Doom is without a doubt one of the most iconic names in all of video gaming. It helped spur on the FPS genre after the success of Wolfenstein and has been embedded into our popular culture as a pillar of gaming. Yet, Doom as a series has been largely absent from the gaming scene until it’s most recent release last Friday. The FPS genre has moved from the fast moving, arena style combat that helped define Doom to a more modern and slower paced setting.
Though, it seems the tempo of first person shooters is changing, as evidenced by the massive backlash against the newest Call of Duty. Even though it just released, it seems that Doom is receiving remarkably positive feedback from both fans and critics alike. Is this just because Doom is a solid shooter or the result of the gaming community as a whole being fed up with the big box titles we’ve been subjected to year after year?
It’s important to look at what makes Doom such a fantastic title, beyond the simple blood and bullets we’ve come to expect from such an esteemed series.
Sticks to its Roots
Doom in theory, and very much in practice, is a fairly simple game. You are a space marine on Mars, tasked with killing every single demon you come across in the bloodiest ways imaginable. In a space where companies are constantly trying to one-up each other with gimmicks and perceived innovation, this barebones layout of Doom gives it a strong advantage. It doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, instead, Doom is more focused on making the best wheel possible. There is no need to do one-off ideas like a dog or a drone, then have those concepts vanish into the ever growing war chest of FPS gaming.
Doom is quite comfortable perfecting the manic, area style shooter so it’s as precise and enjoyable as possible. The fun of the player is put first, giving you a wide variety of tools and weapons to deal death with. There’s a deeper story sure, but if all you want to do is kick back and blast demons in the face you can. No radio towers to activate or dozen side objectives on the map you feel obligated to finish. Doom is simple, yet highly entertaining experience
It’s Not Gritty
“Gritty” is one of those buzzwords that game companies like to just throw out as a way to explain their product. After the massive success and genre molding Call of Duty 4, we have been bombarded with dozens upon dozens of games set in a dark, realistic setting. Doom is not one of those games. While its predecessor Doom 3 could be seen as bending a bit to this formula, this latest entry doesn’t fall into the overused tropes we’ve come to expect from “gritty” shooters. Yes, Doom is a violent, bloody game but that doesn’t make it like Battlefield 4 or Rainbow Six: Siege. It’s fast paced, take no prisoners approach is an adrenaline shot to the arm of shooters. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with brown and gray military shooters; it’s rare that we get a game that is so content with its own gory revelries.
It also helps that it has a balanced blending of horror, action, and comedy that is rarely seen. Doom doesn’t dive to heavy into jokes or gags, like say Borderlands, but is clearly self-aware enough to poke fun at itself. There aren’t scares like in Doom 3, yet it’s clear how much effort was made into this games atmosphere. It’s the rare type of shooter that molds various genres, yet remains true to what defined the previous iterations as a success.
DOOM Doesn’t Hold Your Hand
Is there anything more frustrating than a game that feels the need to drag you along by your wrist? More and more it feels like video games, in general, are more focused on showing you a spectacle than actually letting you participate in it. Big, elaborate set-pieces have become common in the industry, yet we as players always seem to act as bystanders to the events themselves. In Doom, the bloody spectacles are very much your own. You’re tossed into a room with a shotgun and several angry demons and it’s up to you to kill them all. It doesn’t matter the method or how insane of a display you put on when doing it. Doom lets you make the moments that you want to talk about, not simply dictate when the “cool” part of the game is.
This ties into its actual lack of a tutorial system. Sure there are messages that pop up here and there informing you of the various mechanics, but Doom kicks off with a bang. You wake up, grab a gun, and instantly start shooting everything in sight. Bethesda clearly trusts that you, as a player, are smart enough to figure out how to move and shoot at the same time. There isn’t a warm up level or a shooting gallery for you to practice in.
Throwing you into the fire is the best way for players to understand how to play Doom and if you die, that’s okay. We all will die along this bloody journey. Your own knowledge of the world/mechanics will grow organically as you learn the ins and outs of chaining melee’s, balancing you health pick ups, and what weapons are right for you. Doom isn’t just a game that takes off the training wheels, put pushes you down a massive hill once they’re off.
Doom is one of those rare games that understands we don’t need flashy gimmicks or one off ideas to sustain our attention. Id Software understands that, at their core, video games needs to be fun above all else. It’s an uncompromising experience that is as bold, unrelenting, and just plain enjoyable to play. Doom may be old school in design, but it’s exactly what we need in this modern age of shooters.
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