Can Doom be considered a horror game?

[Gez]

4 hours ago, Zaxxon said:

As for Doom 1 & 2, it should be clear what type of games they are the moment the soundrack kicks in.

Yeah but that's interesting because Doom's soundtrack is a lot more contrasted than people think.

 

E1M1: At Doom's Gate. Definitely actiony. Here you are to kill the bad guys and save the day!

E1M2: The Imp's Song. Still actiony, but slower tempo. Those monsters don't seem so tough.

E1M3: Dark Halls. Kinda ambient, actually, but with a nice beat. Uh, there's bigger monsters, too. And invisible ones!

(E1M9: Hiding the Secrets. Pure action; but this is a secret level.)

E1M4: Kitchen Ace (And Taking Name). Back to action! Whatever kind of weird monsters, you're ready!

E1M5: Suspense. A sinister song with sad strings and ominous sounds. Perhaps it sinks in you're the only survivor.

E1M6: On the Hunt. Action, definitely, but frantic one. The start of the song is basically an alarm blaring in your ears.

E1M7: Demons on the Prey. Back to the slow, ominous music. This heralds the ineluctable triumph of evil.

E1M8: Sign of Evil. A dirge. A slow, mournful song that tells you you're gonna die in this level.

[Colusio]

When I played beyond kadath it felt like a horror game. I saw this thread and replayed it. A revenant kicked me and I felt death in an open grave. I'm little bit anxious now.

The ending of inferno ( episode 3 ) was the only horror moment in Doom for me.

[Kor]

When I first started playing it in 95 there were feelings of unease about going into certain areas, but I was 13.  Now I don't find it makes me feel uneasy at all.  Hasn't for decades.

[Chezza]

My question for John Romero was answered in the Wad magazine. I asked if Doom was supposed to be considered an action or horror game.

 

John said it's an action game. I'm not in my PC right now to find and share the link but it's here somewhere.

[KubaloBlackMT]

6 hours ago, 7Mahonin said:

It's as much of a horror game as Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness are horror movies.

Same thing I'm thinking. Just because it doesn't succeed at scaring you doesn't mean it can't be classified at horror. Someone somewhere finds or once found something in Doom that they thought was scary.

 

In this case, Doom is an Action/Horror game. You're (typically) not opening a door and awaiting something to jumpscare you on the other end, even though moments like that could happen.

Edited February 21, 2022 by KubaloBlackMT

[SuyaSSS]

Plutonia Hunted can be considered a horror 

 

[Murdoch]

2 minutes ago, SuyaSS said:

Plutonia Hunted can be considered a horror 

 

 

There was a map in Death's Dichotomy by @Bauul that reduced you to 1% health and tossed you in a dark abandoned space station or something with troopers. Never thought I would be scared of those bastards but here we are.

[Maes]

12 hours ago, NoisyVelvet said:

I dunno, playing on a 320x200 resolution, keyboard only, in the 90's was kinda scary.  Especially Map16 - Suburbs and that spooky MIDI.  You know that you eventually have to leave the house you're in to progress through map, but there are tall, yellow-ghouls out there that make you light on fire if they look at you - eventually you muster up the courage to scurry to the next house and catch your breath again.

 

 

Heh, I thought you were describing MAP11 - Hunted from Plutonia... that one works as a straight horror map exactly because it nails everything just right -the "something's off" atmosphere with the creepy nursery-like MIDI, the knowledge that you are in great danger right from the start -Hell, they even present you all of the "ghouls" at the same time right in front of you and let you know that they are out there, somewhere, etc. I don't remember how you're equipped in terms of ammo/weapons/health/armor, but I remember it being barely adequate -you cannot e.g. just BFG-spam your way through.

 

Especially the first time through you don't know exactly where and how you'll have to fight them -one by one, two at a time, all at a itme? Now that's scary....

[Faustrecht]

 

I remember the first time i played Doom an PC i was amazed but as you can think with 12 Years u take it different than as Adult.

It was eerie as hell for me. Plus i wasnt good compared to Today.

 

Nowadays i think it depends on the Mapset and how you play Doom. Let the Magic of a game happen instead of thinking "its just a game"

 

I love dark Mapsets and i wanna tell you what happened recently.
"Its kinda quite ,you enjoy the enviroment and then u hear a Hellknight or Baron of Hell howling behind you while u are low at Health."

This feels like a Jumpscare. These moments are amazing and it even makes me feel proud if i managed to survive the situation with low ammo and not much space to dodge. Its pure adrenaline.

In the end it just depends on your self.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Faustrecht

[Teo Slayer]

It creates a great horror atmosphere with its elements and some tracks like Suspence or Sinister, but I couldn't consider it as a horror game. In horror games, the player is supposed to feel fear, powerless, helpless and unable to kill the monsters that are in the map. Doom doesn't do that

 

But if you ask me if Doom 3 can be considered as horror game, then yes

[BetelgeuseSupergiant]

For me, Dawn of Reality is pretty scary in some places

[Bri]

I think it was scary when the game had just come out. But I think the thing that made Doom scary back in 1993 was hearing the monsters in the level. It could be really unnerving at times. I remember a lot of reviews at the time pointing out the scary sounds, too.

[Chezza]

On 2/21/2022 at 12:15 PM, Chezza said:

My question for John Romero was answered in the Wad magazine. I asked if Doom was supposed to be considered an action or horror game.

 

John said it's an action game. I'm not in my PC right now to find and share the link but it's here somewhere.

 

@Artman2004 I've found what I was looking for in my previous response. I was referring to Wadazine #11 - Featuring John Romero

 

This may help answer your question.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Chezza

[Kokoro Hane]

Whilst DOOM has horror elements, it doesn't feel like a horror game. There's no feeling of helplessness (most of the time) because you're armed with weapons and can rampage, killing all the baddies. Horror, to me, has a certain atmosphere to it, and a sense of helplessness, scarcity, tension, etc. whilst DOOM is more of an action thing with bits of horror here and there. Yes, some parts are creepy, and yes, jump scares are possible when you don't expect to be lit on fire by an Archvile, but in general I don't see DOOM as horror. Just an action game with horror elements to it. 

[philcul]

To be honest, I think one problem with answering this question is, that it's ambiguous because you can read it in two different ways:

1. Does Doom share gameplay mechanics with other games that fall into the horror game genre?

2. Does Doom share themes / stylistic elements / etc. with other games that fall into the horror game genre?

So I think the answer to 1.) is mostly no, not at all, while the answer to 2.) is yes, definitely. 

[DarkIceCyclone]

Unconfirmed sources as I can't find it right now, but I believe I saw a youtube video that also linked to other sources stating that Doom II was designed as a horror game and they actually had to turn down the core, fearing that it would be too scary

[Rudolph]

Again, horror as a genre is a pretty broad term and there are quite a few subgenres, i.e. horror comedy, action horror, survival horror, etc.

 

Also, keep in mind that a game like Dead Space is sold as survival horror, yet it makes you feel like a fucking badass. So much so in fact that it has to keep throwing tougher and tougher monsters at you - culminating into an invincible one that you can only destroy through an environmental puzzle - to make you feel sort of powerless for a moment... until you grow even more powerful and learn to effectively deal with the new threats.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Rudolph

[Yasha]

There are absolutely some scary as shit parts in original Doom. The game clearly wanted to use lighting and music to accentuate this because a good portion of the songs are slower-paced moody pieces as opposed to the rip-roaring riffage of the most famous songs. You also have to remember that new players, and especially those way back on release, wouldn't play the game with the same blistering pace we do now. Early footage of Doom mostly shows players carefully walking around from room to room, not running-and-gunning.

 

Of course, the bigger focus was on suspense and thrills. Desperately holding onto your last bits of health, being on edge every time you turn a corner or enter a room, and praying you get some more ammo before you run out completely is all over Doom, even in megawads and the like, but it usually fades quickly unless you're pistol starting. But I've definitely had plenty of "shit shit i have no health WHERE'S THE AMMO oh god is that a revenant/archvile/baron WHO IS SHOOTING ME" moments when playing Doom.

 

In the end, it's the ability to run-and-gun that everyone decided they liked best, hence Doom 2 focusing way more on that, and nearly all megawads going for explosive action with little horror, but yeah, Doom 1 at the very least has too many intentional horror elements for me not to consider it slightly leaning in that direction. Frankly, I'd love to see more wads focus on delivering the scares--for instance, maps with forced pistol starts could definitely go in that direction since you know the player can't carry anything over to blow through the enemies.

 

23 hours ago, Kokoro Hane said:

Whilst DOOM has horror elements, it doesn't feel like a horror game. There's no feeling of helplessness (most of the time) because you're armed with weapons and can rampage, killing all the baddies. Horror, to me, has a certain atmosphere to it, and a sense of helplessness, scarcity, tension, etc. whilst DOOM is more of an action thing with bits of horror here and there.

Hm, I'd honestly disagree. When you know a map in and out, yeah, there's little tension. But when you're playing a map for the first time and have no idea what traps it might spring on you or where weapons and ammo are, there definitely can be a sense of helplessness (or at least, being unprepared) and nervousness about pressing on ahead. I'd say that feeling is what makes rampaging and slaughtering enemies so satisfying in the end--surviving hordes of monsters wouldn't mean much if they weren't dangerous as hell for an unprepared player.

 

(This is completely unrelated, but I think this has made me realize what slaughtermaps are: at least to me, they're maps that are completely devoid of that tension, since they just blatantly lay out all the encounters and go "come on")

Edited February 24, 2022 by Yasha

[Rudolph]

Indeed, an Arch-Vile entering the fray is usually pretty panic-inducing.

[BaileyTW]

Has some elements of it sure. I'd say at best it is action horror.

[TuomasGaming]

no

[Edward850]

Yes

[Kokoro Hane]

19 hours ago, Yasha said:

 

 

Hm, I'd honestly disagree. When you know a map in and out, yeah, there's little tension. But when you're playing a map for the first time and have no idea what traps it might spring on you or where weapons and ammo are, there definitely can be a sense of helplessness (or at least, being unprepared) and nervousness about pressing on ahead. I'd say that feeling is what makes rampaging and slaughtering enemies so satisfying in the end--surviving hordes of monsters wouldn't mean much if they weren't dangerous as hell for an unprepared player.

 

I probably should've phrased it better, but I see what you mean. When you do not know a map, you can be unprepared and it is absolutely unnerving. But it still doesn't feel like "horror", since again, DOOM has more of an action feel to it so despite the fact there may be traps, and there may be scarcity, tension, etc. and you feel helpless at certain points, it's different from games designed as horror where you have little to nothing. I guess that is the point I wanted to get across, but I do agree, not knowing a map can definitely make you feel very unprepared, which has its own feeling of helplessness to it, but it's certainly in a different way than horror games where you usually don't have a sure way of defending yourself. Like in DOOM, you're mostly confident, but in horror games... you're not, or at least most of the time lol. And as much as I am not a big fan of Doom 3, that one definitely took more of the survival horror route, which is why it didn't feel like DOOM lol. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Kokoro Hane

[out_of_service]

I would say it's an action game with horror elements.

[Gez]

Doom is:

• An action game
• A military game
• A sci-fi game
• A fantasy game
• A horror game

None of these have to be mutually exclusive. You're a space marine fighting demons and demon-possessed zombies on space bases and in Hell.