DOOM Doesn't Need an AR

I occasionally hear some people claim that apparently Vanilla DOOM "sucks" as it lacks a conventional assault rifle or other long-range weapon. A Combat Rifle is currently featured in Brutal DOOM as one of the two main weapons, used frequently alongside the Shotgun. It's very accurate and has a good rate of fire, making it pretty good for mid to long range combat, but personally I find it very unnecessary.

DOOM was always geared toward close quarters, which is particularly due to the main weapon, the Shotgun, being more powerful the closer you are to your target. It was all about getting into your enemy's face, blasting off a quick shot, and frantically dashing back into cover until the reload was finished. Now that whole element of gameplay is much less prevalent, at least is single player (due to slow enemies), because now you can simply keep sniping foes from a distance without ever needing to get up close and personal. At least it isn't as useful in multiplayer, because all your enemies are just as fast as you are.

I wouldn't mind the Combat Rifle as much if it wasn't as common as the Shotgun. If anything, the pistol should be brought back as the starting weapon, and you should acquire the Combat Rifle later down the road with a more limited ammo supply.

Regenerating Health, Good or Bad?

Despite a good amount of competitive games believing the oldschool medkit system is superior to regenerating health, I personally believe both ways have their own pros and cons, and that it ultimately depends on the pacing of the game as to whether or not regen health truly belongs. The following two paragraphs will further explain my reasoning.

Regenerating Health

In a slower-paced arena FPS such as Classic Halo or Unreal Tournament 2004, I feel that regenerating health would benefit these games more, as the slower movement speed would make the hunt for medkits extremely long, drawn out, and just plain aggravating, the former two being horrible traits for competitive play. Wouldn't it suck to have survived an enemy confrontation, and then having to slowly jog your way a couple miles to get to the nearest medkit? It'd be stupid and annoying. This is the main reason why I feel that regenerating health (or shields, whatever you want to call it) fits best with Halo's overall pace. This is also why I feel that Unreal 2K4 should've adopted regenerating health in a similar manner to Halo. As much as I liked Unreal Tournament 2004, I personally felt that the conventional medkit system really only served as a major pacebreaker. 

Some people say that regenerating health encourages camping, but this isn't always the case. Camping also has to do with poor map design. Look at Halo 2 compared to Reach, it was definitely harder to camp in the former, simply because the maps were better designed against it. With this system you also have to know the map well. You need to learn which areas have the best cover, and you also need to memorize all of the sight lines, while constantly keeping track of the enemy's positioning.

Non-Regen Health w/ Medkits

A speedy game like Quake or Classic Doom, on the other hand, seems to benefit more from the conventional medkit system. In these games, you move ridiculously fast, so the hunt to regain health doesn't take an eternity to finish. The way you have to rush for these medkits really seems to complement the insanely fast movement speed, and makes it so players are almost always moving. Not only that, but it also adds a great tactical element in that you have to know when to rush, and which route you're going to use. Mindlessly charging out into your enemy's line of sight will cause you to die when you're low on health, no doubt about that, rather you are encouraged to use patience, planning, timing, and map knowledge to your advantage. You must also memorize where the health spawns, and in Quake's case, you have to be pretty skilled at trick jumping in order to outrun your pursuer.