"Doom is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth," said id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead in a release.Sounds like D4 will take place on Earth. Fun fun!
I'm sure I'll like Doom IV so long as I don't pump myself up like I did with Doom III. I don't want to say it was a let-down, but it wasn't as revolutionary as I expected it would be.
Doom 4 First Info
by Nick Breckon Aug 01, 2008 2:22pm CST
[DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOMIE DOOM] During an interview with Shacknews, id Software president John Carmack described Doom 4 as being "significantly different" than Doom 3.
When asked whether the game will be rooted in the horror genre, Carmack indicated that it will instead focus more on pure action elements a la Doom 2.
"One of the things that I come to in my limited contributions to the whole Doom 4 design process is, it has to still be you beating down the bad guys," said Carmack.
"It has to be a triumph of heavy weaponry over demonic forces in some way, and you have to be blowing demons all to hell all around you, and it's a more positive side of things there."
Carmack explained that he found some of the complaints of Doom 3's brand of horror to be "completely valid," saying that the "contrived nature of monsters hiding in a closet" and the extreme darkness were two things that caused the company to cancel its game Darkness and begin production of Rage.
Needless to say, there will be no scary little girls in the Doom 4.
"It's not that you're running around frightened down to your last bullet [in Doom 4]," added Carmack. "There will occasionally be that, but it should be much more of you winning, because that was always the point in Doom--you are the hero, and you are winning. You're going to beat back all the hordes of Hell using all the tools at your disposal."
Development of Doom 4 will be short, as very little of the id Tech 5 engine will be changed in the transition from Rage. The game will feature at least one "graphical hook," and should have three times the graphical fidelity of Rage due to a lower target framerate.
However, according to Carmack, the focus will mainly be on creating a solid gameplay experience. Carmack also reiterated that the game will most assuredly be M-rated, and that the game's multiplayer modes will be more extensive than those in Doom 3.
id is targeting a release within this console generation, as the game is expected to hit on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
I must agree with Scottsby!As for Doom 3, I had no problem w/ its style and pacing, in terms of action. I thought the middle levels were boring for the most part, though; the middle 1/3rd of the game. Though, the first 1/3rd and the last 1/3rd of the game was very good; especially the last few levels in Hell -- freakin' awesome stuff.
I really liked Doom 3 for its successful attempt at a coherent plot and a cinematic singleplayer experience. I was so glad it had moved away from being a common willy-nilly shooter (like Doom 2).
My issue with this style first came up with Contract J.A.C.K., the parallel to No One Lives Forever 2. I loved NOLF 1 & 2 but CJ was completely different. It was more focused on crazy shooting, hordes of enemies charging at you, in general it was more like a shooting gallery gone mad.I think that is why they did NOT title it NOLF3. :P
As some of you may know, I've never been a fan of games like Serious Sam, Painkiller, Will Rock, and the many other clones. I'm just worried that's what Doom 4 will turn into.I think those type of FPS games have their own place, as well. And no, it doesn't have to stay in the freakin' 90's like Scott said about Doom 2.
I agree with Scott about Doom 2, but Doom 3 didn't really do it for me either. Actually, now that I think about it I don't think Id has ever made a game I've been really impressed with. As far as I'm concerned they pump out engines, not games.Don't get me wrong. Doom and Doom II were completely awesome... when I played them in the early/mid 1990's. I need something more than a shoot-'em-up + key hunt now.
Games like Doom II have their place. That place was the mid-1990's.
Don't get me wrong. Doom and Doom II were completely awesome... when I played them in the early/mid 1990's. I need something more than a shoot-'em-up + key hunt now.
I love all of these games. All the Quakes, all the Dooms. I don't know exactly why, but they speak to me somehow. The simplicity, the goal of raw violence and rage... it speaks to me.I think you answered your own wondering why w/ the bolded statement. :P
It's a weird thing, though. They're comforting, somehow. I don't know why something violent and visceral would be comforting. Maybe just all the childhood memories. I have great memories of Doom. My mom hated it and I used to play it when I was supposed to be studying... I'd literally put schoolbooks over the monitor if she came into the room, haha.
I think I was like... 11 or something when I first played Doom. Loved it from the start and I've never looked back.
Then the chaos began. The first blast from the shotgun rumbled throughout the ballroom, drawing cheers from the crowd. The demons didn't stand a chance against its concussive force, and they tumbled and bounced off objects in the environment like pinballs. The impressive AI and staggering technology from id's Rage was on display here, and it looks damn good. But the guns weren't the star of this demo. The marines hands and feet stole the show. Injured demons were eliminated quickly with melee finishers that would fit right in with any Mortal Kombat game.
The demo quickly turned into a slaughter with demons getting shot up and then torn to shreds. Skulls were crushed, jaws were ripped in half, heads stomped from above, arms completely torn off, necks snapped, bodies kicked over railings, and in one memorable case, a heart ripped out of a giant demon's chest and punched down its own throat, where it then exploded.
After mutilating dozens more demons in ridiculous ways, the marine's progress was halted when a massive demon with a grinning skull face and a flaming jetpack flew through the window, kicked the marine to the ground, and beat him to death with his own arm.
Needless to say, the chainsaw was not a clean way to go out for the demons meeting the business end of the weapon. Bodies were sliced in two every which way, giving all watching plenty of time to study the anatomy of demons. One demon even cowered in fear, holding his arms up over his head to try and block the attack, but his efforts proved fruitless. The chainsaw cut through his arms and then through his skull and body.
Agreeeeed....
Though in the end I liked Doom III lots.
I've been in it for about 18 hours, according to Steam. Playing campaign on Nightmare, so it's quite tough. I have died many, many times, so someone playing on medium or hard would likely have finished it hours before me.
Honestly, this is a far better game than I had any expectation it would be, even with some cautious optimism after hearing some of what they had to say over the last month and seeing a little more gameplay. They really did nail the proper look and feel to make this evocative of Doom in general, and seemed to use Quake 3 as a general base for the way it feels. It doesn't revolutionize FPS games, but it is absolutely a remarkable achievement that they made something that straddles multiple generations so well, feeling pretty true to the spirit of the early games while doing something that works for a modern market. Most people seem to really like it, whether they're old hands or newcomers.
I'm getting ready to start writing a review when I'm done finishing the campaign and looking at multiplayer/Snapmap stuff, but to briefly sum up the campaign so far:
* It feels great to play. Speed and movement are so good.
* It looks stellar, even if the monster designs aren't my favorite. There are vistas you just have to stop and look at. It's beautiful.
* It's not self-serious like Doom 3, nor is it a horror game. It's got a dark sense of humor and is more focused on fun.
* There is sort of a story progression, and it's honestly been decent so far. Brief and to the point, but well-acted.
* It takes the best parts of Doom 3's visual design and uses that to build levels that are mostly open arena-like spaces instead of corridor-crawls.
* Levels have great flow, move fast, and almost feel like MP maps. Great playgrounds to go nuts in.
* There are tons of secrets! These levels really remind you of old-school Doom in the best possible sense, with lots of little things to find and a nice summary screen at the end to tell you how many of them you got (and an ongoing tally in your menu, so you can be as thorough as you want to be).
* Melee kills are an essential part of the gameplay, but they're very fast, and can be made even faster through upgrades. I was skeptical, thinking they would be old hat in about 5 minutes, but especially on harder difficulties, the tactical considerations of using them to gain health makes them interesting, while their brevity keeps them from being obnoxious.
* There are a lot of upgrade systems, but they're all pretty simple and make for nice little rewards as you go.
* The weapons all generally feel fantastic, and the mods (essentially a choose-your-own-alt-fire) are enjoyable and have tactical value.
* Music is very evocative of Quake 3's soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, just ... bigger. Some nice atmospheric stuff in spots, but mostly electronic metal stuff.
* Doomguy has a real strange backstory in this one, but I sort of appreciate where they're going with it so far.
* Doomguy is really funny for someone who never talks. They make him quite expressive, mostly seeming pretty grumpy about the fact that the UAC has managed to fuck up and cause a demonic invasion.
It's a really big surprise that this is as good as it is. I'm having a great time, and I can't imagine many fans of id franchises feeling otherwise.
Also, play it on harder difficulties. The game very much benefits from a relentless pace, and if you're too safe, it'll lose much of what makes it satisfying. Most people who have played shooters with any regularity will be fine on Ultra-violence. Those who consider themselves badasses, or who just like to suffer a little, will enjoy Nightmare.
Ultra-nightmare is for crazy people, but let me tell you, I can't wait to see someone actually beat that for the first time. Nightmare mode difficulty plus respawning enemies plus permadeath. According to id, nobody on the development team has managed to beat it yet.
It's worth noting that the game runs like garbage on my R9 390 compared to how it runs on nvidia hardware. On a 980 you could max everything on my rig and maintain, on my R9 390 you just can't. I actually didn't realize this was the case at first as I set everything to ultra and somehow it got switched back. I was impressed with the game's graphics and played through most of it without realizing it had reset everything to medium. I messed with it and swapped a couple things a bit higher, but generally medium is the best I can do to maintain 60 fps. This is very disappointing.
That said, the game doesn't look substantially different even at lower settings. Given how fast and crazy it is, and how good the little details still manage to look for the most part when you're just taking a minute to enjoy the view, it ended up being pretty inconsequential. So I'm annoyed, because I put enough money into this rig that this game should run beautifully at higher settings and yet it doesn't, but I'm also willing to just shrug it off given the fact that the game is still beautiful and I really don't feel shortchanged running at lesser settings.
I do hope somebody makes some improvements here, however, as the discrepancy is way bigger than it should be.
Gotta get creative. Jumping over or around them to get a shot behind the shield works (much easier with double-jump), putting explosives behind them works in a pinch, and eventually there's a mod for one of the weapons that makes them a cinch so long as you've got the ammo available (won't discuss what gun or which mod unless desired).
Also, who do you mean by elite guardian? The "elite guards" in the map/end screen are actually for the suit pickups (which you get from the dead guards you occasionally find).