Doom, aka the game formerly known as Doom 4

[dougp]

Well, I was at the QuakeCon "reveal" - the game looks pretty great, very fast paced combat with the weapons you know and love. It's going to be a revival of the franchise, not a sequel to anything. We weren't allowed to have any cameras, but they showed us two levels - we got to see the chainsaw, which can cut people in half or cut parts off their body, the double-barrel shotgun that will blow people in half, the classic shotgun and now the plasma gun. At the end of the first gameplay, he was attacked and you saw his arms get ripped off, slapped across the face and then his face smashed in. The second level - no need to ruin that surprise.

 

[Pheran]

What I've seen of this so far just makes me sad. It just confirms that Id will never rise above their amazing roots in 3D gaming engines and make something original with a good storyline. I loved Doom and Quake back in the day but this stuff has been stale for a long time now.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

What I've seen of this so far just makes me sad. It just confirms that Id will never rise above their amazing roots in 3D gaming engines and make something original with a good storyline. I loved Doom and Quake back in the day but this stuff has been stale for a long time now.

I'd actually argue that a return to its roots is far less stale than simply following in every other current shooter's footsteps.

 

[Zenoth]

What I've seen of this so far just makes me sad. It just confirms that Id will never rise above their amazing roots in 3D gaming engines and make something original with a good storyline. I loved Doom and Quake back in the day but this stuff has been stale for a long time now.

I disagree with this, mostly.

id Software have amazing roots in 3D gaming, agreed. Now, why would they need to "rise above" that? I'm not sure if they need to prove anything. They've never been known for making good story lines and that's not exactly a bad thing, as long as they keep making the games that they want to (and as long as the said games don't need a good story line to be enjoyable).

Seeing id Software trying something original, perhaps creating a new IP could I guess be desirable but it's very risky. And I don't know if gamers (or id Software fans, at the very least) actually expect something "else" than DOOM or Quake from them. Besides, they've tried "originality" with RAGE, and it was merely decent. Some people simply disliked it entirely, some thought that it wasn't "original enough" or too similar to 'x' 'y' and 'z' franchises (I thought it was "ok", nothing great per se, but certainly not bad either).

To be honest, if I actually want a good story line I'm going to look for other developers / franchises. I don't necessarily want id Software to make a Baldur's Gate or a Planescape Torment-level game in terms of story-telling capacity and quality. It's ok to have "mindless shooting" games around, we have a lot, granted... but we're talking about id Software here. So I do prefer seeing them making "just another DOOM" rather than attempting to reinvent their own wheel and ending up butchering a would-be / wannabe characters-and-story-driven linear game.

 

[BSim500]

What are the actual level designs like? To me what made the "Doom feel" wasn't the gore or GFX, but rather the creative maze style levels with coloured keys + elevators + switches + secrets, etc, which were pretty innovative. What about user moddability (ie, WAD files)? If they replicate all that I'm interested. But if it's just a "It's Doom but modernized" linear map, auto-health-regen, no community mods, etc, I'd rather just replay the originals (Ultimate, Doom 2, Final Doom) with the Doomsday engine + high-res texture pack. (Heretic's great fun too on the same engine).

 

[lupi]

Has this one upgraded to gorilla tape?

 

[TheVrolok]

Looking forward to it. Hell, I loved Doom 3.

 

[Albatross]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...ghty-look-at-id-software_2700_s-new-doom.aspx

 

[smackababy]

To be honest, if I actually want a good story line I'm going to look for other developers / franchises. I don't necessarily want id Software to make a Baldur's Gate or a Planescape Torment-level game in terms of story-telling capacity and quality.

Um, this. If you thought Doom and Quake had some amazing story telling, you must have been playing something different. The story for Doom is literally "Oops, scienetists opened a portal to hell, kill the demons that came out. Now, go to Hell and kill those demons. Demons now on Earth, kill them too!." Doom 2 then retcons that and the story becomes "Go to Earth and kill demons. Go to hell and kill big ass demon!". What wonderful writing and story telling!

Quake's story is so god damn familiar! Oh, because it is Doom's story, except you're not a marine and they aren't demons.

 

[dougp]

The games were never about story, they were about action and flow - hence why this is going back to the speed instead of a story (Doom 3).

 

[jana519]

I wouldn't mind having a non-existent story provided they get the following things right: lots of action and fantastic, well-designed levels/environments. Doom as a kind of pure FPS was always fun and rebooting that would be nice.

 

[shortylickens]

I wouldn't mind having a non-existent story provided they get the following things right: lots of action and fantastic, well-designed levels/environments. Doom as a kind of pure FPS was always fun and rebooting that would be nice.

Have fun.

 

[werepossum]

Um, this. If you thought Doom and Quake had some amazing story telling, you must have been playing something different. The story for Doom is literally "Oops, scienetists opened a portal to hell, kill the demons that came out. Now, go to Hell and kill those demons. Demons now on Earth, kill them too!." Doom 2 then retcons that and the story becomes "Go to Earth and kill demons. Go to hell and kill big ass demon!". What wonderful writing and story telling!

Quake's story is so god damn familiar! Oh, because it is Doom's story, except you're not a marine and they aren't demons.

Or smoking something different. Nonetheless, while I'm not big on the gore I don't really think id could hire a writer able to make sense of flaming, screaming, grinning, flying chrome skulls. If they can instead craft a great if mindless game that's actually fun, so be it. Although clever level design may well mean extremely linear.

Either way, it's Doom, so I'll buy it. Just no jumping puzzles, please. And don't make the boss fights go on too long, they get boring.

 

[Aikouka]

auto-health-regen

Well, I can tell you that they said no automatic health regen.

EDIT:

Um, this. If you thought Doom and Quake had some amazing story telling, you must have been playing something different.

It's kind of like how Serious Sam is a fun game to play. There's mostly just a backstory in the game, but it does nothing more than setup the premise for the various enemy types and the locales that you'll go annihilating said enemies in.

 

[Pheran]

Um, this. If you thought Doom and Quake had some amazing story telling, you must have been playing something different. The story for Doom is literally "Oops, scienetists opened a portal to hell, kill the demons that came out. Now, go to Hell and kill those demons. Demons now on Earth, kill them too!." Doom 2 then retcons that and the story becomes "Go to Earth and kill demons. Go to hell and kill big ass demon!". What wonderful writing and story telling!

I never said that. Doom and Quake didn't have good stories, but that was OK at the time because Id was inventing the entire FPS genre and driving a revolution in gaming 3D graphics. I'm older than most of you so I was there for all of that, including owning an original 4MB (yes, megabyte) Voodoo Graphics card for playing QuakeWorld. Doom and Quake were the beginnings of the entire concept of network multiplayer.

But time moved on, and games like Half-Life, BioShock, Deus Ex and even Halo moved the genre forward with new mechanics and interesting storylines. Meanwhile, Id has been cranking out the same old shooters with better graphics. What was revolutionary in the '90s now just seems tired in the '10s. I will always appreciate Id for its roots, I'm just sad that they can't seem to produce anything that is great by modern standards.

 

[smackababy]

I never said that. Doom and Quake didn't have good stories, but that was OK at the time because Id was inventing the entire FPS genre and driving a revolution in gaming 3D graphics. I'm older than most of you so I was there for all of that, including owning an original 4MB (yes, megabyte) Voodoo Graphics card for playing QuakeWorld. Doom and Quake were the beginnings of the entire concept of network multiplayer.

But time moved on, and games like Half-Life, BioShock, Deus Ex and even Halo moved the genre forward with new mechanics and interesting storylines. Meanwhile, Id has been cranking out the same old shooters with better graphics. What was revolutionary in the '90s now just seems tired in the '10s. I will always appreciate Id for its roots, I'm just sad that they can't seem to produce anything that is great by modern standards.

And id shouldn't go away from making competitive shooters just because other, much better in the sense of story writing, companies have gone in that direction. They should make a good competitive arena shooter like Quake 2. Hell, people are always crying about not having something like that or Unreal right?

 

[JamesV]

I'd actually argue that a return to its roots is far less stale than simply following in every other current shooter's footsteps.

Agreed. When I first heard of the new one, I thought you'd have experience and skills, unlockables and upgrades... so freakin tired of that because games start to blend together. I didn't recognize the latest Tomb Raider as a Tomb Raider game; it's another game entirely with Lara.

One thing I've always wished Id would do, is add more interaction with the environment. So many good looking rooms, but a rocket won't destroy a chair, and there isn't much to interact with. The combat can be fun, but a break checking a computer system or something would be nice and improve the environment imo.

 

[Bateluer]

With the level of gore they're showing in their demoes, are we going to see a slew of articles from anti-gaming/anti-gun/anti-violence publications again? For a long time, Doom was the game that all sociopaths played, before giving way to Call of Duty.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Have fun.

If I can remember right, I loved Quake 4.

 

[dougp]

Well, I can tell you that they said no automatic health regen.

EDIT:
It's kind of like how Serious Sam is a fun game to play. There's mostly just a backstory in the game, but it does nothing more than setup the premise for the various enemy types and the locales that you'll go annihilating said enemies in.

There is no health regen - you get items when you kill monsters. The only thing sitting around is weapons.

And id shouldn't go away from making competitive shooters just because other, much better in the sense of story writing, companies have gone in that direction. They should make a good competitive arena shooter like Quake 2. Hell, people are always crying about not having something like that or Unreal right?

Quake Live, it's a competitive arena shooter - pretty much the only one right now.

If I can remember right, I loved Quake 4.

Good single player campaign, the Strogg conversion scene was one of the most memorable.

 

[DigDog]

if i loved doom 1/2 but hated doom3 , will i love or hate this one?

or(the long form of the above)

do the guns suck because they are pathetic and underpowered?

is the game all set in tiny rooms and tight corridors?

do mobs constantly pop out of the walls when you hit triggers?

 

[dougp]

if i loved doom 1/2 but hated doom3 , will i love or hate this one?

or(the long form of the above)

do the guns suck because they are pathetic and underpowered?

is the game all set in tiny rooms and tight corridors?

do mobs constantly pop out of the walls when you hit triggers?

From the gameplay we saw, if you enjoyed the pace of Doom 1/2, you'll enjoy this. This game has *some* atmosphere of Doom 3, but I'd say that's more related to graphical improvements.

Weapons are not underpowered at all - up close, the double barrel shotgun will rip an enemy in half.

The game play was fairly open as well, not a lot of tiny rooms other than some indoors area where you were going through a security office.

Mobs don't come out of the wall when you hit triggers, but they do phase in Doom 3 style sometimes.

 

[Artorias]

What I liked about Doom 3 was the world building, as in when you moved through the facility you got to see all the parts in motion, what operations actually went on with all the equipment. I liked those videos on the back story, like if you were a tourist and it added a lot to the atmosphere.

Personally I don't mind them going back to the run and gun style, BUT, I do think there is a place for survival horror in this series, and I thought Doom 3 did an admirable good job of that.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Leads Graphics Engineer for Crytek leaves to join Doom team.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/crytek-s-lead-graphics-engineer-leaves-company-to-/1100-6421218/

 

[dougp]

What I liked about Doom 3 was the world building, as in when you moved through the facility you got to see all the parts in motion, what operations actually went on with all the equipment. I liked those videos on the back story, like if you were a tourist and it added a lot to the atmosphere.

Personally I don't mind them going back to the run and gun style, BUT, I do think there is a place for survival horror in this series, and I thought Doom 3 did an admirable good job of that.

You have that in this game - you see a lot of the facility in "action" since it's automated. I'd say the atmosphere is still there from Doom 3, just without the mass shadows/darkness.