Every Doom game, ranked
All 5 Doom games we hold, spanning 1997 to 2025: 4 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 284,659 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: DOOM (GamingPickz Score 8.6), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Doom 64 (1997) and follow the release-order timeline below.
- For the money: Doom 64 gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Doom games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 4 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
4 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 4 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- Nintendo
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Every game by critic score
The grid above is built from Steam data, so it can only place the Doom games that were on Steam. This one uses the Metacritic critic aggregate, which the older console-only entries have too, so the whole series lands on a single chart: critic score against release year.
On Steam (also has a GamingPickz Score) Console-only (Metacritic only)
4 best Doom games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
DOOM
Best for: The safest bet on this list, by weight of evidence
8.6GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceDOOM at a glance Released 2016 Studio id Software Player sentiment 96% positive of 221,344 Critics 85/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 55 GB Accessibility 4 declared features Raw 96% shrinks to 96.0 on 221,344 reviews, then blends with the 85 critic aggregate, giving 8.6.
What the data supports- 96% positive across 221,344 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
DOOM II at a glance Released 2007 Studio id Software Player sentiment 95% positive of 9,057 Critics 83/100 Price Not listed Steam Deck verified Install size Not stated Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 95% shrinks to 94.5 on 9,057 reviews, then blends with the 83 critic aggregate, giving 7.9.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
- 3
Doom 64
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.5GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceDoom 64 at a glance Released 1997 Studio Midway Games Player sentiment 93% positive of 8,793 Critics No aggregate Price $4.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 6 declared features Raw 93% shrinks to 92.6 on 8,793 reviews, giving 7.5. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 4
Doom: The Dark Ages
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.3GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceDoom: The Dark Ages at a glance Released 2025 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 88% positive of 45,465 Critics No aggregate Price $69.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 100 GB Accessibility 6 declared features Raw 88% shrinks to 88.0 on 45,465 reviews, giving 7.3. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Only the 4 Doom games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Doom game we can score is DOOM at 8.6. The lowest is Doom: The Dark Ages at 7.3, a 1.3-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 1997 to 2025. It has held roughly steady across the years.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Doom 64 at $4.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Doom 64, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Doom entries on Steam:
- Verified: DOOM II, DOOM, Doom: The Dark Ages
- Playable: Doom 64
Platforms across the series
Where the 5 Doom games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 5 of 5 |
| PlayStation | 2 of 5 |
| Xbox | 2 of 5 |
| Nintendo | 1 of 5 |
The Doom series, game by game
Every Doom game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 1997
Doom 64
7.5Play the enhanced version of the original game released on the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Years have passed since you stopped Hell’s invasion of Earth. Quarantined for humanity’s safety, the UAC research facilities on Mars were abandoned and forgotten...until now. (Steam)
Plot
Following the Doom Marine 's success at thwarting Hell in Doom , Doom II: Hell on Earth , and in the Final Doom storyline, a quarantine is established on the U. A. C. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception By the time Doom 64 was released, the original Doom had been converted to nearly every platform capable of running it. Critics agreed that Doom 64 was by far the best-looking Doom to date, exceeding even the PC version. They were enthusiastic about the level designs, deeming them imaginative and much more challenging than those of the original Doom . (Wikipedia)
- 2004
DOOM 3
Metacritic 87Doom 3 is a 2004 first-person shooter survival horror game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It was originally released for Windows on August 3, 2004, before being adapted for Linux later that year, and ported by Aspyr Media for Mac OS X in 2005. Vicarious Visions ported the game to the Xbox,… (Wikipedia)
Plot
Setting Doom 3 is set on the planet Mars in the year 2145. According to the game's backstory, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has grown to become the largest corporate entity in existence with near-unlimited funds and has set up a research facility on Mars. At this base, the UAC are able to conduct research into several scientific areas, including advanced weapons development, biological research, space exploration and teleportation, outside of… (Wikipedia)
Characters
There are five main characters in Doom 3 . The player assumes the role of an anonymous Space Marine corporal who has just arrived on the UAC's Mars base. The player's non-commissioned officer in-charge is Master Sergeant Thomas Kelly (voiced by Neil Ross ) who gives the player objectives and advice over the player's radio for the first half of the game. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical Reception Doom 3 received a favorable reception from critics, with the PC version of the game holding an 87 percent score and an 88 percent score at the review compilation sites Metacritic and GameRankings respectively. Much praise was given to the quality of Doom 3 s graphics and presentation; GameSpot described the game's environments as "convincingly lifelike, densely atmospheric, and surprisingly expansive", while PC Gamer UK described the… (Wikipedia)
- 2007
DOOM II
7.9Hell has invaded Earth, and to save it, you must battle mightier demons with even more powerful weapons. This beloved sequel to the groundbreaking DOOM (1993) introduced players to the brutal Super Shotgun, the infamous Icon of Sin boss, and more intense FPS action. (Steam)
Plot
Immediately following the events in Doom , the player once again assumes the role of Doomguy . After defeating the Spider Mastermind, the marine finds a portal to Earth opened by demons. After returning to Earth, the marine finds that it has also been invaded by the demons, who have killed billions of people. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception The reception of Doom II was positive, with reviewers saying it refined everything that made the original Doom good. The game was reviewed in 1995 in Dragon #216 by David "Zeb" Cook in the "Eye of the Monitor" column, who stated that, "if mindless but intense carnage is what you want, you'll get your money's worth. It's just not a must-have, keep-on-the-hard-drive-forever game. (Wikipedia)
- 2016
DOOM
8.6Now includes all three premium DLC packs (Unto the Evil, Hell Followed, and Bloodfall), maps, modes, and weapons, as well as all feature updates including Arcade Mode, Photo Mode, and the latest Update 6.66, which brings further multiplayer improvements as well as revamps multiplayer progression. (Steam)
Reception
In 1996, Next Generation ranked the series as the 19th top game of all time, for how "despite the hundreds of copycat titles, no one has ever been able to equal id's original, pulsing classic. " In 1999, Next Generation listed the Doom series as number 25 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time," commenting that, "despite the graphic advances since Doom was released, the pixilated Barons of Hell and Cyber Demons still rank as some of the scariest things that… (Wikipedia)
- 2025
DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer’s legend. Players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell. (Steam)
Plot
Main campaign At some point following his arrival on the planet Argent D'Nur and his subsequent empowerment, the Doom Slayer is weaponized by the alien Maykrs to assist Argent D'Nur's people, the Night Sentinels, in their war against the forces of Hell, who seek an object known as the Heart of Argent; the Slayer does not fight completely of his own free will, however, as his master, Kreed Maykr, suppresses him with a device called a Tether. Meanwhile, the… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Doom: The Dark Ages received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . OpenCritic determined that 95% of critics recommended it. Reviewers praised the innovative combat mechanics and atmospheric setting. (Wikipedia)
Doom, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Doom vs other series
How Doom stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Doom vs Quake, Doom vs BioShock, Doom vs Deep Rock Galactic, Doom vs Infestation, Doom vs Killing Floor, Doom vs Left 4 Dead, Doom vs Outlast, Doom vs POSTAL, Doom vs Thief, Doom vs World War, Doom vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many Doom games are there?
We hold 5 Doom games in the catalogue, released between 1997 and 2025. 4 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Doom game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, DOOM rates highest at 8.6. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Doom games in?
Release order is listed below, from 1997 to 2025. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.