Goodness sakes. After all of the pieces of conjecture that have been presented to this forum,
THIS Is the one we're pinning as the final nail in the coffin for the Slayer's chances for fighter status in Smash Bros; a single, out-of-context comment which could be construed in multiple ways (as pointed out by others)?!
Come off it, fine boardsmen! At best, this could be no more than a deflection on Hugo's part, one hinging on a single technicality (That Nintendo didn't approach Id Software directly, but rather their respective publisher and/or owner companies, Bethesda and Zenimax) to...
- Be enough to throw off the majority of individuals who'd take such statements at face value, and
- Not outright deconfirm anything so as to not look completely dishonest in hindsight.
In all honesty, if Id wanted to make it clear that the Slayer wasn't coming to Smash, they would've done what 343 Industries did and just said
no from the get-go (at least during periods where the Slayer ended up being pushed as a speculative frontrunner, necessitating deflation lest everyone's expectations be unduly shattered), not these teeter-tottering half-answers and deflective statements.
Source Gaming put out a video about Doom content that we could potentially see if Doomguy made it into Smash Ultimate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oq7hjG1Zm8
I feel like the stage idea is a bit complicated (it seems like they would probably stick with something straightforward, like the UAC base from Doom 2016, or E1M1 from the original, since most third party stages tend to be locations from the very start of the game), and Rathalos is an odd choice for Doomguy's final boss in Classic mode (I figured it would be Ganon or Dracula), but otherwise, I liked the video. The list of spirits is quite thorough.
Restricting to the special moves only doesn't exactly provide much creative stimulus, which is likely why this particular set of specials turned out so lacklustre.
- The SSG would be much better off as a Forward Smash as opposed to a side-special.
- Similarly, the Chainsaw would suit as a side-special as opposed to a down special.
- Having the Pistol as the neutral special is, frankly, embarrassing, like BC didn't have enough attacks or effects to draw from.
- However, I do greatly approve of the Rocket Jump up-special and BFG as the final smash.
When it comes to a stage, given the fact that the Slayer will more than likely use Eternal as it's primary influence, I think it'd suit having the stage be transitional in nature, traveling through space and slipgates demonstrating a wide variety of locales, including:
- Mars
- (Hell on) Earth
- UAC/UAC Cultist/Hell techbases
- Hell
- The Sentinel Homeworld, and
- Urdak (Makyr Homeworld)
Perhaps throw in some classic Doom maps as stand-ins for when someone has a Classicguy alt costume.
As for music, I understand the deliberation of matching the likely tracklist sizes of other DLC fighters, but 11 tracks is too narrow a scope to encompass Doom's musical bangers (especially given the notable absence of Eternal tracks)
IMO And without getting into specifics, the Slayer would most suit being given the Terry treatment when it comes to its music: 50-60 tracks, anywhere between two-thirds or three-quarters of it consisting of Doom tracks and the rest being tracks from Id's other FPS outings, including Wolfenstein & Quake.