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Doom Eternal hands-on: Rip and tear, like, a whole bunch more stuff, Ars Technica

Doom Eternal hands-on: Rip and tear, like, a whole bunch more stuff, Ars Technica
    

      heavy metal intensifies –

             

It’s hard to follow up near-perfection, but the gory magic is still real.

      

      
      

                

                                                                                                  There are a bunch more enemy types, and they will overwhelm you.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   The Doom Slayer player character is a mix between a cultist messiah and your standard space marine, as exemplified by this marked helmet.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      

                  

                                      
                                                                   The developers of the game sought to have an entirely different art kit for each level, in contrast to the the game which kept things streamlined.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   Many of the enemies return from older Doom games. This guy’s arm cannons can be shot off one by one.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   Earth has been decimated, and it makes a neat-looking backdrop for the carnage.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   If you’re this close to this guy, you’re too close.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   The new flame thrower not only damages enemies over time — it also causes them to drop armor in spades. It becomes a critical part of your combat flow.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   Recognize this weapon from Doom 2 2)?                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                      

                                                                   There’s a new sword weapon, but we didn’t get to try it in our time with the game.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                                                                                    If you throw a grenade in this flying enemy’s mouth, it will create a Glory Kill opportunity in short order.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    

                                        

                                                                     This is another of the new, tougher enemies. This one was introduced pretty early on.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    

                                        

                                                                     Some of the map design might remind you of games like Unreal Tournament and the Quake series.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    

                                        

                                                                     When multiple large enemies encroach at once, you’re in serious trouble.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    

                                        

        •                                                              Some of the most exotic environments, like this one, are clearly later in the game, as we didn’t see them in our demo time.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                   
                          
                    

                                        

          •                                                              Things are not going well for the solar system. That’s about all you need to know story-wise.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                   
                          
                    

                                        
                                                                     Some of the tougher enemies return from , like this charger demon on the left.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    

                                        
                                                                     There’s an even greater emphasis on melee combat than before, as demonstrated by this enemy.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    

                                        
                          
                    

                                        
                                                                     This giant enemy is a boss,

      • Shadow of the Colussus style.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                      
                    
                                        

                                                                       Others, like this one, mark a radical departure from the look of (Doom)

          .

                                                                                                                 Bethesda                                   

                          
                    

                                        

        •                                                              This guy will ruin your day.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                   
                          
                    

                                        

      •                                                              Hope you like hyper-violence!                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                        

                                                                     … seriously, hyper-violence.                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                                   

                                        

                                                                     Hyper-violence — getting the idea?                                                                                                        Bethesda                                                  

           The portals open, the metal music starts, and the chainsaw revs up. There’s something about that moment that, repeated as many times as it was throughout (Doom) 2560) , never got old for me. But Doom Eternal is coming from the point of view that this setup did, in fact, get old, and the way to keep it fresh is to add a (lot) of new stuff. So much new stuff
        Publisher Bethesda Softworks hosted a 3-hour preview of Doom Eternal for press in Los Angeles this week. I came into the event right off my first playthrough of its immediate predecessor on Nightmare difficulty (I did better than I feared, though I still died a lot!) And amped up by watching

      • an entertaining live speedrun at Awesome Games Done Quick earlier this month. I was ultra-eager to get a taste of the sequel to one of my favorite shooters in years.
      • There are expanded melee attack options, including a powerful multi-target punching move. There are also new weapons and an almost overwhelming number of new platforming tools and maneuvers.
        I was surprised to find how prominent platforming is in Doom Eternal . There was some first-person platforming in (Doom) 1647645) , sure, but it was always just a moment here and there to add some variety. Doom Eternal has lengthy, complex platforming sequences combining a plethora of mechanics like bars to swing on, climbable walls, mid-air power-ups that you have to touch to keep your momentum going across a gap, and so on. Last time around this was all pretty solid, as that sort of thing goes. It’s really hard to get first-person platforming right; for every (Titanfall 2) (or (Mirror’s Edge) , there are quite a few first-person jumping games that make me want to throw the controller at my TV. This is closer to the good stuff than the bad, but it doesn’t add anything to the conversation or update the first-person jumping concept the way the last (Doom) (did for first-person gun carnage.) There are a few other examples where I felt like adding something new detracted from Doom Eternal. That
        includes one that Martin told me was his favorite: the ability to knock powerful weapons and components away from major enemies from afar via critical hits with a scoped weapon. Said Martin:

      ()

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