doom raider: slow dancing in the killing field
pressure and aggression on the path of attrition
i always felt like resident evil 4 represented some nexus between doom and king's field: while being games noted for very different pacing, yet also very driven by the flow of maneuvering around their spaces and with the primary opposing force always bearing down on you—whether doomspeed or something a bit more ffllloooaaattttyyy... there are forms of combat both melee and ranged, often some of power/desperation cc move (e.g. leon's roundhouse kick, activating your god hand, gun-parrying in bloodborne, ripping and tearing in doom 2016, stomping in space marine, and so forth). sometimes there's a significant dodge element, like in god hand and bloodborne. whatever collects these games on some cobweb in my brain, they represent a flow of oppressive combat situations you can work through with your positioning constantly in mind, often aided by a familiarity with the methods and mechanics of navigating a path to survival and victory (of some form). they also often feature some sort of limitation to your mobility, e.g. tank controls, a stamina bar, your overall speed and agility (or lack thereof), etc.
note: this list has been marked private since i made it some time last year, but having now heard that the next doom game might be designed as a slower affair, with a more 'tank'-style doomguy focused on damage mitigation, i've decided to put this out there.
suggestions welcome!
i always felt like resident evil 4 represented some nexus between doom and king's field: while being games noted for very different pacing, yet also very driven by the flow of maneuvering around their spaces and with the primary opposing force always bearing down on you—whether doomspeed or something a bit more ffllloooaaattttyyy... there are forms of combat both melee and ranged, often some of power/desperation cc move (e.g. leon's roundhouse kick, activating your god hand, gun-parrying in bloodborne, ripping and tearing in doom 2016, stomping in space marine, and so forth). sometimes there's a significant dodge element, like in god hand and bloodborne. whatever collects these games on some cobweb in my brain, they represent a flow of oppressive combat situations you can work through with your positioning constantly in mind, often aided by a familiarity with the methods and mechanics of navigating a path to survival and victory (of some form). they also often feature some sort of limitation to your mobility, e.g. tank controls, a stamina bar, your overall speed and agility (or lack thereof), etc.
note: this list has been marked private since i made it some time last year, but having now heard that the next doom game might be designed as a slower affair, with a more 'tank'-style doomguy focused on damage mitigation, i've decided to put this out there.
suggestions welcome!
25 Games
8 Comments
I really like this list idea; I think the best lists identify something in common juuust under the surface but still clear enough to be unambiguous.
What do you think of adding Serious Sam? In its worst moments it's just running backwards and shooting, but when the difficulty is tuned correctly and it's firing on all cylinders I feel like it has that positional tactical gameplay you're talking about.
What do you think of adding Serious Sam? In its worst moments it's just running backwards and shooting, but when the difficulty is tuned correctly and it's firing on all cylinders I feel like it has that positional tactical gameplay you're talking about.
@cowboyjosh: hm! i'll have to ponder that one — i've actually never played a serious sam because my impression of it has always been that it's almost like... a clicker? just enemies running straight at you and maybe a bit of doom-style maneuvering around non-hitscan projectiles, predominantly in a wide-open field. which isn't totally what i had in mind here? but maybe i've been wrong about it and i should try one. is ss4 the best one?
someone on here wrote a review of serious sam first encounter saying something along the lines of it being a shooter that min maxes encounter design at the cost of everything else and while I wouldn't go quite that far it's a pretty accurate representation of its priorities. at its best I think it can be very, very interesting, but it's going to depend on how much you click with everything
level design can be very rudimentary, and it definitely emphasizes waves of enemies and huge arenas like you suggested, but I think it's fairly thoughtful in how it utilizes space and does try to mix it up from time to time
I haven't played 4 so I can't speak for it but first or second encounter wouldn't be bad places to start if you ever do feel inclined
level design can be very rudimentary, and it definitely emphasizes waves of enemies and huge arenas like you suggested, but I think it's fairly thoughtful in how it utilizes space and does try to mix it up from time to time
I haven't played 4 so I can't speak for it but first or second encounter wouldn't be bad places to start if you ever do feel inclined
You're not wrong; in lots of parts it pretty much is. Like I said you really have to kind of tweak the difficulty level and accessibility options (which in my case means aim assist so I can increase the enemy count to the point where positioning becomes a factor but the time-to-kill isn't inflated by my spastic thumbstick aiming), and most of the arenas are wide open with intermittent cover (to facilitate running backwards).
I've only played a couple of them but my understanding is they're pretty much interchangeable, so yeah 4 for the "best" graphics or whichever one is easiest to get your hands on would probably be enough to judge the series.
To be clear it's not a strong recommend; I pick it up every once in a while to do a level or two when I need some mindless blasting. I pick up the later Dooms for other reasons, so maybe that right there is an indicator it doesn't belong on this list ha.
I've only played a couple of them but my understanding is they're pretty much interchangeable, so yeah 4 for the "best" graphics or whichever one is easiest to get your hands on would probably be enough to judge the series.
To be clear it's not a strong recommend; I pick it up every once in a while to do a level or two when I need some mindless blasting. I pick up the later Dooms for other reasons, so maybe that right there is an indicator it doesn't belong on this list ha.
@cowboyjosh and @beesting: oh ok nice! that actually sounds a lot more compelling than what i'd imagined it to be. sounds like a solid inclusion — i mean, not everything on this list is the same, it's all just stuff that illustrates aspects of a concept in design and i can definitely believe serious sam belongs now that i actually know about it haha
on that note, though, i think i have to include doom 2 as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJcf0aOwmiA
curse
8 months ago
great list though, this is what it's all about