Explore the more cultured side of Doom with this art gallery mod

Despite its status as an absolute banger in the early PC gaming era, the original Doom left a somewhat negative mark on the industry. Along with Mortal Kombat, id software’s iconic FPS caused parents and US congressmen to gasp at all that 1990s digital violence. “Why can’t video games offer more intellectual stimulation?” one might say.

Well, wonder no more. As noted by PC Gamer, there’s a mod you can get for the OG Doom that will be a feast for art lovers. The Gallery Experience is pretty much what it sounds like, in that it re-imagines the game’s E1M1 map as an art gallery.

Featuring notable works from some of history’s most famous artists, the experience lets you walk around admiring great and classic works of fine art, complete with links that will take you to more information on the Met Museum website. Did you know, for example, that Filippino Lippi’s Madonna and Child “evokes the area around the Strozzi villa near Florence?” Fascinating.

A little Shiraz to go with that Baroque?

You can play Doom: The Gallery Experience in your browser over on Itch.io, or you can download it. I chose the former, and I was particularly amused by the fact that Doomguy walks around with a glass of red wine in hand. Now you can appreciate all the pixelated delights of a Botticelli painting while sipping a Bordeaux. How elegant!

While there are no monsters in the mod, there are items you can pick up as you explore; notably a few hors d’oeuvre and even a bit of cash. All while classical music fills your mind to the brim with sophisticated enrichment.

If you thought Doom could never be paired with words like “intellectual,” “cerebral,” or “Renaissance,” you would be wrong. When you grow tired of mowing down Imps with a chainsaw or firing rockets into the face of a Hell Knight, why not refine your Doom playtime with a trip to an art gallery? It’s almost as good as the real thing*

*Citation needed.

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