The next Doom game - the first new instalment in over four years, after Doom Eternal - is reportedly taking a leaf out of Evil Dead: Army of Darkness’ necronomicon by transporting the Doom Slayer back to a medieval world to presumably battle hellspawn. According to a new report, it’s subtitled The Dark Ages and we’ll get an official reveal next week.
]]>This news post leaves me in a quandary, readers, because I will need to write a swear word for the sake of full journalistic transparency, but Google’s algorithms tend to frown on sweary articles. On the other hand, Google’s algorithms don’t like it when you spend whole intros handwringing about Google’s algorithms, either, so let’s stop, er, faffing around and speak of Doom. Id Software parent company Zenimax recently trademarked “IDKFA”, a string of letters that will be of deep significance to original Doom players, and which may therefore be evidence of an impending announcement.
]]>Video game openings have always been a source of fascination for me. As a player, you're excited by the prospect of the game to come - the sights you'll see, the challenges you'll face - and first impressions can make or break your entire perception of what a game is versus the one you had stored in your head before switching it on. For video game creators, however, a new beginning is often racked with questions. What, exactly, do you choose to show players first? How will you introduce them to something they've never seen before? And if that game is successful, how do you keep reinventing that first impression across what could be several decades?
In revisiting every mainline Doom game to celebrate its 30th anniversary this month, it's clear that even id's iconic shooter has wrestled with how to answer these question, and the ways it's tried to reinvent itself over the years paints a captivating portrait of a series trying to move with the times. Nowhere is this more apparent than in its opening levels. Played in close succession, crushing 30 years into not even quite three hours, what emerges isn't just the evolution of one of the all-time great PC games, but also a potted history of the FPS. So join me as we chart Doom's rise, fall and rebirth through the lens of its first stages.
]]>"Consider yourself warned! This book contains scenes of graphic violence!" These are the words that adorn the Doom comic book, which was originally released for promotional purposes during 1996's E3 by GT Interactive and Marvel Comics. "Knee-deep in the dead!" is the next bit of text below the logo, referencing the name of the first shareware Doom episode and beautifully describing the blood-soaked cover illustration by Tom Grindberg, who was apparently tickled enough at the thought of drawing this monstrosity to take time away from working on 2000 AD.
The cover is an accurate peek at the gore and demonic entrails that lie within this epic work of sequential storytelling, which required the writing skills of not one, but two gentlemen - Steve "Body Bag" Behling and Michael "Splatter" Stewart. Both Behling and Stewart have a decent body of work between them at Marvel, where they've penned more civilised fare starring the likes of Ant-Man and The Hulk. The Doom comic, in comparison, seems to have been a thing that was written in a fever dream, and DoomWorld, which lovingly hosts scans of this brisk read to this day, describes it appropriately: "Some time in 1996 a couple of guys got together and smoked what was apparently a large amount of crack and then injected pure heroin into their eyes and then proceeded to create what is now known only as 'the Doom comic.'"
]]>Doom turns 30 this year, and that's a cause for celebration. There are many reasons to commemorate id Software's 1993 jaunt through the demon-infested corridors of Mars, from the fact that you can play it on every device known to man to its undying modding scene that even lets you pet Cacodemons. But I have a personal connection with Doom that's a bit special. It's the first game that made me so sick I wanted to puke.
]]>“When people read anything, no matter the source, they will believe it.” So says Doom designer John Romero on the subject of his relationship with John Carmack. Together, the pair built id Software and the FPS genre as we know it - before the cracks started to show during the difficult development of Quake, ending their professional partnership.
Yet any lasting acrimony has now dissipated. That became apparent when Romero’s new autobiography, ‘Doom Guy: Life In First Person’, showed up on shelves with a glowing back cover quote from Carmack. The latter praised Romero’s “remarkable memory”, and waxed wistfully about their shared impact on the gaming medium. “For years, I thought that I had been born too late and missed out on participating in the heroic eras of computing,” Carmack wrote. “Only much later did I realise that Romero and I were at the nexus of a new era - the 3D game hackers.”
]]>The Doom 4 trailer-that-wasn't, like a necromantic summoning ritual, appears to have opened a portal to a hell dimension of leaked artwork and footage. Supposedly leaked video and artwork posted on the Doomworld forums and All Games Beta show what the game once looked like prior to 2013, when development was scrapped and restarted. Now we know why.
]]>Update: It's over. You can read all about it below, though. The short version: it's Doom, but with ludicrously violent, ultra-fast melee finishers. Not even sure if Bulletstorm was on this level in that respect. Otherwise? It looks ok. Fast combat, linear levels, emphasis on madcap action over scares.
Original: It's QuakeCon O' Year again, and you know what that means: Doooooooooom. No, seriously. Despite a Carmack-shaped hole in its heart, developer id Software has promised a big reveal. Apparently it's for attendees' eyes only, but I will do my best to convey the big moment with the mightiest BFG of them all: language. Join me below as I semi-liveblog the event from my phone, because there's no WiFi here and QuakeCon is really weird this year, you guys.
]]>So the new Doom game will emerge from its eons-long hellsleep at QuakeCon later this month. That much is known. I don't think it was unreasonable for people to assume that any and all footage would make its way onto the Internet in short order, given that this is the year 2014. That, however, apparently isn't the plan. Bethesda and id want to make this reveal special for QuakeCon attendees, so it's for their eyes only. I guess that means press folks like me will just have to settle for writing about it. Yuck, writing about videogames? It'll never catch on.
]]>You know how id Software always used to say they'd tell us more about Doom 4 at QuakeCon? And that they really meant it this time? Then they stopped doing that because they never had anything to say about Doom 4? Well, you guys, they really mean it this time. They mean it so much, they've even whipped together a cinematic teaser trailer saying that at QuakeCon this July, they'll really, definitely, for real have something to say about Doom 4. Or DOOM, as they're simply calling it now. It's got a Cyberdemon and everything so they must really mean it.
]]>DOOM is coming but it might well not be called DOOM 4 anymore. I think DOOM 3 was a reboot but perhaps it's not too early for another. Bethesda send word that preordering the new and spectacularly ridiculous Wolfenstein game will secure access to the beta for the next game in id's aged series. Presumably that's DOOM 4, or the artist formerly known as Doom 4. It's a game that has been far more clandestine than its title suggests would be possible. But, yes, this means that DOOM is happening and presumably happening at some point in the near(ish) future. There's no word on when the beta will open up but Wolfenstein: The New Order comes out on May 20th/23rd, depending on which side of the Pond you live on. There's a new trailer below. It made me feel a bit queasy.
]]>Well, this came out of nowhere. Actually, no, wait. I suppose I should say that all the evidence was there, but I refused to let it add up in my brain because come on: this is John Carmack we're talking about. He's id's divine ego, the pulsating mutant hyperbrain that looks upon desolate worlds and says, "Let there be graphics." Now then, it must be noted that Carmack is apparently not leaving id, despite his new gig as Chief Technology Officer at Oculus Rift. But the eyeball gateway to other worlds is now Carmack's number one priority, with id and, er, outer space taking a backseat.
]]>It's time for another grand QuakeCon tradition! Ever since the paleo cretacean era of 2008, I've asked id Software the same question once a year: "So, where's Doom 4?" Then we have a quick, largely insubstantial discussion about something else entirely. Eventually, however, my dogged determination to mention Doom 4 at least three times per sentence and occasionally roll my eyes back and just start screaming its name prevails, and my reward is a few tasty, tasty tidbits. Here's this year's conversation, preserved in that most immortal of fossilized tree saps: language.
]]>Somewhere in the deep, dark, distant future, there exists a world beyond Doom 4. It is a strange and alien place - one in which id has pried the bolts from its lips and... wait, no, it's never done that. Always "when it's done." Always. But still, there are more id games in this far-flung universe, and also I have cool cybernetic laser nostrils. I know, for I have seen it. Briefly, ever so briefly, id creative director Tim Willits took me there. Here's what he said.
]]>The day foretold in The Prophecy is finally upon us. Every year, for just a few/ten/fourteen hundred shining hours, the planets are drawn into potentially cataclysmic alignment by the gravitational field surrounding John Carmack's brain. During this time, all eyes turn to QuakeCon's majestically orange-hued stage, where id Software unveils a new Doom 4 logo (NEXT YEAR WE PROMISE) and then Carmack erupts into a Mount Krakatoa of consciousness that cakes the audience in molten genius globules. It is seriously unlike anything you'll see anywhere else - all at once fascinating and beguiling. Unless you're incredibly tech savvy in very specific ways, most of it will be entirely over your head. And yet, Carmack makes it downright fascinating, even for my sad, shriveled rain cloud of a brain. The stream starts SOOOOOOOON. 4:30 PM Central/2:30 PM Pacific/10:30 PM London.
]]>The now Zenimax/Bethesda-owned id have been eerily quiet since Rage met a mixed reception and underwhelming sales. I quite liked it, non-ending aside - it might have nothing on BioShock Infinite's visual majesty, but the people-filled non-combat hubs between its more tunnelish combat were more convincingly alive than Columbia's Auton population. In any case, Rage wasn't the combeback Carmack and co needed, leaving us hoping that the in theory forthcoming Doom 4 would be. Half a decade on, there's neither hide nor hair of it to be seen, and alleged sources close to the project have told Kotaku why that could be. Clearly there's something in it, as it prompted Bethesda's Pete Hines to acknowledge that id had indeed switched to making "a new version" of Doom 4 after an earlier one "did not exhibit the quality and excitement that Id and Bethesda intend to deliver."
]]>It says something about John Carmack's status in the gaming industry that he can hold a talk that lasts for three and a half hours and the majority of watchers are simply delighted. So, if you've got nothing else on for the next 210 minutes, here is said relaxed, cheerful, full-throttle, ad-libbed and fascinating QuakeCon speech in full. id's brain o'brains chats about the problems with Rage and its messy PC launch, his love-hate relationship with the PC as a platform, those Oculus Rift VR goggles that are getting Kickstarted hearts all aflutter, Doom 3 BFG, 3D displays, just the tiniest smidgen on Doom 4 and, of course, a sustained stream of characteristically uncensored techspeak about the past, present and future of computing. Such as viewing images by firing laser beams directly into people's retinas. Er...
Impressively, as well as talking for so damned long, he doesn't sit down until the 90-minute point.
]]>QuakeCon is basically a safari. People stalk through the halls of the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas, tracing steps and leading packs of highly trained dogs in search of one mythical creature: Doom 4. Legends tell of a time many moons ago when its logo briefly appeared on a big screen, and in the moment, the hunt was on. So now I tip-toe through the case mod jungles of the BYOC, glancing every which way and-- STOP. What's that rustling around behind that row of NASA-grade supercomputers shaped like characters from My Little Pony? Could it be...? Oh, never mind. It's just Big Foot. Nothing to see here. I have, however, picked up a few clues.
]]>While we're talking Id, there's something else that came out of E3 that you might find interesting. Bethesda frontman Pete Hines told Eurogamer that despite the lukewarm reception for Rage, they have big plans for it: "We're looking at doing some things with Rage. But obviously the first thing out of anybody's lips now when we talk about id is not, hey, what else is up with Rage? They're asking the question they've been asking for five years, six years, seven years, which is, where's Doom 4? What about Doom 4? As far as where we are with Rage, the future for that is still TBD."
]]>So, if the (reportedly false) rumours are to be believed (update: and apparently they're not. Hooray!), the future of Doom 4 might be in doubt. Which raises a question: what do we want from a fourth Doom game anyway? Should the next Doom game keep it old skool with a key-collecting run-and-gun? Or should it up updated to compete with the contemporary manshoots? Do we still want demons on Mars? And should it showcase the next generation of graphics, or do something new with the way shooters work? If you were in charge, what would you do?
]]>Happy update: Bethesda's Pete Hines says this rumour is "complete bollocks." Hooray! Plus, additional denial.
]]>QuakeCon. QUAKECON. QUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE-A-CONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. Just saying that name makes me laugh: truly, it is the most testosteroney of all gaming conventions. If QuakeCon and BlizzCon were ever to merge, terrible, terrible things would happen. Fortunately, id's being owned by Bethesda these days means there's no risk of that happening. QuakeCon '11 isn't far off - the doors open August 4. It's going to be a big one, because that date means it's a mere month before RAGE finally ships so doubtless there's going to be a ton of exciting hands-on access for atendees. And could it maybe, maybe, pretty please maybe entail a first glimpse at Doom 4?
One way to find out (actually there's two, but 'watching the internet around that time' scarcely seems like making an effort): pre-register now.
]]>That's what id's design director Matt Hooper told has told Eurogamer.
]]>Veteran news-commandos over at Eurogamer have spotted a tweet by John Carmack saying that id will be announcing a new game at QuakeCon tonight. In all likelihood this'll happen during his keynote speech, which starts at 8:30pm UK time or 2:30pm Dallas / CDT time.
]]>Looks like id's usually impenetrable marketing fortress had a crack in it after all. Actor Brad Hawkins chatted to GGL Wire about the motion capture work in the FPS sequel, which was enough to reveal that the game would feature large-ish squads of human fighters working together - a mixture of soldiers and civilians. Does this mean D4 will chronicle an invasion of Earth by Hell-sent legions? Who knows, but it was a snatch of gossip too far for Doom devs id, who summarily had the interview removed. It's even gone from Google's cache now too. Once again, the forces of light have won out against the terrible evil of people getting excited about an upcoming videogame. Hooray for truth, justice and corporate paranoia!
]]>QuakeCon saw, at last, the release of some official screenshots of FPS Rage. And guess what. Only one of them's brown! Click on the pics for bigger versions.
]]>Id Software have announced they're at work on a fourth version of Doom. You may not be aware of Doom - it's a relatively minor PC piece of obscura which is only rarely talked about, but it's to Id's credit that they're willing to follow this very peripheral piece of PC history. Among its many unusual ideas, Doom is played from the first person perspective and allows you to shoot monsters. While claimed by aficionados to provide a more immersive experience, it's never really caught on. Maybe it will now, eh? They're currently recruiting staff for the project, including a Lead Designer, so it's clearly early days. We wish Id the best of luck in the Sisyphean task of bringing this curio to a marketplace that often shies away from innovative thinking.
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