a lot of those aspects sound fascinating, but the part about the soulcube sounds like an original idea Romero had for quake but got scrapped in production.
for those who haven't read "masters of doom", the soulcube is supposidly an artifact that floats above your head and feeds on violence. the more you kill, the more it helps you take them out; however, if you suddenly become a fuggin saint it start sucking your energy until you kill again.
im interested in seeing how this obj is implimented in the game...