Sega’s classic side-scrolling hack and slash franchise, Golden Axe, has been effectively dead since the early 1990s. Unfortunately, a rebooted series failed to get off the ground in 2008, and Golden Axe: Reborn never got past the prototype stage.
However, fans haven’t stopped caring about the classic title. One recent mod combines Golden Axe with the original Doom. Retro game fans can now play the first level of the 1989 Sega Genisis classic in glorious early 90’s 3D. The mod is in development by Doom modder and retro game enthusiast BBblazkowicz, who posts updates about the project on Twitter.
The first level of Golden Axe Doom is available now as a mod for the latest version of GZDoom, a fan-made Source engine port of the 1993 game. As PCGamesN reports, the mod is still in an early pre-Alpha stage in development. However, BBblazkowicz plans to create a full 3D version of the game.
A side-scrolling hack and slash, Sega released the original Golden Axe as an arcade cabinet in 1989. Inspired by Conan the Barbarian, the game features plenty of swords and axes but no ranged magic (and definitely no guns). That means that even in 3D, it’s a very different experience from classic Doom. It’s also reportedly much more difficult than the 2D Golden Axe. Fortunately, though, the mod adds various features to improve the first-person melee combat experience. These include jump attacks, kicks, and spinning attacks.
Unfortunately, BBblazkowicz has yet to implement the original hack and slash game’s lizard mount, though the mod is still a work in progress. However, plenty of other Golden Axe features have already made the jump to 3D, with more on the way. These include many of the original game’s powerful magical abilities, such as summoning a dragon to roast everything on screen. In addition, players regain health by attacking the gnome thieves scattered around the level. Last week, BBblazkowicz implemented a mechanic for saving villagers in the starting zone.
Despite being nearly thirty years old, the original Doom still has an active modding community. Not only that, but Golden Axe Doom is also just one of several similar projects. Players can also try out a Bethesda-approved conversion mod turning Doom and Doom 2 into low-res versions of Skyrim. There’s even a mod for Doom 2 recreating the 2016 reboot. As for Golden Axe Doom, players can download the current pre-alpha build as a zip folder linked in a tweet from the modder. The mod requires the original Doom and the latest version of GZDoom, the latter of which players can download for free from ZDoom.org.
Golden Axe Doom is in development for PC.
Source: PCGamesN