Doom 1 and 2 = NOT EXTREMELY VIOLENT

[permatemp vip]

Do any of you disagree with critics from way back when because they sai it was more voilent than anything? Right. Look at games now. CoD is more violent, and I hate CoD. Anyone agree with my statement at the beginning?

[Rockhead Gaz]

You're absolutely right, of course. Thing is, way back then, video games were generally regarded as almost being like toys for kids. There was no proper ratings system in place, and anybody could get their hands on them. Now, there is a ratings board (several, in fact), and games are age-rated appropriately. The public view of games has changed, too, from being seen as kids toys, to mainstream entertainment with products available for all age ranges. Because of this, and due to advancements in technology, violence, and realistic portrayals of violence are more commonplace in games now, so it is more accepted.

So, yeah, even though I think you're absolutely spot on, and I'm of the opinion that people who bang on about violence in games generally don't have a clue what they're talking about, you have to remember that the gaming landscape was much different then, it was much more niche, and seen to be much more childish than it is now. Interesting you should mention CoD, too, because it's one of the few modern games (MW2) that has stirred up controversy for its portrayal of violence.

Short version, yeah, I agree with you. But it was different times.

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

I actually find the classic "Doom" games more hilarious than scary, mainly due to the monster in-fighting when started

[BetaRaddish]

It's just a sign of the times. Take the original Mortal Combat and the hate that game gained over its content. Go further back and you have Raid over Moscow for the C64 which gained some heat due to the cold war ect. By todays standards Doom 1 + 2 are tame. But back then it was a politicians wet dream.

[Torhrolfr]

The age should indeed be decreased to 12 if not alredy!

[permatemp vip]

Originally posted by Lennart Stek:

The age should indeed be decreased to 12 if not alredy!

I completely agree. Why rated M when its barely violent?

[Sokar]

You have to know that back in 1993, no one was used to that kind of violence. In its time, it was inthinkable violent. Still today some death animations are quiet explicit, like killing a macubus and its head splatters and you can see his brain.
But times have changed. With better technology, more realistic violence was possible. Quake 2 was almost completly banned from Germany because you could see the marks when you hit an enemy. Today, nobody cares about it.
Btw Doom 1, Doom 2 and Quake 1 aren't banned in Germany anymore, with Doom 1 and 2 rated 16+ and the violence is declared comicish.

[Rockhead Gaz]

I agree that it seems tame, even a bit silly, when compared to modern games, but I see no point in the game being retroactively re-rated. An age restriction is not something that publishers have control over. The game would have to be submitted to the ratings board, then re-assessed before a new rating MIGHT be given. Even then, the age of a game is not a certainty that a lower rating will be given. It IS still violent, after all, even though it looks inferior, technologically, to modern games. You wouldn't re-rate RoboCop because it's 25 years old, right? Besides, the games appeal, by and large, is with the older generation of gamers, anyway.

[kevansevans]

Get ready to have all yo' minds blown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWP3wvAUuQ

[Rockhead Gaz]

@kevansevans
That's how Doom should be. To be fair, it still looks pretty silly and cartoony, but it illustrates my point quite nicely: violence is violence. It doesn't matter how pixellated and low resolution it is, it IS still violence. Hence the reason it's probably not a great idea to re-rate the older Doom games. They were given a rating when they were released (or possibly for a re-release), and I think it still applies.

[ACBlackJ0ck]

If you think Doom is tame by today's standards check out Night Trap on the Sega CD. It was one of the games that created the video game ratings (Alongside Mortal Kombat) and well... look at it now. It's like a B-Movie with really bad acting

[Kenshiro3]

Brutal Doom makes most modern games look tame...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=samQ-Xxc1M4

[DOOMJESUS]

yak, yak, yak, listen to you young people pontificating like you think you know something about something.
i doubt any of you people were alive in 1993 much less playing games.
none of you knows what the hell you are talking about...

[Mr. Bovine Joni]

What is that Brutal Doom? Is that just a mod for the original Doom or is that how it actually looks when you purchase this game?

[Megaflux]

honestly.. it has more to do with satan than with blood shed.

[Rockhead Gaz]

Megaflux makes a good point. A lot of the controversy levelled at the game I think came from it's satanic imagery. But I think a good chunk of it was also directed at the level of violence in the game.

It's also a fairly broad generalisation to assume that none of us here know what we're talking about, or that none of us were around in 1993. I certainly was, and I'm pretty sure others who have contributed to the thread were, too. Must be great to be the wise old sage in all matters related to Doom, though.