Newcomer Concept: Doomslayer/Doomguy
I’ll start with my top Newcomer wish - The protagonist of the DOOM series and the grandfather of the FPS genre, Doomguy, or how he is more commonly known these days, the Doomslayer!
Let me get this out of the way: I do understand that Doomguy/slayer (I’ll be addressing him as Doomslayer through the post, since I find it more fitting for the playstyle I think he would have) might be a bit too… Brutal for the family friendly image of Nintendo. But, as many have raised before me, Smash Bros already have Snake and Bayonetta, series with similiar amount of violence (more so Bayonetta than Metal Gear). And besides, Smash is no stranger to doing a bit of censoring (Bayonetta doesn’t get nearly as nude as in her games, Snake doesn’t pull out any realistic looking guns other than the RPG), and DOOM 2016 gave him weapons more futuristic and unrealistic unlike his weapons in the original game. And not just that, but in a game full of gaming icons, Doomslayer fits the bill almost too well, given his popularity in the 90′s and more importantly, the pioneer in the first person shooter genre alongside Wolfenstein. I’ll refrain from talking about how likely he is to making it, since I don’t think I should put anyone’s expectations high or low and because a few years back, I’d have told you Cloud would’ve never made it into Smash.
Anyway, let’s rip and tear through Doomslayer and see how he would play! First, let’s get through what I think would be his central “gimmick”: DOOM is very much a game about jumping into the action, so I feel like he’d have to be a very offensive fighter, a one man bulldozer through everyone in his path. His B-moves would be definitely ranged attacks made of his weapons, however, if Doomslayer just had to stand far from his enemy and attack, I feel like it just wouldn’t be the correct representation for the character. To “fix” this, I’d make Doomslayer have an ammo count for his weapons, and to replenish the ammo count, he’d have to grab his enemies, similarly to the glory kill mechanic in DOOM 2016 (except not as gory, you know). That way, even if the player tried to zone out the enemy, he simply would be forced to come up close so he can grab that ammo.
So, what would be his move set in general then? Well, his A-moves could be him going berserk on the enemies and just using the good old fists and boots. However, for the Smash attacks, I think he could use the chainsaw, and it would also utilize the ammo system, so if you were with ammo for it, the chainsaw would deal continuous damage to the foe before sending them flying, while when the chainsaw ran out of ammo, it’d simply wack the enemy like your usual sword, dealing less damage.
B-moves would be were his weapons are used most. His neutral B could be something like the pistol, and similarly to Bayonetta’s Bullet Climax, where he can either keep shooting small bullet shots, or hold down B to shot a more powerful blast, just like the Charged Energy Shot modification from DOOM 2016. Up B could be the Delta V Jump-Boots, although they could also be used as the animation for his second jump, which would be more fitting, however, consider that it might be best to have his recovery not have to rely on the ammo system (although Robin also does have to deal with not having recovery if he wastes Elwind). Alternatively, Up B could be the famous Rocket Jumping technique that actually had it’s beginning in DOOM, but then became famous through Quake, damaging the enemies below Doomslayer, and if he doesn’t have ground below him, well we could take the liberty of just having an explosion on his feet. Of course, this would waste Rocket ammo, so the players should be careful about using it, and while I don’t think that should be the case, if Smash wanted to be real accurate to the games, Rocket Jumping could always damage you too in the process of using it. His Side B could be the Combat Shotgun, simply because it wouldn’t be right to have Doomslayer without a Shotgun at his disposal. Extra points if his shotgun was actually the Super Shotgun, which would’ve been even more iconic, but would be more of a pain to adapt, given that it looks far too much like a realistic gun. Down B could be used to fill in with just about any weapon, but I’ll say the Gauss Cannon that needs to be charged up to shot a powerful blast, just like Samus’ Charge Shot.
However, if you are a DOOM enthusiast, you know there’s is only one weapon missing from his arsenal that he just HAS to have. None other than the BFG, which would be reserved for his Final Smash, quickly moving forward, destroying everything in it’s path, and launching enemies quickly through the air. Alternatively, if transformation Final Smashes ever come back, he could enter berserk mode and be locked to his A moves, doing massive damage and being unable to be launched.
As far as things that aren’t moves… Well, I’ll refrain from touching representation besides a character in Smash, but as far as Doomslayer goes, I think the obvious answer for a costume would be his classic look (Especially the one from Quake), which would be an easy costume to make and would please fans of the classics (and the simplistic design would be more fitting to the mascots of Smash). His taunts and victory animations are easy: Just take a few poses or something from the DOOM 2016 online and call it a day (bonus points for the Carlton or “Pennywise” dance). Also, if Doomslayer doesn’t do his classic scream when he is blasted off stage, you might as well not add him. And if he doesn’t get into stage while cocking a shotgun like when he leaves the elevator at the start of DOOM 2016… Again, you might as well not add him in the game.
Overall, he has the chance of being a pretty unique and interesting fighter. I know some might point to the ammo mechanic being similar to Robin’s gimmick, but I think there is enough there to differentiate the two in terms of fighting and what the gimmick implies for the character. I’d say he totally fits the bill of being a gaming legend, and definitely deserves a spot among the fighters of Smash. Are you a fan of Doomslayer? Would you be happy if he got in the game? How would you react? Do you have any other idea of how he could play like? Let me know!
