Lock and load your BFG 9000s, troops! We’ve got demons to kill.
Fantasy Flight Games is releasing a new board game based on the beloved video game franchise DOOM with DOOM: The Board Game. In the video game series, you play as a United Aerospace Corporation elite marine who’s attempting to defeat an invading horde of demons at a facility on Mars. These first person shooters are both terrifying and ridiculously fun. Everything is trying to kill you. Horribly.
So how does Fantasy Flight turn a shoot-em-up video game into a board game? With a lot of creative thought, apparently. What they’ve developed is a complex, strategic, and replayable game for 2-5 players.
HOW IT WORKS
DOOM: The Board Game pits player against player rather than player against computer. One player takes on the role of The Invader. The Invader is the one opening portals and summoning demons to kill the marines. The remaining 1-4 players take on the roles of the marines attempting to survive and fend off the invasion.
The gameplay offers two operations of six missions each for the invader and marines to battle through. Every mission takes place on a unique map and presents a different set of objectives and threat levels. The invader’s goal will always be to murder the marines. Demons spawn from portals placed around the map, but how they behave will depend on if the invader draws the Horde, Infestation, or Assault threat cards. Demons vary in threat level and abilities.
The marines will have different win conditions each game, depending on what mission they draw. The marines all have the same base health points and sprinting ability, but they differ in class skills. Each marine also receives 10 starter action cards that include armor, pistol actions, and gun cards. Each card is either an action, a bonus action, or a reaction. Action and bonus cards can be chained together on a marine’s turn to cause massive damage. The reaction cards give bonuses to defending from demon attacks. But be warned, the Invader also has their own deck to rain fiery hell upon you all.
How it’s like the video games
First and foremost, the demons are straight out of DOOM, specifically Bethesda’s 2016 version. You can battle a Pinky, a Cacodemon, a Mancubus, and of course, everyone’s favorite rocket-shooting, horned badass the Cyberdemon. Just thinking about the Cyberdemon brings on flashbacks of rocket impacts to the face. Like the video games, each demon has its own strength and attack styles, forcing the marines to attempt different strategies to take them out.
The other similar element is totally unexpected, but sounds ridiculously fun, and that’s the ability for the marines to respawn. Again taking a cue from the digital version, the marines can respawn after being killed, but only a limited number of times. This ability allows the marines to play with the reckless abandon that’s expected of a UAC marine. When a demon’s health falls below a certain threshold, the marine can charge in to attempt a Glory Kill. If they die in the process, oh well! Just respawn.
But the real question I have is, “IS THERE GOD MODE?” I guess I’ll just have to play to find out. For more info, check out Fantasy Flight’s official blog.
What do you think about this board game edition of a classic shoot-em-up? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Image credits: Fantasy Flight Games