[REVIEW] Doom Eternal 2019

[Blackfire]

 

At E3 2018, Bethesda and id Software announced a sequel to their excellent 2016 Doom reboot, called Doom Eternal. A couple months later at QuakeCon in August, we got the full reveal—and if you liked the first game, which we loved, there's a lot to be excited about. Here's what we know so far.

• What's Doom Eternal's release date?

There's no release date yet, but if id Software are basing the new game on similar technology to the 2016 reboot we're hopeful it'll arrive next year at some point. TechRadar report that this Amazon page was carrying a listing of December 28, which does seem like an odd time to release a game, right after the Christmas rush, and it would've been strange for Bethesda not to mention this during its E3 showcase or at  QuakeCon  if this was the correct date. Bethesda's E3 press release simply lists it as 'TBA'. 

 

 

You can watch the entire Doom Eternal gameplay video above. It looks a lot like the last Doom, of course, but there are some exciting new developments: wall climbing and dash moves, a grappling hook, a new arm blade, and a shoulder-mounted flamethrower. For our favorite highlights, head to Chris' rundown of the most metal moments.

• Phobos gameplay footage

It's not all about Hell on Earth. Doomguy will be traveling to Phobos, which you might remember as the first level in the original Doom. In the video below, we see Doomguy showing up while (gasp) there's still humans left alive working on the station. Well, working as best they can in the face of a demon invasion. It's funny seeing Doomguy scare the pants off of basically everyone, yanking a technician by the neck for his keycard, and then hopping into the fray.

• Where is Doom Eternal set?

Earth, overrun by hell. The trailer shows burning skyscrapers and lots of open wasteland. That suggests we'll be fighting in wider levels with a bit more spectacle than the original reboot's Martian facility.

Invasion mechanic
 

Probably the most surprising thing about the QuakeCon 2018 footage was seeing usernames in the air above various demons' heads. Turns out players can "invade" another player's session as demons and work together to doom the Doomguy, not unlike Dark Souls' invasion mechanic. If that sounds like a less awesome version of hell to you, id Software confirmed that you can turn the feature off.

id Software's Marty Stratton implied this reflects a change in approach to Doom.

"We're not just making a Doom game anymore," id's Marty Stratton said. "We're building a Doom universe."

It's still not yet clear if players will have a choice of which demon they inhabit, how those demons will feel to play, and just how much of a jerk we can be to fellow players.

 

• Will there be mod support?

Doom Eternal has no plans for mod support at launch, but might support them "down the road," id Software said.

Game director Marty Stratton said during a Q&A session that there was "no guarantee" of mod support, but that Doom Eternal developers had worked to make the game's code "more flexible" and that mod support is a "long-term initiative," also saying mod support is "important" to him and senior staff.

"We have definitely swung the pendulum back pretty far towards being able to that," Stratton said. "I hope down the road, in the not-near future but the not-too-distant future, we can have a better conversation about that.” 

Doom has a long (and really weird) history with mods, so fingers crossed.