Why do you think Doom 1 is more intimidating than Doom 4 ?

Belias · Nov 2017

even though the graphics in doom 4 is much higher in quality than doom 1

Doom 4 graphics

Image: https://www.brokenjoysticks.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Doom_Demon.jpg

Doom 1 Graphics

Image: http://ahkong.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/doom-15.jpg

playing Doom 1 (at least for me) is more intimidating than playing Doom 4

these are the reasons that I think of in my humble opinion

1- in doom 1, the sound is not 3D, the amplitude of the voice of a monster is the same when it's away or when it's near... this makes the mind confused and you can't tell when a monster is near or away... this makes the game harder.
2- the image of the head in the bottom, is not connected to a body, it's look like a cut head ! and it rolls eyes in a strange frequency.
3- the head in the bottom looks to you, while in fact it's you, lt makes you really confused...
4- there's no shading, the human brain can determine the depth of a scene by shading.. this makes the brain more confused as you can't tell what's near and what's not 100%.
5- when you take some power or something, it makes the whole screen glow, this increases the confusion.
6- when you walk in the game, the camera goes up and down in a weird way that tricks you that you have some disability or something..
7- the POV is weird, when you are near a door, it fills up the whole screen, it makes you feel like your head is 1 cm away from the door while actually you are not...
8- the soundtracks are exceptionally great and hyped...

etc etc..

doom 1 kicks doom 4 ass in my opinion, ... the wisdom is : "high graphics is not everything", ...
maybe some day I will make a game that make people feel weird, in a way that no one experienced before...

what do you think?

Shiniku · Nov 2017

I think you're putting too much weight on unimportant details that are mostly just a result of when the game was released, but not really indicators of quality. You could phrase anything the way you have and make it sound confusing or strange. For example:

9- when I push "w" on my keyboard, my character moves forward, even though I am not moving forward or even moving my legs in real life, leaving me disoriented, and confused

Overall I'm not really sure what your main idea is (besides "I like the first doom better") and personally I don't agree with the majority of your points. The fact that better graphics =/= better game is a given, but it's a little hard to compare two games that came out with such different technical limitations in such wildly different contexts. I love them both.

I agree that new DOOM might not be that intimidating, but that's because you're the most badass demon killing machine to ever live in that game, and I can't see that as a downside.

ExcessiveZero · Nov 2017

I forget what its actually called its for sure linked to the "nothing is scarier" trope in horror movies, works in games like hotline Miami too where basically the less you are visually seeing the more you are imagining, and when you relax and imagine alongside basic visual stimuli your entire experience is altered.

lots of horror movies play with this like american werewolf in London where you dont just see the creature you hear or see a small part of it, and your mind fills in the blanks and makes it infinitely worse as it generates your own personified fear/intimidation.

Couple that alongside detail fatigue where there is a hundred more details to focus on such as his mechanical bracer, his claws and his claw like wrist thing, his horns, his teeth, his predator like jowl things and glowing eyes, I dunno which threat I should be obviously picking up on, yet if it was just glowing eyes in the dark I would perhaps feel a greater sense of an ominous predatory threat from the unknown.

Ashervisalis · Nov 2017

The original Doom was more intimidating to me because it was more difficult. Why? Because the controls sucked back then. The new Doom has you flying around at light speed, automatically ripping demon's heads off, and firing off a barrage of nearly unlimited missiles. The controls take maybe 2 minutes to understand. When I've tried the old Doom, I'm fumbling around while my health bar drops.

pmiller001 · Nov 2017

I was under the impression that DOOM(2016) was meant to be a power fantasy. I didn't get the impression that it was intended to scare, or intimidate.

fmnoor · Nov 2017

Doom 1 was more intimidating to me for sure. It was a result of not being comfortable with a mouse and keyboard setup and turning with the arrows keys sucked. I was also a kid. I revisit Doom and Quake often due to nostalgia, but the gameplay has held up and the mods for each are pretty impressive.

I think what you are reading as intimidating or pros are side effects/artifacts of the technology and era - like view bobbing, the UI, power ups glowing the screen, weird perspectives etc

jStins · Nov 2017

Could also be that you played Doom I when you were younger (I assume). I mean, the movie Labyrinth scared the shit out of me when I was a kid (Bowie nightmares!), but today? Not so much.

throttlekitty · Nov 2017

Doom 1 threw a lot at you at once, the level design had monsters hiding around strange corners, coming out of the walls, or dropping the walls to reveal hordes. Health pickups were plenty, but often very spread out, and you never quite knew when or where you'd get more, or when the next Big Thing was going to happen. You just kept going.

Doom 4 has a very up close and personal feel in both combat and level design, combat felt way more hectic to me. But I felt that pickups and all the arena fights were very predictable. The music rocked, but totally telegraphed when to start and stop kicking ass.

I'd say something about rose colored glasses, but your list makes it sound like you didn't play Doom 1 when it was a new game. 2 and 3 are kind of strange, did mario freak you out in the same way with the life counter?

Belias · Nov 2017

"did mario freak you out in the same way with the life counter?"
LOL, of course not, but my whole point is Doom 1 had a lot more taste to it than doom 4, a lot of new games have no taste in my opinion.

Prime8 · Nov 2017

From the little bit I remember when playing it, I didn't feel intimidated at that time.
System Shock freaked me out, recently got System Shock 2 on Steam, still freaking me out, cannot play it.

I do enjoy the latest Doom and I like the direction they went with it, same for Wolfenstein.
They feel modern but "classic" without adding too many new features.

poly32 · Nov 2017

Low HP, kill monster, he drop HP for you. No thanks. Kids game.

almighty_gir · Nov 2017

Oh hi Belias! Should have known it was you lol.

Cibo · Nov 2017

I dont understand the context. Technical limitations as positive Feature because its makes a game harder?
It was okay for its time but today player will hate it. A small FoV, imput delay etc. ... break the immersion. The player need the challenge ingame and no extern reminder that the controls sucks.

Dead Space with the slow Main character and the shoulder cam was a good implementation in AAA quality but many players have hated it.

And much more intimidating is System Shock 2. When a monster yell "I can see You" and freeze in a corner and shit in your pants.

PixelMasher · Nov 2017

Yea....the new doom wasnt meant to be scary, it was meant to make you feel badass as fuck. The music alone should be a big indicator.

Sound plays a huge role in mood, which is a big reason why dead space had such an intense atmosphere.

Its all about context.

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel · Nov 2017

Belias said:

2- the image of the head in the bottom, is not connected to a body, it's look like a cut head ! and it rolls eyes in a strange frequency.

the armor counter goes to 200%. some walls are doors. how can man know reality in an unstable world of lies? true horror.

Why do you think Doom 1 is more intimidating than Doom 4 ?

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