Ever since its golden pioneering
days as a quintessential first-person shooter, Doom was all about being over
the top and absurd in its ultra-violence and fast-paced action.
Far removed from the more
atmospheric previous entry of the long-standing Doom franchise, the latest
addition pays loving homage to the original run-and-gun playstyle of the
series, focusing more on the gratuitous gunning, hacking and punching of
seemingly endless hordes of demons.
We can in a way compare the
overall pacing of the latest Doom title and Doom 3, as previously mentioned
prior, Doom 3 relied heavily on the foundation of atmospheric horror and the
unfolding of an emergent narrative surrounding the UAC, thus we can perceive
its pacing akin to the three act structure found mostly in other popular media
such as films. In comparison to the later Doom title, Id Software’s Marty
Stratton mentioned that while the game does try to keep the audience engaged
with the overarching plot of the game, “story isn’t first and foremost” this
time around as demon killing and “an amazing time” (Henaghan, 2016) takes precedence. Therefore,
one would assume that due to the game’s more old-fashioned run-and-gun format,
its pacing would have far more up and down episodes than say a consistent
onward flow upwards while it is quite the contrary.
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Fig 1. All of the classics are back and re-imagined, closer to its original more fast-paced predecessor in the new Doom title. |
That is to say, even though these
two games possess different approaches (even with the shared umbrella
terminology as violent first-person shooters of the classic Doom franchise),
which would result in almost entirely different experiences for their players,
it is unfair to say that just because Doom ‘16’s is far more erratic and
fast-paced means that it is mutually exclusive from following the standard
three act structure.
Even with these differences, in
the grand scheme of things and amongst the chaotic feel of the game, Doom ’16
does follow what Extra Credits’ James Portnow explains as the layered
composition of what makes the overall pacing of a game (namely the arc, scene
and the action) (Shepard, 2014) in a fairly concise and structured manner. If we are to say
break down the very first chapter of Doom, the arc represents the overall plot
that will play out as the player progresses, a scene is the opening chapter (or level)
itself and the action interprets the individual actions of the player as smaller,
but almost identical, processes of the much bigger arc (such as the rising anticipation of the player picking up their pistol and firing it for the first time in the tutorial level).
In a sense, while Doom is chaotic in nature, it is organized chaos as the engagement of the player are dictated by numerous factors of game designs such as the implementation of well-designed levels, countless hordes of demon to gun through (punctuated by moments of rest and terse build-ups), it is these moments of see-sawing between rest, rip and tear that keeps the player engaged and coming back for more.
REFERENCES:
Henaghan, L. Doom 2016. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/b/h/w/i/v/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1bhf4n.png/1462760596353.jpg
Henaghan, L. (2016, May 9). Doom developer Marty Stratton talks guns, gore and gorgeous graphics. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/79754711/Doom-developer-Marty-Stratton-talks-guns-gore-and-gorgeous-graphics
Shepard, M. (2014, April 29). Interactive Storytelling - Narrative Techniques and Methods in Video Games. Retrieved http://scalar.usc.edu/works/interactive-storytelling-narrative-techniques-and-methods-in-video-games/pacing
Graphs created by the author of this post
Fig 2 & 3. Despite the more chaotic run-and-gun nature of Doom '16, there is a clear structure to the way the game flows.
In a sense, while Doom is chaotic in nature, it is organized chaos as the engagement of the player are dictated by numerous factors of game designs such as the implementation of well-designed levels, countless hordes of demon to gun through (punctuated by moments of rest and terse build-ups), it is these moments of see-sawing between rest, rip and tear that keeps the player engaged and coming back for more.
REFERENCES:
Henaghan, L. Doom 2016. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/b/h/w/i/v/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1bhf4n.png/1462760596353.jpg
Henaghan, L. (2016, May 9). Doom developer Marty Stratton talks guns, gore and gorgeous graphics. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/79754711/Doom-developer-Marty-Stratton-talks-guns-gore-and-gorgeous-graphics
Shepard, M. (2014, April 29). Interactive Storytelling - Narrative Techniques and Methods in Video Games. Retrieved http://scalar.usc.edu/works/interactive-storytelling-narrative-techniques-and-methods-in-video-games/pacing
Graphs created by the author of this post