Bethesda and Id Software’s upcoming DOOM reboot won’t feature drop-in co-op in the style of recent games like Far Cry 4, but the developers aren’t ruling out the potential for co-operative play entirely. The game’s executive producer Marty Stratton confirmed to PC Gamer that there would be no campaign co-op, but revealed that its modding programme, SnapMap, would allow players to craft their own singleplayer maps.
Pulling sweet kickflips might not be what you naturally associate with the Doom franchise, so it's initially somewhat surprising to hear a member of the development team describe the upcoming DOOM's arenas as "like skate parks". No you won't be challenging a demon to a skate-off. What executive producer Marty Stratton means is that the game encourages constant momentum, and gives players plenty of wide open space and options for vertical movement.
Several in-engine screens of the initial concept for Doom 4 were leaked last month, and I don't think I was alone in thinking they looked precisely naff-all like the demon-blasting shooter series we know and love. Bethesda certainly agreed with me. Marketing VP Pete Hines has been talking to Polygon about the canned project, and his assertion that it felt like Call of Duty “with a Doom skin on it” doesn't surprise me in the least.
A new developer diary today for Europa Universalis IV reveals the quite popular Random New World mechanic is being looked at again. The team may change it as there's something "just off about it." Paradox Development Studio also acknowledges that Hotjoin "is still broken," and they're working to fix it. Also, Sauron and his hordes are getting evicted from 'Mt. Doom in Tibet' as high altitude lakes will now be possible.
Bethesda's E3 2015 press conference kicked off the biggest week in video games with a bang yesterday, with the first in-game footage of Fallout 4 and DOOM, as well as the announcement of Dishonored 2. To commemorate a memorable first press conference for the company, Bethesda handed out limited-edition figurines of characters from those three games to attendees. Humans being humans, these figures are now selling on eBay for around $200 to $400.
Well, umm... sort of. If anyone was worrying that Id Software's upcoming reboot of the big daddy of the shooter genre would skimp on the ultraviolence, I'd say we can now regard those fears as unfounded. Judging by the game's E3 trailer, this might be one of the bloodiest games ever released.
The very first conference kicking off E3 2015 next week is from Bethesda and it's also their very first dedicated showing. They'll be commanding our attention Sunday, June 14th @ 7.00pm PDT, or early Monday June 16th in UK and Europe. It will be live streamed via dark Internet sorcery and we've embedded it for your convenience. They've got some big guns on stage including the recently announced Fallout 4, and the long awaited DOOM sequel.
Just in case the original Doom wasn't quite violent enough for you, the latest version of Brutal Doom has now been released. It ups the gore quota fairly significantly. In development since 2010, the mod adds unique gibs, death animations, dismemberments, headshots, executions, plus a number of visual upgrades that put a bit of extra sheen on the venerable shooter's graphics.
Before Id Software had a bit of a rethink and went for a very familiar-looking Doom 4 (okay, technically it's supposed to be called DOOM), replete with skeletons wearing miniguns on their shoulders, there was another, very different version of the game in the works at the studio. Some screenshots of that initial project have surfaced on fansite Doomworld, and I think hardcore fans of the series might just be glad this version didn't work out.
Orgrim Doomhammer is just one of the subtly named orcs who'll be making their cinematic debut in Duncan Jones' film adaptation of World of Warcraft next year, and the first pictures of this key character in the fantasy mythos have been posted online. It's actually pretty surprising how close the film's orcs are to their video game cohorts – both favour strong jawlines with pointy tusks, bulging muscles, and a permanent expression of grumpiness/maniacal rage.
A very, very teasing short snip of the new DOOM has just been released by Bethesda, but it's all to announce that we'll be seeing a lot more (hopefully) by the middle of June at E3 2015 in California. A beta has already been promised to those who pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order, and maybe we're a lot closer than we think. Bethesda's E3 conference is on June 14th @ 7.00pm PDT.
Get your Pip-boys ready because Bethesda is gearing up for their "first-ever" dedicated press conference at this year's E3 in Los Angeles, California. What's on the agenda for the RPG and shooter outfit? Nobody knows! Not yet at least, but the coming months should reveal more about Bethesda's plans for E3. An online Twitch stream will be running on the day. Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, Doom...
For fans of classic shooter Doom, the latest entry in Double Fine's ongoing 'Devs Play' series is well worth a watch. Can the game's creator, industry legend John Romero, finish its first episode 'Knee Deep in the Dead' in one piece? He's joined by "Doom history enthusiast" and Spacebase designer JP LeBreton, and the pair have some interesting discussions about various aspects of game design.
First-person shooter DOOM is celebrating its 21st year, and coincidentally is now legal to buy alcohol in the country of its origin. John Romero, human host to a lion's mane of hair, is revealing artwork. He's practically assembled his own art gallery of images through his twitter account, which included shots of old model sculptures, photos of the original id Software gang, and unused game assets.
I can appreciate a good title, and Bossa Studios' Deep Dungeons of Doom has one of the best I've seen this year. So well done for that, guys. The retro rogue-like dungeon crawler is now available on Steam. Taking control of either the Crusader, the Witch or the Mercenary, you'll venture underground to battle a variety of unpleasant monsters.
There was a demo released for Kingdom Under fire: Circle of Doom on the Xbox Live Marketplace in most parts of the globe a few months ago. It wasn't originally available to those of us that lived in Europe but you can now download it from this region. In Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom Players will explore randomly generated vast dungeons and face off monsters swarming the screen in thousands and attacking from all directions along the floors, walls, and ceilings of the dungeons.
Manny Brown was sent a copy of Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom for the Xbox 360 to review, but he didn't seem to enjoy the singleplayer aspects, and felt that the co-op mode wasn't enough to brighten up this action-RPG from Micrsoft and Blueside. You can read our exclusive review here.
Given the length of time DOOM 3 took to reach avid gamers it's almost shocking to hear anything about such a thing until 2015 or so. Some breaks in tradition are a good thing. id Software has advertised for new job posts at the company too, from producer to designer. Get those demonic resumes ready...
While Doom 4 will be powered by the same id Tech 5 technology as Rage, co-founder and designer John Carmack says it would appear to be "a totally new game engine". Whereas the open-world shooter Rage will run at 60FPS, id will be able to chuck "three times as much horsepower" at Doom 4 running at 30FPS.
An 18 month old game from Id got the boot because they felt it was too dark and inhibited too many of Doom's short comings. From the ashes of canned survival horror game 'Darkness' though arose the upcoming action focused 'Rage'. Gamers want to say "'I'm victorious,' not 'I'm not dead.'"