### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/1 "2015-06-23T10:58:33Z")
About 3 years ago I sent id software a tweet:
>
“I hope the gore in Doom 4 is like Mortal Kombat 9’s fatalities”
And it turns out that the new Doom game will have “finishing moves” as well as chainsaw gore that looks similar to that screenshot…
Actually the gore is even better - it seems to be dynamic:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQpxDFExwhU)
My next suggestion might psychologically scar people but I think it would be more realistic if the enemies screamed while being chainsawed up rather than being silent. One day I think there will be a game or a mod where normal looking people can be attacked with a chainsaw but you didn’t hear that from me. :eek:
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### Author:  [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/2 "2015-06-23T13:32:26Z")
Ugh. Based on that clip I am not going to use the chainsaw when playing the game.:eek:
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/3 "2015-06-23T13:38:57Z")
Yeah, I have too much IRL chainsaw experience. I know a (ex) dentist who lost a couple fingers to a chainsaw. He eventually tried to return to work, but could not keep clients. Another guy I know died while clearing property in the evening after work.
But I’m all for realism in gaming in general!
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/4 "2015-06-23T14:03:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Yeah, I have too much IRL chainsaw experience. I know a (ex) dentist who lost a couple fingers to a chainsaw. He eventually tried to return to work, but could not keep clients.
I had a dentist with a missing finger. I used to cuss him about it when he had both hands in my mouth and couldn’t understand me.
My favorite way to place Doom I & II was with the M-16 patch, which changed the saw into a bayonet.
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### Author:  [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/5 "2015-06-23T15:16:57Z")
I’m currently playing Fallout 3 and let me tell you, I have seen enough gore to last several lifetimes.
I think I’ll pass. I starting to wonder about my psyche.
There’s such a thing as too much realism.
ETA: That clip does look damned good, though. Still passing on the game.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/6 "2015-06-23T15:23:35Z")
By “realistic gore”, you mean the part where the chainsaw fouls up and gets jammed after the first time it’s used on moist, fibrous flesh, right? Or the part where it suddenly kicks back as soon as it hits the bone underneath, and bounces off the user’s face?
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/7 "2015-06-23T15:42:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> By “realistic gore”, you mean the part where the chainsaw fouls up and gets jammed after the first time it’s used on moist, fibrous flesh, right? Or the part where it suddenly kicks back as soon as it hits the bone underneath, and bounces off the user’s face?
Cool!
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### Author:  [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/8 "2015-06-23T15:53:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> By “realistic gore”, you mean the part where the chainsaw fouls up and gets jammed after the first time it’s used on moist, fibrous flesh, right? Or the part where it suddenly kicks back as soon as it hits the bone underneath, and bounces off the user’s face?
That only happens with cheap Wal-Mart brand saws. Get yourself a good Stihl with an free-floating blade and self-lubricating reservoir and you can dismember [del]corpses[/del] zombies to your hearts content! Not that I have any first hand knowledge, you understand?
(I really don’t, I made that all up. All I know about chainsaws is that Ash uses one to kill deadites.)
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### Author:  [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/9 "2015-06-23T19:31:12Z")
As a programmer, I’m impressed by the lighting, shadows, detail, etc. That’s hard to do. The blood sprays are a bit globular though.
As a gamer, this is just over the top to the extreme. “Oh, cool, we can punch the imp’s head off! Wait, no chainsaw it in half! wooo” Blech. I liked the original and Quake and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but I think I’ll pass on this version.
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### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/10 "2015-06-23T23:48:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> By “realistic gore”, you mean the part where the chainsaw fouls up and gets jammed after the first time it’s used on moist, fibrous flesh, right? Or the part where it suddenly kicks back as soon as it hits the bone underneath, and bounces off the user’s face?
Doom 3 is set in the year 2145 - not sure about the new Doom game. Though the chainsaw looks old fashioned perhaps it has some improvements. You originally found the chainsaw inside a corpse so maybe it is suited for killing people. So it already started off in “moist, fibrous flesh”. I’m not sure about bone but I thought chainsaws could handle ice and hard wood.
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### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/11 "2015-06-23T23:54:13Z")
Perhaps the guy is wearing a powered exoskeleton which would make him stronger…
> **[Powered exoskeleton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton)**
>
> A powered exoskeleton, also known as power armor, powered armor, powered suit, cybernetic suit, cybernetic armor, exosuit, hardsuit, exoframe or augmented mobility, is a mobile machine that is wearable over all or part of the human body, providing ergonomic structural support and powered by a system of electric motors, pneumatics, levers, hydraulics or a combination of cybernetic technologies, while allowing for sufficient limb movement with increased strength and endurance. The exoskeleton A pow...
At least he has something called “impact compensation”:
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l_XbtE6g3GM/hqdefault.jpg "DOOM "Welcome To Hell" Gameplay - E3 2015 Bethesda Press Conference") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_XbtE6g3GM)
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### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/12 "2015-06-23T23:56:37Z")
Maybe the gore isn’t 100% realistic but it is by far the most realistic chainsaw gore that exists to date.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/13 "2015-06-24T00:27:25Z")
Yeah, you probably could build a weaponized chainsaw, if for some reason you really wanted to. But you’d be much better off starting with a powered kitchen knife, since some of those are already designed for cutting through meat and bone.
And yes, we all know that the real reason that the chainsaw is in the game (any version of it) is just because it’s cool. And that’s a perfectly good and valid reason to put something in a video game. But when that’s the reason it’s in there, it kind of misses the point to describe it as “realistic”.
Heck, even the gore isn’t very realistic, either. If you really did have a moving-blade weapon capable of bisecting an enemy bilaterally, then it wouldn’t look anything like that clip when you used it. What it would look like would be red. Nothing but red, on the whole screen.
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### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/14 "2015-06-24T00:35:52Z")
By “realistic” I meant how you could slice enemies up - not necessarily about the blood.
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### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/15 "2015-06-24T01:35:53Z")
BTW about a powered exoskeleton - I think this implies one is used:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7g6BfvU6A8)
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### Author:  [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/16 "2015-06-24T02:08:10Z")
Also you rip a guy’s arm off - I thought that would also require extra strength - so then you’d be able to handle the chainsaw hitting bone:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7g6BfvU6A8)
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/17 "2015-06-24T03:26:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> And yes, we all know that the real reason that the chainsaw is in the game (any version of it) is just because it’s cool. And that’s a perfectly good and valid reason to put something in a video game. But when that’s the reason it’s in there, it kind of misses the point to describe it as “realistic”.
Doom 3 included a memo from the provisions supervisor complaining about several crates of chainsaws that were mis-delivered to Mars. (“There aren’t any trees here!”)
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### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/18 "2015-06-25T14:43:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Yeah, you probably could build a weaponized chainsaw, if for some reason you really wanted to. But you’d be much better off starting with a powered kitchen knife, since some of those are already designed for cutting through meat and bone.
Many, many years ago I worked as a small engine mechanic. Once a year the local butcher would bring in his saw for servicing. It was exactly like an electric kitchen knife, except 3 feet long and powered by a chainsaw motor. The ickiest part of the job was cleaning the hair and blood out of the air filter.
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### Author:  [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/19 "2015-06-25T19:08:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Yeah, you probably could build a weaponized chainsaw, if for some reason you really wanted to. But you’d be much better off starting with a powered kitchen knife, since some of those are already designed for cutting through meat and bone.
>
> And yes, we all know that the real reason that the chainsaw is in the game (any version of it) is just because it’s cool. And that’s a perfectly good and valid reason to put something in a video game. But when that’s the reason it’s in there, it kind of misses the point to describe it as “realistic”.
>
> Heck, even the gore isn’t very realistic, either. If you really did have a moving-blade weapon capable of bisecting an enemy bilaterally, then it wouldn’t look anything like that clip when you used it. What it would look like would be red. Nothing but red, on the whole screen.
I think all these questions of “realism” are missing the critical point of the chainsaw, namely that as a weapon; it kind of sucked. Even at the time, I knew that the only appeal was that it was so over-the-top. You’re corned by a pack of cacodemons, you whip the saw out and drive it into the nearest one’s face… then you wait twenty seconds for it to die, and meanwhile its friends are all pelting you with plasmaballs, until you melt into a puddle of gelatinous goo. God gave us rocket launchers for a reason.
And if you really can’t let a lack of realism go, note that in Bethesda’s imaginary world, apparently numbers go in a different order- 1, 2, 3, 1.
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### Author:  [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-doom-game-realistic-chainsaw-gore/723224/20 "2015-06-25T19:31:56Z")
> [@Recusant](#):
>
> I think all these questions of “realism” are missing the critical point of the chainsaw, namely that as a weapon; it kind of sucked. Even at the time, I knew that the only appeal was that it was so over-the-top. You’re corned by a pack of cacodemons, you whip the saw out and drive it into the nearest one’s face… then you wait twenty seconds for it to die, and meanwhile its friends are all pelting you with plasmaballs, until you melt into a puddle of gelatinous goo. God gave us rocket launchers for a reason.
It was better than the fists with the spiked brass knuckles. (Who knew those were standard military issue?)
The real use of the chainsaw in Doom 1/2 was against demons (the pink hairless melee only dudes) and their invisible cousins. They couldn’t bite you while getting chainsawed in the face, so you saved a lot of ammo if you got good at chainsawing them instead of giving them the 3(?) shotgun blasts to the face it would take otherwise.
It was also handy when you had long, narrow hallways and only had one enemy at a time, also saving ammo.
If you were using it in against a pack of cacodemons in a wide open area, the problem was not the chainsaw.
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