Doom: The Dark Ages - Interview with id Software's Marty Stratton

Audio transcription

"Hello everyone and welcome back to Gamereactor. Today we have a really exciting interview for you because I'm here with Marty Stratton from id Software. Now you might be familiar with Marty because he has been around id for a while and he's been doing some amazing things with the Doom brand and that's specifically why we're talking with Marty today actually because Doom the Dark Ages is getting closer and closer. So to kick things off Marty, first of all thanks for taking the time to speak with me but also you know what does it feel like to be at this point you know we're doing the Dark Ages it's felt like it's sort of come out of nowhere and now it's right on the cusp you know is everything you know all full steam ahead I guess at id Software getting ready for launch? Oh my gosh yes absolutely everybody's working hard you know it's amazing always that you get to this point in games. Games take a while to make you know three four years sometimes a little bit longer and we've been working on this since we wrapped up the DLCs for Doom Eternal so really really rewarding the team is just pushing and as passionate as ever you know we've had some we've had some just great moments with the reveal at Xbox showcase last year and we just wrapped up you know in January we did our developer direct which is something we've never done before we had a sneak peek for our audience back in August at QuakeCon so it's been it's been a blast but yeah I think you know there's been some time between these beats that is you know has kind of been quiet so I know when we came out with dev direct and said it was coming May 15th everybody's like wow that's soon so but we're really proud of the game very excited to get it in people's hands and it's our biggest and best game that we've made so really really excited."

"And you in the developer direct one of the really core elements that there that was being focused on for Doom the Dark Ages was the the more focused narrative and how it's sort of I think the big term that you you threw around was it feels like a summer blockbuster in the way that it's shaped how does having that more focused narrative enable you to build a Doom story like never before?
Yeah I mean I gotta I gotta just praise Hugo for for what he's done with the the universe and the franchise I mean he's he's really you know when you go back all the way to Doom 2016 uh I've said it in in other interviews and and uh but I feel like this game is it's been is as much as you know it is its own individual thing it's kind of been 10 years in the making or 12 years in the making because it really because it's a prequel it goes back to a time period that it was it was established in the Slayer's Testaments of Doom 2016 and we've been planting these seeds all along whether that's you know again the the events of of 2016 and what you kind of read about in that in or hear about in the Slayer's Testaments to uh things in Doom Eternal that took place you actually go to Sentinel cities in in Doom Eternal you see a ghostly figure of King Novik you see the remnants of these massive Atlan battles out you know with titans on the on the planes of um you know these uh of these levels and now you get to you get to to experience a lot of that stuff you get to go back in that time period and meet those characters you get to you get to pilot those Atlans you get to fly a dragon you actually rode on a cinema on a dragon in a cinematic in the DLC so again this is kind of like the realization of of a lot of of work that Hugo's put into the narrative and the and the lore and the design and and the team has been has been building on for years and years so that's one of the things I'm most excited about is you get to you kind of get to experience now things that have been in play but for new players who are just kind of coming to the to the brand for the first time it's really a great entry point because you get to kind of you get to experience it all fresh that you know it's a very well self-contained game in a time period has a great beginning middle and end um very satisfying end and um and so it's it's uh it's it is kind of this this culmination of of a lot of years uh in the making to to get to this point and um and and like like you know Hugo said in the direct whether it's summer blockbuster or taking the the story out of the codex and putting it into the cutscenes I think people will see just a level of um you know kind of execution um from a from a narrative delivery perspective it's still very due but but really uh you know doesn't require reading you get it all right there on the screen for you you mentioned there that you know the idea of making doing the dark ages is is almost making a a very accessible place for people to get into the story you know it's as you say a self-contained prequel in a way it also has a lot of accessibility features that you're baking into it with the with the the way that this game is is more designed as a sort of horizontal game I would guess instead of eternal which was a lot of jumping around leaping um a very yeah agile doom game do you look at this as a way to really get new people into the doom series and potentially let you know catapult them into the into doom 2016 doom eternal and potentially even former games as well yeah I mean we're always trying to to bring people into the into the I mean we love the franchise it's a great it's it's one of the one of the classic franchises in gaming you know so we're always trying to find new audiences there's a lot of people out there that like oh yeah I know doom but I've never played it so you know you always want people to be able to experience the the power fantasy the cathartic experience of being the slayer we say often there's there's a slayer in everyone you know so so we want to we want to make sure that that people can play it no matter where they are on the spectrum um what's funny about it is that oftentimes you know we we you go refers to you know uh he he's a very trained artist so you know you talk about going back to the works of the masters um we often go back to to doom and doom 2 you know at the very beginning of the project everybody plays those games again because they're just such great source material so I think players will will find um you know that as much as this is new and fresh and different particularly as it relates to doom eternal it's actually you know because it's a more grounded experience because it's built around you know uh the inspiration of those slow-moving projectiles from the original game the the very horizontal axis you know it is the the approachability of doing the dark ages it's very much based on the approachability of those original classic games that are just so good I mean we say it often we stand on the shoulders of giants and and the original work of of you know John and John Romero and Kevin and Adrian and and Tom like that that original team just created such such great things that we get to we get to continue to reference so um so yeah I mean I think as much as those are those games are still great because they were so well designed and they are very approachable I think a modern version of that is is really what people will find here um with all of the other you know trappings of modern games I mean it's it's a like I said an epic cinematic story some are blockbuster story you have a level of exploration in in the world that is you know kind of true to doom but at a kind of a scale you've never experienced before so I I really do think um you know as much as things as much as things change they they stay the same in in many ways and you mentioned there about the the new levels and the the more sandbox like areas that have been crafted for doom the dark ages what do these sort of broader levels what do they allow you to do that you couldn't do in previous doom games you know I think it's it's uh a lot of what people will experience as they kind of make their way through the journey of this game is is um kind of pace breakers and I think um you know uh the the more sandbox levels allow for again it's all it's all things that that you you know inherent are inherent to doom they're part of dna and doom doom was I mean you know exploring levels finding secrets um was was was always part of doom so this is this is again the kind of modern expansive version of that um and uh and narratively they work really well with the level that you play you played right at the um at the uh the press event we had a chance to play we had our we had a different guy go but I'm reeling of questions that are coming directly yeah yeah okay um but you know as part of that event they play uh one of our kind of sandbox levels that is um taking place uh this demonic horde is invading this sentinel castle that the shield is failing and you've got to go out there and kind of be the one man uh uh army against the hordes of demons so narratively like when you talk about like war and the scale of war in this massive demonic invasion like you want that to be to to have this scale that that really feels right so I think it works narratively from a gameplay perspective it just opens up the the experience you can you know kind of play you know play these hardened battles around uh kind of specific missions uh taking out these these um these fortifications of demons around these portals or you can you know kind of venture off and find a cave that allows you to find a secret do a puzzle and and get gold to um to upgrade your weapons and and even further increase your power and you can kind of complete those objectives in any order it's still part of a linear experience so it's not like we're you know we're kind of sending you off to to into an open world uh but those moments throughout the game and there's several of those levels um along with the levels that use the atlan and then the levels where you fly your dragon and kind of go on and off they're they're part of this that they really kind of round out this epic journey that you're on throughout the entire game um and uh and it works you know from a gameplay perspective and narratively and obviously all all stays very true to what you expect from a gym game and with the open areas as well with these like sandbox levels how can you return to them or are they sort of like you know once you've gone past this level that's it if you want to go back to it you you sort of have to experience it again as a fresh play through through the story you know what's the sort of yeah how much of it as well do you have to complete like to be able to continue and progress the story is it like a mandatory part of the open levels that you have to get through yeah i mean it's it's still i mean it's still kind of a linear experience from that perspective so you'll have you'll have those levels that they come up and um there's there's specific objectives that you have to complete in in many of them you can complete them in in any order um and then there's like a bunch of kind of like i wouldn't call them side quests that's a little bit more open-worldy but you know side missions or dungeons to explore or kind of excuse me secret caves um that kind of thing that that uh yeah are just mostly like treasures and upgrades and you know all kinds of things that that you can you can find that that again feed into almost all of that feeds into your ability to upgrade your weapons your shield and your melee so um it's definitely worth doing that stuff but not not all required but there are there are elements like just like any good you know kind of campaign there there are the things you have to complete to advance you know through the game and through the story so you've previously or it's been previously mentioned in the past that doom the dark ages uh it isn't meant to be sort of you know the end of this this part of the doom slayers journey obviously it's a prequel to to doom 2016 but it's not supposed to be like you know you finish doom the dark ages you put in a coffin that's it you wake up in doom 2016 or something like that there's there's space and room to breathe there does this mean that you are already sort of eyeing up ideas between then or is he just more leaving the door open for what potentially fans might want in the future we've always got ideas for i mean it's such a fun universe to to be working in um and and be building that uh there's there's always that you know there's always ideas and and i don't think we would ever close the door to to any one thing like this is a great you know self-contained story in that time period uh the chronicles of the slayer and the time of the sentinels uh and um but but yeah i mean it's a it's a huge canvas to work on and and i've said it before but this this game actually you know this is the realization of ideas that were started back in 2016 and carried through and eternal so like it's that's the that that's one of the most fun parts of of working on something like this is you know you really uh and and again i i always give give credit i mean hugo's done an amazing job building this universe and this lore and you know writing this story and and um uh just just really doing creating creating this expansive world for players to to explore but but always keeping it very doom you know the the slayer is the center figure in this he's the central figure in this in this war of demons he's the super weapon of gods and kings you know like it it's a it's always about you know the power and power fantasy of being the slayer um but it's just become this amazing world to that that has so many rich characters and you know i mean it's obviously amazing demons so um yeah i i i think there'll be there'll be doom games long you know long into the future one of the key elements of doing the dark ages is that you guys are sort of forsaking multiplayer this time around um does that give you new options in terms of designing new you know enemies guns mechanics and stuff like that by you know reducing the the multiplayer focus absolutely absolutely at this point when you make a multiplayer game you've really got to make a service you know and those games are great but for for us as we were making the choices you know at the very beginning of the project um you know if you looked at our at our green light deck it's it's right there like we we can't you know we don't want to do multiplayer um and and a service in favor of making the biggest most you know expansive campaign we've ever created so um it and and that decision has allowed us to do things like the atlan you know the big mech that you drive um the the dragon experience um adding those those big pacing moments that that play out throughout the game that deliver a you know a summer blockbuster story at a at a cinematic scale that we've never done those are those are very very um time money resource intensive uh endeavors that we when we when we make those decisions we know we have to deliver them at the same quality bar as um you know as as what people expect from the slayer in the combat um so uh so yeah it was it was a very deliberate thing and i'm just proud that it's you know we've been able to kind of stick with it and and and bring these to life the way to ask and do you think is this is this going to be a doom wide decision now so for sake multiplayer do you ever see one day maybe exploring it again or is potentially that going to be safe for you know future quaker installments or something like that yeah i you know like we've been so focused on this i i i say as much as we think about ideas like we leave ourselves a lot of latitude in in what we do in the future um so i would i would never say never to to really anything you know the the industry surprises me and all the time and and uh you know so we've we've been we've been laser focused on what this game was going to be for the last four years uh happy to be able to you know to to share it with fans um and be so proud of it but uh i have you know we'll see what the future holds so doom the dark ages and this is my final question for you marty as well by the way uh doom the dark ages is obviously a prequel but uh the main story of doom recently concluded with the uh ancient gods part two uh is there any have you is there any sort of part of id software that is is thinking about what comes after doom eternal ancient gods part two or are you still just focused entirely on um on the dark ages and where this is taking the doom franchise we've been entirely focused on on the dark ages it's not like we've got we don't have multiple teams working on multiple projects so um you know again hugo has done an amazing job building this universe the the team uh that works together um so there are there are always ideas there's there's other there's other ideas for things to do in the central time frame it's it's a it's a very very rich universe um but we are we are a small team that is that is always just like really focused on what we need to to execute on for fans right now and um and that has been the case literally for for dark ages so um we'll see what excuse me we'll see what comes next um but doom is you know doom's got a lot of life left in it um and uh and we we've we're never short on ideas so uh regardless of the uh the ip or or just uh creative um ambition um it's a great place to work i'm going to throw one actually cheeky final question at you but i think i already know your answer to this marty so if obviously doing the dark ages is launching in mid-may uh and it's getting closer and closer so when that time does come around what's the one part of the game that you're most excited fans to experience for themselves um yeah i this may be a cop-out answer i i think i think the totality of it i i hope players um just kind of lose themselves in it and and really kind of play through the entire experience because it is a journey um i loved the way the the second act of the game takes off uh like it's it's just you know the game grabs you um really kind of like pulls you through those early those you know that kind of first act and then into the second act and then just accelerate so i i i i loved the i just love the grandness of it and and everything that that it that it is that it accomplishes so i'm excited for that um i think i'm also excited what we've seen when we kind of press events or people in the office play at it um i think it i think it surprises people it's funny i i read the comments a lot like oh i didn't i didn't know about the shield saw but it's now my favorite web like it's my favorite thing to do like i think those are the kinds of things that when you're developing it you get it you know you play it so much you get familiar with it um and then when other people play they're like oh my god this is like super fun so something like the shield saw the utility of it the way that it flows into the entire loop of the game just the overall loop i think it's i think it's really really fun um and i i i'm excited for people to just to get their hands on it you know always always up for fans to decide on on kind of ultimately what they think but uh but you know we're really proud and i think those those aspects are what i'm most excited about well marty you've been an absolute pleasure to talk with thank you for spending some time with me today uh doom the dark ages it's nearly here may 16th i believe on pc xbox series x and s and ps5 stay tuned for that and also don't miss uh all your all the coverage and the preview that we have going out about it on your local gamers region until the next interview guys thanks for watching thank you"