QuakeCon is a veritable mecca for PC gamers around the globe, as thousands of id Software fans turn up each year with computers in tow to experience the latest that the developer – and in more recent years, Bethesda, too – has to offer. It makes a lot of sense that the first look at the upcoming Doom “reimagining” (id’s words) takes place at this holy shrine to the PC elite. Beyond this, as Bethesda unashamedly states, it just couldn’t let another QuakeCon go by without showing off the long-gestating Doom 3 follow-up.

While hardly Duke Nukem Forever in terms of development duration, the next Doom iteration has been officially in development for six years, and was reportedly sent back to the drawing board in 2011. What was shown a mere few hours ago may have been pre-alpha, but it was certainly tailor-made to hit all the right beats for the 3,000+ fans that all packed into the exhibition hall.

Tim Willits, creative director at id Software, had the pleasure of introducing the Doom reveal after he and Pete Hines (vice president of Bethesda Softworks) had the arduous task of running through preceding the QuakeCon 2014 preamble, much to the vocal frustration of the fans eager to see a slice of next-gen hell.

The presentation kicked off with the teaser trailer, which you’ve probably already all seen by now. Everything about the teaser video implies familiarity for Doom fans: iconic sounds, the Mars landscape, a Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) logo and the ultimate reveal of a Cyberdemon. While the narrated description of “an unholy union of flesh and metal” certainly reminded me of the Strogg antics of Doom’s sister series, Quake, it was the perfect starting point for solidifying the implied old-school direction of the teaser.


Doom Teaser Trailer
Executive producer Marty Stratton took to the stage to introduce the live demonstration, and thankfully didn’t waste any time talking about the history of Doom: everyone there clearly already knew it. Alongside the normal first-look catchphrases, Stratton made the bold claim that this Doom origin story is slated to change the future of first-person shooters. What was shown didn’t make good on that pledge, but it did prove that id Software has been paying close attention to the recent FPS trend of splicing old-school gameplay with contemporary mechanics.

Doom is the first id Tech 6-powered game, which the tech required to run it was said to be non-existent during Quake Con 2008, according to ex-id Software legend John Carmack. Seemingly, that hardware exists now, and the Doom demo was played on “a system that’s capable of doing it”, according to Stratton. While the PC component was applauded by the throng of PC enthusiasts, the use of a controller to play through the demo sections was a controversial choice that the crowd, understandably, did not appreciate.

Interestingly, there appeared to be no auto-aim mechanics in play to compensate for the lower accuracy of controller aiming, but the demoer showed how the fast-pace combat could work for controller-loving PC enthusiasts, as well as Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners. The final pledge before the first section of the gameplay demo was that id Software is committed to having Doom run at 1080p and 60fps across platforms (a reference to new-gen consoles more so than PC). This smoother frame rate was evident throughout the live play-through, except for a couple of rare moments of chug.

The first combat-focused section took place on Mars around a large UAC energy complex, with the only real narrative context being that the game begins on the surface of the Red Planet just prior to Hell’s invasion. Generic Doom Guy slaps a helmet atop his power-armour, which wasn’t nearly as effective at soaking up demonic projectiles as it was at enabling seemingly unlimited sprinting stamina and speedy vaulting. Vaulting was used to conquer simplistic navigation hurdles, but also for gaining a height advantage when caught in the thick of things.



Reports of a double-jump mechanic are partially correct, as it appeared to be more of a suit-assisted jump in a single arc. Much like Crysis, tapping the jump button seemed to offer a normal jump, while holding it afforded a greater height advantage. This was a particularly useful tool in terms of adding simplistic additional navigation options when surrounded. True to the originals, sections of corridor shooting opened up to cramped locales littered with hellish nasties. The familiarity of demon opponents was secondary only to the arsenal of exclusively familiar weapons, all of which can seemingly be carried simultaneously.

Much like Wolfenstein: The New Order, weapons are accessed via a weapon wheel (again, something that’s undoubtedly more relevant to controller wielders than keyboard/mouse aficionados), with the added benefit of slowing gameplay to a crawl when selecting a particular beloved death-dealer. Like the original games, each weapon feeds off its own munitions counter, meaning you don’t have to wait around for clip switches or reload weapons before entering a combat scenario. Almost everything that was shown was played at speed, with the contemporary emphasis on the importance of cover shunned in favour of dodging incoming fire and a firm emphasis on offensive tactics.

Health and ammunition are collected by killing baddies, which solidifies Doom as a run-and-gun shooter. The aiming reticule did feature a light-up hit-registry system, though, but it was questionable as to whether locational damage actually really mattered. While an up-close blast from a shotgun—or, more pertinently, returning fan favourite the super shotgun—was enough to put a demon in a world of hurt and dismemberment was achievable by striking limbs, each hit seemed to be working on the logic of chipping away at an overall health meter, rather than offering higher (or lower) damage scores by hitting specific parts of a foe.

Getting up close and personal has the added benefit of activating contextual melee attacks, though, all of which were brutal and organic to the gory Doom experience. The angle at which you’re approaching a demon, or whether you or it are in the air, ultimately determines the takedown, which dispatches a foe in a one-press kill. Unfortunately, the other demons in the room seemed all too willing to stand around and not fire while these events were happening, and it certainly didn’t help to maintain immersion when God mode kicked in for the demoer whenever health was down to 12 units.

Demo cheats aside, what was impressive was how quickly the demons chipped away at health, meaning light feet and accurate shots are a must. Unfortunately, the hellish horde didn’t appear to be particularly bright in terms of group tactics. Visually, id Tech 6 was pretty, albeit not stunning, with the exception to the latter point being the extreme attention to detail when gibbing enemies. Arms were ripped off, torsos were torn asunder by super-shotgun blasts, hearts were ripped out of chests, and heads disintegrated to bloody particles when introduced to the unforgiving floor at high speed. Then, of course, there was the obligatory unveiling of the chainsaw that didn’t disappoint as certain demons tried to block the spinning chain with their arms, only to have their protective limbs, and everything else, ripped apart.



While details were scant, multiplayer was also announced – which makes sense in light of the Doom beta pre-order bonus for Wolfenstein purchasers – and Stratton implied that it was being forged in-house as it was “already playable in the office”. You can expect the same fast-pace approach witnessed in the campaign to carry over to multiplayer and Stratton confirmed Doom multi will have an emphasis on competitive play.

While the live demo didn’t offer anything particularly novel to the FPS genre, it was refreshing to see Doom steer away from the faux-survival-horror gameplay of Doom 3 and back towards what made it feel awesome to play shooters back in the ’90s. If you’re a fan of the original games or old-school shooter mechanics, the first-look at Doom absolutely ticks the right boxes.

AusGamers flew to Dallas courtesy of Bethesda to preview Doom.

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Nathan Lawrence can be found fragging n00bs in a variety of digital battlefields, but most commonly the ones from the franchise with a capital ‘B’. He loves games with a strong narrative component, and believes in a gaming world where cutscenes are no longer necessary. In his lack of spare time, Nathan can be found working on a variety of wacky script ideas, and dreams of freeing cinemagoers from unnecessary sequels and pointless remakes by writing films with never-before-seen twists and turns. But mostly he’s all about the fragging of n00bs.

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Find him on Twitter - @nachosjustic PSN - SaintRasputin XBL – NachosJustice and Steam - uber_chimera.