The Flashlight of Doom

I first saw Doom 3 back in 2006 when Vorlynx was playing it.  I saw him get as far as shortly after the lights went off and the infamous choice between flashlight or gun was the ultimate question.  I myself played Doom 3 back in 2010 knowing full well what I was getting into, knowing that the choice between seeing an enemy and not seeing potentially a dozen denizens of Hell was the choice to be made.

By this time I already knew of the duct tape mod but I knew that the game had been created with the idea that the game could be played without a constant light source.  I could not believe that that would be an oversight by both id and the game testers.  The game could be played and completed with the game played as is, without the duct tape mod, designed as is.  So, that is the way I played the game.

Granted, I did require Vorlynx's help, but I have previously talked about that and it happened in a very well lit portion of Hell, so it had nothing to do with the lack of light.

I will hipsterize myself and say that I am proud of the fact that I could go from beginning to end without the use of the flashlight mod.  Although not using the flashlight did not leave Duke completely in the dark as the area would be illuminated by the muzzle flash, which I felt was more terrifying as creatures lumbered towards you and you filled them with bullets upon bullets upon plasma blast upon everything else in your arsenal.

When Bethesda released the BFG edition of Doom 3, the duct tape mod came pre-attached and I personally am glad that I bought the Doom pack on Steam before the revamped edition.  I however, do not know if the now soldered mod is able to be turned off, but I would imagine that is should be.

This was a similar issue with the first Dementium: The Ward game from Renegade Kid.  In the sequel, Dementium II, the ability to hold a flashlight and a single handed weapon became available.  Again, for single handed weapons only.  If you wanted to hold a shotgun/assault rifle/flame thrower you were unable to hold or attach the flashlight since, as obviously both hands were occupied with your death dealing boomsticks.  This adaptation from the first game I was perfectly fine with as it was created and implemented by the creators.

But now here is where the potential hypocritical view comes into play.  Why would I be fine with the flashlight in one game and not with a similar modification in another game?  I think it really comes down to the audience reaction being "I'm going to make this game better/playable because you didn't when you made the game."  The difference I find is that Dementium could not be modded so the change to Dementium II was made by the developers, but only to a certain extent that made sense within the game.  

Now, if Doom 4 were to have the option of having a flashlight mount on two handed guns, I think I would be fine with that mainly because the game would be made with that in mind as opposed to the afterthought that the Duct Tape Mod was.  

Basically Doom 3 was designed without the Duct Tape Mod in mind as opposed to Dementium II which was designed with a modified flashlight.  If Doom 4 follows suit, I will be perfectly happy.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Noooooooooooo!