Gauss cannon

The Gauss cannon is a new power weapon found in the Doom reboot, first publicly displayed at  2015 and officially referenced by id Software's announcement of the then-upcoming closed alpha test the following October. It appears in both the single player and multiplayer campaigns, with slightly different properties. It is a form of with mechanics similar to the railguns of the Quake series.

Research and development
The UAC had previously utilized Gauss acceleration in applications such as ore diggers on the Deimos and Phobos moons and in construction of the Argent Tower, so a weaponized application was more or less inevitable. Steel flechettes are accelerated through the weapon's magnetized chamber to high velocity with extreme accuracy. The ammunition is cheap, abundant, and is designed to pierce multiple targets.

Tactical analysis
The Gauss cannon is a powerful railgun-like weapon that dispatches most enemies in somewhere between one to three shots. It is critical for gameplay on Nightmare and Ultra-Nightmare skill levels, where ammunition for other weapons is more limited and damage output must be maximized. The weapon has significant recoil which must be compensated for when firing.

Multiplayer
The Gauss cannon in multiplayer is specifically designed as a counter to the demon rune relic, with limited ammunition which cannot be replenished and the capability of killing players in a single shot. Its alternate fire mode allows other players to be seen through walls via a form of x-ray vision. Like the demon rune, the Gauss cannon will periodically respawn during the arena battle gameplay mode. Numerous sources have described its current state as being overpowered, and it featured as a significant factor in negative reviews of the multiplayer component during the open beta.