There was a time in the early '90s when the words "Doom clone" didn't really feel like an insult. Instead, it was a badge of honor — a sign that you had something bloody, ballistic, and brutally fun on your hands. Sure, Wolfenstein 3D came before Doom, and technically laid the foundation, but Doom? That was the big bang. It wasn't the first FPS, but it was definitely the first one that exploded. For years afterward, any game that dared to tread its path of fast-paced, strafe-heavy, monster-shooting action was called a Doom clone, for better or worse.

However, not all Doom clones were mere carbon copies. Some of them set themselves apart with style, substance, and a voice of their own. They played with level design, verticality, tone, and mechanics in ways that made you take notice and say, "This is different." These were games that may mechanically have been similar to Doom, but they elbowed their way into the genre through a unique trait, and planted a flag of their own, standing tall in the shadow of the big green guy from Mars.

6 Wolfenstein 3D came before Doom and set the FPS foundation

The godfather of FPS games set the ball rolling

Let's start with the original godfather of FPS mayhem. Before Doom, there was Wolfenstein 3D — the game that laid down the foundation and gave the genre its first real shape. It didn't have vertical aiming or fancy lighting, but boy oh boy, Wolf 3D never needed those things. It had speed, guns, labyrinthine corridors, secret areas chock-full of treasure and weapons, and pixelated Nazis begging for bullets. Wolf 3D was the game that made strafing second nature to an entire generation of gamers — if you stopped moving, you were already dead.

Despite being technically more primitive than Doom, Wolf 3D was revolutionary. It was the first time we saw just how effective 2D sprites could look and feel inside 3D spaces, and the gameplay loop of "run fast, shoot faster" was born right there. I still remember the first time I opened a secret wall when my brother told me that was a thing I could do in the game. That chunky, stone clunk sound, paired with the rush of finding a hidden ammo cache behind it. Wolfenstein 3D may not have had the same cult following as Doom a year-and-a-half later, but it earned its stripes by doing it first. No Wolf, no Doom — no discussion.

5 Powerslave on the Sega Saturn was a 'clone' that pushed boundaries

A Metroidvania before it was even a thing

There are two versions of Powerslave (or exhumed, depending on where you played it). There was the standard PC/DOS version, which was essentially a run-of-the-mill Doom clone with a desert coat of paint. On the other hand was the Sega Saturn version, which was something else entirely. Ancient Egyptian temples, creepy tombs, mummies, and monsters — all wrapped in a non-linear structure that gave you new powers and skills through progression to go back and reach earlier locked areas. Powerslave had Metroidvania traits and elements before it was cool.

What is still mind-blowing about this game is how ambitious it was for its time (the Sega Saturn port). It was beautifully lit, atmospheric, and challenging — the ability unlocks felt meaningful. Instead of picking up a keycard to open a door, you were getting powers that altered your whole movement or exploration system. Today, Nightdive's PowerSlave exhumed is the game you want to play — a definitive remaster that merges the best bits of the Saturn and DOS versions into a tight, modern package. If you haven't played this gem before, please fix that immediately — if there's a game from that era that truly deserves a remake, it is PowerSlave.

4 Duke Nukem 3D was a mechanically superior clone

It did everything Doom did, but with so much more flair

Duke Nukem 3D made the Doom Marine look like a choirboy (for a while). This was a game whose protagonist oozed personality and turned into a pop culture icon. Duke was crass, confident, and every bit the exaggerated action hero he was meant to parody. His world was a reflection of that chaos — strip clubs, aliens, mutated monsters, and shotguns hidden behind soda machines. As a kid playing it on a junk PC, I clearly remember lunging to turn off the monitor when the scantily clad dancing ladies appeared... and then turning it back on when the coast was clear.

It wasn't all about personality with Duke Nukem, though. Mechanically speaking, the game was tighter than Doom in many ways — more verticality, more interactivity, and more tactical depth in how you approached arenas. Jetpacks, laser-activated trip mines, and shrink rays in the game added a layer of chaos that made every level feel fresh. Calling Duke Nukem a Doom clone is a genuine understatement. Instead, it was a full-blown rebellion against everything silent and serious in shooters. Duke Nukem 3D took the Doom blueprint, spray-painted it with graffiti, lit it on fire, and used it to light up its cigar.

3 Rise of the Triad was a goofy, unabashed Doom clone

It knew it was a clone, and leaned into it

Rise of the Triad felt like a fever dream the first time I played its DOS remaster. You picked one of five different agents, each with their own health, speed, and damage stats. You fought digitized human enemies instead of pixelated monsters — these enemies were pretty much just the devs smiling and pretending to get blown up, reminiscent of a time when budget restraints never truly mattered, and the likes of Sam Lake just lent their own face to characters to get their game going. Rise of the Triad had a distinct, cheesy personality that felt like an over-the-top action movie stuffed into a floppy disk. Weird, ambitious, and way more fun than it had any right to be, Rise of the Triad is a Doom clone through-and-through, and yet, it gets such a huge pass for being so incredibly fun.

What really set this game apart was its obsession with points and power-ups. You'd be collecting floating score tokens while dodging fireballs and gibbing enemies into chunks, with everything exploding in the game, that you'd just get de-sensitized to the gore. You exploded. They exploded. Even the priests in the game exploded. Combine that with an element of verticality the devs added, and you had something so different from Doom in personality, that it couldn't be ignored. It may never have hit the same cultural peak as its peers, but it absolutely carved out a niche, and its Ludicrous Edition remaster is the perfect way to experience it today.

2 Heretic + Hexen made for a fantastic one-two punch

Hexen, particularly, stood out as a fresh take on the Doom formula

Now, both these games were unmistakably Doom under the hood — same engine, same fast-paced movement, same publisher, and even the same run-and-gun madness. However, it replaced chainsaws and shotguns with staffs, lightning bolts, and ancient tomes. Set in a dark fantasy world, Heretic brought the same FPS formula from Doom to spell-slinging sorcerers, cranking everything up to eleven. In the sequel Hexen, particularly, you picked from three playable classes — fighter, cleric, and mage — each with their own weapons and approach. You could either choose to keep your distance and cast spells, or go in blazing, mace and fists at the ready. Or, you could find a middle ground in the cleric.

Hexen's level design, however, was way more complex than Doom's. You'd unlock new areas in old maps with keys or abilities you acquired hours later, rather than finding and picking up keycards for the very next door. Combat in the game remained visceral, but in Heretic, it came with spells, magic, and holy relics. This was a precursor to the Souls formula, just two decades early and crossed with a first-person-shooter.

1 Blood remains the best Build engine game ever

And its remaster, Fresh Supply, is the best KEX engine offering

It's no secret that Blood is my favorite Doom clone, while also being my favorite DOS game. No, it isn't just because of the buckets of gore and campy horror — it's Stephan Weyte’s unforgettable portrayal of Caleb. He also happened to voice Captain Claw, the protagonist from one of my favorite platformers of all time. Caleb was a character who woke up after centuries with a vengeance against a demon who tricked him into leading a cult and then betrayed him. Now, however, he's full of one-liners that only he would laugh at. Think Ash from Evil Dead, but meaner, undead, and with a sick sense of humor — Blood knew it was ridiculous, and it reveled in it.

Mechanically, Blood did everything right. The weapons were deranged — a flare gun, unending sticks of dynamite, a voodoo doll, and a pitchfork for when you want to get up, close, and personal with demons and cultists. The enemies were fast, loud, and many, and the level design was inventive and atmospheric. And now, thanks to Nightdive's incredible remaster, Fresh Supply, there is zero excuse to miss out on it. It's the best way to play one of the best Build-engine games ever made. Out of all the remasters we've gotten for classic FPS titles, this is the one that has stuck the landing in the best way.

These 'clones' have withstood the test of time

Most Doom clones were forgotten with time, and for good reason. Titles like CyberMage, TekWar, Blake Stone, and Corridor 7 tried to cash in on Doom's formula, but lacked the soul, style, or staying power. On the other hand, games like Blood and PowerSlave carved out their own identities, found cult audiences, and withstood the test of time.

If you're going to revisit the era of Doom clones, start with these. These weren't mere clones, either — let's call them... blood relatives. Legends in their own right.