Classic Doom - The KEX Port Experience (2025)

The KEX port of classic Doom has been out for awhile and have been updated multiple times. This port is the latest one that Doom fans can get their hands on. The KEX port does have a lot to offer, and it's definitely the best way to play the classic Doom titles on console.

Doom has always been a game that’s close to me. It was the game that got me into the series, but video games as a whole too. I can’t believe in the year of 2025, I’m still playing this beloved classic.

That’s because the old Doom games are just that good. There are so many design philosophies that I agree with, and I am forever grateful of growing up with it. Since I am such a rabid Doom fan, I have owned multiple ports throughout the years. I always like doing it because it is a game that’s close to me, but it’s also affordable too. I am also a console and PC gamer, so I’d like to be able to play the old Doom games conveniently on the console platform too. Back in 2019, there was another newly port of the classic Doom titles.

The Unity Port and KEX Port

Fans generally call the 2019 port as the Unity port. I remembered I bought the original Doom at that time. Eventually, the Unity port would eventually be updated to the KEX port which is also known as DOOM + DOOM II. This update happened in 2024 when the DOOM+ DOOM II port was announced and released.

This update was unexpected. But, it did mean you now own a copy of both the classic Doom titles together. There was also online play added, and players were able to have access to more community content. The Unity port did allow console users to be able to have access to some of the community content. I thought that was an interesting feature because this sort of feature is generally predominant on the PC platform.

The Doom Community’s Talents

The old Doom titles are kept alive by diehard fans that have made countless of level add-ons and mods since the game’s inception. With the KEX port replacing the Unity port, players have a lot of options to choose what kind of mods they want to play. They no longer can just play the mods that are selected by the developers. This was a great change in my eyes because I could finally play some of my favorite Doom wads on console.

As someone who has experience in playing the community content, I’d recommend players to start out with Icarus: Alien Vanguard. It is one of my favorites for its experimental design. It was made by same folks who worked on the TNT: Evilution expansion for Final Doom. It’s definitely a lot more accessible to get into when it comes to the difficulty, but there are some truly quality levels that can rival the official ones. It is simply a map pack for Doom II and is not a mod. The map pack’s content is very familiar to the base Doom II experience.

There are so many different types of levels that one can play in today’s times. I’ll leave that to you to explore if you choose to dive deeper into the rabbit hole. Before I move on, I did bump into an issue where loading a saved games on some levels could crash your game. This is something you should be aware of when playing the user generated maps. I have many saved game slots while playing single player, so that’s definitely nice to have when playing through multiple campaigns.

For the PC Players

From a PC player perspective, I find this port to not be anything too special. The community content has always been accessible on the PC platform. There are many different types of source ports that players can use too. Some of the community content like My House.wad is not playable on the KEX port because this map is designed within the GZDoom engine. What that means is any maps that’s built within that engine, won’t be playable when running the KEX port. You do have the Legacy of Rust add-on which I did review it awhile back. I found it be fairly enjoyable.

However, I find the KEX port to be interesting enough to still try out if you want the convenience of being able to play through multiple wad files. You generally have to drag and drop them if you use a source port, but using the KEX port eliminates that. You can also use this port to play online multiplayer matches with console users which that is a bonus too. Other than that, I don’t see this port to be that exciting to own if you preferred to play through multiple source ports on your PC. I generally use the KEX port if I want to play Doom on console.

The Online Gaming Experience

I usually like to play the cooperative mode if I want to mix it up from playing solo. I don’t regularly play Deathmatch, so I cannot comment on my experience on that aspect. I have done a separate piece of sharing my experience. It’s definitely fun to play it, and everything is certainly a lot faster paced because of the additional players. There used to be a plethora of bugs before Update 2.

I still bump into some bugs like enemies being invisible, or not being able to see projectiles coming at me. It seems like the invisible projectile is a thing when playing a map with too many monsters from my experience. Players should be able to find a match fairly easily for the most part. Recently, Nightdive Studios has made it where players can host community levels instead of the official ones. It should be noted that players must subscribe to that exact mod to be able to join a lobby.

It should be noted that the KEX port does feature cross-platform play, and this is an excellent component that the KEX port has. It definitely makes finding games easier, and you can also play with your friends on various platforms without needing to own that same platform or game.

Mod Lobbies Are Not That Popular

If you’re expecting to find more mod lobbies than the non mod lobbies, that is not the case. The official maps are generally going to be easier to find and play in general.

I do hope for future updates to make playing user maps a better experience. Players shouldn’t have to subscribe to a certain mod to be able to join lobbies. This will increase the popularity of hosting mods which will be great in the long term. It is fun to play through the official levels, but being able to play the community levels will make it more exciting overall.

The Exit, and Last Words

The KEX port has been fantastic so far with the many quality of life updates it upgraded from the Unity port. Online play functionality is certainly a great feature to have if Doom fans want to mix it up from playing alone. It’s truly amazing to be able to play so many user generated content from the classic Doom community on console too. I never thought I could play my favorite PC only map packs on my console.

I would certainly say that the KEX port is truly the best port option to play if you enjoy playing the old Doom titles on console. It basically made the previous console ports obsolete. For the PC side of things, I still believe the source ports are generally the superior experience. The KEX port still has its purpose here and there if you don’t mind rebuying another copy of the original Doom and Doom II.

Now, it’s time for me to get back into some Doom action!