Back when Doom originally released in 1993, it was a revolution. The fast-paced gunplay didn't require players to reload, they could carry an unlimited number of weapons and – perhaps most radically different from today – player health didn't regenerate.
It was also one of the most violent games of the time. We've already seen that id Software's upcoming Doom reboot will be taking space marine-on-demon violence to new levels, but this new Doom will be returning to the franchise's roots in a number of other ways, as well.
Most notably is the fact that Doom will not feature a regenerating health mechanic, as is seen in nearly every other modern first-person shooter. Speaking with IGN, Doom executive producer Marty Stratton said the decision not to include regenerating health wasn't just a matter of old vs. new.
"It's about what's fun and what's Doom," Stratton said. "We started early on with trying to figure out the game's identity. Not what is 'old Doom,' but what is Doom? How does it make us feel? What do we want from a Doom experience? When we boil it down, are the things we're doing feeding into that?"
One of those core pieces of the Doom experience is fast-paced action. The developers wanted a health system that reflected that idea.
"There's no regenerative health," Stratton went on. "It's based on movement, which is one of the most important elements of our game. We want to drive players into combat, dodging projectiles, being faster than the enemy. We want them to move all the time, so how does health fit into that? Does regenerative health fit into movement? Not really, because then you're taking cover, which can be fun from a tactical perspective, but it makes you not want to go into combat."
Players won't be running around the environment hunting for health kits like in the original. Instead, players will be rewarded for throwing themselves into the action, rather than hiding behind a crate waiting for their health to come back.
That is welcome news for old-school Doom fans. With Doom 3, the series journeyed into survival horror territory, as the game's notorious flashlight or weapon mechanic forced players to explore a dark, abandoned facility on Mars overrun with demons. It was received well at the time, but it was a far cry from the incredibly fast, run-and-gun gameplay of its predecessors.
This new Doom looks like it will be returning to the roots of the series while still being mindful of today's current gaming landscape.
Doom is slated for a 2016 release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
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