DOOM Doesn’t Hold Your Hand
Is there anything more frustrating than a game that feels the need to drag you along by your wrist? More and more it feels like video games, in general, are more focused on showing you a spectacle than actually letting you participate in it. Big, elaborate set-pieces have become common in the industry, yet we as players always seem to act as bystanders to the events themselves. In Doom, the bloody spectacles are very much your own. You’re tossed into a room with a shotgun and several angry demons and it’s up to you to kill them all. It doesn’t matter the method or how insane of a display you put on when doing it. Doom lets you make the moments that you want to talk about, not simply dictate when the “cool” part of the game is.
This ties into its actual lack of a tutorial system. Sure there are messages that pop up here and there informing you of the various mechanics, but Doom kicks off with a bang. You wake up, grab a gun, and instantly start shooting everything in sight. Bethesda clearly trusts that you, as a player, are smart enough to figure out how to move and shoot at the same time. There isn’t a warm up level or a shooting gallery for you to practice in.
Throwing you into the fire is the best way for players to understand how to play Doom and if you die, that’s okay. We all will die along this bloody journey. Your own knowledge of the world/mechanics will grow organically as you learn the ins and outs of chaining melee’s, balancing you health pick ups, and what weapons are right for you. Doom isn’t just a game that takes off the training wheels, put pushes you down a massive hill once they’re off.
Doom is one of those rare games that understands we don’t need flashy gimmicks or one off ideas to sustain our attention. Id Software understands that, at their core, video games needs to be fun above all else. It’s an uncompromising experience that is as bold, unrelenting, and just plain enjoyable to play. Doom may be old school in design, but it’s exactly what we need in this modern age of shooters.
