While Doom 4 may push your console or PC to its graphical limits, its single player component may have a few fans of the franchise scratching their heads. Revealed by John Carmack is the fact that the single player of Doom 4 will actually be running at 30 frames-per-second rather than the traditional 60.

Carmack’s justification for this perceived game “flaw” is a need to place more enemies on the screen at any given moment. While, as Carmack explained, RAGE needed to run at 60 fps because of its driving sections, Doom 4, where the player is casually strolling around dark corners, could benefit more from more enemies.

But, with more enemies comes a price -- which is Doom 4 running at 30 fps in single player. Luckily the multiplayer of Doom 4, where an overabundance of enemies (and content on the PS3 version) is not a necessity, will run at 60 fps, giving those gamers with serious gaming rigs something to show off.

In Carmack’s defense, if he needs one, the developer suggests that most gamers can’t even see the difference between 30 and 60 frames per second, so this assumed imperfection could be negligible. Still, it’s a bold move to reveal this fact without having shown off much of the game.

It may be a little bit frustrating for fans of the demonic shooter to swallow, but clearly id Software feels justified in this decision. If the game’s 30 fps is unnoticeable, and does accommodate more enemies — which could lead to more tense moments — then I’m all for it, but only if it doesn’t bring the experience of the game down.

After RAGE came out and showed what id was capable of in their new engine, it made gamers excited to see how that same tech could be applied to the Doom franchise. Still, the question remains: can we expect to see some really impressive things from Doom 4 or is it more about the experience than the graphics?

How do you feel about the Doom 4 single player running at 30 frames per second while the multiplayer runs at 60? Is a concept like frames per second an important feature in next-gen video games?

Doom 4 is slated for a 2012 release on the PC, PS3, Xbox 360.

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Source: Gamasutra