Doom has been around since 1993, and it is considered one of Bethesda’s best video games. However, there are some facts about this game many of you might still not know. Here are five facts you would definitely want to know about Doom.
1) Doom consolidated the FPS genre
Doom was, in fact, one of the games that solidified the first-person shooter category of video games. Even though the genre exists since 1973, it is considered the most critical FPS ever made. Its popularity was the reason it influenced not only the shooter games but also the video gaming in general. Because of Doom, many other companies began to design first-person shooter games based on the Doom engine.
2) It introduced deathmatch and cooperative play
Doom was the first FPS video game that brought the competitive matches between multiple players. Creator John Romero has stated that the competitive multiplayer of fighting games was what inspired the game’s deathmatch concept. After this, more and more companies brought multiplayer competitive matches to their video games, allowing players to compete against their friends and other players.
3) Famous films and a tabletop role-playing game influenced its theme
The creation of Doom was an idea John Carmack, and id Software came up with back in 1992. It started because of the time they were spending playing the Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Those campaigns involved forces of hell that invaded the material world, giving them the main idea of Doom’s central theme. Other influences of its central thematic were the movies Evil Dead II and Aliens.
4) Doom appears in various other media
The success of Doom was moved to several different media as well. Apart from the 2005 Doom film and its upcoming reboot in 2019, it appeared in comic books and four novels. The impact its development had on the popular culture is the main subject of David Kushner’s book “Masters of Doom.”
5) Its demons and monster have brought criticism
The fact that Doom contains such violence and much satanic imagery has caused controversial criticism. Many Christian organizations have decried the diabolic undertones and the raw brutality of the game. They have also accused the virtual reality technology of being the cause of many killings in real life. Furthermore, Doom was linked to the Columbine High School Massacre back in 1999. The perpetrators of this massacre were, in fact, fans of the game. Many of the victim’s parents tried unsuccessfully to sue numerous video game companies, rendering them responsible for the massacre.