Doom (2016 video game)

Doom, known during development as Doom 4, is a first-person shooter game in the Doom series from 2016. The game is the second reboot of the Doom series and features gameplay similar to the original Doom from 1993. The way Doom (2016) was designed was very different from Doom 3, which was more survival-horror-based and slower paced rather than the usual action-based, faster pace games of Doom (1993) and Doom II. It was released on May 13, 2016. The game can be played on the PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

The sequel is Doom Eternal and was released in 2020.

Game design

To make both fans of the first game and modern gamers happy, the game developers kept many of the old gameplay features and added some new ones as well. Older gameplay features include never reloading your weapon, having all weapons on you at all times rather than just two weapons, having a traditional health bar rather than health regeneration, running at full speed at all times, rewarding offensive gameplay rather than defensive gameplay, and defense being based on strafing (moving out of the way) rather than taking cover. Gameplay features that are new to the series include melee-based finishing moves called Glory Kills, most weapons having two different secondary firing modes that can be bought and switched out at any time, platforming similar to the Metroid Prime games, weapon challenges to upgrade your weapons, and arcade-style challenges to upgrade your suit. The art style is also a mix of Doom and Doom 3.

Weapons

The game has all the weapons from Doom and Doom 2. It also has the Heavy Assault Rifle, which was based on the Assault Rifle in Doom 3. There is also a completely new weapon, the Gauss Cannon. The Chainsaw now has fuel limits, unlike the other Doom games, but it can kill most enemies in one hit, and it also gives the player more ammo pick-ups when he or she is low on ammo. The BFG-9000 also has its own ammo, which can kill every non-boss enemy you can see on-screen. Six weapons have two different mods that can be switched in battle. For example, the Shotgun has both Burst Shot and Grenade Launcher mods.

Like in earlier Doom games, certain weapons share ammo. The Chaingun and Heavy Assault Rifle share bullets, the Combat Shotgun and Super Shotgun share shotgun shells, and the Plasma Rifle and Gauss Cannon share energy cells.

Plot

The game begins with the player, the Doom Slayer, wakes up chained to a coffin after hundreds of years being trapped in Hell. A zombie comes to kill the Doom Slayer, but he breaks free from his chains, kills the approaching zombie, and kills the rest of them with the Pistol. In the next room, the Doom Slayer finds his suit of armor, the Praetor Suit, and puts it on. Right after that, the Doom Slayer learns that the UAC lab on Mars has been overrun with demons, and that almost everyone on the base is either dead or they turned into zombies or demons. This is the result of leading scientist Olivia Pierce and her followers performing rituals to unleash Hell on Mars.

The CEO of UAC, Samuel Hayden, tells the Doom Slayer that the UAC was sending workers to Hell to get Argent Energy, an extremely powerful and efficient source of energy, and to do research on captured demons. He says it is absolutely needed to solve Earth's energy shortage. However, it was not his plan to unleash Hell. He tells the Doom Slayer that Pierce went insane and went too far. While the Doom Slayer agrees to help Hayden stop the demons coming on Mars, he also tries to destroy the Argent Energy production as well, which makes Hayden unhappy.

Despite the Doom Slayer's best efforts, Pierce was able to open up the Well, a very large portal of Hell on the UAC base, so that Hell will be unleashed on Mars forever. Even though the Doom Slayer gets sent to Hell, Hayden created a tether system that allows the Doom Slayer to be teleported out of Hell at anytime. Hayden tells the Doom Slayer that there is only one way to shut down the Well, go back to Hell to get a key called the Crucible.

Doom Slayer goes back to Hell by fighting the Cyberdemon, who teleports himself and the Doom Slayer there in the middle of the boss fight. When the Doom Slayer finds the Crucible, it was being guarded by demons called the Argent Guards. The Doom Slayer kills them and gets the Crucible. The Doom Slayer then uses the Crucible to close the portal. After that, he fights Pierce, who has turned into the Spider Mastermind. After he kills Pierce, Hayden teleports him right back to Mars and takes the Crucible from him. With the Crucible, Hayden can restart Argent Energy production. Hayden then teleports the Doom Slayer to an unknown place, and right afterwards, the game's credits are shown.

Doom (2016 Video Game) Media

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  Marty Stratton (left) and Hugo Martin (right), the game's directors

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  Various developers at QuakeCon 2016. From left to right: Marty Stratton, Tiago Sousa, Billy Khan, Shale Williams, and Robert Duffy