Doom‘s space marine protagonists are some hearty fellows, carrying some 80 pounds of weapons, medkits and ammo boxes effortlessly while taking on demons from hell. In last night’s inaugural Mythbusters video game episode, Adam and Jamie build a real-life Doom level to see if it can be done.
The first video game-centered episode in the Discovery Channel show’s 12-year history centered on two very different titles — Doom and Fruit Ninja. For the latter, sword-fan Jamie took a stab at slicing fruit thrown to him by jugglers with a samurai sword. It actually went pretty well, even if he only achieved around half of his 99-point game score in real life.
But the main event was the show’s Doom experiment: Can a space marine really carry nine weapons, some medkits and a couple ammo packs — some 80 pounds of additional weight — through a level without slowing down? To find out, they built a Doom level in real life.
They found the perfect location in an abandoned military base. Then they tapped id Software’s creative director Tim Willits to help ensure their creation was up to spec. They filled the level with folks portraying monsters, and it was game on.
At least at first it was game on. In the initial run-throughs, in which dropping weapons was allowed, things went great. When Jamie and Adam tried going through without ever dropping equipment, their times doubled.
But Jamie and Adam are not space marines, so they recruited a man who was closer to that peak of physical perfection — former football player and mixed martial artist Brendan Schaub. Brendan’s control time of four minutes beat both hosts by a minute easy, as one would expect, but his real run, in which he had to carry every piece of equipment?
A mere three seconds slower.
So the next time someone questions whether or not a space marine could carry nine weapons at once while surviving a demon attack, punch them gently but firmly in the neck. It’s what I imagine Brendan Schaub might do.
Check out more highlights from the Mythbusters video game episode over at Discovery.
Comments
22 responses to “Can A Doom Marine Really Carry Nine Weapons? Mythbusters Finds Out. ”
cant the doom guy travel 100 metres in under 4 seconds, if he is that fast surely he is strong enough to carry all those weapons
The health vials have been stated to be space steroids, he is no mere man…
What if doom was just some ‘roid induced mental break down where he just murders every one on the space station.
Also the fact that he can survive several buckshots to the face.
Don’t forget that it’s on Mars, so the gravity is about 3 times less than Earth.
It reminds me of the Video Game Inventory System episode of Immersion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucw-zW_Q7P4
So this is the reason Doom Guy cant jump !
On a side note, they shoulda tested to see not only if they can move with all the weapons but also while holding the guns the same way as they are held in doom (ie Unco)
PS: RIP AND TEAR. RIP AND TEAR
Comment upvoted. BECAUSE YOU HAVE HUGE GUTS.
Rooster Teeth already did this years ago.
But they’re weak nerds. Gus fell over immediately.
Yeah, they tested a whole lot of things with Immersion recommend you watch the whole RT Immersion series. There Mariokart one is funny as.
Looks like the Mythbusters did the fruit ninja one better than Gaven and Michael… but that said, RT was always trying to go with comedy by throwing gamers into gaming situations.
And they did the REAL Doom, none of this Doom 3 nonsense.
I miss the style of the early seasons of Mythbusters.
Doomguy never bothered to carry medkits with him, he just instantly absorbed their healing power by stomping on them. He was a busy guy.
I think Doom is a pretty cool guy. eh kills aliens and doesn’t afraid of anything.
Rooster Teeth’s Immersion series covered this same thing a few years ago.
Although to be fair, they didn’t use marines.
Carrying and F89, plus ammo kit, plus being on the move for a few hours straight was a pain in the ass. Carrying 9 weapons, some extremely bulky, is insane! That used to bug me about GTA as well.
On a different subject, I’d love to see MB figure out the double barrelled reload animation. I always felt Doomguy needed three hands for that to work.
My biggest issue was if you’re going to do a Doom myth, where was the BFG?
Why didn’t they just activate god mode and all weapons and keys? IDKFA (I do kick f@@ken a$$)
Really? These guys are so out of ideas that they have to prove that a FICTIONAL VIDEO GAME that is the most unrealistic thing ever is indeed a myth. Give me a fucking break. While they’re at it, why don’t they try and see if it’s possible to kill a REAL Hellknight. Pfft!
I know, right? It’s almost as if they think they’re some dumb entertainment show.
yeah, they’ve been out of myths for some time now, and Star Wars and other movie myths was just the start. That said, it’s what a lot of fans WANT to see. (per my experience on discovery and IMDB forums.)
@Oodlemeister They did an Indiana Jones and Simpsons episode also…
Mythbusters has tested a bit of stuff in the past that isn’t based on any real world facts, a lot of it has been based on people purely claiming something. Just because it’s claimed in a video game doesn’t mean much, people lie about shit all the time in the real world.