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This Is What We Want In Doom 4
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, but when those Doom 4 images surfaced, it got me thinking about what I’d like to see in the upcoming sequel. The last one didn’t exactly wow the world with its overabundance of monster closets and super dark, claustrophobic corridors that you could only light up if you had your pistol out. Thankfully, what the game lacked in variety it made up in incredible sound design and lighting effects. Actually, the more I talk about Doom 3 the more it sounds like Dead Space.
It makes sense really, because the two games are pretty similar. So if that’s the case then Doom 4 could probably take a few pages out of Dead Space 2’s book, titled How I Improved Upon Every Little Thing About My Predecessor. Yeah, Dead Space 2 sounds like a bit of a dick, but that doesn’t change the fact that action/horror games have come a long way since Doom 3 came out way back in 2004. Head past the break to hear me go on and on and on about what I’d like to see in the game, and if you’re lucky I might even let you comment with your own ideas. I hate to say it, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I’m thinking about Doom — and I think about it often, in case you’re curious — is monster closet. That’s because the last game was infested with them, to the point where it completely took me out of the game. This isn’t unusual for games like these; take a good look at Dead Space and you’ll see it’s peppered with ventilation shaft monster closets. They’re a camouflaged a little better, but they’re still a problem because they make the game less believable.
You might be saying to yourself, “Why Adam, did you just say ‘less believable’? In a game about fighting the minions of hell?” to which I’ll reply with a resounding yes. Immersion is a necessity for horror games. If you’re not invested in the world you’re exploring and the player you’re controlling, then you never have a reason to be scared. By the time Monster Closet #36 came along, I had already lost much of my emotional investment in the game.
The solution? Hide them, and preferably in a clever way. That’s about as much help I can provide without having to charge.
The second thing that pops up in my mind when I think about Doom is how insanely dark the third game was. I’m all for a creepy, dark atmosphere where the air is thick with dread and you can’t see what’s waiting for you around the next corner. The only problem is, I could rarely see what was going on anywhere, because it was just too dark and the only gun I had that came with a flashlight was the pistol. The only problem with that, besides the obvious issue with only having one flashlight-enabled gun, is the pistol sucks. When Pinky comes around the corner and threatens to make me watch while it defiles everyone I love, I don’t want to have a pistol ready. I want to have a laser-guided rocket launcher out so I can immediately ruin his day before he ruins mine.
This one’s an easy fix: attach flashlight to all guns. There, problem solved.
If you’ve made it this far you undoubtedly know what the BFG is. If you’ve never heard of it then you should Google it right now. Don’t worry, we’ll be here when you get back.
Done? It’s awesome, right? Ok, so besides being one of the most iconic video game weapons, the BFG was really just insanely fun to use. It made you feel like a total badass, and that’s a feeling that’s not quite present in Doom 3. What we need is a new BFG — a new gun that brings back some of that magic into Doom 4. I also suggest bringing in the Wingsticks from Rage, because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as caving in the skull of an unsuspecting enemy with the blade of a well-thrown Wingstick.
While we’re on the subject of combat, shooters have evolved quite a bit over the years, especially when it comes to taking cover in the heat of combat. This is where I believe a 360 degree cover system a la FEAR 3 could be a fantastic addition to the series. The days of running behind a wall and crouching when the shit hits the proverbial fan are long over, and there’s plenty of innovation in this area for Doom to take from.
A few years back, before Rage came out not with a bang but an almost inaudible whimper, I read an interview where id Software’s John Carmack was talking about the upcoming game. I’ll never forget something he said about one of the dev team’s goals for Rage, and that was to have a lot of 12’s. Doesn’t make much sense at first, but he went on to explain that one of the many things they wanted to accomplish with the game were moments the average gamer would rate a 12 out of 10. This meant they wanted to have these spectacular set pieces or sequences in the game that couldn’t be matched in any other game. Whether or not they succeeded in this goal is debatable, but it’s an goal I’d like to see accomplished in Doom 4. With the exception of more recent action/horror games like Dead Space 2, this genre tends to be more about subtlety over spectacle. That approach really isn’t something I’d like to see too much of in Doom. Instead, I’d like to kick tons of demonic ass in the most brutal and twisted ways imaginable.
So what about the multiplayer? That’s a popular thing to add in horror games these days. Well, you might expect me to shut that idea down fast, and 99.9% of the time you’d be correct. Most horror games don’t need a multiplayer, and most that attempt to include more often than not end up failing. Doom is an exception however, because this is a game that’s made for multiplayer. The level design, guns, and world are ideal for the tried and true Deathmatch or Capture the Flag modes, and since that’s id’s bread and butter, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of multiplayer in Doom 4.
In case my support of competitive multiplayer in a horror game hasn’t blown your mind already, I’d also like co-op. If I’m going to fight the legions of hell, I’d very much like to do it with a friend, or better yet, friends.
If you didn’t want to or didn’t have the time to read that long-winded summation of everything I’d like to see in Doom 4, here’s a handy outline:
1. It’s okay to liberally borrow from Dead Space 2.
2. Come out of the (monster) closet
3. More flashlights.
4. Shower me with Wingsticks.
5. Go crazy with the multiplayer.
Now it’s your turn to tell me what you’d like to see added, changed, or removed in Doom 4.
Toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting
We are now one full month into Spring 2024, which kicked off on Tuesday, March 19 and comes to an end with the start of Summer on Thursday, June 20. This year’s summer movie season has a whole bunch of exciting horror highlights, including A Quiet Place: Day One, MaXXXine, and Alien: Romulus, but let’s hold that particular thought until June rolls around.
We’re here today to talk about Spring 2024 and the many horrors we still have left before the weather gets warmer and we find ourselves in the heat of one hell of a spooky summer.
Here are 12 horror movies you don’t want to miss in Spring 2024!
STING – April 12
Two words: SPIDER HORROR. Writer/Director Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood) hopes to induce eight-legged terror with his brand new horror movie Sting, only in theaters April 12.
Of particular note, Sting features practical spider effects from 5-time Academy Award Winner Weta Workshop, with the spider in this one inspired by H.R. Giger’s Xenomorph!
In Sting, “One cold, stormy night in New York City, a mysterious object falls from the sky and smashes through the window of a rundown apartment building. It is an egg, and from this egg emerges a strange little spider. The creature is discovered by Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl obsessed with comic books. Keeping it as a secret pet, she names it Sting.
“But as Charlotte’s fascination with Sting increases, so does its size. Growing at a monstrous rate, Sting’s appetite for blood becomes insatiable.”
BLACKOUT – APRIL 12
Indie darling Larry Fessenden is back with new horror movie Blackout this Spring, Fessenden’s third movie – following Habit and Depraved – to put his own spin on classic monsters.
While Habit was centered on vampires and Depraved was a fresh take on Frankenstein’s Monster, Larry Fessenden’s Blackout is the filmmaker’s contribution to werewolf cinema.
The film follows Charley, an artist whose drinking binges blur with his sneaking suspicion that he might be a werewolf. He distances himself from those he loves and sinks deeper into solitude, his flashes of memory of his nighttime grisly acts manifested through his artwork.
ARCADIAN – APRIL 12
If Nicolas Cage is covered in blood, you better believe we’re going to be watching. Cage gets his own A Quiet Place with Arcadian, a new creature feature coming to theaters April 12.
In Arcadian, which also comes to Shudder later this year, “After a catastrophic event depopulates the world, a father (Nicolas Cage) and his two sons must survive their dystopian environment while being threatened by mysterious creatures that emerge at night.”
Jaeden Martell (IT 2017) also stars in the post apocalyptic monster movie.
ABIGAIL – APRIL 19
If you’re bummed about Melissa Barrera being fired from the Scream franchise, you’ll definitely want to get out to your local theater this month to support Abigail, the new VAMPIRE BALLERINA horror movie from Scream and Scream VI directors Radio Silence.
Barrera stars alongside fellow horror favorite Kathryn Newton (Freaky) in Abigail, which is actually the latest horror movie in Universal’s relaunched Universal Monsters Universe.
In the film, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL – APRIL 19
One of the most talked about horror movies of Spring 2024 has been the Halloween 1977-set Late Night With the Devil, which has been playing in theaters since its premiere on March 22.
Late Night with the Devil will begin streaming at home on April 19, 2024, less than one month after arriving in theaters. Shudder will be the exclusive streaming home of the movie.
David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) stars as the host of a late-night talk show that descends into a nightmare in Late Night with the Devil, set on Halloween 1977.
In the found footage-style film that captures a period aesthetic, “A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.”
INFESTED – APRIL 26
Spring 2024 is all about SPIDERS – sorry, arachnophobes! – with the previously mentioned Sting being followed by the French creature feature Infested (Vermines) later this month.
What’s particularly exciting about Infested is that its director, Sébastien Vaniček, has been hired to direct the next installment in the Evil Dead film franchise, so this will be our first taste of what Vaniček is capable of within the genre. And the buzz for this one is strong.
In his review out of Fantastic Fest last year, for starters, Bloody Disgusting’s own critic Trace Thurman raved that Infested is “one of the best spider attack movies in years.”
In the upcoming horror film, “Fascinated by exotic animals, Kaleb finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap.”
HUMANE – APRIL 26
The daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, Caitlin Cronenberg is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with IFC Films’ Humane, coming to theaters this month.
The film is described as “a dystopian satire taking place over a single day, months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to reduce the earth’s population.”
The wild premise? 20% of the world’s population must VOLUNTEER TO DIE!
“In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.”
I SAW THE TV GLOW – MAY 3
Fresh off the haunting and singularly creepy indie We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Jane Schoenbrun is back with A24‘s I Saw the TV Glow, releasing only in theaters this May.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for BD, “I Saw the TV Glow offers a layered and authentic portrait of identity, wrapped in ’90s nostalgia and surreal imagery that embeds itself deep into your psyche.” Meagan continues, “Schoenbrun delivers a singular vision of arthouse horror that entrances for its fevered dream style and insanely cool imagery.”
In A24’s latest, “Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.”
TAROT – MAY 3
Originally titled Horrorscope, a much better title if you’re asking me, Screen Gems returns to the big screen with studio horror movie Tarot this Spring, a Tarot-card themed spookshow.
When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards in the upcoming Screen Gems horror movie Tarot. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.
The hook for this one? Artist Trevor Henderson designed the film’s eight monsters!
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 – MAY 17
Bryan Bertino’s 2008 home invasion classic The Strangers spawns a brand new reboot trilogy this year, with first film The Strangers: Chapter 1 kicking things off in theaters on May 17.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 is expected to follow in Fall 2024.
Madelaine Petsch is the lead of the new reboot trilogy, playing a character who drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest.
When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers.
IN A VIOLENT NATURE – MAY 31
Slasher fans who have been hungry for a new Friday the 13th movie won’t want to miss In a Violent Nature, which plays out like a Friday movie… entirely from Jason’s perspective!
IFC Films will release In a Violent Nature exclusively in theaters on May 31.
In the film, “When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back – along with anyone in his way.”
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for Bloody Disgusting, “In a Violent Nature may offer slasher thrills and a delightfully gory rampage across the wilderness, but the approach captures the carnage through ambient realism. It results in a fascinating arthouse horror experiment that plays more like a minimalist slice-of-life feature with a grim twist.”
THE WATCHERS – JUNE 14
M. Night Shyamalan returns with the new thriller Trap this coming August, but the road to that film’s release will be paved by the feature debut of his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan.
Ishana Night directed The Watchers, in theaters from WB/New Line on June 14.
The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
Which Spring 2024 horror movies are YOU most looking forward to?
4 New Horror Movies Releasing This Week Including ‘Late Night with the Devil’ at Home
‘Ready or Not’: Radio Silence Filmmakers Tease the “Absolute Banger” of a Sequel That’s Taking Shape
‘Sting’ Review – Throwback Creature Feature Entertains With an Impressive Practical Monster
“We Built Every Creature” – ‘Alien: Romulus’ Goes Heavy on the Old School Practical Effects!
‘Terrifier 3’: Filming Has Wrapped on Damien Leone’s Christmas Slasher Sequel!
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