EDITORIAL: DOOM 4, Does Anyone Really Care?
- Scribbled on May 12th, 2008 by Derrick Schommer
- Filed in Editorial Content, PC, Retro, Shooter
Yesterday, Id announced they were working on DOOM 4.
There is no denying Id Software was a cornerstone to video game history when they birthed both Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM on MS-DOS. Gamers in 1992 and 1993 will never forget that double whammy of awesomeness which consumed massive amounts of time and energy; frightening us in some cases.
DOOM II was a great expansion to the franchise and made 1994 another great year to be running DOS 6.21 and managing your extended memory pools to get the most of your 640k base memory. Then, in 2004 we received DOOM III and it was met with critical success again, perhaps because it was DOOM with a graphic re-vamp?
The DOOM franchise has become known for its almost pitch black gaming experience with ground breaking graphics (you just can’t see them) and plot line that goes above and beyond: kill aliens again and again. Perhaps the reason DOOM III was so successful was because gamers like myself wanted to relive the experiences of the early 90’s and be that kid again.
Quickly I learned that nostalgia can be a bitch, much like when I went back and relived the experience of Thundercats on the cartoon network. The show was weak, so very weak, with little plot and little creative spirit which was used to launch such shows as Voltron, He-Man, The Transformers and so many other classics. Perhaps my little mind just didn’t care that Lion-O and his gang had very little substance to them or perhaps I was just too naive to notice.
I found DOOM III to be much like Thundercats, it lacked any real substance compared to titles arriving around the same period; games that separated themselves from the standard FPS by creating intricate storylines, excellent weapons, fantastic multiplayer options and replay value. DOOM III was a shot back to 1993 but with new fancy graphics and the ability to do things we just couldn’t pull off in 1993 in terms of physics, lighting and sound.
I was reminded of the phrase, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” DOOM III was like a delorean retrofitted from the future but created in 1985. It was the same thing recreated by people with the talent to create highly innovative graphic engine but lacking a storyline development team.
The DOOM franchise is one of the most recognizable and important in gaming history, having been named “one of the ten most influential games of the decade” by PC Gamer and “the #1 game of all time” by GameSpy. DOOM 4 will join the award-winning series which has consistently topped sales charts throughout the world. (idsoftware.com)
Is it possible for DOOM 4 to step off the momentum of the DOOM franchise and stand alone as a game which breaks the mold of the FPS genre once again? Can it be the next Half-Life of the video game industry or blow us away like BioShock in both graphics, story and overall excitement? Can they build something with the multiplayer experiences of Halo 3, Unreal Tournament or Team Fortress 2?
Or, is DOOM 4 going to be yet another remake of the same stuff and, if so, that begs the question, “does anyone really care?”
May 12th, 2008 at 11:59 am
All I got from this is that you loved Thundercats when growing up, Derrick.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
If you haven’t already, Derrick, you should read “Masters of Doom” by David Kushner. This explains id’s (and by extension John Carmack’s)game design philosophy very well. Story is secondary, even tertiary, to engine/graphic technology (id Tech) and level design.
Unfortunately, I doubt this this will change anytime soon as Carmack seems to be a very single minded person. Just ask John Romero or Tom Hall or American McGee or Adrian Carmack or… well, you get my drift.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Hello, Mr. Bonner. Haven’t seen hide nor hair of you on the site for a while.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Thanks, I’ve been a bit busy with other stuff…and lying low somewhat. :^)
May 12th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Doom 3 was an enjoybale game though one made using, just as you point out, all the tricks of a game made in the 1993. I somewhat question id’s dedication to the engine as I don’t see how important the engine is at this point… I can’t think of any games that were made using the Doom3 engine, and if there were, it wasn’t advertised by the game makers… If the engine is the important thing why are they just making the engine and then handing it off to storytellers who can deliver a great experience with a great environment…
May 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
From a technology standpoint, I totally understand ID’s concepts and designs. Hell, I bet they make a crap ton more money on licensing then anything. Which, to me, makes DOOM 3 a “tech demo” for other developers to build from when they work on their own games with ID’s engines.
However, lately, it seems companies like Valve and Epic have been able to make kick ass engines AND work other avenues of the designs to make them epic (no pun intended).
With the genious at ID I think it would be wonderful if they put a few investments into people to write stories for them. It can’t hurt them that’s for sure.
Imagine the power of a DOOM engine with the writing of a Salvatore, Tom Clancy, Raymond Feist or other great writer. I’ve seen other companies do this in parallel with development.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I agree, Derrick, that would be awesome…BUT Carmack has little to no interest in story and narrative design, therefore id, as a whole, has little interest in those facets of game development.
Why do you think that the first thing that Romero did when he was forced out of id was to come up with the “Design Is Law” mantra for Ion Storm? That was basically a big middle finger in Carmack’s face, a complete reverse of what was that “law” at id, technology.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Personally, I was bored to tears of DOOM III (and I played the PC version.) After other games with actual - you know - AI, plot and dialogue, DOOM III was just a lot of monster closets - and if I wanted that, Aliens vs. Predator 2 is much scarier.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I love monster closets…almost as much as I love invisible walls!
May 12th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
And, as a result, I have little to no interest in Carmacks games anymore.
I’m not that kid anymore, I’ve grown and learned to explore new possibilities, techniques and ideas.
I think it’s time for him to do the same! But alas, instead I’ll just pass on DOOM IV. As I played two hours of DOOM III before I grew bored to tears.
Two hours is about the time I get over the honeymoon period of “ooh, nice graphics” and expect more.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:57 pm
[...] next DOOM as long as I don’t have to deal with that damn flashlight, though Derrick is unsure if anyone will care at [...]