iD rolled out a good 10 minutes of Doom footage at Bethesda's press conference Sunday night, and damn does iD Tech 6 look amazing. It's detailed and gory in exactly the way we want Doom to be, especially when demons are being chainsawed in half or beaten to death with their own severed limbs. But the best thing about the new Doom is something a little sillier: the way demon guts explode power-ups like twisted hell pinatas.
Doom looks very much like a 2015 (or 2016) game, with amazing textures and fancy particles and intricate animations. But its fast, skatey player movement intentionally harkens back to 90s shooters, and so does its minimalism. This game is clearly about shootin' demons real good, and not much else. The way power-ups explode out of the demons when they die helps sell that same retro vibe. It's wonderfully cartoony and says: yes, we know this is a video game. It also says: wheeeeee!
It's also a great bit of visual feedback that yeah, that demon's super dead. And it's goofy. Do these demons have a spring-loaded bundle of medkits and ammo clips sitting in their stomach? Demons, you so silly. I love you.
Just look at them explode.
Those power-ups really, really want to get out.
