In 1992, id Software helped pioneer the First Person Shooter genre with its massive hit, Wolfenstein 3D. One year later the company released Doom, which became even more of a phenomenon and forever changed our culture by introducing deathmatch fully embracing violence. Both Wolfenstein 3D and Doom were MS-DOS games, an operating system for PC’s developed by Microsoft. The past few years have seen reimaginings in both of these hugely important shooter franchises, with Wolfenstein: The New Order in 2014 and Doom in 2016 for the current gaming platforms. After having recently played both of these titles, I think it’s important to look at how they each represent themselves in the current gaming landscape.
The New Order is perhaps the more ambitious of the two and strives to incorporate aspects of other successful titles in the crowded genre by having a clear focus on narrative, character development, and cinematics. I was reminded of Dishonored on more than one occasion. Themes of Nazi ideology pervade the experience, and the dark alternate history that the game presents is intense and unsettling. Additionally, the sci-fi flavor injections in the form of mechs and robotic dogs give the game a strong sense of style. These are the things that stand out most when looking back on The New Order, but the core FPS gameplay is solid throughout too. Various play styles are presented to the player and each is viable, whether you want to take a stealth approach or decimate everything in your sight. You are also able to dual-wield almost any gun, and embracing this slightly wacky side of things gives the game charm. The New Order manages to fit well alongside modern shooters by both embracing and nailing current tropes.
Doom takes the opposite approach. Where plot, cast, and cutscenes are central to The New Order’s success, they all take a backseat in Doom. Here the focus is more on adhering to what made the original Doom so special back in the 90’s. Constant, frenetic action is front and center and is handled with glorious success. Innovations are minimal, but the new core mechanic of staggering an enemy and then performing a glory kill ensures that you always maintain pace. To further this, no reloading is needed. Much of the brilliance of this game is how loyal it remains to the original with its reimagining of classic weapons and enemies. Level design feels very arena focused, and power-ups, teleporters, and bounce pads all ooze 90’s flavor. There’s less to dissect with Doom, but its actions speak louder than any words can do it justice. You just have to play it.
2016’s Doom was developed by id Software and The New Order was developed by Machine Games. Even though different teams brought us these titles, it’s interesting to compare each studio’s approach.. Both games were critically and commercially successful. A sequel to The New Order just got announced and is expected to release later this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if another Doom is already in the pipeline. It’s also worth noting that while this is the first Doom game since Doom 3 in 2004, the Wolfenstein series has seen much more frequent releases. The New Order is the biggest leap the series has taken in quite some time however, and it feels as much of a reboot as Doom does, building a solid foundation for future installments. Numerous successful shooters have decided to focus on narrative-heavy campaigns, and The New Order fits in well with its peers. On the other hand, Doom very much does its own thing by only caring about violent, gloriously fun gameplay cranked to maximum levels. The retro tropes feel good to revisit and the result is an overall thrill-ride that you never want to end. It’s nice to see so much variety in today’s crowded FPS genre and I am eager to see how these two franchises continue to evolve and redefine themselves over time.