The Brutal Gameplay Escalation of ‘Doom Eternal’

After a generous showing of footage at QuakeCon 2018, we were left wanting another beautifully bitter taste of firepower and brimstone for Doom Eternal. id Software confirmed Doom Eternal is more a direct sequel to 2016’s Doom rather than a recreation of Doom II: Hell on Earth, despite the presence of Hell on Earth in the gameplay reveal.

In many ways, what was shown is a fast-paced refinement of the “push-forward combat” design logic of the rebooted Doom. The first and most obvious is the weapon upgrades that enable a greater sense of forward momentum. Upgrades like the four-revolving-barrels of a Postal-like automatic shotgun mean small and large demons alike are eviscerated on your fast-paced way from A to B.

The Meat Hook

Then there’s the “Meat Hook.” That’s what id is calling the underslung grappling hook on the Super Shotgun, with the story tease that someone is responsible for this and Doom Slayer’s associated Praetor Suit upgrades. The simple genius of the Meat Hook is it’s a tool that lets players close the gap to an enemy (you fly to them, not pull them to you) to use the Super Shotty at its most lethal point-blank range.

On top of this, it’s a way to move forward faster, which complements the mobility buffs of midair double dashes and monkey bar swings.

The Meat Hook also ties into an elevated feeling of verticality, although id was quick to clarify that the Meat Hook can only latch on to demons.

More interestingly, in terms of incentivising players to conceptualise combat in boots-off-the-ground, three-dimensional space, Doom Slayer will reportedly be able to use jumps and dashes to modify the retracting-chain momentum when attached to a demon. We even see this in the above gameplay footage — especially at 13:14, when the player drifts to the right while hooked.

Wall Climbing in Doom?

Monkey bars and the Meat Hook aren’t the only ways to get higher in Doom Eternal, either. There’s an all-new wall-climbing system, which appears to be specific to particular wall types.

There’s a chance this might not be the case, though, as id teased it may be a usable skill in combat, albeit (assumedly) one that would leave the player temporarily exposed during the backwards-facing climbing animation.

New Weapons

The Super Shotgun isn’t alone in the weapon-reworks category. id admitted it wasn’t happy with the Plasma Gun in the last Doom outing, which is why it’s gone back to the drawing board. Not only does this mean a redesign in look, sound and feel, it’s also a weapon that now accumulatively electrocutes the demonic saps you spray it with.

There are new weapons on offer, too, like the Doom Blade. That’s the not-so-fancy name id has given to Doom Slayer’s retractable, Predator-like wrist blade. Admittedly, it’s a working title, but it’s likely one that’ll stick. The Doom Blade is a big part of an improved Glory Kill system, where demon damage remains once an execution is activated (unlike Doom 2016) and there’s also the pledge that there’s a greater variety of animations.

Glory Kills are Back and Beautiful

Interestingly, id was quick to point out that, despite the goretastic Glory Kills, the Doom Eternal developer always wants players to “ooh!” rather than cringe. Evil Dead 2 was cited as an over-the-top influence for making demon deaths visceral without making them Hostel.

On top of the Doom Blade, Doom Slayer has a multipurpose (again) Predator-like shoulder-mounted cannon. It can lob grenades and spew flames, and we think it’s safe to assume it won’t be a two-trick pony. The extra explosive/fiery ordnance options are just another way to deter backpedalling and keep the fast-thinking, faster-firing player moving ever forward.

id also mentioned there are incentives for using the shoulder cannon beyond additional offensive options. In terms of defence, setting demons alight reportedly rewards armour shards. Though not finalised and certainly not evident in the gameplay demo, id seems to be wanting to move away from generous health, armour and ammo drops. Instead it wants players to gloriously and goriously glean these critical items from detonated demons.

On top of the new Praetor Suit offensive options, there’s new handheld ordnance, too. One of these is a Crucible – that’s right, “a” not “the” Crucible from Doom 2016 – that expands into Hell’s equivalent of a lightsaber. Then there’s the Ballista. id teased there’s a reason this looks ancient, but this Painkiller Stake Gun-looking beauty is a double-barrel death dispenser. Seemingly built for ranged combat, it packs an explosive punch that seems purpose-built for dispatching bigger demonic foes.

Hell is Online PvP

While it can be disabled for those who want an exclusively solo campaign, there’s also an all-new game invasion feature. When activated, this lets individual or multiple players (the number is yet to be determined) take on the role of demons and have a crack at taking down the Doom Slayer. The location of these player-controlled demons won’t always be obvious to the Doom Slayer player, but this new feature appears to be linked to the inclusion of the decidedly old-school extra lives that can be found in Doom Eternal.

According to id, these extra lives can be used for an instant respawn if a fight against Hell’s hordes tumbles even further south, while the implication of the gameplay footage and one of the new screenshots suggests these precious second chances can be used during player invasions, too. For the pro-Invasion Doom Eternal player, extra lives will likely be highly coveted pick-ups.

Invasion isn’t the only form of multiplayer, either, with id confirming there will be a separate PvP mode. Details are sacrilegiously scant, though, save for the word it’ll be separate from Invasion, different from Doom 2016’s multiplayer, and built exclusively at id Software.

With id unwilling to commit to an ETA for Doom Eternal, it’s safe to say the god-tier shooter developer has more than a few as yet unseen demonic tricks up its sleeves for what’s shaping up to be one Hell of a sequel.