Pre-order Doom Eternal

The 2016 reboot of Doom was a welcome surprise in an industry full of tactical cover shooters. Instead of playing it safe, the franchise returned to its roots, with a focus on aggressive action and copious killing. After spending a few hours playing Doom Eternal, it's safe to say that the upcoming sequel leans even harder into the action part of Doom. If you're not playing Doom Eternal aggressively, you're going to die.

According to Hugo Martin, the game director on Doom Eternal, the team approached the game design with fun at the forefront, but also with the mindset that they weren't going to be afraid to let players fail.

"We're comfortable with frustrating the player when they don't do the right thing. I think you learn through failure," said Martin. "As players play in a more defensive way, or they try to hide behind rocks, or treat it like a cover shooter, everything in the game is designed to, basically, try to kill you at that point. As you die, and you fail, we're funneling the player into a play style that we know is going to be more fun."

What Martin said was true for me, at least when I first jumped into the game. Doom Eternal builds on the mechanics of Doom 2016, but it is also a lot stingier with ammo. That's because your chainsaw now does double duty as an ammo fountain. Sadly, this means you can't really use the chainsaw as a primary weapon. Instead, you bust it out when you need to quickly take down an enemy and get an ammo refill at the same time. It's similar to a glory kill in that regard, except you're getting bullets instead of health.

Similar to other special abilities, the chainsaw is on a timer. You can also power it up by collecting fuel cans. Standard demons can be killed with a level-one chainsaw, but more powerful foes will require you to collect multiple fuel cans. If you run out of ammo, the chainsaw automatically activates.

It may sound odd, but it really does force you to play aggressively, as there is no real way to hoard ammo — at least not in the early levels that were available for play. You're constantly pushing forward, glory-killing one enemy for health, chainsawing another to get an ammo reload, and then unloading the shotgun in the face of yet another demon. When you can do this in one smooth action, you have mailed the basics of Doom Eternal.

With that said, I really hope there is an unlockable cheat to allow unlimited fuel for the chainsaw. Shredding demons in the OG Doom with the chainsaw was a blast, and it would be a shame if you can't eventually do the same here.

Since Doom Eternal is the second game in the series, it is only fitting that it opens with Hell on Earth, which was the subtitle for Doom II. Demons have invaded. The masses are dead or dying (or converted to demonkind), and no one seems to care except for you and VEGA. Yep, it looks like that backup copy you made of the AI in the first game stuck around to help you out once again. Expect to get mission goals and some story hints from VEGA. The greater Doom Eternal lore is told through codex entries, which are unlocked as you make your way through the levels. There seems to be a lot locked away in these menu trees, so if story is your thing, expect plenty of it. If you just want to rip and tear, feel free to ignore the narrative and focus on the fighting.

Design-wise, Doom Eternal pulls a lot of inspiration from the OG titles. There is a greater variety of demons this time around, and all the classics look like more detailed versions of the original pixelated monsters. For veteran players, it is recognizably Doom as soon as you start playing, even if the environments end up being quite varied. Despite starting the game in a Hell-occupied Earth, you'll end up visiting a number of areas with distinct visual styles, from gothic-inspired castles to snowy mountains and sci-fi-themed bases.

"We really didn't have a lot of locations to take you to in Doom 2016. You kind of only went from Mars to Hell, Mars to Hell. In Doom Eternal, you see more and do more in the first three levels than you do in the entirety of Doom 2016," said Martin. "The very last level will be an experience you've never had before in a Doom game."

Staying alive in Doom Eternal means learning the aggressive play style that Martin mentioned, but it also means mastering crowd control. You often have to deal with enemies on the ground as well as new demons that teleport in during a fight. Different monsters have different strengths, so focusing on the most immediate threat, which may not be the strongest monster, is key to survival. This may also mean leaving a weak enemy wandering nearby, just so you have an easy glory kill (AKA health pick-up) handy if you need it.

Along with their strengths, demons in Doom Eternal also have weaknesses. Just about anything beyond the grunts has a weak point that can be quickly damaged or disabled. For example, tossing an explosive into the open mouth of a Cacodemon instantly stuns it. As you target enemies and cause damage, you'll visibly see them degrade. This can be used as a visual clue for weak point damage, as well as general damage.

Mixed in with the general enemies are stronger beasts called empowered demons. These are otherwise standard enemies that hit harder and have more health. They've become empowered because they killed another player. This isn't the optional invasion mode (that is opt-in, and the invading demons are controlled by other humans); it simply appears to be a way to incorporate a social aspect into the game. I wouldn't be surprised if the empowered demons take their kills from other Doom Eternal players on your friend list, similar to how the Forza games pull drivatars from your friends.

Invasion isn't the only way that you can play as a demon. At certain points in the campaign, you'll be able to take control of your enemy and use them to cause carnage. There are no details on how often this happens, but it's a good way to break up the pace. Who doesn't want to run around as a Revenant with shoulder-mounted rocket launchers and 2000 health?

Improving your own abilities is done by collecting Sentinel Crystals, which allow you to improve ammo stats, armor or health. You can increase them in any order, but you get certain bonuses by unlocking paired upgrades. Each bonus is attached to two upgrade slots. For example, the loot magnet bonus is activated by a linked ammo and armor upgrade set.

Another way to upgrade abilities is via runes. There are nine total runes to collect, but you can have a total of three active at any one time.

• Air Control - Greatly increase movement control while in the air.
• Blood Fueled - Gain a speed boost after performing a Glory Kill.
• Chrono Strike - Hold [Mouse2] in mid-air to temporarily slow down time. Once the rune is fully drained, you'll need to wait for it to recharge.
• Dazed and Confused - Increases how long enemies remain in a stagger state.
• Equipment Fiend - Enemies killed by equipment or while under the influence of equipment will decrease the recharge time.
• Punch and Reave - Enemies killed by a Blood Punch shockwave drop health.
• Savagery - Perform Glory Kills faster.
• Saving Throw - Survive a death blow and briefly slow down time, giving you a chance to recover.
• Seek and Destroy - launch into a Glory Kill from much further away.

The primary difference between the crystal upgrades and the runes is that the former focuses on core stats, while the latter enables changes that allow you to customize your play style.

You can also change up your play style by enabling weapon mods. This is something that we saw in the last game, so it's not a huge surprise to see them here. Weapons have multiple mod options, and individual mods can be upgraded once enabled. The options you choose are going to be based on your preferences, but they're also a necessity. One thing that Martin said the team wanted to improve was a requirement to use multiple weapons and mods. The Doom Eternal team doesn't want players running through the entire campaign with a single weapon.

"For example, the Super Shotgun. You could kind of beat everything [in Doom 2016] with the Super Shotgun," said Martin. "This time around, I think we're encouraging weapon-switching a bit more. We see people using more mods."

While I enjoyed blasting my way through the beginning of the Doom Eternal campaign, I was a bit disappointed that id and Bethesda weren't ready to talk about custom maps and user mods.

"At the time of launch, there won't be anything, but I think it is something that you'll probably want to ask Marty [Stratton] later on," said Martin.

Custom maps have been a huge part of Doom over the years, especially on the PC, so it's more or less a given that they will make an appearance at some point. Here's hoping the tools are both powerful and easy to use.

Martin may not have been able to spill the beans on map editing tools or the plans around custom levels, but he did leave us with one enticing tidbit at the end of the day. The Doom Slayer will be able to get vengeance for Daisy (the bunny rabbit) in Doom Eternal. Daisy has been teased by the Doom team both on Twitter and in the official Doom Eternal splash art, but it is a tease no more, with Martin confirming the bunny as a secret for players to seek out.

"In every single level in Doom [Eternal], there is one single bunny hidden," said Martin. "You'll be able to find them in every single level."