ACTION BUTTON REVIEWS DOOM 

"Tokimeki Memorial review is going to be shorter than this one..." Lawl!

“Those cops were defunded of the currency of their life” -Professional Video Game Expert Tim Rogers

"Ever since I finished designing my first Quake level 20 years ago I have never once had to ask a member of a restaurant's staff where the bathroom is. I just feel it." OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD

Bless you, Bob and Korg. I hope you are both still out there doing kindnesses for strangers. The world needs more people like you in it.

Cheers to Bob and Korg. The motif of sound and connection (not being able to appreciate Doom w/o sound, not connecting to to Bob and Korg due to silence) is excellent.

I'm going to check out the first and last 5 mins of this video. I will then proceed to become an Action Button POSER for the next 20 years.

"Tell your little brother he better not come in here." If you have younger siblings, sweeter words have never been heard.

Bob and Korg are the most wholesome people I've ever heard of.

You won me over with your Tokimeki Memorial video - and now I'm just binging all of your content. Cheers, chief. The whole project - design, delivery style, editing - it's all wonderful. Thank you so much for letting us wade through this with you.

"Buddy, if I liked anything about myself, I wouldn't be here right now." God, this man is a treasure 😭

Far and away the only creator on this platform that I would be upset if they no longer did this. Your video, your script, your passion, your life experiences and your humour are so unique, so rare and so critical to the utter brilliance of your videos. Timothy, imagine my hand on your shoulder as I tell you this please, you are more than enough exactly as you are right now. From Boku to Barrett, you are effervescent in a sea of dim and I pray you won't stop this quest of your passion because we need it.

My friends always told me about this really long Doom review that went for like 3.5 hours. I had seen clips and heard them talk about it, but I had never actually watched the whole thing myself. I was an... Action Button Doom Review poser.

Mad respect for Bob and Korg. I hope they're doing well today.

the most impressive thing is being invited to a girls house to play quake

Rewatching this for the like fourth time and I love the way Tim juxtaposes his desperate desire to be friends with the runner against how he disregarded Bob and Korg.

"sooner or later life is, at last, a list of things you everyday deal silently with not having done" - Tim Rogers (2020) Damn what a quote

Tim Rogers saying he wishes he could make something good at the end of the Ultra-Violence chapter is heart breaking. I wish I could make things half as well as Tim Rogers.

The story about Bob and Korg made me cry. Damn.

What a video essay. The writing, improv moments, editing, it's a modern spin on the type of TV special that you might catch on a cable channel in the odd hours of the night back in the early 2000s. Really enjoyed your talking points, personal stories, and jokes. It's very polished but still as raw and relatable as it deserves to be.

This review made me understand that DOOM is not an action game, it is a maze navigation puzzle game with buttery smooth real-time combat elements. It is Pac-Man, if every single pellet he chomped needed to be chokeslammed into submission first, and it felt incredible every time.

Feeling second-hand gratitude for Bob & Korg.

no one else on the planet is really built to turn the fifth decade of their life into a soul-exhausting romanticist monument to the medium of video games. anyone else who might try would lack either the artistry to make it good or the self-doubt to keep it framed in a sense of perspective. you have found a calling, and it's a doozy.

1:54:25 I would like to put it on record that my older brother DID study psychology at West Point, and he DID end up needing therapy post graduation.

"Sooner or later life is at last a list of things you every day deal silently with not having done"

I could listen to Tim Rogers talk about his own life forever

Bob and Korg, wherever you are, we salute you.

every now and then i come back and rewatch these and am still upset there aren't millions of views yet they are completely deserving 😤

Tim Rogers you talk about not liking yourself but we love you. Trust our love. You ain't half bad

This review has inspired me to start tracking time as “Before Doom” and “After Doom”. It’s actually 18 AD now.

The story of Bob and Korg is very moving. A little kindness goes a long way.

I too was briefly befriended by two older kids when I was a sophomore in high school. One of them was a tall white goth rocker with long hair and the other was a black punk guy with spiked bracelets. They were pretty cool.

One hour in to the video, “Now here’s the review...” Only Tim Rogers and his incredible storytelling can get away with that. 10/10 video.

This editor really flexing on his first showing

That story about Bob and Korg was incredible I hope they're doing okay

The visual of Gandalf's ship penetrating Bilbo's smoke ring when Tim mentions nobody getting laid in Lord of the Rings at 32:41 is priceless.

I've been looking for the phrase "A spectral conversation with your past self" for decades. It finally describes the sensation of returning to an old outpost in Terraria, or booting up an old save file in a game with manual inventory management.

Also, I think Bob and Korg need to be found and reunited with Tim

I laughed literally every time the tiny wolf howled

“Making YOU think is a shortcut to artistic profundity.” has never made me laugh so hard as a former art major.

These past 3 videos have been the most elaborate advertisement for an indie game I've ever seen.

I wonder if Korg ever bought that synthesizer

That was... nearly a life changing video imo... I don't know what kind dark magic you do, but this is so high-quality, intelligent, cheerful, nostalgic and LOUD! I needed it at this point in my life. This was the real deal! Keep em' coming!

Masterclass of commentary, filmmaking, editing, comedy, art design, graphic design, satire, journalism, dramatic arts, advanced game theory, computer science, digital marketing, story telling, stamina, dramatic pauses, patience, love.

7:40 "Buddy, if I liked anything about myself I wouldn't be here right now." Same brother.

With a project like this, you inexplicably raise the medium of "video game analysis and review" to a form of artistic expression. Genuinely, I think you've outdone yourself here, and (it goes without saying) outdone the rest of us a hundredfold. Bravo!

You've so much value as a human, I'm so happy you've decided to share this piece of yourself with the internet.

Bob and Korg made me cry

The fact that kids voted to let the Trix rabbit have his Trix gives me a little faith in humanity

Astounding. This truly was the Dark Souls of Doom reviews.

I have a very specific appreciation to “jocks with a heart of gold” A very particular archetype of a person (typically male) who “had it all” was handsome, maybe prom king, but also genuinely wanted to talk to nerds and was just kinda sweet. I love them and it sounds like you knew one in college!

I did not like Mega Man when I first tried the games. I just found them unreasonably difficult. Then I discovered Action Button Dot Net and it’s reviews’ many loving comparisons to Megaman boss patterns and mechanics. I decided to try the series again and ended up loving them. I love them so much I even main Mega Man in super smash brothers. Now I find that Tim Rogers has played a thirteen-year-long prank on me with his sudden announcement that he has never liked Mega Man. You got me, Tim. You got me good.

my paranoid religious mom tried getting me to stop playing Doom for the same reason, but I explained that the game couldn't be satanic considering I, the main character, was tasked with KILLING demons. She still didn't like it, but she didn't really have a comeback so she just kinda walked away and didn't bring it up again.

Castle Super Beast sent me here, holy shit Pat.

I won't try to speak to anyone else's experience, but I think that the work that you do is good and it has a value and impact that may not be possible to see from your perspective (as I find most people who are not complete assholes to be overly self-critical, especially with creative endeavors). Especially now, after six+ months of pandemic, art consumption is one of the few things that make the strain of being alone in my apartment month after month at all bearable. You didn't cure cancer or right any huge societal wrong with this video, but you did enlighten and entertain in a way that I've come to really appreciate and value. In short, I like the cut of your jib.

"An irrational, prickly mass, inextricable from our memories of college" is now my current favorite definition of love.

as someone who has trouble to remember anything that has happend a couple days ago, the amount of detail you can remember makes me jealous and terrifies me at the same time

Tim makes people like Brian David Gilbert look sane.

I cried for Bob and Korg. The bros that never were. I hope Tim keeps them in his heart forever.

I discovered this video because it popped on while I was sleeping, and I thought it was rambling nonsense disguised as a review. Watching it now, fully awake, I realize that it is the greatest video I have ever seen! 🏆👏

I've watched this three times now. I originally thought I'd not even get through a 3hr:30min video, ONCE, but here I am... on my fourth viewing. There is something quite beautiful about it. The nostalgia, the music, the highly intelligent writing, and delivery of Tim. It's really a treasure. OK... sappy mode: off :) but seriously, thanks Tim! I can't wait to see what's next. -Matt

I'm happy you listened to Big Black and The Jesus Lizard and Nine Inch Nails and "Not Tool"

Hearing Tim at the end of the ULTRA-VIOLENCE chapter say he wants to do something good some day, makes me wonder what Tim visualizes to be good in his big ol' brain. I came across Tim Roger's review of Dragon Quest 11 in 2018, after which I became a "Dragon Quest poser" and convinced my roommate and best friend to play Dragon Quest 11 proclaiming it be one of the best RPG's of the decade. He played Dragon Quest 11, for 3 weeks straight. Impressively, he turned off his second monitor to only play the game and soak in all of it's dialog and detail, rather than his usual habit of watching Netflix and grinding a game. 3 weeks later, with little conversation on the game in between, he emerged from his room to confirm my educated but inexperienced opinion that Dragon Quest 11 was everything and possibly even more than what Tim Rogers described it to be. It is an experience that my roommate still cannot seem to find a replacement to this day, starting Final Fantasy 12 but leaving it incomplete and resigning himself back down to playing Runescape (For... some reason). Just like Tim's experience being a Doom poser, my experience of being a Dragon Quest taught me that we can be touched and impressed by another person's passion and experience with something. In the case of Tim Roger's, his many experiences playing the Dragon Quest series. Back in January of this year, I was in a deep depression. Days we're pretty hard to pass by, meals pretty impossible to eat, and self-worth hard to see. Tim helped me through. I fell in love with Tim's honest story telling of his own life and emotions. It helped me appreciate and see that we struggle, and that things can get better even if things change, but also laugh my ass off to Tim's comedy which is pretty good therapy on it's own. I watched every single one of Tim's Kotaku videos, and even some over again. Watching Tim's videos over (for some reason I can't figure out) always feels like watching it for the first time. Along with a drive to improve, therapy and support, things have come a long way this year for me and Tim has been a source of enjoyment, fun and interest that has helped me find my way back to the hobby's and interests I love. I now also own an Xbox Series Elite 2 controller, and it is in fact pretty bomb. When I heard Tim had left Kotaku, I wasn't disappointed that there wouldn't be more, since what we got was pretty damn great looking back at watching all the videos. And then bam, all of a sudden, a video appears that Tim reviewed the Final Fantasy VII remake. Now as someone diagnosed with ADHD (selective attention), its not hard to pay attention, it's just hard to keep it with distractions available. Approaching a 3 hour long review of a single videogame "is like approaching Mount Everest, with only a plastic fork" (God, that analogy makes my stomach hurt), but to alleviate my self-doubt I found myself attuned to Tim's review with healthy attention and intrigue just like his shorter videos at Kotaku, and the same with his videos since. I think I even left a comment on the video complaining about it's length before starting it, that I feel pretty dumb leaving now. I don't want to convince you that your content is good, but maybe sharing this life experience of mine like the many you have shared may be a consolation. Keep up the great work, and don't ever change for anyone but yourself.

When I was 5 or 6, I had computer classes. The teacher would show us paint, word, simple stuff. And in the end, he always allowed us to play Doom. I have very good memories of it. After watching this video, I decided to buy the PS4 version, being 30 in about two weeks. I'll be honest, I thought I would play the first level for nostalgia and that would be it. I was waiting to be over hyped. I am shocked at how fun the game still is to play, to this day. It's super fast and smooth and the shotgun feels amazing. Incredible game. Thank you Tim

If every journalist did this much research we’d be on Mars by now

This video isn't about Doom, it's about life.

Jesus I just want to give sad Tim at 2:29:19 a present or something and tell him how important he is to so many people. He may hate himself but we love his (public) personality and care about him!

1:23 Linux, Linux, Linux, Linux. Don't know why everyone keeps forgetting. It was one of the first platforms Doom was originally ported to, in 1994. It was an initiative of an Id Software employee called Dave Taylor. Then the Doom source code switched to the GPL license, a free and open source license. The rest is history. But...outstanding documentary. The best I've seen on this topic. I can't even conceive the amount of work that went into this. Have my humble like, if that means anything. Keep on with the good job.

"This man is one of the most interestingly unintelligent individuals I have ever encountered in my entire media consuming life... and I've looked at Twitter." Beautiful.

I would physically protect this guy with my life.

"if you think any death is too gruesome for a Nazi, then you haven't read enough history books and if you think any shotgun blast is too brutal for a demon, then what kind of christian are you? Dad!" XD

i feel like i don't see enough comments about how great the music timing and editing in is in tim's videos. it's masterful. I miss the monday night football theme though.

"In summary, Nightmare is a STUPID difficulty level that turns DOOM into an almost bad video game." *"I LOVE IT."*

“Those cops were defunded of the currency of their life” A+

“I said uuuuhhh to make myself sound colloquial, to make myself sound normal... and not... whatever the hell i am.” We have reached peak relatable material here. Now I feel morally blinded to watch every minute of this serie.

So far this is like listening to a top tier audiobook narration of an incredibly deep Introspective book. It takes real skill to elevate game reviews into this

This review is like Hunter S. Thompson, if he'd been a sober PC gamer. 10/10

Tim always ends up telling a story that takes me straight to emotion town.

This is one of the most baffling yet amazing videos I have ever seen on RU-vid. I loved it, it was insightful, thorough, and extremely well put together. But at the same time, watching it feels like an experience. Like a rollercoaster. You can never tell when Tim is being completely genuine or when he's making something up for a joke or funny story or to emphasize a point. And somehow this ambiguity exists in such a way that its not a bad thing, it doesn't detract from the video at all, if anything it probably makes the video better as it has a very unique sense of positive confusion that I don't think I've ever felt before, and at the same time I have no trouble understanding what he's saying. This video can best be summed up with the phrase "I completely understand but I don't understand at all" and I love it.

I frequently come back just to re-watch the Bob and Korg segment. Thanks for sharing that, I appreciate it

As a musician I have to say, the part at 11:19 where he mentions he knows a thing or two about shallow friendships because he's been in multiple bands almost makes me choke to death laughing every time I re-watch this.

rewatch time, jerry

Pat and Woolie from Castle Super Beast sent me and I'm down for this. Your vocal delivery reminds me of Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder, and I fucking love it. Your memory has turned you into a fantastic storyteller. This is great content and you should be proud of making a 3 hour series of non sequiturs this compelling.

I've watched and listened to this video so many times that I can almost recite all the "punchlines" in fact most of the lines from it. Somewhere along the way it became my comfort audio. What is going on

That introduction perfectly highlighted how ridiculous the commodification of intellectual property can get. I love your scripts Tim.

Hi Tim. I've been watching your videos for a while now but have never commented. After hearing about all the negative comments you get on your Death Stranding stream, I figured I should leave a positive one. Your videos have brought me countless hours of joy, and I eagerly anticipate each one you put out. Thank you for providing both insightful and hilarious content for everyone to enjoy.

"I sort of even love Daikatana though I reckon not a high enough percentage of the viewers of this video are psychologists for me to legally continue this sentence". looool

There is another subtle lesson Doom teaches you in E1M1 without an explicit tutorial. That being one of paying attention to the sound design. Right at the beginning, when you go to the left to the room with the green armor, there's a switch on one of the walls that seemingly does nothing when you press it, but you can distinctly hear the sound of a door being opened which, if you go back to the main lobby, will grant you a shortcut to that blue armor. So, you get two lessons through one simple action. That sound design will give you important clues and that you can traverse the levels in a non-linear fashion which I think is pretty cool :)

*Me, a dude who played Doom on Gameboy Advance when it first came out, currently watching this video in my law office*: "Well, heck."

Tim’s video game talk is in its own league, but I come for the stories where he sounds cool.

I rented Lucienne's Quest a buncha times in the mid-90s. The thing I remember most distinctly was a boss called the Black Warrior that was, only sometimes, mistranslated as the Black Worrier. I thought that was a good bit at the time, but evidently it was unintended. Well, it touched my heart.

There are youtube videos then there are videos like this. The effort put in this is awe inspiring and I'm just two hours in (don't even care that we went off on a tangent on school shootings and video game violence in the 90s) you made this interesting and thought provoking. Thank you Tim Rodgers this is ART

“love is precisely that: an irrational, prickly mess, inextricable from our memories of college” hit me so hard I had to pause the video and take a walk

"What, in any case, the point was of paying attention and knowing stuff when those in power take pride in not knowing anything" Man, this hit hard, especially in these dark times we live in right now. We *wish* our politicians' general dumbassery was limited to boomers not getting video games.

Upon re-re-re-RE-re-watching this video, I've come to the conclusion that it is the greatest piece of journalism to ever grace my ear and/or eye-holes.

two years after seeing this review for the first time and it still utterly captivates me. Also bless Bibby Babbis' little face

This rewatch will be in 144p, as John Romero intended. They say this review can even play on a toaster!

I always enjoy how much Tim adores Red Bull E-Sports' "Golden Boy" Grand Poo Bear

Of all the action button reviews, something about this one hits the hardest. I keep coming back to it, I've probably watched it entirely 3 times now

I once thought that the pilonidal cyst that developed on my tailbone was the worst pain I had ever experienced. Then, I, too, developed shingles. But then, I developed gout and experienced several weeks-long attacks, a few years apart. And now I can confidently say that gout is the most painful condition I have ever experienced. Bottom line: evidently I am not a healthy individual, but my threshold for pain has increased far beyond that of the average person.

“Are you really a poser if you keep it to yourself?” Never stop timming Timothy.