Doom Eternal's game director has said he's put a "lot of thought" into the possibility of adding a female protagonist to the Doom franchise.
Speaking on an id Software stream during his Director's Playthrough of Doom Eternal (via VideoGamesChronicle), Hugo Martin said that he's "thought about it," when asked about the possibility of a female Slayer protagonist. "I would really strive to have it impact the gameplay in a way that was meaningful. I’ve definitely put a lot of thought into that, actually," the game director continued.
Martin elaborated, saying that he'd rather the change impact gameplay instead of being a simple reskin for the existing Doom Slayer. "I think if we did it, I’d want it to be lethal. I think it’s interesting how it would impact the Glory Kills and the weapons that she would have. The fighting style [would] certainly [be] all aggression, absolutely, but a different type of aggression" Martin said.
"Tonally, when it comes to designing the action, you think about, ‘if The Slayer is a Ferrari, then what would a female Slayer be? What would a Medieval slayer be?’ How would that affect things and what sort of analogies would you draw from that to allow it to influence the experience? It definitely would be cool," the director concluded.
Even without a name, Doom's protagonist has always been a male character, nicknamed the "Doomguy" in some instances by various games across the long-running series. A female lead would be a first for id Software's franchise, in both the retro Doom games and the modern reboot saga.
Right now for Doom Eternal, we're waiting on the forthcoming release of both The Ancient Gods: Part 2 DLC, as well as the next-gen upgrades for the game to the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. id's sequel will offer a free next-gen upgrade for anyone who already owns the game on current-gen platforms.
For our list of all the games set to launch over the remainder of 2021, head over to our new games 2021 guide for more.
