I don’t like Doom 2016. I’ve reflected on it and I realise a big part of it is that I don’t like what’s happened with Doomguy. He’s changed, and for the worse in my opinion. I imagine that’s a statement that’s sure to bother some people, and I understand the current ‘Doom Slayer’ incarnation has many fans, but it’s not what I expect from Doomguy. Let me explain why.

Who was Doomguy?

If I had to define Doomguy from the original Doom and Doom II, I’d call him a gritty, stoic character.

Consider the above stills from Doomguy’s 100%(+) portrait. The look is one of deliberation, with lowered eyebrows and tight lips signifying a heightened state of readiness; see this video of Royce Gracie and Kimo Leopoldo pre-fight for some similar expressions.

Doomguy’s portrait emotes largely share this theme, with damage building his determined look until he appears near death, and the only strong emotion being that he shows upon picking up a new weapon. Throughout his entire repertoire of expressions, not once does he appear arrogant.

Audio-wise, Doomguy’s vocalisations are pain indication grunts, exertion grunts on unopenable walls and doors, and his death cries. He never speaks, screams out, or laughs.

It’s written in the guide manual that the odds are against you, and that it’s a situation you’re going to have to steel your nerves for and press forward into—precisely where that grit is needed.

In Doom and Doom II, Doomguy kills enemies in one of two ways; either he kills them leaving a recognisable bloody corpse still largely intact, or he gibs (some of) them via excessive damage usually limited to heavy weapon fire, explosive barrels, or berserk punches. The above image shows shotgun guys gibbed around a regular corpse sprite.

Brutal Doom and ‘attitude’

Brutal Doom is a mod for the original Doom games that added a great deal to the game. Some of it is quite good, such as improved graphics on things like fireballs, improved lighting, new textures and so on. What Brutal Doom mainly did, however, was drastically increase the gore of Doom. Blood and entrails are vastly increased, with plenty of new animations added and blood spatter erupting from enemies as they take damage. It also added finishing moves allowing the player to perform sadistic executions reminiscent of Mortal Kombat involving decapitations and even subsequent tossing of heads.

I realise it may sound like my delicate sensitivities are hurt by this, and that I’m outraged, but I assure you it’s not the case. The root of my disdain for this approach is that it butchers the Doomguy as a character. Consider this scene from the movie Predator. Dutch has defeated the predator, and upon detecting it still alive, he prepares to bludgeon it with a large rock, only to drop the rock when he realises it’s on its last legs and not a threat. I appreciate this scene, and the restraint Dutch shows, which isn’t necessarily mercy (ending its suffering would be), but restraint, and mastery of his own emotions—fear, anger, resentment. It’s mental fortitude to show that restraint when tempted with excess—an example what makes Dutch a real badass.

The above demonstrates another huge swing away from Doomguy’s stoic demeanour, as Brutal Doom threw in the ability to flip off and curse demons ...yeah, creatures who share neither a common tongue nor hand gestures. This is purely expressive, and personally I find it detracts strongly from Doomguy’s image, framing him not as a laser-focused martial expert, but as an angsty teenager lashing out. It forces my role as the player into one which I simply don’t identify with; I’m not there to dominate demons. I’m not there to assert my badassery, or behave like these guys do in professional wrestling. I appreciate the no nonsense, collected, objective-based approach seen in characters like Resident Evil 2’s Hunk.

While the text screens post-episode in Doom and between some levels in Doom II may convey some attitude, they’re not first person entries, and simply a narrator. Like this, the player is free to determine within their imagination the vast majority of the character’s personality. The player’s playstyle, be it methodical, meticulous, hectic, or otherwise, makes up much of their interpretation of the character. This is something the introduction of cut-scenes has stolen from players in newer games, as they may be slowly rounding corners and checking flanks through the mission, just to have a cutscene follow it up where their character is dive rolling over RPGs in-flight and perilously weaving through hordes of enemies to reach their objective. This is what things like Brutal Doom introduced to Doom—but hey, they’re just the creator’s impression of the character and game, so no harm done, right?

Doom 2016 – Rip and tear

Rip and tear is a meme quote from an old Doom comic, spoken by the Doomguy himself while under the berserk power-up influence. “They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done” is the quote from the beginning of Doom 2016 referencing the earlier line. It also represents much of what I find off-putting about the newest incarnation of Doomguy: Doom Slayer.

Although I dislike the executions from Brutal Doom, it’s just a mod, and not canon. This game, however, takes that to a ludicrous new level, with the Doom Slayer hoisting demons from the ground and snapping them in two like toothpicks. What’s more, this is not simply optional, as the game design itself heavily punishes the player for relying on more traditional bullets by awarding health and conserving ammunition. What was once a power-up and state-of-mind attributed to a berserker rage is now the protagonist’s default setting.

So Doom 2016 has shifted completely away from the idea of a morally upright marine forced into a terrible situation towards a power fantasy in which you’re a literal hell-walking incarnation of death. But this is the problem. It’s precisely the reason a character like Batman is so much more interesting than Superman. Batman is relatable; mortal flesh and blood. Only his skill, will, and wits allow him to surmount incredible odds. Superman is an alien; an invulnerable ‘man of steel’. As such, death doesn’t feel inevitable when it happens, and I don’t feel satisfaction when I overcome. Instead death feels like I’ve been cheated, and my victories are preordained.

This same problem above is also seen in Diablo 3, where the one brave, but very mortal protagonist delving deep into a terrifying stronghold of supernatural horror was replaced with a nephalim, feared by demons and angels alike as the epitome of unfathomable power. The odds should be stacked against the protagonist or player—at least narratively—for any victory to feel satisfying. It’s why Jackie Chan bursts into a room of 10 armed thugs alone and handcuffed rather than in on one taking a dump with a fleet of police by his side.

The other aspect of Doomguy’s transformation to the Doom Slayer I can’t stand is well represented by the above capture from the player finding a Doomguy figurine in which he bro-fists the doll, complete with accompanying spirit fingers disengage and all.

This isn’t the only thing though, as if it were it’d be fine, but the intro of the game has Doom Slayer break the monitor on which someone is advising him. This continues through the story, as Doom Slayer rebelliously breaks things in ways portrayed not as out of necessity, but spite, and comes across somewhat like an asshole cat in doing so—nobody tells me what to do!

I can’t help but feel a more nuanced ‘this matters so little to me that I’ll ignore it’ approach would have been nice.

Lastly we have the music. The original Doom and Doom II used various rock/metal songs as tracks for the stages, with a combination of higher tempo tracks to more unnerving ones. Combat and exploration shared the same musical backing, and marrying the theme of the stage and accompanying track went a long way towards building the atmosphere of each level.

Doom 2016 instead does away with this, having locked-in battles more often than not, and shifts from subtle atmospheric ambient music to very high tempo, high adrenaline tracks during battles. Personally, this forced amplitude in what are intended to be high-tension scenarios more robs them of impact, somewhat like the build-up for a jump-scare in a horror movie making me resent the direction rather than respecting it. Add this with the fact that the intense battle music signifies to me ‘it’s time to be awesome!’ and I really just can’t respect how overt it is while I’m dashing from one execution invulnerability to the next.

Final thoughts

While I have to accept this new version of Doomguy, I don’t necessarily have to like it. Seeing what was once a favourite character of mine now coming across—to me at least—as a pitiable edge-lord man-child is a shame. We always had Duke Nukem for that kind of thing after all.

Of course, this is entirely subjective, and my opinion doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong to like this incarnation, as I know many do; probably even the vast majority. I suppose it’s just a sign of the times, and perhaps I’m just wrong. Seriously though, as a final thought, if you’re going to redefine a character with massive changes to them, perhaps consider instead creating a new character.