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!

Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
King's Field: The Ancient City
King's Field: The Ancient City
God Hand
God Hand
Demon's Souls
Demon's Souls
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Doom
Doom
Doom II: Hell on Earth
Doom II: Hell on Earth
"watch me look like goku"

just include every good doom wad ever made here also
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Baroque
Baroque
Shadow Tower: Abyss
Shadow Tower: Abyss
Bloodborne
Bloodborne
F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R.
The Evil Within
The Evil Within
The Last of Us
The Last of Us
Zeno Clash
Zeno Clash
Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Village
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime
Doom 3
Doom 3
flashlight switching in tight corridors
Wanted: Dead
Wanted: Dead
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
RoboCop: Rogue City
RoboCop: Rogue City
Dead Space
Dead Space
Serious Sam: The First Encounter
Serious Sam: The First Encounter

8 Comments


8 months ago

maybe wanted dead? ruminated on this one a bit but my heart says yes

great list though, this is what it's all about

8 months ago

@beesting: thx! i haven't played that one, but if yr heart says yes then i trust yr heart

8 months ago

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.

8 months ago

@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?

8 months ago

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

8 months ago

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.

8 months ago

@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

8 months ago

on that note, though, i think i have to include doom 2 as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJcf0aOwmiA


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