The GDC YouTube channel just uploaded a fascinating panel from 2017. Featuring id Software’s Jake Campbell, the talk goes over the AI and full body animation of 2016’s DOOM. In goes into detail on the technical aspects that helped make the first-person shooter feel so special. It’s also on the shorter side (as far as GDC talks go), and will only take up around 30 minutes of your time to watch.
Check out the DOOM 2017 GDC talk below:
For even more on the very violent first-person shooter, check out my DOOM review. Here’s a snippet of what I had to say about its campaign:
Another way id kept the campaign feeling fresh was by constantly adding new enemies into the mix. These new encounters are amplified by introducing them through a short cutscene. The first time I had to battle a Baron of Hell, a gigantic demon minotaur, it felt imposing enough to be a boss battle. It wasn’t one, and afterwards these enemies became common foes, but it shows how much of a badass the player becomes over time that these huge hulking beasts are just yet another adversary.
Even the simplest encounters in DOOM aren’t a cakewalk, so the boss encounters really take it to the next level. There aren’t many of these, but the few that are in the game are very challenging even on the game’s lowest difficulty level. The final boss fight in particular will stay fresh in my mind for quite some time, as I can’t remember the last time I eked out a victory with less than 10 health. Upon completion, it was more a feeling of relief than satisfaction, but I definitely felt like I earned that win.
DOOM is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
