Romancing the hell out of demons
Doomed Love is a silly simulation video game that lets you befriend and woo some of the monsters from the hit first-person shooter game, Doom. Developed by davidbcooper, this 2D visual novel fangame is a parody dating simulation that offers classic VN gameplay mechanics and a whole new vibe.
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Just like Contract Demon, Doomed Love features romances with demonic characters—specifically one from a popular hell-themed game. However, it still has a somewhat serious and lore-respectful story, allowing fans to appreciate its adorable makeover and non-fans to take an interest in the original series.
A date with a friend or two
Doom is a 1993 FPS video game that eventually became a popular media franchise. This is due to the game becoming one of the pioneers in the first-person shooter genre—inspiring numerous sequels and spin-offs, as well as other games, to follow in its footsteps. The story revolves around the adventures of an unnamed space marine—dubbed “Doomguy” by fans—as he defeats the demons threatening to invade Earth.
In Doomed Love, however, there’s no need to worry about that. Instead, the demons are attending a high school in Hell, and currently, the protagonist—a mild-mannered Zombieman monster—is simply worrying about the upcoming Icon of Sin Festival and his apparent lack of a date. Fortunately, he can try to approach four love interests in the form of other Doom monsters and try to get five endings.
Unlike the original game, the art and music here have been transformed into cuter illustrations and a happier-sounding piano cover to match the genre change. There’s no gore or violence here either so it’s appropriate for all ages. However, while you can unlock some CGs for each ending, there’s no gallery in the main menu to revisit them—and you can’t listen to the soundtrack outside of the game either.
Great parody VN
Overall, Doomed Love is a great Doom fangame if you want parody material that actually respects its lore. Not only does it flip the whole thing into an appropriate dating sim, but it also offers a nice and well-written story for each of the characters—apparent in the flowing dialogue. It’s only too bad that you can’t check out the original drawings of the CG art and the piano soundtrack on the menu.
