I felt like making a rant about the Dark Lord with both some opinions and some ideas on what i thought would be cooler, even if i come off as bitching too much.

Spoiling text for both actual spoilers and lenght.

So, anyway…

  • He should have had his own version of Doomguy’s weapons (Pistol included) and how they’re used/show up is usually organized by rounds but also distances and certain scenarios.
  • Pistol, combat shotgun and rifle show up first while the last round actual has a BFG and chainsaw.
  • Most of their primary fires are similar to Doomguy’s, even if some weapons have telegraphs/feedback (Like Ballista) or the hitscan is turned into fast projectiles/tracers representing shotgun shells and bullets.
  • Melee weapons like Crucible and chainsaw could function differently, specially if you want to give the DL stylish melee attacks like spinning around with a chainsaw like a tornado just because (Or using the Crucible for slow but powerfull attacks, he could even slam it into the ground and create shockwaves of energy).
  • If Doomguy still had his crucible, there could have been a rare-but-possible moment of his sword colliding with the DL’s and it’d be this “locked” QTE thing where you had to push him away, almost like a RE4 moment. This one sounds weird and maybe out of place. Maybe it could still work with the hammer.
  • Some alt fires are different, like Rocket Launcher’s detonatable rockets splitting into mini rockets or chaingun’s shield being plasma destructible.
  • Maybe the grenades could explode into something resembling the Cybermanc’s green slime, as if some attacks of his were borrowed from certain enemies.
  • He could have an ammo capacity a bit smaller than Doomguy’s, meaning he has to find ammo (Pick ups or zombies), which could give the player opportunities to attack him.
  • Instead of zombies, his fodder could have been UAC/Sentinel guards that you cannot save (Either imprisioned NPC’s stuck in something, moving around like idiots or even soulspheres that he can break and absorb what’s inside).
  • This would meant a more complex level layout, of course, like a typical Quake 3 arena deathmatch with its own features and differences.
  • His HUD/Health bar also displays his ammo and weapon in use, so you know if he has a chaingun, plasma rifle, rocket launcher etc without relying on his model.
  • His HUD/Health bar also displays his own classic Doom face mugshot, like classic Doom just because he’s you but evil (Almost similar but with red eyes but the typical functionallity is there).
  • Visually, his face could have been retouched to resemble classic Doomguy a bit more like having brown hair or stylized proportions for bigger eyes and flat top of the head. (This technically applies to Doomguy as well, since even Quake Champions felt a bit closer but still)(Also correct aspect ratio).
  • Him having an armor similar to Doomguy’s but demonic (Red eyes coming out of visor, horns, boney blade, some flames, snake creature for shoulder launcher) could fill that “parody/mockery/insult etc” aspect of being a truly evil mirror image.
  • I feel like the mech he used could have been rather a super heavy boss, like a returning Hell Guard type that happened to be more tech-like (They were fleshy mechs for worms) and aesthetically, it could have used some fleshy bits or weirdness to make it feel more supernatural or weird.
  • I also thought the horns of his mech armor looked like a giant beetle.
  • As far as lore could’ve gone, he could have been a mockery of Doomguy created by Hell as opposed to being the literal CEO of all things (That apparently was even retconned in a stream, which may or may not have been done out of fan reaction).
  • (So i guess Hell still has a chance of true “eldritch” Dark Lords?).
  • (Plus, the fact that Doomguy actually came after the DL, who somehow always had that look, sort of makes Doomguy special in a way that was never necessary and i think a stream even revealed it’s actually a coincidence or something, god i forgot).
  • DL could have been evil for the fact that he’s the dark lord, so him complaining about immortality and backstabbed by his servants can feel like a case of weird depth.
  • Immora Soldiers could have used any other demonic/cultist armor that 2016 MP had, that made them more demonic and weird (One was even used for those guards in the World Spear).
  • Also, how the Reaper played like in 2016 was definitely not captured for the Immora guys.
  • I guess it’s also a matter of strenght as if the mech is trying to oversell the DL’s strenght or it makes him look insecure, as if he’s trying to look stronger than “some guy with guns” (It also lacks a certain level of “weirdness” so in some way, it feels like a mech armored Dark Lord might as well be a human from a tech heavy Satanic cult).

In general, the DL feels like there’s this concept that just doesn’t want to exist. An evil version of the protagonist but there’s only 10% of it, so it’s like they never pulled it off, whether it’s because it’d seem predictable or because of development issues (Or “there can only ever be ONE Slayer” but if anything, this thing undersells both Doomguy and Hell). The Marauder at least makes sense not being a "true anti-Doomguy” because he’s just an enemy type that had a story background relating to Doomguy. Kinda like how classic zombiemen have similar armor and/or guns because they were UAC soldiers but they don’t have more weapons or the iconic helmet.

  • This is also because this is a series that (At least now) wants to sell how powerfull the protagonist is, so that concept of a true “mirror match” isn’t real.
  • There’s also the fact that mirror match characters are more interesting when the MC gets beat up or hit at times, which reminds me of how the Marauder doesn’t really have a cutscenes of him hitting Doomguy and Doomguy stomping him on the cover. That’s another thing, rival characters usually have cutscenes or parts where they try to be above the MC, which also makes me worry that the Doomslayer has a bit of a “MCU hero syndrom” in terms of presentation, if you recall people complaining about Eternal giving him pain grunts or when 2016 still had unique death scenes (Or you know, the original cover and HUD face).
  • When it comes to what Satan in Doom could have been: Might as well be more of a vague concept, on who it could be: The Archdemons? Icon of Sin? Cyberdemon? Hell itself? Even some random Imps? And the “boss” could be a weird looking level, not only having an aesthetic even “weirder than Inferno”, but also havig some weird puzzles, even if not that complicated. But like an extension from the original IOS, where you can’t even guess Satan’s true size. It would seem even Doomguy is struggling but he’s still the one meant for the job.
  • Immora also feels weird because it implies that Hell technically has a high tech human civilization, which seems weird for a place of all evil and suffering, but then you look at some bits of art direction or lore (UAC creating certain demons you fight for example) and it seems to fit for the wrong reasons. Because in the classic games, Hell did have tech but it felt more like demons were just messing aroud with it or making it seem evil (SKINTEK and giant skull switch). Even the Cultist base, despite still being tied to outside factions, still had an “evil” look to it that Immora didn’t. Then again, a lot of this might be a result of trying to have a deeper lore to a series about a guy chainsawing demons from Hell.
  • Another thing with Immora having armored humans and sci-fi tech is that it makes Hell have a bit more in common with UAC and Sentinels with another human faction when it could have easilly been either Hell corrupting/stealing stuff, creating things out of parody/immitation or even some possessed cultists that worshipped Hell since they even had that aspect since 2016.
  • I also feel like some of the “weirdness” not being present can be an arguement for why horror works in Doom and can even complement Doomguy’s strenght and power level: It empowers Hell and makes it more unpredictable and varied in some ways. It’s more about some of the weirder assets in some levels and monster designs, as opposed to make things darker and make the player walk with a flash light.
  • Like, some ideas here are good but it’s how they’re used/executed that seems to be the case here, specially in a series that not only never cared about its own story at first, but also had different redesigns and timelines, so if a new game was sort of a reboot (Even if it was a spin-off) with its different takes on the characters/ideas, i wonder if some people would like that alternate version more or not.
  • I feel like saying that Doom’s setting being “vague” or non-existent or even having a weird presentation helped to give people make their own interpretations of what Doom is or could be, so a problem with creating a “Universe” is if it limits potential for things that could work. Because in some ways, Doom having a “Universe” feels like a case of “other franchises have it too”.

Maybe some people will agree and find some of this epic or even inspire a mod based off this.
Maybe not at all, if i’m wrong or just too whiney.

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Pub: 03 Sep 2021 17:58 UTC
Views: 295