With DOOM Eternal now less than two months away, Bethesda and id Software have been talking up the shooter a great deal over the last few days, even calling it the best game they’ve ever made (which is really saying something, considering the studio’s legacy). And looking at the new trailer, the new gameplay, and all the new information, it’s easy to see why they feel that way.
Another aspect of the game that the developers seem quite proud of is the multiplayer. As opposed to DOOM (2016), DOOM Eternal won’t have any traditional multiplayer modes, and instead only comes with something called Battle Mode, with which id Software have tried to replicate the ferocity and carnage that one usually associates with DOOM in a unique multiplayer environment.
Speaking with GamesBeat, DOOM Eternal creative director Hugo Martin spoke about the multiplayer a bit more, about how it learns from the mistakes of the previous game, and about how id Software thinks it will surprise those who play the game.
“With the multiplayer, we learned that they want id to lead and not follow,” said Martin, talking about the DOOM fanbase and how it received the multiplayer in DOOM (2016). “They felt that our multiplayer was a solid remix of a bunch of things they’d already played. That’s not good enough for fans of id games. And so with this multiplayer, we really tried to do just that and innovate and do something they haven’t seen before, but have it still feel completely DOOM, and like the DOOM Eternal single-player experience that they love.
“We’re very proud of that, and we’re excited for fans to try it. I think they’re going to be shocked at how deep it is. On the surface it might look like checkers, but once you get your hands on it you realize it’s more like chess.”
DOOM Eternal is due out for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on March 20. A Nintendo Switch version is also in development, and we’re supposedly not gonna have to wait too long to get our hands on that as well.