DOOM: Reawakened

**DOOM: Reawakened** is an upcoming first-person shooter indie mod made for *DOOM II: Hell on Earth*. It is set to be the unofficial sequel to *DOOM II: Hell on Earth* in a fan-made rebooted storyline disregarding the events of *Final DOOM* and *DOOM 64*, and it will come with a first-person shooter engine modified via GZDoom source port.

## Gameplay

The gameplay for this mod will be no different than that of id Software's *The Ultimate DOOM*, *DOOM II: Hell on Earth*, and *Final DOOM*. There are, however, a few modifications that will be included. Specifically, the player will be able to move the mouse around to look up and down. Another change will include the ability to jump. Every level will have the three-color keys (card keys and skull keys) to open locked doors, and the number of enemies will be higher than usual. New weapons will be added, along with the Plasma Gun (now being dubbed as the Plasma Gun Mk. I) being replaced by the Plasma Gun Mk. II.

The player will assume the role of the Marine from the classic games, now being referred to as Old Doomguy. The player avatar will have two skins to choose from. The default skin shows Old Doomguy not wearing his iconic helmet, while the other skin has him wearing it. This is to prevent any unwanted nostalgia from anyone who plays the mod.

Meanwhile, the mod will have a second faction of enemies. The first faction will be the zombies and demons, and the second faction will be an enemy to both the player and the demons.

As of August 16, 2019, Mad Squirrel Mods has decided to add in a flashlight ability, replacing the Infrared powerup from *DOOM II: Hell on Earth*.

## Synopsis

In the year 2018, the Union Aerospace Corporation, one of the government’s top shareholders and big supplier for the military, had decided to build remote science facilities to conduct top secret projects. Two facilities were built on Phobos and Deimos, Mars’ two moons. Their biggest project was the creation of inter-dimensional space travel, the ability to teleport from planet to planet; but the project itself had many failed attempts. Two years later, the Mars expedition uncovered an ancient teleportation device. They salvage its technology and try to create mankind's first planet-to-planet teleportation system. Unfortunately, in 2022, the experiment goes horribly wrong, creating a portal to another dimension. Monsters emerged from it and killed anyone on site, while other people were possessed and turned into undead minions. Only one man, a young Marine, survived the massacre and discovered this other dimension to be Hell; and the monsters that attacked were demons. Soon afterwards, another portal was discovered on Earth; and the armies of Hell had begun their invasion there. Earth was saved, and mankind was forced to rebuild. Due to the horrific events that transpired on both Mars and Earth, the UAC was blamed and had lost their reputation. The lone surviving Marine from the Mars incident was nominated as a hero.

The year is now 2052, thirty years after the events of *DOOM II: Hell on Earth*. Earth has been rebuilt, many of the world’s nations are united, and the hero of Earth is retired. The UAC is under the new management of CEO Dr. Silas Hildern, who wants to restore the company’s former reputation. This peaceful era had no longer lasted. The UAC uncover another Hell Portal and stash it aboard the science vessel Milanoorbiting Earth. The man who saved Earth during the First Demonic War has been pulled from retirement to save mankind once again. This time, the armies of Hell are out for revenge; and they have become smarter and more aware of his tactics.

## Development

Originally, the name of the mod was going to be *DOOM III: Hell Reawakened*. However, to avoid any copyright disputes (since there is already a *DOOM 3*), the name of the mod was changed and simplified. The story of the mod will follow a fan-written arc that does not include *Final DOOM* nor *DOOM 64*. The mod will not be playable with *Brutal DOOM* or *Project Brutality*, even though the modder is willing to allow other modders to create mods and source ports for the project once it is released. Development of the mod started in March 2016, using the GZDoom Builder for creating the level maps and Slade for creating new NPCs and items. The mod's release date has not yet been confirmed as the project is still at its early stages. Some assets from modding community site Realm 667 are being used while other assets are being made by the mod developer. Moreover, the mod will be played independently with a built-in GZDoom source port, not requiring *DOOM II: Hell on Earth* in order to play it. Mod DB is being considered as a suitable site for uploading the mod.

On February 11, 2018, Mad Squirrel Mods released the mod's first teaser on YouTube, showing some clips of the mod's early stages. No response has been made yet on the teaser, and the modder promises that he will make more videos as development progresses.

## Trivia

* The title actually has two definitions. Besides just Hell being "reawakened", the mod is to reawaken *DOOM* at its original roots.
* Attempts were made to create a multiplayer co-op. GZDoom normally does not support multiplayer. For that, the multiplayer mode has been scrapped. However, a young YouTuber going by username "Wonderland\_War Gaming" found a way to make multiplayer work locally on GZDoom; and so Mad Squirrel Mods has decided to incorporate this discovery into *DOOM: Reawakened*'s coop option.
* The story of *DOOM: Reawakened* will be set in an alternate history, seeing that the construction of the science facilities on Phobos and Deimos was in the year 2018 and that technology has become more advanced and superior than the technology in the real 2018. Specifically, it is the same alternate history from the events of *The Ultimate DOOM* and *DOOM II: Hell on Earth* with a few additions being made.

## References

1. ↑ "How to play GZDoom Multiplayer!! Coop and Deathmatch", YouTube, Wonderland\_War Gaming, 23 May 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r41a1qVQMhs