While the Doom franchise has experienced plenty of high and low points throughout its very long life cycle, most fans would agree that the two most recent games in the franchise have been excellent. Although the lightning fast and rock solid gameplay mechanics are typically the focus of the praise, the soundtracks for both Doom and Doom Eternal have also been a huge part of the praise from the community. Unfortunately, it seems like that could be changing with potential sequels.
The heavy metal riffs that accompany the demon destruction in both Doom and Doom Eternal come from composer Mick Gordon.The Australian born composer has worked on a ton of big games over the years such as the first two seasons of Killer Instinct, and many Bethesda titles like Prey, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Fans may even remember his live performance of Rip & Tear and BFG Division during the 2016 Game Awards.
While Gordon has racked up a ton of awards for his Music and Sound Design over the years, it appears that he won't be working with id Software or Bethesda anymore on any potential upcoming Doom sequels. A new post on Reddit shows a text conversation from someone asking him if he'll be on board to work on any upcoming sequels for Doom. Surprisingly, Gordon reveals that he doubts he'd work together again with id Software.
I commented about it yesterday. I turned I'd break the news here. This is a dark day for our beloved franchise from Doom
Considering all of the success, his response may be a bit of a surprise for fans. While it's unknown exactly why things have soured, many have pointed to the recent Doom Eternal soundtrack release as the likely culprit. As many have noticed, the audio mixing on the soundtrack has a lot of issues with compression and how it sounds overall. As the composer, many have incorrectly placed the blame on Gordon, who actually was only involved with a handful of tracks and not the entire album like many would think. Many have speculated that Bethesda did not want to give Gordon the time he needed to properly mix the tracks and instead took it out of his hands to handle internally instead.
As disappointing as it would be to lose a talented composer like Mick Gordon, Bethesda and id Software have already reestablished the Doom brand thanks to its high critical review scores and sales figures. Doom Eternal has scored big with critics, making it highly likely that id Software returns to the franchise once again down the road. In fact, game director Hugo Martin has even admitted that the studio has plenty of new ideas for the series, further indicating that the Doom series will be continuing on.
Doom Eternal is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.