DOOM designer and id Software co-founder John Romero said in an AMA that he supports
a remake of his infamous FPS, Daikatana. Read on to also find out Romero's thoughts on his split from id, as well as his current project.
John Romero Says He Would Like To See Daikatana Remake
Romero: I Would Not Remake Daikatana Myself
During an Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) session on the PC Gaming subreddit on Tuesday, id Software co-founder and DOOM designer John Romero has said that he would "support" a remake of his infamous first-person shooter Daikatana. The game had received negative reception when it was released back in 2000, due to its poor gameplay, outdated graphics, and other factors.
“I would not remake Daikatana myself,” Romero said in response to a Reddit user who asked if he ever considered doing a remake of the FPS. “But I support a remake.”
Romero explained that he could not remake Daikatana himself since he was occupied with making other games. Though he added that he would help anyone who would.
I feel that Daikatana, if remade, could be an exciting game, moreso than the original,
Romero said. Personally, I would consult but not do the remake myself as I'm very busy with other games.
Daikatana was the first game by Ion Storm, the game studio Romero founded after leaving id Software. The game is set in the year of 2455 AD and puts you in the shoes of Hiro Miyamoto. He is tasked with reclaiming the titular Daikatana from the traitorous Kage Mishima, who used it to enrich himself by traveling through time. The game was supposed to be a thrilling FPS that would take players across different eras and settings, like Ancient Greece, the Dark Ages, and 2030s San Francisco.
At the time of its release, the game received poor to middling reviews, with Gamespot saying, “Daikatana's biggest failures are due in large part to both a lack of imagination and poor design choices - in short, the very principles on which Ion Storm was founded.” Meanwhile, IGN noted the difference between Daikatana and Quake, a game Romero helped in creating before leaving id Software. “There is an overwhelming gap between the two -- a giant chasm that separates good from the merely mediocre,” it said.
As of this writing, no gaming company has, at least publicly, expressed interest in remaking Daikatana.
Romero Comments On Split From id, Teases Upcoming FPS
Romero was also asked about whether or not his split from id Software was inevitable, considering how he and his co-workers, particularly DOOM's Lead Programmer John Carmack, had clashing visions for id’s future.
“(Carmack and I) could have stayed working together if we did things differently at the start of Quake,” Romero said. “John and I have talked about it recently and the options we came up with are in the book.”
The book Romero was referring to is his autobiography, "DOOM Guy: Life in First Person," which is currently out now. Despite Daikatana’s reputation, Romero is still considered one of the godfathers of the first-person shooter genre, having had a hand in making landmark titles such as Wolfenstein 3D, as well as the aforementioned Quake and Doom.
“We are both stronger in different areas,” Romero said in response to another Reddit user, who noted the fallout between Carmack and him. “Working together put those strengths into a single game.”
Also in the AMA thread, Romero mentioned that he was currently working on a “new FPS.”
“I've been working on an FPS for a while now. I can't say anything about it, however,” he said before adding, “There's a major publisher behind it.”
More recently, Romero was the author of the Doom II level, "One Humanity" in 2022. It was sold commercially, and the proceeds went to the Ukrainian Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund. The last full game he helped make was the 2020 turn-based gangster-themed strategy game Empire of Sin, acting as its studio director.
