Doom the Ultraviolent action game from Id software is famous for its action soundtrack and blood pumping ost but what might be surprising is that there is a moral ideology behind all of the violence.
Yes, the game that where you viscous rip apart demons and blows them away with a shotgun has a moral theme that is explored through most of the game.
This moral conflict is the one between morality based on consequences versus one based on principals actions, exiled between the two central characters of the game – The Doom Slayer and Dr. Samuel Hayden.
One of these characters rips apart demons and ironically that same charterer is the one with moral principles.
Dr. Samuel Haden is all about the results so much so is that he abandoned his human body in order to keep working- he so obsessed with good results that he is the one who decides to use hell as a power plant for human civilization. He knows the risk but thinks that is all worth it, even if they let out a few demons and some of his workers get killed.
Doom guy on the other fist doesn’t give much regard to the idea of the greater good.
He knows first-hand the evil that the demons can do his first priority is stopping the invasion.
This conflicts with Haydon’s point of view that there could be some good benefits about this as he constantly tries to work with Doom guy to keep his operation going.
This dichotomy is seen in the opening where doom-guy chunks the computer screen that Hayden Is using to speak to him from after Hayden said: “I think we can resolve this situation in a way the benefits us both.” An example of how he is always trying to take advantage of a situation to meet a good end. As soon as he says this Doom guy loses interest in the conversation a and throws away the screen, knowing exactly what kind of man Hayden is.
The conversation continues when doom guy gets into an elevator at the end of the opening, where his perspective on the whole situation is made beautifully clear when Hayden states “it was all for the good of mankind” and doom guy turns his head to a corpse in the elevator and then smashed the monitor which Hayden is speaking through.
So remember when playing doom you’re not just indulging in violence you are also taking part in an interesting discussion on moral perspectives.
The Trans-Feminine Gaze 