.

Doom opens with an incantation.

“They are rage, brutal, without mercy,” the voice says. “But you—you will be worse. Rip and tear until it is done.”

Then a stone table, and chained to it, the player character, the space marine from the original game who fans took to simply calling Doom Guy. Upon arising, the player sees that it’s a tomb. Down the hall, against the sheen of sci-fi metal corridors, is Doom Guy’s armor, set into a stone tablet etched with glyphs, preserved like the bones of a saint. When Doom Guy puts it on, there’s a sense of reverence attached to it, like a resurrection. Then he gets to killing; videogame violence with the air of ritual