Brutal Doom is a game mod for the 1993 first-person shooter Doom created by the Brazilian developer Sergeant Mark IV (Marcos Abenante). It adds numerous gameplay elements and graphical effects. The mod has been in development since 2010, and continues to release new updates.^[1][2]

Gameplay

Brutal Doom adds many gameplay features, such as blood splattering, allied Marines, an updated particle system, the ability to drive vehicles such as tanks,^[3][4][5] stealth kills, headshots, and a host of "Mortal Kombat-esque fatality animations."^[6][7] Enemy AI has been revamped, with most enemies gaining new attacks and behaviors.^[7]

The mod includes new and updated guns, such as a flamethrower, the demonic Unmaker, assault shotguns, new rifle types, a grenade launcher and even allows the player to equip enemy weapons in the form of Revenant missiles or a Mancubus' flame cannon.^[8] Weapon behavior is also changed, with a fully working reload system for most guns alongside weapon recoil and iron sights.

Reception

The mod was praised by John Romero, who jokingly said that if Id Software had released the original Doom with the features of Brutal Doom, they would have "destroyed the gaming industry".^[9] Dominic Tarason of Rock, Paper, Shotgun remarked how the mod "risen to such ubiquity that it has spawned a whole parallel mod scene of its own" and considered it "a game in its own right at this point".^[10] Andras Neltz of Kotaku said that it was "shaping up to be one of the modding greats".^[11] TechRadar called it "the most modernised, spectacular Doom mod to date".^[12] Chris Plante of Polygon called it "incredible", "stomach-churning" and "hysterical".^[13]

Brutal Doom won the first ever Cacoward in 2011 for "Best Gameplay Mod"^[14] and the "Mod of the Year" award by Mod DB in 2012^[15] and 2017.^[16]

In 2021, Brutal Doom surpassed five million downloads on Mod DB.^[17]