I didn’t have a lot of access to video games growing up. I didn’t get my first video game console until my 13th birthday: a Sega Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. While I enjoyed playing as Sonic and Tails, there was still a gaming world completely closed off to me: PC gaming.
My family had a computer that was useful for writing book reports and signing onto AOL, but that was about it. All of my PC gaming experiences took place at my friends’ houses. I spent hours in front of their monitors playing TIE Fighter, Pax Imperia 2 and Doom.
I actually didn’t spend that many hours playing Doom, not because I thought it would steal my soul, but because I don’t like scary video games. Looking back at the graphics now, it’s hard to believe I was terrified by demons that look like they belong in Minecraft instead of a violent first-person shooter.
Doom is one of the most influential video games of all time, ushering in the first-person shooter genre, which persists in popularity today. It was also one of the most controversial video games of all times. Its violence and satanic imagery caused quite a stir as did its loose connection to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School.
The Doom series made its return last month with the release of Doom, a continuation of the story started 23 years ago. The graphics have been updated and the gameplay harkens back to its fast-paced and frenetic roots. While not as groundbreaking as its predecessor, Doom looks like a perfectly serviceable first-person shooter. Why reinvent the wheel when shooting demons with big guns is and has always been a lot of fun?
The series’ return has also brought with it a new controversy. No one is too concerned about Doom’s violence; years of violent video games have desensitized us to pools of blood spilled by digital demons. Violence and gore weren’t going to move the needle, but hidden demonic symbols definitely will.
For some reason someone put a track from Doom’s soundtrack in a spectrograph and found hidden pentagrams and “666es.” Someone really had to be looking for a controversy to load the song into a spectrograph. But, according to this video, the symbols are there in plain sight – plain if you get the song and reverse engineer it.
Clearly the game’s developers wanted to have a little fun by placing this Easter egg in the soundtrack. It’s something entirely fun for them that could have gone completely unnoticed. Some might want to argue that the game has hidden messages that could lead someone down a dark path towards Satan. That argument, however, has no bearing in reality. If anything, Doom gives its players the opportunity to shoot demons in the face, sending them back to hell. (Where does a demon go when it gets shot by a BFG?)
While a game like Doom isn’t terribly edifying, it’s also not extremely dangerous. We all have to determine what our entertainment grey areas are. Perhaps someone would be tempted to look into satanism or the occult because of a game like Doom; if so, then that person should probably avoid that particular video game. For others, though, it could simply be a fun way to pass the time and unwind without it impacting their life with God.
The key is knowing ourselves and understanding those activities that hinder, help or have no impact on our relationships with Jesus. We should embrace the ones that help, avoid the ones that hurt and constantly evaluate the ones that we think don’t impact us. I’d hate to play a video game for 100 hours only to realize it negatively impacted my life with God.
Have you ever played any game in the Doom series? If so, how did it affect you?
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