kot-headerlogo-01 A U

See Games Differently

Subscribe

Doom Is Exactly The Right Kind Of Ridiculous

Patrick Klepek Avatar
Patrick Klepek
Doom Is Exactly The Right Kind Of Ridiculous

Yep, that’s the main character in Doom fist bumping a collectible. It’s not easy for games to be funny, but another id Software reboot, Wolfenstein: The New Order, deftly pulled this off. It’s a nice surprise that Doom does, too.

It’s easy to imagine how id Software and its parent company, Bethesda Softworks, could have opted for some Zach Snyder-inspired grimdark bullshit. In fact, they almost did! This fourth Doom game has been in development hell (sorry about that) for years now, and they almost got behind a Call of Duty-style game where a demon portal opened on Earth.

“You can probably close your eyes and imagine a ‘Call of Doom‘ or a ‘BattleDoom’ game,” said Bethesda VP Pete Hines to Polygon, “where it starts to feel way too much like: ‘Wait, this doesn’t feel like Doom, it feels like we’re playing some other franchise with a Doom skin on it’,” he said.

I’m glad they took their time, shifted direction and scrapped that game. Humour is central to Doom’s identity, despite its pseudo-serious premise.

We’re talking about a series that has you killing Commander Keen…

Doom Is Exactly The Right Kind Of Ridiculous
Image Credit: The Easter Egg Hunter

Image Credit: The Easter Egg Hunter
…finding designer John Romero’s head behind the final boss of Doom 2:

Doom Is Exactly The Right Kind Of Ridiculous
Image Credit: KRmalyon

Image Credit: KRmalyon
…and encounters a marine complaining about you hovering in Doom 3:

[gfycat id=TediousDemandingDikkops]

Like the Doom games before it, there’s technically a story to guide the madness, but whether you’re supposed to care about it is an open question. Whereas other games fuel motivation for pressing forward by revealing more about what’s going on in the plot, DOOM puts gameplay on a pedestal.

This notion is established within the first few minutes of the game, as the always trusty Doom Marine emerges from a sarcophagus-like structure. What’s going on? How can you save humanity this time? These are the questions most games would immediately try to concern the player with.

Not Doom, though. Instead, as some omnipotent commander starts to explain what’s going on, your character gives them the middle finger:


Video Credit: MKIceAndFire

I started howling when this happened, moments into my Doom playthrough. It helped establish what kind of game Doom is. Yes, there is a story. Yes, there are characters. No, you don’t really have to pay attention.

(Am I the only one who’s been oddly drawn into the mythology, though? It seems like the Doom Marine became a god-like myth after Doom 2, and he’s been somehow resurrected via ritual? We’ll have to do a deep dive into the game’s story in another post soon… and I can’t believe I just said that.)

Doom might be dumb, but it’s not dumb. It’s a smart, modern shooter that somehow capture the spirit of Doom in both tone and gameplay. That’s no easy feat, and makes me wonder if they’d ever think about taking on Quake.

The Cheapest NBN 1000 Plans

Looking to bump up your internet connection and save a few bucks? Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Kotaku, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments

13 responses to “Doom Is Exactly The Right Kind Of Ridiculous”

READ THE COMMENTS