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Doom Preview with Exclusive “Screenshots”

Get a real feel for Doom's stunning visuals!

Anticipation was high heading into this year’s QuakeCon, and the excitement was all due to the planned reveal of id Software’s upcoming Doom. Without any cameras allowed in and no demo videos or screenshots released, letting you get a good feel for what was shown in two separate demos will be a bit tough. Through the high-tech wizardry afforded us by MS Paint, though, you’re sure to have a full grasp on the dark, brutal, and intense segments shown on stage.

Before showing the first demo, id’s creative director, Tim Willits, introduced a quick teaser for the game by asking the audience: “Do you guys want to see something cool?” Clearly, the crowd was up for it, based on the enthusiastic reaction to the video (nearly identical to the one released at E3) that showed many close-ups of bionic demon body parts and a foreboding voiceover. The final shot of the trailer really got everyone fired up with a full-body look at a high-res, highly detailed Cyberdemon.

Excitement was at its peak, and we were promised that the new Doom (not called Doom 4), will focus on “fast, fast paced combat.” It will be set at a UAC facility on Mars that has just been invaded by the forces of Hell, but we didn’t get any more of the story details than that – provided there are any more story details to be had. The demos intentionally focused on combat, and we got to see quite a bit of it – from the single player game at least. There will, naturally, be a multiplayer component, but id isn’t revealing anything about that yet. They did make a “commitment” to running at 1080p and 60 frames per second, an obvious response to gripes about RAGE.

We were also assured that even though the person playing through the demo was using a controller, that he was playing it on a PC; something that’s pretty important to the QuakeCon crowd. And with all of the discussions out of the way, the first demo began with the character putting on that classic space marine helmet, picking up a gun, and heading out into the Martian complex.

The environments were eerie and cleanly rendered. They certainly didn’t look like anything we haven’t been seeing since, well, Doom, but we got to see a pretty slick looking space station even if it wasn’t anything unusual. There was a definite aura of suspense when the demo began, but after the first demon was spotted, things never slowed down. It seems like they are sticking to their promise of keeping things at a quick pace. After blasting away at a couple of the first shambling, rotting demons we see, there was a glimpse through a window of a skull-headed monster strapping on a jet pack in another room.

Heading across catwalks and through tunnels, demons were blasted without remorse and then we got to see some truly brutal maneuvers. Demon heads were stomped, demon hearts were ripped out, and demons were blown in half such that their legs took a few more steps before their separated lower halves fell to the ground. These intense displays filled the rest of the first demo, with some variety thrown in when a shotgun and plasma rifle were used to blow up the demons instead of the gun that was picked up at the start. The whole thing came to a close when the jetpack-wearing fellow we saw at the start of the level showed back up, got the best of the space marine, and tore his arms off.

A second demo was booted up and it wasn’t particularly different than the first except that it showed off different enemies and a slightly different environment. After watching for a while, it became apparent that there was no on-screen HUD, and the reticules were somewhat minimal. It also became apparent that the chainsaw gun made this gore-fest even messier. Where before, heads were removed by hand, they were now being forcefully sawed in half straight down to the pelvis. It was quite a display, over and over again. We also got to see a new type of beheading where a demon’s head was ripped in half vertically by hand – necessary if you have no chainsaw available to do this for you, I suppose.

The big battle at the end of this one ended a bit more favorably for the space marine, as a chubby monster walked into the scene and had his health slowly whittled away. To finish the fatty off, some sort of internal organ was pulled out of his chest and stuffed into his mouth, which naturally caused him to explode.

With that finale, the crowd went absolutely nuts since they were told and shown exactly what a typical QuakeCon attendee is looking for. Whether the game is something you want or what the modern gaming public will spend money on will have to be seen, but the slices shown were definitely refined and looked like they will be a lot of fun. Hopefully screenshots (slightly better than the ones shown here) will be released soon and you will be able to see how well id seems to have turned around a project that has spent quite a few years stuck in development. 


 

Comments

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/18/2014 at 09:44 AM

damn dude, this game looks fucking awesome!

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

07/18/2014 at 09:47 AM

Well done Travis. Well done.

Joaquim Mira Media Manager

07/18/2014 at 09:48 AM

Cel-shaded DOOM ftw.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/18/2014 at 09:59 AM

the bad part is they are going to lower the rez of these for consoles.  

Remy LeBeau

07/18/2014 at 10:17 AM

I hope the new Doom doesn't require some super ultra high end PC. Based off these screenshots, I just don't know. I might have to upgrade or buy a whole new rig. Undecided

Ah well. There's always Brutal Doom.

Angelo Grant Staff Writer

07/18/2014 at 10:33 AM

I would love to play this game exactly as you're portrayed it.

KnightDriver

07/18/2014 at 10:56 AM

No news on a release date, I guess? I can't wait for those demo vids to get released.

transmet2033

07/18/2014 at 11:13 AM

In the end, this game sounds like it should be awesome.  I like that they are bringing back some old-school FPS sensibilities.

Nick DiMola Director

07/18/2014 at 01:03 PM

This is literally the best thing ever.

Julian Titus Senior Editor

07/18/2014 at 10:15 PM

Times like this I wish we still had anonymous commenting. Imagine the impotent RAGE that people are flinging at Travis right now!

Michael117

07/19/2014 at 01:44 PM

Were there some dodgeable projectiles in the gameplay you saw, Travis?

I really hope they make good on the "play fast" style of design just like the old Doom did. If players can't speed run levels in like 2 minutes or less, iD fucked this up. I'd love to see old Doom speedrunners sinking their teeth into a good modern version where they can sprint through and not get bogged down by modern tropes.

Doom 3 was pretty good for what it was at the time, I liked it and the huge expansion it had (resurrection of evil was practically a stand alone game, even longer than Doom 3), but they need to change it up and go back to fast movement speed and quick action. No more 20 hour long Doom.

I would absolutely pay full price for a modern HD DOOM with a whole gaggle of short-to-medium sized levels with some secrets occasionally. As long as it's gorgeous, disgusting, fun, and has a ripping soundtrack with hot squealing solos it'll be on the right track. I'd put my money where my mouth is and buy that for the same price of a Call of Duty. I want more old-school style Doom done with modern tech and a few new ideas here and there. As long as they keep the fast pace, evil imagery, over the top gore, a variety of guns, dodgeable projectiles, and squealing solos.

Travis Hawks Senior Editor

07/19/2014 at 05:15 PM

I'm racking my brain trying to think of any projectiles that were dodged, and I'm coming up short. I can't commit to yes or no. The most memorable interactions were obviously the melee attacks, mainly becaue they were so gib-heavy. If you're looking for fast and gross, I think you'll be happy.

One thing I didn't mention in my write-up is that there were no on-screen prompts, but the fight with jetpack guy sure seemed like it was going to be some sort of QTE. Maybe not, but I am a little worried about that in hindsight. The same might be true for the big finishing moves like the organ into mouth bit at the end. I'm not sure how scripted those will be, but hopefully they will be pretty organic.

Regardless, from what you've written, I think you will be pleased.

Michael117

07/19/2014 at 07:02 PM

That all sounds pretty good. I bet they'll have some long-animation execution actions and other things to add visual flare and gore but I really hope those things are optional. Speedrunners need to be able to go from the beginning to end without a bunch of short cutscenes, long animations, and fluff getting in the way. You should literally be free to sprint non-stop and blast lead from beginning to end, in a good Doom game/Doom level that is.

I think it'd be neat if you could run up to a demon then press and hold a certain button to do a scripted ultra violent kill like in Bioshock Infinite, but those would have to be optional and I certainly don't want their to be a "melee" button in the new Doom ala the Call of Duty or Halo stick-click or face button. Melee weapons are a cool part of the original Doom games and you should have to rely on those to do melee. Having a regular melee button that does light damage and has a knock-back ability seems like it wouldn't be in the spirit of Doom. Hopefully any modern tropes they put in the game (not saying they can't be used in a cool way) will be used well and not forced on players; hopefully any modern tropes added to the game won't slow the pace down too much or break the adrenaline rush.

The reason I bring up the idea of dodgeable projectiles is that it changes the flow of combat and feel of everything pretty dramatically I'd think. In modern shooters all the projectiles from enemies and from the player character are all either super fast or instantaneous (they go from the cursor or barrel-tip to their destination in a straight line instantly).

When you play Doom everything is super fast but you have room to wiggle and strafe, usually to greatest effect in boss battles. Doom wasn't a cover-shooter so you had to rely on projectiles you could dodge and on the pure speed/blitzkrieg of the player character. Not all of them could be dodged but the big weapons like rocket launchers and plasma were slow enough to get around. In a Call of Duty I think the bullets travel instantly in straight lines so the second an enemy spawns to attack the player you will be taking damage immediately and thus you have to run for cover. Another factor that adds to that instinct and flow of play is that they use recharging health. You don't have a lot of hit points in a CoD game, but it recharges so you have to take cover often to protect that little buffer you have between yourself and death.

Did they show you what the health situation was in the gameplay? Does it look like they're using a 100-200 point HP scale for player health? I'm pretty interested in this new Doom now thanks to this article, but as a consequence I now have a million questions for you, Travis lol.

Travis Hawks Senior Editor

07/20/2014 at 09:15 AM

There was definitely no running for cover from bullets in the demo. He was constantly moving, constantly attacking and they made it clear in the pre-chat that there would be no cover and no regenerating health. It really had that Doom feel. We couldn't tell how much health he had since there was no HUD, but I suspect the damage system might have been off/tweaked to make sure the demo was successful. The only death was that one to the jetpack guy and it happened pretty fast. He showed up and almost instantly jumped on top of the marine and yanked his arms off.

BrokenH

07/19/2014 at 07:33 PM

Dem screenshots! Love the gluttonous demon with an exposed stomach tumor! The skull-demon rocketeer rocked my socks! Exxxtreme! Cool

NSonic79

07/25/2014 at 01:49 PM

I can't wait to see this game in motion. A return to form would not be unwelcome despite my enjoyment of Doom 3.

Alex-C25

08/02/2014 at 05:51 AM

Carefull with the screenshots Travis, children might be watching :P

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