32 Years Ago, Two Movie Sequels Quietly Inspired 1 of the Greatest Games Ever Made

by

It’s common for games to take inspiration from movies and TV shows. For example, the *Grand Theft Auto* series borrows elements from shows like *Miami Vice* and films like *Casino*, and *Conker’s Bad Fur Day* playfully references classics such as *Jaws* and *The Matrix*. However, the extent of these influences is often greater than people think.

A great example of this can be seen in the game *Doom*, which was incredibly important in establishing the first-person shooter genre. In fact, early first-person shooters were often called “Doom clones” because of its impact. Interestingly, *Doom* itself took inspiration from two movies – and both of those movies were sequels!

Doom’s Story Was Heavily Inspired By James Cameron’s Aliens

While Doom is famous for its fast-paced action, it also features a story and a developed world. The game starts with the player, often called the Doomguy, being stationed on Mars after disobeying an order to shoot civilians. Working for the United Aerospace Corporation, he’s stuck with a boring job when the company’s risky teleportation experiments go awry, and the base comes under attack.

Although it doesn’t immediately appear so, *Aliens* shares a lot with the original *Alien*. The movie starts with Ripley being found and rescued after drifting in space. However, she’s accused of destroying the *Nostromo* spaceship from the first film. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation then convinces her to join a mission to check on a colony being prepared for habitation.

The colony has been almost entirely destroyed by Xenomorphs. It turns out the attacks started when the Weyland-Yutani Corporation told the colonists to explore a spaceship filled with alien eggs. The corporation wanted to make a profit from the aliens, but badly underestimated how deadly they were. Now, Ripley and the remaining survivors have to fight to escape.

Although the storylines aren’t exactly the same, the two stories share many common themes. Both main characters, Doomguy and Ripley, are essentially forced into their missions as a consequence of past actions. Furthermore, the two powerful corporations – United Aerospace and Weyland-Yutani – are strikingly similar, and both unintentionally bring about the dangerous creatures that drive the plots.

Both films and games begin with a similar setup: communication is lost with a remote outpost – in *Aliens*, it’s a colony on the moon LV-426, and in *Doom*, it’s a base on Mars. However, despite this shared starting point, the two stories have noticeably different atmospheres, and this difference stems from another influence on their creation.

Evil Dead II Gave Doom Its Action

Although the game *Doom* shares similarities with the movie *Aliens*, its creators originally intended it to blend the atmosphere of *Aliens* with the humor and over-the-top action of *Evil Dead II*. According to John Carmack, the lead programmer, that was the core idea behind the game’s design.

I’m a huge fan of *Evil Dead II* – it’s a hilarious and scary movie from 1987, directed by Sam Raimi, who you might know later directed the *Spider-Man* films. It’s a sequel to his first movie, *The Evil Dead*, but it’s way funnier and the action is just completely wild. I even heard that the people making the video game *Doom* really loved *Evil Dead II* and tried to make the weapons in their game feel like they came straight out of the movie!

Similar to how they approached *Aliens*, the creators of *Doom* drew some ideas from *Evil Dead II* without directly copying it. *Doom* doesn’t feature the distinctive sawed-off shotgun used by Ash in *Evil Dead II*, but the film clearly inspired the team to design powerful and impactful weapons.

I always thought the monsters in *Doom* were inspired by *Evil Dead II*, but I was wrong! Apparently, the team actually got the idea for fighting invading demons from a *Dungeons & Dragons* game they were playing. They had a whole campaign where demons took over a planet, and that’s what finally gave them that last bit of inspiration they needed to really make *Doom* happen. It’s so cool to learn where these iconic ideas come from!

Doom, Evil Dead II, and Aliens Are All Classics in Their Own Right

Despite being different types of entertainment, *Doom*, *Evil Dead II*, and *Aliens* are all now considered classic works. *Aliens* was a huge hit with both critics and audiences, and many people actually like it even more than the first *Alien* movie. While *Evil Dead II* didn’t make a lot of money when it first came out, it’s now highly regarded as one of the…

The game *Doom* was a groundbreaking success and helped establish the first-person shooter genre. Similar to *Aliens*, it created suspense through science fiction horror, and like *Evil Dead II*, it mixed scary moments with exaggerated action and a touch of comedy. Released in the 1990s, *Doom* remains influential, as seen in later games like the 2016 reboot.

Read More

2025-10-16 04:12