On Friday, May 13th, 2016, one of the greatest franchise revivals was released, ushering in arguably one of the best modern first-person shooters of all time. id Software’s reboot of DOOM is a genre-defining experience that fans still talk about nearly a decade since it launched for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. Not only did it modernize an iconic and influential franchise, but it paved the way for single-player first-person shooters moving forward. It also spawned its own trilogy, with the equally lauded DOOM Eternal and the highly anticipated prequel, DOOM: The Dark Ages. It is not an exaggeration to say that 2016’s DOOM made an impact, and the reverberations of the Slayer’s return can still be felt today.
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However, sometimes we see some of our most beloved games with rose-tinted glasses. Excuse me while I go off on a tangent, but I distinctly remember playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, another incredibly influential and successful game from Bethesda, when it launched on November 11, 2011. I picked up my copy at midnight, played for 10 hours straight, ate some brunch, then played for roughly another 10 hours. At that time, I would have said Skyrim was 2011’s Game of the Year.
Fast forward a year, and I decide to take a second trip to Tamriel with another playthrough of Skyrim. I was excited to take on the role of a Dragonborn once again and begin training in the Way of the Voice. However, something about that second go around didn’t hit like the first. Maybe it was because it was too familiar. Perhaps I didn’t take enough time between the playthroughs. While those things might be true, one thing was certain: I was bored.
Looking back, after playing Skyrim, I had played a plethora of games that generally vibe with me a bit more by the time 2012 and 2013 hit. Skyrim, and more so Oblivion, provided experiences I adored when they launched, but they aged like milk. That isn’t to say that Skyrim isn’t great. Obviously, it has made a lasting impact on millions as it’s been ported to every console since its launch. However, after playing great games like The Last of Us, Journey, Fez, Forza Horizon, Grand Theft Auto V, and so many others, it was hard going back to the bug-laden world of Tamriel. I still have those fond memories of Skyrim, and I’d recommend it based on those memories, but it’s one that I wouldn’t sink any time into at this moment.
All of that is to say that some of those feelings started to penetrate my mind as I was thinking of going back to 2016’s DOOM. Would this first-person shooter, which I’ve put on this pedestal for nearly a decade as one of the greatest technical achievements in gaming, hold up today? Or will it fall off that pedestal and crumble into just another fond memory? It turns out id Software’s reboot still rips (and tears), and remains the benchmark for a quality first-person shooter experience.
Two main facets make a first-person shooter great. The first is gameplay. It sounds obvious, but the shooting in a shooter needs to feel good. This goes hand-in-hand with the second facet, which is performance. One of the main reasons why a shooter feels good is its technical performance. Many people besmirch any shooter that dips below 60 frames per second. If one or both of these aren’t right, it ruins the experience significantly.
This is why players gravitate towards shooters like Call of Duty, Apex Legends, or Destiny. Generally, these games have a reputation for having great gameplay and performance, edging out any sort of competition that may appear in any given year. Sure, they each have their unique problems, which each community is very vocal about. But despite those issues, people still go back to these games simply because they feel good, and they’re familiar. Not only does 2016’s DOOM meet these goals, but it excels in both categories, inching out its competition.
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Since the original’s launch in 1993, id Software has been at the forefront of 3D technology in gaming. Its different iterations of the id Tech engine aided in pioneering 3D graphics, influencing gaming as we know it. 2016’s DOOM continues this legacy with graphics that still impress nine years later, while maintaining performance.
In my return to the demon invasion on Mars, I played on PC (I played on console originally). It is incredible how great this game looks. There are certain pieces of scenery that ever so slightly show their age, but overall, 2016’s DOOM still looks awesome, especially in motion. It sounds pretty messed up, but seeing all this flesh and blood tear off demons as the Slayer runs, guns, and bashes his way through to the next objective is a visual treat. With my system, this was all done at a consistent 100 frames per second.
2016’s DOOM is a sort of testament to utilizing the tools present to create something that lasts. This game is nine years old and looks as impressive as some games released in the past couple of years, and at a consistent frame rate.It has been said before, but this revival was considered a technical marvel, and I think that still rings true today.
This is paired with equally impressive gameplay. Most shooters want players to stick behind cover and take shots when the opportunity is right. 2016’s DOOM is essentially the antithesis of popular shooters like Call of Duty or Battlefield. id Software wants the player to stay as active as possible, with the only means of surviving being risking their life by diving into the fray. The general design of DOOM’s combat is a risk-and-reward system that favors utilizing every weapon and ability in the feared Slayer’s arsenal. It’s not as simple as just running and shooting every creature on screen until everything is decimated. There is a bit of strategy to keep the player engaged.
Since these creatures hit pretty hard, health and armor are very integral to survival. While there are health and armor packs scattered throughout the environment, players can commit a glory kill, a stylish and brutal melee execution that can be used after an enemy has taken enough damage. These opportunities are signaled by the enemy flashing orange or blue. A similar system is implemented with ammo. When players find ammo to be scarce, they can use the chainsaw to instantly kill a demon, resulting in a geyser of ammo packs spilling from the corpse, ready for the player to claim.
Each encounter leaves the player always needing health and ammo, making each combat scenario thrilling. There were tons of moments where the Slayer would be down to their last breath, but I get one shot off that leads to a glory kill, allowing the Slayer to breathe for just a little bit longer. Typically, item management in a first-person shooter is frustrating, but id Software made a system that makes it an actual mechanic where you need to smash a demon’s brains into a wall. It is the raddest and most unique combat system in a first-person shooter and one that hardly needs to be improved.
This is all wrapped up in a totally metal package that harkens back to the series’ roots. The heavy, guitar-driven music of Mick Gordon playing as the Slayer obliterates everything in his path is unlike anything in gaming. The closest we’ve ever gotten to getting something even remotely close is Metal: Hellsinger, a DOOM-inspired rhythm first-person shooter that features popular metal artists like Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Tatiana Shmayluk (Jinjer), and more. However, as good of a rhythm shooter as it is, it never hits the same highs as 2016’s DOOM.
DOOM’s return nine years ago marked the return of the king of the first-person shooter. It is a love letter to id Software’s long-running series, as it properly modernizes one of the most influential video games of all time. It continues the franchise’s legacy as a technological milestone in gaming, and one that can stand the test of time. I don’t know if we’ll be playing 2016’s DOOM on a calculator anytime soon, but it remains one of the best first-person shooters in the past 10 years, and will certainly be played and replayed for more years to come.
