This classic Doom mod replaces weapon pickups with loot boxes

Loot boxes have come on strong over the past year or so, and so has resistance against them. But what if loot boxes had gained prominence 25 years ago? What if the id Software guys, instead of embracing shareware, had embraced RNG microtransactions? You'd very likely have ended up with something close to the Doom Loot Box Mod, created by ZDoom user Rip and Tear, which brings the old-time FPS you love into the modern era, in the worst way possible.

The Loot Box Mod removes weapons and powerups from the game, replacing some of them with UAC crates. Naturally, those crates are locked. Enemies have a "small chance" of dropping a key when they're killed, which you can collect and use as you see fit. But since there's absolutely no way to know what's inside the crates, you may as well just open 'em when you got 'em.

As you can see in the video below, resources have been dramatically reduced, loot boxes aren't super-common, and the items that pop out of them tends to be of the low-value variety: Shotguns are plentiful (although StronkiTonki got a bad break with those night vision goggles in his first crate), but plasma rifles? Not so much.

"Loot boxes in Doom, ladies and gentlemen! Have fun," he says at the end of his torturous adventure. "I'm sure I will probably never, ever use this again."

The mod also adds an in-game store selling both keys and crates—buy bundles of ten for the best value!—but alas, the store servers are offline.

Thanks, VG247.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.