John Romero is Planning Another First Person Shooter
That's right: John Romero of Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein fame is designing another shooter.
Ok, before we get too excited, let's just sit back and remind ourselves that John Romero was the mastermind behind Daikatana. There, we said it.
Yet before that PC gaming "bomb" annihilated our hopes and dreams, the great Romero helped put the FPS genre on the gaming map by working on classic titles at id Software including Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. We hated to see him go when he left id to form Ion Storm, and weren’t too thrilled with his numerous projects thereafter. But maybe, just maybe, he'll re-heat those creative juices that helped make id's popular shooters so great with his own upcoming FPS.
"Yes, I'm definitely going to be making another shooter and it will be on PC first," he explained to Eurogramer. "I don't want to talk about the details but I already know what it is. I've already kind of designed the thing and it's pretty cool - though of course, I am going to say that. I think it's a neat design, I haven't seen the design anywhere else."
Currently Romero is CEO of social game studio Loot Drop, but he didn't say if the new shooter will be an official Loot Drop release, or a side project. But what he did admit was that he hasn't formally started working on the project, only that the overall design has been etched in stone. Even more, it will be "MMO-ish."
"It's a persistent game, it has persistent player data, the character grows and gets better over time," he said. "I think most gamers expect that now anyway, but this was a design I'd done a while ago. I think it's pretty valid. You will be playing the game as you would expect a shooter to feel, but the specifics of your situation, narrative wrapper and reward system are all unique. I wouldn't want to give out any specifics until I'm close to shipping it. I've learned my lesson about talking too soon about specific game features and release dates."
To date, the last shooter Romero produced was Red Faction for the N-Gage gaming phone back in 2003. And again, let's not forget Daikatana which is considered to be one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history. Still, Romero believes he has the right tools to make a shooter that fits within modern times.
"I don't think it's changed other than that the 3D graphics have to be good and there are a ton of basics in the design that have to be there for players to feel that it's a current game," he said. "But I already have a lot of that stuff designed and none of what I've done has become invalid over time based on today's shooters. So I don't think there's an issue with it feeling dated or feeling old. It's not going to be an old-school shooter - it won't be pixelated. But it will probably have some faster movement than most games have right now."
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To read the full interview, head here.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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deksman I'm so sick of shooters. They saturated the market with them - most of which are brainless.Reply
What happened to proper adventure games and scifi games that spur the imagination and prompt one to use their brain?
Granted, there are a few shooters that incorporate a good story and some thinking, but those are rare.
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Trialsking deksmanI'm so sick of shooters. They saturated the market with them - most of which are brainless.What happened to proper adventure games and scifi games that spur the imagination and prompt one to use their brain?Granted, there are a few shooters that incorporate a good story and some thinking, but those are rare.Reply
It's called a shooter for a reason. If it moves you shoot it. That's like saying "I'm so sick of RPGs because I have to play a role." -
DroKing I agree that This is cool because of the legendary programmer working on the new game but another FPS really? I dont think we need any more FPS unless its not a COD\BF clone then Im all for it. But if its a clone then GTFO.Reply -
shin0bi272 Ive had an idea for a game that hasnt really been taken advantage of but I have no money or ability to model 3d objects or skin and very little programming skill. Alas I'll never see my game made unless I give away the idea and someone actually takes it seriously and doesnt flame me off the face of the planet.Reply
to be clear I wasnt mocking Romero I was speaking personally. The closest Ive seen to my idea for a game was borderlands but even that was a long way off from what I wanted to do -
nukemaster I would forward to a GOOD well thought out FPS game. Has been a while since we had something as good as some of the games of old....Reply -
Achoo22 Romero and Carmack are apparently household names now, but does anyone remember Michael Abrash? Of all the former iD guys to get excited about, he's the one I'd gush about.Reply -
shloader "I've learned my lesson about talking too soon about specific game features and release dates"Reply
So... not another Daikatana. Check. Well good, wish him the best of luck. I think he's due another chance to really succeed. He's toiled in relative obscurity long enough. -
fudoka711 deksmanI'm so sick of shooters. They saturated the market with them - most of which are brainless.What happened to proper adventure games and scifi games that spur the imagination and prompt one to use their brain?Granted, there are a few shooters that incorporate a good story and some thinking, but those are rare.Reply
So go play Mass Effect. You get a little of both. There's other games that combine the two genre's as well. Your options aren't actually that limited and those "rare" great shooters aren't so rare afterall.
And there are good shooters, and not so good shooters. Think BF3 vs MW3 (we all know BF3 is better). Or the original counter strike. -
memadmax Romero's time is over....Reply
Unless he got over his arrogance, and can put together a good team to build a good game.
The time of lone wolf programmers putting out good games is long over. You need to have teams of specialized folks now to put something out that is worthy of our ATI 7k computers....
So, hopefully, this guy now has organizational/leadership skills under his belt or its gonna flop....
=D