What Empathy Looks Like
from a game about killing demons
by Den Blonde Ulven
DOOM is a video game about one man’s crusade against the armies of hell. It is unapologetically masculine and is a testosterone-fueled power trip played through the eyes of a guy who believes all demons should be eradicated by whatever means necessary. It is infamous for having very little storytelling and prioritizes gameplay uber alles. The franchise evolved and by its third major installment, DOOM 3, it had steered away from its original unflinching vision and had diluted the original’s lean approach. The developers reverted back to form with DOOM 2016, a remake of the original. It was a massive hit with gamers and particularly longtime DOOM fans alike. However, the story of that reversion is uncommon in the converged gaming world, and a huge portion of that success can be attributed to the creative director of the remake, Hugo Martin.
Hugo Martin, game and creative director behind the rebooted DOOM games
NoClip conducted interviews with a few of the developers at ID Software to tell the story of the surprise success of DOOM 2016. The entire documentary is worth a look, but one line in particular stuck out and inspired this article. Hugo demonstrates a perfect example of empathy in the following clip:
https://tinyurl.com/dtkyv6zb from 18:50 – 19:40
“We had one or two people say ‘Oh, well, should I avoid these?’ This is early, early during testing and we’re like, I don’t think anybody who paid $60 for a DOOM game is gonna avoid a fight.”
That right there is an example of empathy. Empathy is recognizing what others want and feel. It’s not projecting your own wishes onto them, or taking what someone says they want at face value. It is recognizing what they actually want. The expression of want as opposed to actions taken are often at odds, and drilling down to the truth often requires empathy. Otherwise you only strike it by chance.
Anybody who has played a DOOM game knows the whole point is to eliminate demons with fast movement, big guns, and brutal dismemberment. It’s like playing Mario and expecting good-feeling platforming mechanics. Or a flight simulator with realistic airplane physics. If those were missing, what is the point?
The reason this is such a great example of empathy is because it absolutely demolishes the typical corporate excuse of “focus testing” that is so often relied upon by the unempathetic. Most suits lording over AAA studios would look at that early test feedback and say “We received feedback and turns out the market might not want to fight demons after all. We need to give the player the option to avoid the demons just in case they don’t want to chainsaw through their torsos. In fact, being the forward lookers we are, for the next game, let’s add a way to befriend the demons and try to see things from their perspective. After all, who are we to say the violent guy ripping heads off the mortally challenged is the one in the right.”
What Corporate wants people to think demons look like
No. People want a stand-in for St. Michael, the Archangel, not a satanic inversion of how one should be treating demons. That’s what DOOM is, a power trip combating the evil, vile, disgusting forces of hell. Hugo Martin understood this and thankfully did not take to heart the early feedback received. They bet on players wanting what every fan of DOOM knows they want, of which should never require spelling out.
And their bet paid off. DOOM 2016 turned out great, was extremely well received and led to a revival of the franchise. All because an empathetic director who understood that any fan of DOOM just wants to rip and tear through hell.
The DOOM Slayer is looking for a fight, as are his players
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