Doom Fighters lets you bareknuckle brawl your way out of hell

Shotguns? Boring. Rocket launchers? Who needs 'em. The only thing the Doom guy has ever needed to defeat the legions of hell are two bare fists—and maybe a cheeky kick or two, if Doom II mod Doom Fighters is anything to go by.

Released on ModDB over the weekend, Doom Fighters reimagines the classic FPS as a retro 3D brawler. Plugging into any Doom II campaign you fancy, Fighters strips the slayer of his arsenal and pulls the camera back for some over-the-shoulder punch-ups, giving the Doomguy a chunky 3D makeover in the process.

Now, our venerable slayer isn't a complex fighter, and there aren't many fancy combos going on in this mod. But your man hits like a truck, pummelling demons and zombies with explosive force. He can also pick up baddies and explosive barrels to hurl into each other, while the glowing red Crucible sword from Doom Eternal makes an appearance to carve through hordes with remarkable efficiency.

With this week's release marking the first version of Doom Fighters, developer edypagaza hopes to beef up the mod with destructible environments, more weapons, a helpful NPC and brutal execution moves.

Still, even in this early state, Doom Fighters is well worth a shot—if only for the absolute hilarity of kicking a Cyberdemon in the shins.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.