Doom: Almost 30 years, how did it stay relevant?

The basis of a revolution

Video games in 1993 weren’t what they are today, and every high profile first person shooter released after that year was listed as Doom-like rather than FPS. The game was a real revolution in its day. Designed in 2D but developed enough to make the player feel like they are evolving in 3D environments. Id Software’s Doom quickly became a benchmark for innovation and gameplayto a genre of its own. The success of the game, on the contrary, was not shy. At 2.39MB featherweight, no less than 22.9% of computers across the Atlantic had a copy of Doom installed on their hard drive, which would have allowed his studio to earn a comfortable income estimated at that becomes $ 100,000 per day.

It goes without saying that such a success can by no means go unnoticed, and a certain company called Microsoft has been researching this phenomenon very carefully to make it compatible with Windows 95 quickly. Bill Gates himself, described at the time as confused about the game’s success, nonetheless set himself the task of promoting the arrival of Doom into his ecosystem, as evidenced by this. This adwhere Microsoft’s CEO atomizes demons in an all-90s overlay. And whatever the controversy arose from the many satanic symbols that shaped the game, the degree of profuse bleeding or general violence Incidentally, Doom was quickly and rightly hailed for the intelligence of its game design, for the revolution in video games and even offered the option to play in multiplayer mode or offered players kits to modify the game.

Doom II quickly saw the light of day and over the years the original version of the game has been ported to every platform imaginable. The name, which has become iconic since its release, has never long left the video game landscape, be it through ports or new episodes or spin-offs. Doom II, for example, without revolutionizing the formula, has been described as a great way to already refine the base episode. Doom 64 had found its audience with its approach, despite the direct competition it posed to the already more modern and open games like GoldenEye 007 and Turok, Corridor certainly, but the level design devilishly inspired, more than the previous Doom Opus, which at the same time represents a complexity and an additional challenge for the series. However, after Doom 64 was released in 97, the game fell into a rather heavy silence. Indeed, it was necessary to wait until 2004 for Doom III to see the light of day, an episode that is radically different from what the franchise had always been up to then.

A more scripted twist

The massive arrival of ever more beautiful, scripted, scripted, spectacular and open FPS has inevitably forced ID Software to revise their formula. As clever as its level design was, Doom couldn’t repeat it properly until vomiting An approach that no longer coincides with the times. Doom certainly could have stuck to its old school philosophy, but the past has shown that the franchise should stay relevant and current. The idea of ​​a remake was therefore ditched in order to focus on a more scenario-centric iteration of Doom while offering a significant technological leap.The game impressed more than one player with its lighting effects, which was particularly impressive for the time. Perceived as a technological achievement, Doom 3 was therefore able to partially restore the Run & Gun spirit of earlier episodes while creating an atmosphere of survival, even when criticism of its multiplayer or all of its plot was voiced that did not exist . Especially exciting and sophisticated, as the promises imply.

Doom then went through a period of uncertainty when it came to developing what would be called Doom 4 Spent under the leadership of Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. Id Software was working on the new installment of the franchise in Trouble back in 2009. Unfortunately, the whole thing did not go smoothly, as Kotaku emphasized in a Article 2013. Management and orientation problems have meant that the new part of the saga is lagging behind. The first iterations were compared to some sort of hybrid between Call of Duty and Doom that would not have lived up to the expectations fans of the saga might have of an episode of Doom. Therefore, the game has been completely redesigned and has chosen an orientation that corresponds more to the essence of Doom, without neglecting a real modernity. This time it is actually a restart of the operated franchise.

The success of the modern approach

It’s a huge challenge that Id Software wanted to achieve: preserving the roots of Doom while attracting an audience for whom the license was just a prestigious name that is inevitably associated with dusty gameplay. But we have to admit that 2016 The field of fast FPS, very brutal and technical, went through a lean phase and which applicant was better suited than Doom to offer a visceral experience? After all, the purpose of Doom has always, or almost always, been to try and offer something different in the video game landscape on your own, and in this case where many AAAs took a very narrative approach and tried to seduce a wider Doom audience made the gameplay easier and came with an experience that can be hardcore, very intense and engaging for the player.

Due to a flowing hairstyle, very intoxicating sensations of movement and its general ferocity, which never precluded the need to show skill and good use of the arsenal, Doom also offered familiar sensations to the players. Fans of fast FPS while adding a renewed brutality in the small world of style with the right amount of customization. Here, too, Doom was able to reinvent itself or at least modernize itself to become an indispensable shooter again, officiating in his own sector and aimed at several generations of players.. The most recent Doom Eternal also confirmed the development of the series and at the same time affirmed its ancestral philosophy. It even offered the luxury of bringing more lore than usual.

The importance of music

Gameplay overhaul, modern focus while maintaining the essence of the original game are not the only levers Id activated to wipe their franchise down and keep it up to date. Music has always been an integral part of the game. In the early 90s, compositions were largely borrowed from the cannons of Thrash Metal. The 2016 Doom retained its essence but challenged a composer who couldn’t be more modern in his treatment of the style, Mick Gordon. The Australian had originally been instructed not to include guitars in the game’s soundtrack, as heavy metal in the teams didn’t particularly smell of sacredness. This led to largely electro-compositions, a register that Gordon is no stranger to either. However, the result did not live up to the teams’ expectations for a Doom soundtrack, at least in spirit: So Gordon used 7 and 8 string guitars, all of which are good for a massive sound, and Doom’s new acoustic signature was born.
Although the massive and syncopated industrial metal of Mick Gordon was always crowned with the reputation of inaccessible music, he took over the new direction of Doom and made it possible, thanks to the great care in mixing the pieces, to conquer an audiophile audience. This enthusiasm was not entirely trivial. If video game music has always been valued by people indulging in the hobby, the vinyl market for original game tapes has seen a very significant surge in popularity and Doom has been able to join that movement by signing its own approach to sound. with a clearly defined identity.

Doom still appears to be, or almost able, to make the twists and turns necessary to maintain its relevance through the centuries. Beyond his status as a pioneer, which always sticks to his skin anyway, he was able to use his name and above all respect his legacy while making his own proposal. Doom is ultimately similar today, and there is no doubt that the franchise that has been around for nearly 30 years will endure.