After all the E3 hoopla, a notable little announcement trickled out last week - a new version (of an old version) of
Doom, the classic first person shooter, is coming for the iPhone this month.
Once again, John Carmack - id Software co-founder and technical director - is pushing the limits of hardware just as he has so many times before (as I chronicle my book Masters of Doom). Real compelling 3D games have yet to find a home on the iPhone, and Doom will be a good test. Carmack is collaborating with a Dallas-based developer called Escalation on the project. Escalation includes some familiar names from Doom lore, including Shawn Green, an early id Software employee, and Tom Mustaine, a formidable Quake compettior back in the day who went on to become a developer. Â
Carmack says that the team was able to repurporse assets from Doom 3 for Resurrection. Early gameplay footage suggests a nice hybrid of stripped down Doom action with a modern sheen - and, IMHO, thankfully jettisons some of D3's ploddingly moody dark corners and shadows. It'll be interesting to see how Doom Classic, a more faithful porting of the original title, looks in comparision when it hits, supposedly this month too. And id fans take note - an iPhone spin on Wolfenstein called
WolfensteinRPG is also on the way.
David Kushner is the author of many books, including Masters of Doom, Jonny Magic & the Card Shark Kids, Levittown, The Bones of Marianna, and Alligator Candy. A contributing editor of Rolling Stone, he has written for publications including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine.
