The next Doom game - the first new instalment in over four years, after Doom Eternal - is reportedly taking a leaf out of Evil Dead: Army of Darkness’ necronomicon by transporting the Doom Slayer back to a medieval world to presumably battle hellspawn. According to a new report, it’s subtitled The Dark Ages and we’ll get an official reveal next week.
]]>This news post leaves me in a quandary, readers, because I will need to write a swear word for the sake of full journalistic transparency, but Google’s algorithms tend to frown on sweary articles. On the other hand, Google’s algorithms don’t like it when you spend whole intros handwringing about Google’s algorithms, either, so let’s stop, er, faffing around and speak of Doom. Id Software parent company Zenimax recently trademarked “IDKFA”, a string of letters that will be of deep significance to original Doom players, and which may therefore be evidence of an impending announcement.
]]>Video game openings have always been a source of fascination for me. As a player, you're excited by the prospect of the game to come - the sights you'll see, the challenges you'll face - and first impressions can make or break your entire perception of what a game is versus the one you had stored in your head before switching it on. For video game creators, however, a new beginning is often racked with questions. What, exactly, do you choose to show players first? How will you introduce them to something they've never seen before? And if that game is successful, how do you keep reinventing that first impression across what could be several decades?
In revisiting every mainline Doom game to celebrate its 30th anniversary this month, it's clear that even id's iconic shooter has wrestled with how to answer these question, and the ways it's tried to reinvent itself over the years paints a captivating portrait of a series trying to move with the times. Nowhere is this more apparent than in its opening levels. Played in close succession, crushing 30 years into not even quite three hours, what emerges isn't just the evolution of one of the all-time great PC games, but also a potted history of the FPS. So join me as we chart Doom's rise, fall and rebirth through the lens of its first stages.
]]>"Consider yourself warned! This book contains scenes of graphic violence!" These are the words that adorn the Doom comic book, which was originally released for promotional purposes during 1996's E3 by GT Interactive and Marvel Comics. "Knee-deep in the dead!" is the next bit of text below the logo, referencing the name of the first shareware Doom episode and beautifully describing the blood-soaked cover illustration by Tom Grindberg, who was apparently tickled enough at the thought of drawing this monstrosity to take time away from working on 2000 AD.
The cover is an accurate peek at the gore and demonic entrails that lie within this epic work of sequential storytelling, which required the writing skills of not one, but two gentlemen - Steve "Body Bag" Behling and Michael "Splatter" Stewart. Both Behling and Stewart have a decent body of work between them at Marvel, where they've penned more civilised fare starring the likes of Ant-Man and The Hulk. The Doom comic, in comparison, seems to have been a thing that was written in a fever dream, and DoomWorld, which lovingly hosts scans of this brisk read to this day, describes it appropriately: "Some time in 1996 a couple of guys got together and smoked what was apparently a large amount of crack and then injected pure heroin into their eyes and then proceeded to create what is now known only as 'the Doom comic.'"
]]>“When people read anything, no matter the source, they will believe it.” So says Doom designer John Romero on the subject of his relationship with John Carmack. Together, the pair built id Software and the FPS genre as we know it - before the cracks started to show during the difficult development of Quake, ending their professional partnership.
Yet any lasting acrimony has now dissipated. That became apparent when Romero’s new autobiography, ‘Doom Guy: Life In First Person’, showed up on shelves with a glowing back cover quote from Carmack. The latter praised Romero’s “remarkable memory”, and waxed wistfully about their shared impact on the gaming medium. “For years, I thought that I had been born too late and missed out on participating in the heroic eras of computing,” Carmack wrote. “Only much later did I realise that Romero and I were at the nexus of a new era - the 3D game hackers.”
]]>There’s a minor bombshell tucked into the latest Steam Deck OS preview update, which is mainly about fixing Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty issues. With this update installed, you can enable proper, full-fat ray tracing on the Deck for the first time, specifically in Doom Eternal. Neat!
]]>The publishers of Doom Eternal have shared a strongly worded statement aimed at composer Mick Gordon, following Gordon’s recent outpouring on Medium. Bethesda tweeted their statement last night, calling Gordon’s lengthy post explaining his experience working on Doom Eternal’s soundtrack "a one-sided and unjust account of an irreparable professional relationship”. Gordon had replied to an open letter published on Reddit by id Software executive producer Marty Stratton, more than two years after Stratton’s letter was posted online.
]]>Composer Mick Gordon has published a rebuttal to an open letter by id Software executive producer Marty Stratton concerning Doom Eternal's soundtrack. Stratton's post was written all the way back in May 2020, and Gordon's response is a doozy. “Marty lied about the circumstances surrounding the DOOM Eternal Soundtrack and used disinformation and innuendo to blame me entirely for its failure,” Gordon said in the post on Medium. Gordon claims that Stratton later offered a six-figure amount if he never spoke about the matter, but Gordon insists he turned the money down.
]]>Horror games are great and all that, but what about games that make you the monster? Yeah. Chew on that for a second.
I'm not just talking about games that belong to the horror genre, either. In fact, spare those asymmetrical multiplayer games that are all the rage with their worryingly young audiences, there are few actual horror games that let you assume the role of the villain. But that doesn't mean there isn't a deluge of titles where you play as a creature so vile, so menacing, that the residents of their worlds undoubtly view the player as evil incarnate. Far from it. The games on this list may not all be spooky in tone, but your character is still the stuff of actual nightmares.
]]>This time, I've returned from a trip to Devon having spent too much time ignoring my friends and playing Hollow Knight instead. But what about FPSes? Well, I didn't play any of those. Thankfully Imogen has all of us covered on this week's episode of the Ultimate Audio Bang, with a news segment rammed with lots of exciting announcements. Namely, Apex Legends gets a new Legend and map, Halo Infinite sees a new trailer, and Call Of Duty's new anti-cheat Ricochet leaks early.
]]>On Tuesday the 26th of October, Doom Eternal players will be able to rip and tear through the hellish shooter's new horde mode. If you're not quite satisfied with murdering demons in a linear fashion, you'll be able to jump into a match to fight off waves of the beasties instead. It's arriving in the game's 6.66 update, along with two new master levels and Battlemode 2.0.
]]>Doom Eternal’s post-launch Invasion mode, which would have enabled other players to jump into your single-player campaign as demons, is deader than a Cacodemon’s dating profile. Id announced today that the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact was a major factor in dropping development. Instead of letting other players cosplay as enemies in your game, they’ll turn their attention to a single-player horde mode instead.
]]>For those of you lucky enough to own an RTX capable graphics card and a copy of Doom Eternal (I assume there's a decent amount of crossover there), the ray-tracing update promised since the shooter’s launch has finally arrived. Nvidia’s tech has added a final level of polish to the game’s surfaces, and also brings DLSS support to balance out the power-hungry enhancements.
]]>Doom Eternal is finally getting its long-awaited ray tracing and DLSS update, Nvidia announced today, and they even released some lovely new ray traced footage of the game running in 4K. The shiny, realistic lighting tech has been teased and hinted at for absolutely ages, but in the run-up to the game's launch last March, it quickly became apparent that its ray tracing support would arrive much later than planned. Happily, the new footage looks lovely, what with all those plasma beam reflections bouncing off the glass walls and polished metal floors, but honestly, when you're ripping and tearing at such high speeds, is anyone going to have the time to stop and smell the ray traced space roses?
]]>Hope you slayers had a relaxing break from demon slaying because Doom Eternal is back with another campaign expansion. Pack a snack and your meat hook because The Ancient Gods - Part Two launches tomorrow. This time you're breaking into a hellish fortress to do battle against the Dark Lord and settle the score for good.
]]>I'm normally a cautious type of player when it comes to first-person shooters. Instead of charging in guns blazing and letting rip with my trigger finger, I tend to hang back, firing off single shots (or very small bursts) from afar before I really have to move up and get involved in the firefight. Doom Eternal is not a game you can play cautiously. It demands action and momentum, as the only thing you'll achieve by sitting still and taking cover is a swift ripping and tearing of your guts across the floors of hell. It should feel alien and unnatural, but it's hands down one of the most exhilarating shooters I've ever played. And a large part of that is down to Doom Eternal's stupendously good Meat Hook.
]]>I remember being vaguely horrified when I first heard about Doom Eternal's meat hook. It's one of the new features id Software added to the series' classic Super Shotgun (aka, the best video game weapon of all time), and as its name might imply, you can use it to grapple toward enemies in order to get up close and personal with their soon to be squelched demon flesh. At the time, I thought, "But how can you improve on the already perfect Super Shotgun?" A lot, it turns out. Let me count the ways.
]]>Xbox Game Pass for PC continues to collect some absolute belters, with the likes of Doom Eternal, Va-11 Hall-A, Yes, Your Grace and Call Of The Sea headlining its new additions this month.
There's loads more coming throughout December, too. Looking down the list we've got Greedfall, Unto The End and Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair. Genuinely, if you've been looking for a good time to try out the Game Pass for its cheapo £1 / $1 first month deal, I think now might be your chance.
]]>Oh dear, is it that time already? Yes indeed, the Steam Autumn Sale has arrived, bringing the seasonal discounts on thousands of games. Awards season is upon as as well, so they've opened up nominations for the yearly Steam Awards. You can vote and reap the discounts from now until December 1st at 10am PST / 6pm GMT.
]]>Winter is coming and so are The Game Awards. I've double-checked my calendar and, sure enough, the yearly awards show presented by Mr. Game Awards man Geoff Keighley is less than a month away. The nominees for every category have been announced, so it's time to vote for your picks for everything from the ever-competitive "Game of the Year" on down to "Best Multiplayer" and "Best Esports Team". Get your opinion hat on.
]]>It's not Halloween until you're knee-deep in the dead, so here comes Doom Eternal with the start of its two-part story expansion. The Ancient Gods sends the angry fella back into the Maykr's dimension to resume ripping and tearing, this time with some new enemies in the mix too. Curiously, the expansion is also a standalone game, not requiring you to own Doom Eternal to buy and play.
]]>Doom Eternal's upcoming DLC might take place in the immediate wake of the base campaign, but that doesn't mean you'll need to have actually played it. Arriving this October, Id Software this weekend confirmed that you'll be able to pick up the first bit of two-part romp The Ancient Gods without having actually bought the base game, letting you jump straight into the deicidal carnage.
]]>You've ripped and tore your way through Doom Eternal, and now you're looking for more. Well, young slayer, you'll be glad to know Id Software are continuing the fight against hell, heaven and everywhere in between when it's first DLC, The Ancient Gods - Part One, arrives on October 20th.
]]>What's a bit of deicide, anyway? Announced as part of QuakeCon At Home's opening ceremony, Doom Eternal's first campaign expansion is The Ancient Gods: Part 1. Doomguy's first real post-release outing wants to ask if all that supernatural murder was worth the trouble it caused in the heavens. It's Doom, so I reckon the answer is yes - and any follow-up concerns should be easily rectified with a fistful of lead and a few pints of chainsaw fuel.
]]>QuakeCon At Home is live this weekend on Twitch, though it really should be called BethFest when you look at the schedule. The event has moved wholly online thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rescheduled celebration of id’s and Bethesda’s games has an intriguing schedule. Here are a few of the highlights.
]]>QuakeCon is an entire quarter-century old this year, and no pandemic will stop Id Software and Bethesda from celebrating it. While the in-person event was cancelled back in March due to Covid-19, QuakeCon will now be joining the raft of gaming events being taken online. Aptly named QuakeCon At Home, it's set to feature esports tournaments, charity initiatives, and loads of "round-the-clock" live streams. It all kicks off on August 7th with "Bethesda's QuakeCon Digital Welcome Global Super Stream" - what an absolute mouthful, I hope the stream is as flamboyant as it sounds.
]]>Spanish video game development conference Gamelab starts today and, like everything else, it's gone online-only. Good news: you now don't need to go all the way to Barcelona to see talks and chats with folks including Cyberpunk tabletop RPG creator Mike Pondsmith, sweet Ken Levine, Xbox boss Phil Spencer, and Magic: The Gathering lead designer Mark Rosewater. Even our own Matthew is there, talking with some Id bods about Doom Eternal. Free to watch, Gamelab runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and does have some interesting-sounding sessions.
]]>As you may or may not have noticed, there is a bit of a hoo-ha going down about kernel-level anti-cheat software. This is software that peeps at what Windows is up to using administrator privileges, which some people are understandably unhappy about. Happily, then, Doom Eternal developers Id Software are going to rid their game of Denuvo Anti-Cheat. The purge will come in an update planned for "within a week". They only added Denuvo-Anti-Cheat last week.
Unhappily, that also means going back to no anti-cheat software at all for the time being.
]]>For most of Doom Eternal's demonic foes, the best they can expect is to make a nice corpse. A particularly pleasing splash of gore on the Doom Slayer's boot. But for those lucky few that manage to take down our man in green, a special reward will soon be in store. Doom Eternal's first major update will add Empowered Demons to the shooter, turning plucky imps and revenants into a dimension-hopping menace.
]]>After the official soundtrack for Doom Eternal was released on April 18th to Collector's Edition owners, players quickly noticed that something sounded off. It turned out that there was a marked difference between the tracks Eternal's composer Mick Gorden had mixed himself and those done internally by Id Software. At the time, it was unclear why, though Gordon seemed displeased with the disparity. Id's executive producer Marty Stratton has published an open letter today offering their side of the story.
]]>Doom Eternal still is a very, very good shooter, though there are some key differences between this one and the one that came out in 2016. If you're still getting to grips with the game, I've listed my top tips for shooting all the demons and some stuff on exploring levels.
]]>Early on in Doom Eternal, you'll pick up your first weapon mod. These are secondary fire effects and there are a maximum of two per weapon. You can swap them on the fly if you've unlocked both of them, so they can make a standard shotgun either throw sticky bombs or turn into a fully automatic shotgun. But there is a way to make them even better.
]]>The new Gears Of War spin-off, Gears Tactics came out yesterday, and already players are turning their soldiers into characters from other games. Tactics has you recruit various soldiers as you go on, you see, and while you can't change the general look of their bodies or faces, there are still a bunch of features you can alter to adjust them to your liking.
So, here's a few examples you could follow if you fancy having characters like Duke Nukem or Doom Guy in your squad.
]]>There's more than a bit of metal in Doom Eternal. The rhythmic bass blasts of super-shotguns, tinny chaingun power solos, verses punctuated by gory breaks and technical fingerwork. It's only natural that Doom's soundtrack contains a little bit of hell in kind. But beyond all the blood and bass and demonic incantations, audiophiles have found Doom 2's cover art embedded in the very roots of Mick Gordon's heavy metal soundtrack.
]]>Blood, guts, and chainsaws are integral parts of Doom, but so are its bangin' metal soundtracks. Australian game sounds man Mick Gordon was the composer for both Doom (the 2016 one) and Doom Eternal's soundtracks, winning multiple awards for the former back when it released. The Doom Eternal OST launched over the weekend and apparently something sounded off to those with an ear for it. It turns out that Gordon didn't have as much a hand in the final mix as he would have liked.
]]>A standard run of Doom Eternal might take 15-20 hours, but you can cut that down to under half an hour with a few cheeky glitches and a whole lot of skill. IGN sat four of Doom Eternal's lead developers down in front of a 27-minute world record speedrun to record their reactions and, well, it involves a whole lot of asking "What just happened?" The run by "Xamide" is impressive to watch in itself, and it's extra nice with Id talking about the glitches, passing the blame, joshing about, and generally being dead impressed.
]]>Checking out a new coffee shop is intimidating enough as-is. Wondering whether the wifi's good enough for work, checking the prices on the croissants, trying to figure out how "chatty" the baristas are. The last thing I need is one of Doom Eternal's cretins judging me for my choice of milk alternative. Until May 14th, Eternal's Coffee and Camo Series lets you grind out a fresh batch of free cosmetics - one that, unfortunately includes this absolute roaster.
]]>Doom Eternal is a big game with tons of secrets hidden throughout. Most are just the secret items hidden throughout all of the levels, which we will provide links to here. I should warn you that the rest of this article contains major spoilers.
]]>Doom Eternal doesn't have a Deathmatch mode. The multiplayer not a place where marines chase other marines: it's a place where one character gets to be the Slayer from the singleplayer, and two other players gang up on them as chunky demons. The idea was to capture the same feeling as the campaign, and yep, that it does. Grappling up to a jetpack monster is all the sweeter when there's a human lurking behind that demon's eyes.
What I like best about it, though, are the moments where you flip from fleeing to eviscerating.
]]>The Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center will not ring with the detonation of rockets or chugging of Bawls this August, for QuakeCon 2020 has been cancelled. Id Software's 25th annual fragfest is called off due to the usual concerns and uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic. What began as a big ol' LAN party has grown into a big marketing event too, particularly after Bethesda bought the Quakelords at Id Software, though I suppose any announcements that Bethesda would've made at QuakeCon could be done online instead.
]]>It feels criminal to do this to Doom Eternal. Doom is the ur-FPS. Not the first, by any means, but the most - the first-person shooter we've been chasing for decades. In their own act of heresy, though, modders have plucked the eyes from our Doom Slayer and hung them a few feet behind his rear, turning Doom Eternal's meaty in-your-face gorefest into a ludicrously nippy third-person adventure.
]]>Now, I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to bother using a pistol when Doom Eternal starts you off with a shotgun, but hey, there's one hidden in the game's files anyway if you fancy a go with it. It's a proper working weapon by the looks of things, just one that never made it into the final version of the game. You can get it by using console commands on your PC, though considering the rest of Doom Guy's arsenal, a little handgun seems a bit tame at this point.
]]>Doom Eternal may have seen delays but it is a very, very good shooter. There are some key differences between this new Doom game and the one that came out in 2016, so I've listed my top tips for playing the game and even how to kill some of the tougher enemies.
]]>Even before their shared release date rolled around, Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing fans were wishing one another the best of luck on the arrival of their extremely opposite games. It's silly. It's adorable. It's like that anime trope where the large, scary looking character is actually a softie and their adorable and dainty best friend secretly has a murderous temper. Doomguy and Isabelle are continuing their friendship post-launch in this fan video that is honestly exactly what I needed right now.
]]>Over here in PC land we normally wouldn't get to write about Nintendo's cutesy island life sim, Animal Crossing, but I've found a wonderful reason to bring it before your eyes today. Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets you design all manner of lovely clothing items and pictures for you to display somewhere in your town, and players have been using it to create outfits inspired by PC games like Sea Of Thieves, Sayonara Wild Hearts and, of course, Doom: Eternal.
]]>I have some good news and some bad news regarding the seventh mission of Doom Eternal. The good news is that there are fewer collectables here compared to the previous mission. The bad news is that there are still 20 of them. Once you have them, the vast bulk of the collectables will be yours, so let's get into it.
]]>The sixth mission in Doom Eternal has the most collectables hidden within. On top of that, there are the usual secret encounters, lot of enemies to kill, and even some challenges to finish. This is going to be a long one, so strap yourself in and let's get started.
]]>With the fifth mission of Doom Eternal, the number of collectables has gone up rather significantly. It's very easy to miss them as well, since there may be multiple items in one secret location. But don't worry, I've found all of them and have put together this list of their locations.
]]>Now, I know what you're thinking. Why have I combined the collectables for the final level and the hub area of Doom Eternal? The fact of the matter is that the final level only has one collectable to be found, but the hub area also has a couple of secret items that are very well hidden.
]]>This is the final level in Doom Eternal where hunting for collectables is a major part of the game. While they're nowhere near as difficult to get to as some missions, these last few items are at least well hidden. We will uncover their locations, so you can complete your collection for most items.
]]>The first mission of Doom Eternal is more of a tutorial stage than anything else. It's here that you'll learn all about weapon mods, alternate firing modes, and how to kill some of the first few demons. While a lot of the items here are on the main path, there are a few that are hidden away.
]]>Entering Sentinel Prime in Doom Eternal is a rather ominous prospect. At the very least, hunting for collectables here is extremely simple. Most of the items found are Codex Entry pages, but there is one ghost knight with a Praetor Suit point that you may have a small problem finding.
]]>All along the fourth mission of Doom Eternal, you will see a Doom Hunter being constructed. A rather ominous prospect and with good reason, as at the end of the level is a boss fight. However, this is not the only thing you can find here as there are quite a few collectable items to seek.
]]>The second mission of Doom Eternal brings up the concept of Weapon Points. These are upgrades that you can use to spend on buffing up your weapon mods that you have unlocked. There are Weapon Points that you'll always unlock when going through a mission, but there are also secret encounters and the Slayer encounters that are optional. The second mission has a bunch of collectables as well, so it's worth having a look at our guide to see if you missed anything.
]]>Just before the third mission of Doom Eternal, you're introduced to Praetor Suit Points. These are coins held by ghostly knights who gently take the knee once you have received the coin. It's as if they know their place, unlike the demons that are defending the hell priest. New enemies here include Whiplash, a snake-like foe, and the grotesquely fat Mancubus.
]]>You're nearing the end of Doom Eternal now and there's also a bunch of collectable items you should look for on the way up. Not as many as before, but this mission does have a couple that are a little more well hidden.
]]>Plodding on through the second part of Nekravol in Doom Eternal, you'll be facing even more brutal assaults from the demons of hell. There are plenty of collectables to nab across this level, so this guide will tell you where to find them.
]]>Some missions in Doom Eternal have a large number of collectables, but Taras Nabad has some real stinkers that are really tricky to locate. They can be behind switches hidden quite far from where the actual collectable is. After what felt like hours, I've put together a list of where to find them.
]]>If you're anything like me, you're currently going through some intense Animal Crossing: New Horizons FOMO. These sort of lifestyle sims aren't for me, but I'll admit - watching my mutuals posting their island adventures non-stop has me a little jealous. Where's my Tanuki landlord? Why can't I have a best friend who is also a dog? For the Doom marine, the latter is only a download away, thanks to a new mod for Doom II that lets Animal Crossing's Isabelle join you for some righteous bloodshed against the legions of hell.
]]>Dust off that shotgun. Clean out that rocket launcher. Unsheathe your chainsaw, for the Slayer's time is upon us. Doom Eternal is out, and it's very, very good.
]]>Doom Eternal has finally ripped and torn its way onto PC, and to help make sure your rig doesn't explode into its own fiery hellscape, I've been putting the game through its paces to find out how to get the best performance from id Software's fast and furious shooter, and how to get the best settings if you find your graphics card's getting hot under the collar. In my Doom Eternal PC performance guide, you'll find out just how Low differs from its Ultra Nightmare settings, as well as how many extra frames you can expect to gain by tweaking its advanced video settings. Cue the heavy metal music.
]]>“Hell is other people,” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre. “But also my favourite level in Doom.” He was a smart man, and he probably lives in hell now, on account of all the atheism. But listen, hell doesn’t seem that bad. Bit hot. Bit demonic. You could do a lot worse than a trip to the underworld, is what I’m saying, and as luck would have it, we have the perfect means for you to go there without singeing your eyebrows or being dunked in a toxic lake for eternity. That’s right: videogames. It’s always videogames. Here are the 10 best hells you can visit on PC.
]]>It's not just your guns that can be upgraded in Doom Eternal. Praetor Suit points, runes, and Sentinel Crystals can all be used to buff up the Doomguy so that he's not just a mass of muscles under an ill-fitting space marine suit. Well, he still is, but now he can potentially last longer while swimming in radioactive ponds.
]]>Doom Eternal sucks in the whole of you. Fights plunge you into flow states. They send you wading through demonic maelstroms of gristle and gore. You twist and jump and dash, punching, shooting and chainsawing every Cacodemon that should know better than to cross you. I've danced the bloody ballets of hell and beyond, and I've returned to tell you: they are dazzling.
It's a lot like the last game, except now the Super Shotgun has a grappling hook.
]]>When Doom Eternal comes out on Friday, it won't include a deathmatch mode. The series that invented multiplayer deathmatch has done away with straight up murder competitions, because, according to Bethesda vice president Pete Hines, "that mode is eons old". "I don't know what that has to do with [Doom] other than that, well, a couple of decades ago we had that, so we should just have that again," he says.
Fair enough. Why pander to the past when you can rip and tear through player-controlled demons?
]]>The Doomguy. Stoic, silent, flickering eyes at the bottom of the screen. He's not really the talkative type, is he? Who would've guessed his first words weren't "death" or "murder" or "double-barrelled", but a Russian-language explanation of complex neural network modelling techniques? This week, developer Denis Malimonov unleashed his own sort of hell - replacing his regular human face with the Doom Slayer's low-fidelity visage with machine learning.
]]>While Doom Eternal will not launch until next week, the launch trailer has ripped and torn through the pages of the calendar to show us its sights early. Ah sure, go on, I'll take a little ultraviolence now to tide me over. A little plasma to warm my hands in these tumultuous last days of winter. A small swell of screams to drown out the noise of the road. Just a splash of blood to wet my lips. That'll do. I'm sure Animal Crossing's Isabelle will be thrilled for her pal. See the trailer below.
]]>When Google Stadia was first announced at GDC last year, id boss Marty Stratton promised that Doom Eternal would run at "true 4K" when it launched on the search giant's cloud streaming service. However, according to id's updated specs for the game, this is no longer going to be the case. Instead, the Stadia version of Doom Eternal will now run at 1800p when played on a 4K display (that's 3200x1800), with some sneaky up-sampling pushing it the rest of the way to proper 4K (3840x2160). The news will no doubt come as a blow for die-hard Stadia fans, but when you take a closer look at id's official 4K PC requirements for Doom Eternal, it's actually not entirely surprising.
]]>We don't really get the chance to write about Animal Crossing here in the PC gaming wasteland, even though several members of the team are avowed fans of Nintendo's build a lovely village and make friends 'em up. Happily, the somewhat unlikely crossover between Animal Crossing's fans and those of gory demonslaying FPS Doom has given me a valid reason.
Doom Eternal's release was delayed to March 20th, y'see, which happens to be the same day as Animal Crossing: New Horizons arrives for the Switch. The internet thus reasonably decided that Doomguy (supersoldier; gun wielder) and Isabelle (secretary; dog) were best friends who shared common interests. Now, with just a month to go, fans of both are wishing each other good luck and good health for their shared launch day with extremely wholesome fan art. I am, as the kids say, here for it.
]]>Bad news for anyone hoping to play Doom Eternal in all its real-time ray tracing glory when it comes out on March 20th, as id Software's studio director Marty Stratton has confirmed that the team have only just started to look at what they can do with the fancy pants reflection tech. As a result, it's looking increasingly unlikely that Doom Eternal will have ray tracing support at launch, and it could be several months before it's eventually patched in.
]]>Over the break we had a chance to do some serious scientific study of this business we call games, and it turns out that games are actually good. 2020 in particular has a healthy mix of big budget bonanzas and smaller indie plates to suit everyone's discerning tastes. And, as you know, the RPS treehouse is the most discerning, so to make it easier for you we've got a big ol' list of the games we're most looking forwards to this year. It's traditional.
]]>So Doom Eternal has been put back a few months into an already busy March period. Not the best of things to have to report, but at the very least, those who will be getting the game via a pre-order are now getting a port of Doom 64 as an apology. Below is an updated version of everything you need to know about Doom Eternal.
]]>If you've been looking forward to Doom Eternal as respite from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I come bearing bad news: it's been delayed. Previously due on November 22nd, Doom Eternal is now due on March 20th, 2020. Id Software say they want more time to, y'know, make it proper good. To balance out the bad news, Id also announced that 1997's console game, Doom 64 will be getting a PC re-release.
]]>Google held another one of their Stadia Connect conferences today, and this one was meant to be all about what games you'll be playing in the "scary" cloud come November. Sure enough, there were new Stadia games aplenty announced this evening, with the biggest addition being Cyberpunk 2077.
To help keep track of them all, here's a list of every Google Stadia game confirmed so far, as well as which games are coming at launch, which ones will be arriving a little bit later, and which games you'll only be able to play by subscribing to one of the special Stadia publisher subscriptions.
]]>Doom and subtlety mixes like matter and anti-matter, but from what I just witnessed, Doom Eternal’s 2 vs 1 Battlemode multiplayer face-off has some (shock) strategy and some (awe) stealth. It’s basically hide-and-seek with explosions. There's a video overview below.
]]>Id Software have given some more details about Doom Eternal’s multiplayer experience, Battlemode, at its QuakeCon presentation. It’ll be based on an asymmetrical structure, putting one Slayer up against two demons. There’ll be five different classes of demons to choose from, so you can mix up how you play. Or, you know, play Doom like you would in the singleplayer campaign as the Slayer, except you’re goring your pals instead of AI monsters. Here's a vid showing it off and breaking it down.
]]>One of the last of the Id Software old guard is parting company with the studio soon. Tim Willits wasn't part of the original team of founders, but was there early enough to be credited as level designer on 1995's Ultimate Doom and have a credit in almost everything since. After working as a designer and creative director on the likes of Quake, Doom 3 and Rage, and acting as studio director through the release of Rage 2, he's left a mark on the FPS genre as we know it. After QuakeCon next week he'll say his goodbyes and announce his plans for the future.
]]>We've been drowned by E3 2019 this past week, but maybe you only waded into the river of game reveals and new trailers up to your ankles. If you didn't get your hair wet, there might be some gems among the flotsam and jetsam that you missed. That's what this post is for: we've rounded up our picks for the best games of E3, based on our own impressions of either seeing the games behind closed doors at the show, or of watching the videos from the comfort of our homes.
]]>Trying to keep up with E3 2019 is a fool's errand, and the foaming river of content streaming down the internet's face doesn't always make it easier. So here's a round-up of every news story from the show we think matters to you, with links to our full stories (and bantful liveblogs) where relevant. We'll be updating this hourly, so keep coming back.
]]>I'm sure the chainsaws and shotguns and evisceration of Doom Eternal are grand and all but tonight when watching the trailer announcing its release date, I could only think "Ooh that's a lovely landscape." Hellish gates opening to reveal a Bosch-esque, Babel-y spire is a good view. A wee snippet of pure red figures bowing in synchronised worship is grand. I like that the smooth white architecture of the mysterious angelic (?) faction is the wrong sort of white, like bone or teeth rather than purity. Also there are loads of chainsawings and shotguns and evisceration and all that. Oh, and it's coming out November 22nd.
]]>Brendan: There is no end to the videogame onslaught of E3 2019. We almost perished escaping from the Microsoft conference mere hours ago, and we are already at another one. Joining me at Bethesda’s live show is Matt, who is lookin-- Matt? Matt!? Oh god. I’ve lost him. MATT.
Matt: Matt is dead. There is now only Cheer.
]]>Bethesda are backing down from plans to make Rage 2 and other upcoming games exclusive to their own launcher, announcing today via Twitter that they'll all be sold on Steam. Confirmed headed back to Valve's storefront is Rage 2, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, VR spinoff Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot and (most importantly) Doom Eternal. The move will be partially retroactive as well, with Fallout 76 confirmed for a Steam release "later this year", although no date has been nailed down for that yet.
]]>Wow 2019 is a thing, huh? How are we all doing? Relieved? Bowling a hangover and a nagging sense of trepidation? Maybe you work in retail and, surprise! You were supposed to be at work half an hour ago. Time loses all meaning post-New Year break, doesn't it? You're just sort of adrift in a sea of empty Quality Street wrappers. That's okay. We're all there too.
Pretty soon the grim news cycle is going to grind to life again. Only three months until -- no! Don't think about it. We still have a moment here, on the crinkly, brightly coloured waves. Listen to their quiet rustling and think, not about reality, but about games! Yes, lovely, shiny games. We can bury our face right in them. And from that point of view the next 12 months are looking pretty good. Here's our selection of the games we're most looking forward to next year.
]]>It should be pretty clear by now that I am an enormous fan of Doom 1 & 2, and 90s FPS design in general. While I greatly enjoyed Id Software's 2016 reboot of the series, I didn't love it. After watching three good chunks of footage live from QuakeCon, I'm feeling a lot more positive about its sequel, Doom Eternal. Green-haired zombies, spiky imps, semi-abstract urban-demonic hybrid environments, an underslung grappling hook and a bunch of new ideas were on display. Check out the gore-drenched action below, along with the extended and wooly thoughts of a certified Doomhead.
]]>The frags will flow like Bawls this weekend at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, where Id Software are throwing their annual LAN party/convention, QuakeCon. Thousands of gib-hungry gremlins will lug their computers to Texas and many more will loiter around the festivities. It's become more ZenCon in recent years, featuring more from corporate siblings Bethesda and other studios and games owned by ZeniMax Media, but will have a good kick of Id this year with our first look at Doom Eternal, the sequel somehow not named Doom II: Hell On Earth. Before all that, loads of Id and Bethesda games are cheap on sale, including yer Quakes, yer Dooms, yer Fallouts, and yer Preys.
]]>Id Software today announced Doom Eternal, a sequel to their unexpectedly great 2016 reboot of Doom. As in the series' original run, the sequel is bringing Hell to Earth, and it looks pleasingly meaty in the announcement trailer. Click on through to watch.
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