Doom debut gameplay trailer brings out the gore and violence at E3 2015

Today Bethesda revealed an extended gameplay trailer for its upcoming shooter, Doom. Starting off on Mars, the trailer saw the player enter an abandoned space station with a single goal: killing demons.

While the footage shown began with the creepy atmosphere of an abandoned station on Mars, it was only moments later that several demons teleported to existence and began attacking the player. Creepy Imps, Revenants and the Mancubus returned in all their id Tech 6-powered glory. Shooting guns was one way to fight them off, but the trailer debuted a completely new feature: animated kills using the player's fists. Brutal punches were pulled, jaws were ripped, and heads of demons literally torn apart, resulting in a rain of blood and gore. Select actions took things up a notch, such as the kill which involved tearing the leg off a demon and beating their head in with it, or jumping off a ledge to stomp down on the head of an enemy.

Bodies of enemies would burst apart to drop health and ammo upon death, but their remains would linger behind on the battlefield, gradually building a nice pile of entrails as more and more demons were slain. A part of me hopes to recreate the piles of demon bodies I built in the old Doom games.

Although the melee attacks were bloody and initially satisfying to see, it was the weapons that did the bulk of the damage. The shotgun, super shotgun, chaingun, assault rifle, heavy assault rifle, plasma rifle, super chainsaw, and BFG were all used. Switching between weapons was achieved by bringing up a radial menu, which would slow the game while the player chose one.

Doom also showcased more verticality than previous games had, introducing the ability to double-jump, and grab onto and clamber up ledges. The environment also provided seemingly contextual actions, such as punching a demon off a ledge.

The gore didn't end with just killing demons however; one particular obstacle required the player to tear the arm off a dead body to press the hand onto a security scanner to access the next area. The player themselves wasn't immune to losing limps, with a demon tearing the arms off the player and beating them bloody, resulting in their death.

The gameplay trailer also showcased a multiplayer mode, which will include powerups, a variety of maps, and the ability to play as the demons themselves.

The second single-player trailer saw the protagonist enter Hell to fight through groups of demons. To kick this off, the protagonist dove off a ledge and fell an extended height. The fall did not appear to damage the player too heavily, thanks to an "impact compensation" ability or piece of equipment -- perhaps something the player can upgrade or purchase later.

This part culminated with the player going head-to-head with Doom's iconic Cyberdemon, armed with the series' iconic BFG. The trailer cut to black before we got to see the gun fire.

While seeing the meat of the game was exciting at first, I found myself becoming desensitized to the kill animations. Ripping off a demon's leg and beating its head in is cool, but seeing it 10 times in a few minutes? The repetition got stale real fast. However, the weapon choices on offer and seeing the demon types again was enough to strike the itch for a nostalgic round of Doom in me -- one that I may well have to scratch when the new game is out.

Doom will be released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC in the second quarter of 2016.