health packs and armor shards has become a parade of setpieces and over-the-top pyrotechnics - and, while few would argue over the quality of today's best first-person shooters, there are more than a few fans hoping for a chance to get back to the genre's roots.
It's easy to see why: Despite the visuals aging quite a bit, the classic Doom games are still a ton of fun to play. Sure, they're pretty basic compared with today's shooters, but there's nothing quite like sprinting around a demon-infested base on Mars with nothing but a double-barreled shotgun.
And now, it looks like Xbox One owners will be getting a chance to return to the Golden Age of shooters before the Doom reboot hits in May. According to an updated listing on the Xbox Store, anyone who preorders the digital version of Doom will also receive digital copies of the first two games in the series for free.
While many gamers will always think of Doom as a PC franchise, there's no denying that the XBLA port was one of the best versions to play. Sure, the customization options afforded by PC mods isn't there, but the classic Doom ports are still some of the best pick-up-and-play co-op shooters ever released. Simply put, if you've never played the game before, or want to show a friend what all the fuss is about, this is a great place to start.
Of course, the Doom ports won't be the first time that Xbox One owners have gotten some older games along with their new purchases. Fallout 4 kick-started the trend last year by offering Xbox users a free copy of Fallout 3 with their purchase, a move that was then followed by Rainbow Six and Dark Souls. All in all, it looks like Microsoft's new backward compatibility system is working out well for gamers - and, seeing as Sony has no plans whatsoever to bring backward compatibility to the PlayStation 4, it looks like Microsoft will have a monopoly on this sort of deal for the foreseeable future.
If you'd like to preorder your digital copy of Doom (and grab those classic Doom ports), just head over to the official Xbox Store. Otherwise, id Software's Doom revival is set for release on May 13.
