Spoiler alert: the video above contains footage of late game enemies and areas, including bosses. Probably best to wait and finish the game yourself before viewing.
In case demons ever overrun Earth, here are a few hot tips. Demons are especially weak to the following:
- Being torn limb from limb
- Eviscerating gut punches
- Chainsaw contact
- Impalement via their own horns
- Rude comments about their appearance
In Doom, id’s latest demon-killing sim, nearly all of these (and more) are accurately represented through Glory Kills, a melee kill system that rewards with health drops at the risk of closing the gap between you and your enemies. I was initially worried that Glory Kills would be a repetitive, prolonged, and unnecessary system, thrown in to look good in marketing material. As it turns out they’re very quick, incredibly helpful, and due to the sheer variety of contextual animations per enemy, they’re continually comic and entertaining. Depending on where you’re standing and looking at the enemy before executing a Glory Kill (and whether you have a chainsaw or Berserk powerup in hand) a unique animation plays out. And there are a ton.
YouTuber The KingofPikmin spent hours in the campaign and custom SnapMaps poking at the system to see how many Glory Kills they could capture. The result is nearly 10 minutes long, and with each animation at five or so seconds apiece, that’s a lot of demon death. We almost feel bad for the little hellions—what if you could talk to them?
For more on Doom, check out our review in progress, and stay tuned for our final word, due later this week.
