"DOOM" (4) Sensational Comeback

DOOM (4)

Recently we all witnessed an amazing presentation at E3 about the long awaited Doom. This 8 minute, highly detailed preview completely blew away our expectations. On June 14, 2015 Bethesda gave us an in depth look into the game play mechanics for both the single and multiplayer. Doom developed by id Software and published by Bethesda was announced to be released on PC, PlayStation (Ps4) and Xbox One. Within the following review I will look at the Industry economic advantages of the new doom release as well as other items including the gameplay, SnapMap and Multiplayer.

Over the past few years the strength of bringing back old game styles continued to grow, showing how profitable it can be. The demand is large enough to make it worthwhile. One prime example of this is Good Old Games (GOG) and the way they have expanded and grown in popularity since 2012. This is largely due to allowing gamers to download and play our old favorites on our faster computers. On top of this the market for fast paced action packed, graphic intense games are always a favor of everyone.  Wolfenstein: The New Order, another previous title that revisited a classic game that was a success and shows if done right Doom can be as well, if not more so, all this being stated releasing Doom as a new game and not just a re-worked version, will give it more standing as a lot of the younger generation may not have played the previous titles of doom.
 

Having brought back our old toys from the Chainsaw that can cut your enemies in half, to the double barrel shotgun that literally blows the heads off the monsters, and we must not forget the good old BFG. Doom 1 and 2 were both a massive hit that everyone remembers, that alone I feel is a strong reason why they have chosen to revisit the original style and not the horror film style they had in Doom 3. FPS games are made to give us that buzz when we run into a group of enemy and let loose. If they can get you on edge, feeling empowered and excited to see what is next, they have already got you hooked and craving for more.

Although finishing moves seem to be on every action game these days. A big reason it play’s a large roll in a lot of games comes down to how it effects the community base. We thrive on gore and seeing those heads splatter and arms getting ripped off. I am not sure fully why but some say it’s bad for us to enjoy that, while others like to use it as an outlet, either way it has a large target audience that wants to see more and more gore. You could hear in E3 that the audience just went crazy over the execution moves. Other notable aspects that differ from the other dooms were ripping off arms to gain access to opening doors and to being able to jump over large gaps with a double jump option. The ability to also change weapons mid fight without the worry of the monsters eating you while you fumble to get your new weapon set up is badass.  (All in all the game mechanics as seen are smooth), fast paced and will be a joy to play.

One other mechanic I would like to touch base on is the cover based mechanic. Players in previous years enjoyed hiding behind objects and planning their attacks. In doom 4 they have not bothered with the mechanic and have gone into full frontal battles. This really shows the majority are reverting back to the doom 1 and 2 styles of get in and start shooting anything that moves. I believe this will be a preferred mechanic to a lot of FPS that will be released over the next few years.
 

While Bethesda have in the past received some bad feedback due to the modding of their games like with Skyrim, where they took a % of all profits made from mods, but it seems with the outlay of Doom’s SnapMap and the ability to click and share will bring them back in favor of the modding community. They have expanded and made it easy for anyone with or without skills in game level development to make their own levels with only there imagination to limit them. As we all saw in the Presentation at E3 the SnapMap feature looks to be smooth and easy to use and you will be able to add not only the base floor plan but everything from demon locations, spawn amounts, traps, obstacles and everything you could almost think of doing to make the level your own piece of hell.

Incorporated with the SnapMap is also the much liked multiplayer environment that such a large community thrives on. Multiplayer combat matches will include the standard types and also other additions like Horde/Swarm modes as found in other titles to team up against mobs of monsters. There was one stand out feature, the ability to turn yourself into a flying demon and take out other players will be something I cannot wait to get my hands on.

All in all the Doom E3 presentation was well thought out and really showed us all the greatest aspects of what we will have to look forward to next year when it is slated for release. I found all aspects of the gameplay, to the introduction of the SnapMap to really stand out amongst other FPS out there at the moment and this is going to create a strong selling point. I personally am looking forward to next year and the chance to play this new Doom title.

I would like to send an open offer to everyone to please comment on my review and let me know also your thoughts on these aspects and any that I may have left out.  Some Notable reference links to check out are as follows.

E3 Presentation- http://au.ign.com/videos/2015/06/15/doom-watch-8-minutes-of-brutal-gameplay

Articles- http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/17/5913883/doom-4-quakecon-reveal

http://www.polygon.com/2015/6/23/8833293/bethesda-had-the-perfect-answer-for-people-bothered-by-dooms-violence

http://au.ign.com/videos/2015/06/18/why-this-doom-is-the-right-doom-for-2016

http://gamerant.com/doom-snapmap-e3-2015-614/

Thank you.

Travis Thorp

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