Some of the visionary talent DOOM has launched a Kickstarter for a new project, an old-school FPS called Blackroom.
As one of the creators Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, and Quake, there was once a time when John Romero was one of the true superstars of video game development. In spite of some big (and well-publicized) setbacks, he never stopped making video games, although his profile shifted to a more behind-the-scenes role on smaller projects.
It would seem however that Romero is ready for his close-up once again. Back in January, he released a new level for the original DOOM that, in spite of it being over two decades after the game’s release, was very well received. In the above link, he also revealed that his reason for making the level was as a ‘warm up’ for something new, and now we know that this new project is called Blackroom.
Through a new development studio called Night Work Games, Romero is working with Adrian Carmack (another co-founder of DOOM from back in the day) on Blackroom. They have started up a Kickstarter for it, and on their page have described it as “a visceral, varied and violent shooter that harkens back to classic FPS play with a mixture of exploration, speed, and intense, weaponized combat.” It also makes mention of terms such as ‘circle strafing’ and ‘rocket jumping’, which unearths a whole bunch of emotions for those of us who came of age playing Quake.
As this is a Kickstarter project, the page (which you can find here) contains a bunch of information about pledge rewards, timelines, and all the usual bells and whistles. The true highlight however is the following video, which features John Romero himself talking in some detail about his plans for this game.
Because of the history involved with this development team, it would seem inevitable that Blackroom will be compared to Romero’s previous work; such is the burden of having done so much landmark work at an early age. Regardless of that however, there’s always room for a fun throwback of a shooter, so here’s hoping Blackroom achieves its goals and comes to fruition as intended.
Blackroom’s projected completion date is December 2018.
