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DOOM Single Player Review: (Chain)Saw Me Up Inside


Posted on August 9, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

After following id Software’s DOOM revival for more than two years I finally got the chance to chew through the lengthy campaign for this reimagining of the 1990s FPS classic. While the reception of the game’s multiplayer component have been met mostly with jeers the single player surprised critics and fans alike. Now that the game is available at hefty discounts should you reenlist with the United Aerospace Corporation or sit this one out?

Unlike the over decade’s old Doom III this new DOOM is well aware of why fans are going to be playing this game’s single player: to brutally murder hordes of demons in several different spectacular splat fests, collect an ever expanding array of over the top weapons, sprawling levels and at the end of the adventure do battle with a larger than life CyberDemon that commands the forces of Hell. The developers didn’t try to fit the existing DOOM franchise into a new mold – in contrast to Doom III’s survival horror inspired design decisions, this new DOOM embraces its gory roots and plays it up with an almost comedic effect.

Doom_Demon

One again dawning the iconic green armor of one of the FPS mainstays..no not Master Chief… but the grandfather of all other Space Marines DoomGuy. Throughout the 9 – 12 hour campaign (it took me about 10 hours to beat single-player on the medium difficulty) DoomGuy will explore several different compartments of the UAC facility on Mars where a portal to hell has caused hundreds of the damned to flood the halls of this technological wonder. Unlike other titles in the DOOM series this particular game doesn’t begin with a version of the UAC Mars Facility prior to the demonic invasion – instead, DoomGuy will pick up a pistol within the first 15 seconds of beginning the single player and immediately starts slaying Demons to pumping rock music.

Destroying the forces has never felt as satisfying as it has in 2016’s DOOM, this has a lot to do with just how id Software has improved upon the combat systems of old to make them fresh while keeping in things like the over the top violence that makes this reimagining distinctively DOOM. Typically the DoomGuy will take on encounters of 5 – 10 demons with several more waves spawning once the previous group has been destroyed. Unlike other games in the franchise, enemies will flash bright orange or blue if you’ve defeated them quickly enough. Rushing forward and clicking the right stick while this flashing animation will have the DoomGuy perform a “gory kill” – which can range from ripping off an enemy’s arms and beating them with them or ripping out a demon’s entrails and feeding them to them. Yes they are gruesome, and they do get repetitive but the gory kills can provide absolutely necessary extra health to DoomGuy during the middle of an encounter.

DOOM

The other thing that makes the combat in this game so satisfy in the weaponry. A lot of the DOOM classics return – the pistol, the shotgun, the super shotgun, the pulse rifle and the BFG 9000 to just name a few but iD Software has once again outdone themselves by adding a bevy of secondary modes and modifications for each weapon. While playing challenges will passively be completed throughout the campaign awarding “weapon upgrade” points that can be spent on your arsenal.  A standard set of enhancements will be available right from the get-go, such as enhanced magazines and quicker reload speeds but what really makes the weapon upgrade system so robust is the inclusion of modifications. By locating weapon drones in each level DoomGuy can unlock a set of modifications for each weapon. These modifications range from placing an explosive barrel underneath the shotgun to equipping the heavy machine gun with a scope – giving you options that allow you to deal with both up-close groups and far away targets. One of the best parts of the weapons modification system is that once you’ve unlocked multiple of them for a single weapon you can easily swap them with the press of the D-Pad.

With its focus on quick paced combat and first person platforming, it might not sound like DOOM is a game that you’d want to play for the story but id Software has actually spent a considerable time crafting the world of DOOM. Upon completing levels players will unlock dossiers on iconic enemies like the Pinky Demon, Cyber Demon, Hell Knight, Imps ,and others – these dossiers not only flesh out the traits & mechanics of these enemies but also does quite a lot to inform players about the societal structure of hell. Particular attention should be paid to the in-game narrative cutscenes and hidden PDAs contained in the levels because the sci-fi narrative about a mysterious corporation helmed by the first sentient artificial intelligence. For what could have been a throwaway narrative designed to simply introduce reasons for the DoomGuy to slaughter the minions of Hell, I found the narrative quite engaging.

doom_monsters

DOOM’s single-player is a damning critique of the 4-hour campaigns we’ve seen in other FPS titles, whether that was id Software’s intention is debatable. What is clear is that they’ve taken the time to craft a very detailed science fiction universe for a franchise that is known more for splattering demon’s brains against the wall than it is for its storytelling. By marrying an optional rich world. gunplay that provides dozens of tools and upgrades to explore, the series’ trademark gore and large levels with dozens of secrets iD Software has managed to create a campaign that is nearly double the length of its competition and demands to be replayed. Finding all of the secrets can be daunting and failing a demon encounters on higher difficulties a few times can be frustrating but none of that detracts from just how slick of a package that DOOM’s single player is.


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DOOM’s First Paid DLC – Unto The Evil – Arrives


Posted on August 5, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda has released the first downloadable content for id Software’s DOOM on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. The $15 USD DLC pack is called “Unto The Evil” and it adds 3 new maps to the multiplayer, one new weapon, a playable demon and new color sets for player armor.

Unto The Evil won’t be entirely gated behind a paywall – thanks to Bethesda’s “PartyPlay” system the host of  a multiplayer loby is able to share their purchased maps with their friends in the party.

I find the PartyPlay system an interesting addition but I can’t help wonder if eventually Bethesda will have to just release the paid DLC for free to keep the community from fracturing and dwindling. This is why Microsoft’s approach to Gears 4 DLC is so refreshing – paying for DLC is only required in private lobbies in that game.

Here is the complete breakdown of Unto The Evil’s new content:

New Maps

  • Cataclysm
  • Offering
  • Ritual

New Equipment

  • Kinetic Mine

New Weapon

  • UAC EMG Pistol

New Demon

  • The Harvestor

DOOM is currently 50% off on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam in celebration of QuakeCon.


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Quake Con PSN Sale Discounts Doom & Other New Releases By 50%


Posted on August 2, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Sony’s PlayStation Network plays host to a sale on Bethesda’s recent & past catalogue of digital titles for both the PlayStation 4 and PS3.  This sale is in celebration of the upcoming QuakeCon convention, which will have events live-streamed this weekend from Texas.

Recent titles like iD Software’s Doom reboot and older critically acclaimed games like The Evil Within (2014) for PS4 have been heavily discounted. For FPS fans this is a great deal to save a huge chunk of change on DOOM, which hasn’t even been on the market for two full months.

Other titles from other developers under the Bethesda banner include discounts on the Fallout franchise. Last year’s immersive Fallout 4 gets a substantial temporary price-cut alongside DLC for the PS3’s Fallout 3.

Here is a partial list of the titles available. All prices listed are in Canadian dollars with PSN Plus (10% discount applied).

Doom_Logo

DOOM Franchise

  • DOOM (2016) Standard Edition – $39.99
  • DOOM BFG Edition – $19.99
  • DOOM Classic – $8.99

Fallout 4 DLC

Fallout 4

  • Fallout 4 Standard Edition – $39.99
  • Fallout 4: Automatron DLC Add-On – $10.99
  • Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop – $4.99
  • Fallout 4: Far Harbor Add-on – $26.24
  • Fallout 4 Digital Deluxe Edition – $104.99

The Evil Within

  • The Evil Within Standard Edition – $17.49
  • The Evil Within Digital Deluxe – $22.49
  • The Evil Within Season Pass – $14.99

Wolfenstein The New Order

Wolfenstein Franchise

  • Wolfenstein: The Old Blood – $12.49
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order – $14.99

Fallout_4

Fallout 3 DLC (PS3)

  • Fallout: New Vegas Lonesome Road – $7.49
  • Fallout: New Vegas Courier’s Stash – $1.49
  • Fallout: New Vegas Dead Money – $7.49
  • Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta – $3.79
  • Fallout 3: Broken Steel – $3.79

The full list of available titles in the Quakecon sales is available on Sony’s store website.


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DOOM Developers Rollout Vulkan Graphics Options, Boosts Performance On Older Hardware


Posted on July 11, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

ID Software has released a major patch for this past May’s DOOM which enables support for the Vulkan graphics API. To the casual observer, this may be unexciting news as games typically support a number of graphic options ranging from DirectX 12, Open GL to Open CL. Vulkan isn’t just a new alternative for developers but may also provide large benefits for players on older hardware.

Vulkan will allow players on newer graphics cards, like the Radeon 480 and Geforce 1070  to experiences higher frame-rates than those available through pre-existing rendering options. Over on the Bethesda Blog ID Software’s Robert Duffy wrote that the Vulkin technology is a cutting edge API that will bring high frame-rates that will improve the feel of movement within DOOM.

Doom

Here is the specific quote about the improvements on older hardware:

We also anticipate some older GPUs will now be able to play the game at good framerates. We hope the range of GPU support widens with additional game and driver updates.

Bethesda & iD Software have been working with both AMD and Nvidia to provide new drivers that will optimize performance for Vulkan. According to Robert Duffy the devs have been working with the major graphics card manufacturers since this past March to make this latest update a reality.

In part he wrote:

Since late March 2016 we started working daily with both AMD and NVIDIA. Both have been great partner companies, helping bring full DOOM and Vulkan driver support live to the community. There was a lot of work on all fronts but we are pleased with the results.

Over on Neogaf users have reported increases ranging from 10 – 25 frames per second depending on the particular graphics card and processor configuration.  Others have reported that the game is maintaining 60 FPS a lot longer when using Vulkan than it was prior using other rendering technologies prior to the update.

The below graph shows some of the users results:

doom-spec

You can snag the latest AMD and Nvidia drivers at these respective links.


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Doom’s Multiplayer to get revamp


Posted on June 9, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Most people (including Rae) who played the single player campaign of DOOM said “wow this is good” but then found the multiplayer to be lackluster, generic, and boring. Some of the complaints were legitimate and the internet was full of players trying to get their money’s worth  out of a crappy game with little online content, while also having to contend with cheaters and a lack of standard features like custom games. Speaking to Eurogamer, executive producer Marty Stratton revealed how id is tackling complaints.

“There’s certainly no lack of commitment to Doom as a multiplayer game on our side. We are already working on private matches with custom game settings and expect to include that in a free update this summer.”

So there you go. If you were one of those people who bought DOOM for nostalgia, because you love ID or just because you thought it looked cool you might be getting a massive content update soon. Though private matches are mentioned here, dont expect those to occur on private servers, rather what  Marty is probably saying is that they will allow for games with custom options. This doesnt fix one of the most rampant issues, the cheating, but it also means that people wont be able to set up say a surfing server or a server will all of one type of gun, or a server running a hacked lobby. It leaves more control in the hands of the developers, which I can’t see as being too bad.  ID is looking into implementing a traditional match browser too. Bots are also planned, but according to Marty they are still some ways off.

“Our bot system was actually written by one of our long-time senior programmers, John Dean, known online as ‘Maleficus’, who also wrote the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Fritz bot and the bots in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, so he does great work with bots. But John also just happens to be our internal lead programmer on SnapMap, so he’s very busy.”

In my most humble opinion, shipping a game with something as powerful as snapmap and not giving people the private server to play those maps on, and the bots to practice against, was a poor move by ID. Bethesda will be talking more about their newest shooter at their E3 showcase on Sunday 12, 7pm PT. We will be covering it live, so be sure to tune in!


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Early DOOM Campaign Impressions: “Absolutely Brutal”


Posted on May 13, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Doom

I’ve been following id Software’s revival of the granddaddy of First Person Shooters, DOOM, since it was announced over two years ago. After the rather bland looking E3 campaign demos from last year, there was relative silence about the single player content right up until a few weeks before the game’s release. After spending 3 hours with the single-player mode into the wee hours of the morning I’ve got some initial impressions to share.Read More


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Fan Overhauls Original Doom 3 To Look Amazing


Posted on April 16, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

If this weekend’s open beta for the latest doom just isn’t scratching that itch for demon infested combat on Mars then perhaps Doom III: Redux is for you.  Developed by Clear_Sterlock originally for just for his own enjoyment, Doom III: Redux adds a number of enhancements including cleaned up/higher resolution textures, audio fixes for the game’s audio-logs to make them sound more authentic and even the inclusion of cut content from the 2002 E3 leak!

[youtube id=”Ic6p3HDwLD8″]

Certainly this was no small undertaking especially for one person. Describing the current state of the mod, Clear_Sterlock wrote a rather long blog post about the current available build – 0.95b and what lies ahead for the project as he approaches the huge milestone of 1.0

In part he wrote:

“First, I’m going to upload the version 0.95b of the mod on april 15. The mod is perfectly stable and polished in it’s current state but while a few friends have already tested it, I know from experience that a first release never comes without its share of unexpected bugs. Therefore, that version of the mod will be online for a few weeks and will eventually be replaced by the 1.0 version, which will add some features that I won’t be able to finish right now and also fix any potential issues.”

DoomIII_Redux

If you own the original Doom III through Steam or physical DVD / CD I highly recommend you check out Doom III: Redux on ModDB. Clear_Sterlock’s work is damn impressive.


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Hands On: This Weekend’s DOOM Beta Was Hellishly Bad


Posted on April 3, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fans of id Software’s DOOM franchise have literally been waiting years for the closed beta for Bethesda’s upcoming reboot since it was announced via a pack-in advertisement bundled with Wolfenstein: The New Order. After spending 3 hours with a limited version of the game’s multiplayer this weekend I’m left with far more concerns and questions then fun moments to tide me over until the games’ May release date.

Two of DOOM’s six multiplayer modes were available in the closed beta – the FPS staple Team Deathmatch and a King of the Hill variant called Warpath. The inclusion of TDM just feels odd, literally every other online shooter and In all honesty the beta would have benefited from one of the more unique modes like Soul Harvest and instead what we are left with is a paltry selection of modes that does little to showcase how DOOM’s multiplayer will set itself apart from the competition. Read More


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New Doom Trailer Shows Off All Available Multiplayer Modes


Posted on March 21, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Doom Alpha

id Software and Bethesda games today revealed the many different game modes that players will be able to experience in DOOM’s online multiplayer.  Below is a brief description of some of the modes I found the interesting:

First up in this new trailer is Soul Harvestwhich rewards players not for kills but for collecting a soul token that spawns upon a player’s death. Like kill confirmed from the Call of Duty franchise and Headhunter from Halo: Reach this could mean hunting down the player with the highest number of souls to snag an easy victory or jumping in at just the right minute to collect a fresh soul. Next up is

Next up is Freeze Tag is very similar to the game we all played as children, make contact with your opponents (via bullets) to freeze them in place. Other friendly players can unfreeze their buddies by making contact with  shooting their friends in the face.

Warpath is a single target king of the hill variant with a very narrow pathway to the objective. To complicate things a demon rune continuously spawns, allowing one of the teams to control a hellish demonic creature like the Reever, able to do massive amounts of damage to their opponents. The team that controls the hill the longest wins the match.

Team Deathmatch – I shouldn’t need to explain this FPS staple.

Doom will be released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC on May 13th. id Software will be holding a closed beta between March 31st and April 3rd for those who purchased Wolfenstein: The New Order back in 2014. Maker sure to check out Bethesda’s official site for a lot more information on these multiplayer modes, it’s almost time to get fragging.

[youtube id=”Hr_df-GlX0E”]


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Brand New Doom Gameplay Details: SnapMap Game Modes & Social Features


Posted on January 8, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

New gameplay details regarding weapons, the ability to share maps made with SnapMap socially, new playable demons and other tidbits have found their way onto the internet thanks to a synopsis of the latest issue of Game Informer.

Players will be able to customize their weapons with mods which will allow them to add things like remote detonation to the rocket launcher for example. Two iconic weapons – the B.F.G and  Chainsaw will not be selectable by the scroll wheel. Instead, the chainsaw is mapped to the D-Pad and the B.F.G will come up in a quick-time fashion. The chainsaw will be a one hit kill on smaller enemies but larger enemies like Pinky may require multiple hits.

It was also revealed that multiplayer will have more weapon types then the single player campaign – one example given was a lightening gun that was exclusive to multiplayer. A new multiplayer mode was also unearthed, called “Warpath”, it is essentially King of the Hill with a moving territory.

[youtube id=”71jriioiliA”]

New details about SnapMap, doom’s easy to use map editor that allows players to make their own death match arenas.  SnapMap will offer a number of different game modes to creatures including VIP, tower defense, racing challenges, traditional deathmatch and even racing gametypes!  Since areans made in SnapMap are small instruction sets that inform the game on what pre-fabricated assets to use to build the map & game mode they will be easily shareable through a social interface in game called SmartHub and individual creators will have their own profiles to showcase their favorite creations.

There are a lot of details to digest here and to be honest a lot of it feels slightly disconnected because it was only provided in a brief bullet point summary. The Bethesda published Doom reboot was originally revealed to the world behind closed doors at QuakeCon 2014 before being shown publically at E3 2015. A number of Alpha multiplayer tests have taken place, with an invite-only beta (with the purchase of Wolfenstein: The New Order) to take place sometime later this year. The last available date for Doom’s release was April 2016, as leaked by Amazon France but those plans may change.


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Doom Closed Alpha Details, Recommended Specs & Trailer Revealed


Posted on October 22, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fans looking for their next fix of id Software’s upcoming Doom reboot might not have to wait long provided that they purchased or pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order last year.  Id Software and publisher Bethesda have announced a closed alpha set to take place tomorrow through the end of this weekend.

In terms of scope the closed alpha will be quite limited – featuring only one mode (6 vs 6 team deathmatch) and one map called Heatwave. Also don’t expect any extended live-streams or huge let’s plays of this newly announced alpha test as id Software has made it very clear that all testers are bound by an NDA.

Alongside the announcement id has laid out all of the weapons, equipment and the minimum specs (PC) required to run the alpha.  Players will be able to try out a few weapons we saw in action as early as this past E3 including the Super Shotgun and Rocket Launcher as well as the Static Cannon and Plasma Rifle.

If you’re like me and didn’t get into the alpha – at least there a brand new trailer featuring a few quick montages of new deathmatch footage. It seems like this build is very similar to the one that id showed off to the press a few months back at QuakeCon.

[youtube id=”HifJgOossDk”]

Head on over to the full page view after the jump for a detailed breakdown of everything Doom alpha.Read More


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Bethesda Releases Brief Doom Teaser Trailer


Posted on May 18, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda Game Studios in collaboration with id Software have released a very brief 15 second gameplay trailer to promote their upcoming Doom reboot. The trailer promises that we will get more information at Bethesda’s E3 Press conference on June 14th.

Gameplay for Doom was first shown to the public at last year’s QuakeCon but the publisher did not allow anyone to record what was shown. According to reports the game goes back to its early 90s FPS roots complete with strafing, jetpacks and of course the awesomely overpowered B.F.G 9000. Apparently the developers have also incorporated finishing moves into some enemy encounters. The player is able to eviscerate their opponent by ripping off their jaw, tearing out their heart and other gruesome fatalities.

No release date for Doom has been given but considering it is getting a large presence at Bethesda’s E3 press conference a late 2015 / early 2016release date isn’t out of the question. Doom will be available on Windows PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

[youtube id=”bdAZqeDtlL4″]


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RAGE DLC “The Scorchers” Arrives Next Week


Posted on December 14, 2012 by Joshua Rust

Rage released October 4th, 2011…and now, over a year later, id Software and Bethesda have announced that they will be releasing The Scorchers DLC next week for 400 MSP (or $5). The Scorchers was originally planned to be a part of the main game but was cut from the title before it released.

Here is the press release from Bethesda:

Return to the Wasteland in The Scorchers, an all-new RAGE add-on from id Software – arriving on 360, PC, and PS3 next week for $4.99 (or 400 Microsoft Points).

In this brand-new adventure spanning six all-new areas, you will fight alongside new allies to defend the Hager Settlment from a maniacal bandit clan known as The Scorchers. Along the way, you’ll participate in a new season of Mutant Bash TV, encounter new mini-games, and wield the overpowering and brutal Nailgun.<

In addition to the new content, this DLC includes ‘Ultra-Nightmare’, a new high difficulty mode, as well as an ‘Extended Play’ option that allows you to play past the original ending of the game – giving you the opportunity to finish collecting items and achievements.

So we get a new difficulty level, an extended play (which I need to wrap up some collectibles), and a whole new adventure. Heck yes! Next week is going to be awesome! Anyone still holding onto their Rage copy or will  you go pick it up again at the store?


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Doom 4 Resurfaces at Quakecon, Will Support VR Headset


Posted on August 5, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

id Software’s next title in their flagship FPS franchise, Doom IV, has seen its share of ups and downs despite never being officially unveiled. After last fall’s rumors of cancellation the game was mentioned during demonstrations of the John Carmack’s new VR headset (more on that coming soon).

The grizzled UAC Space Marine will get another chance to fight demons from hell sometime in the future but id software isn’t exactly ready to show off the game just yet. They’ve merely confirmed that when the game ships “when it’s done” (Duke Nukem Forever, anyone?), it will support Carmack’s Oculus VR headset, giving gamers the chance to experience demon slaying in a whole new way.Read More


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Quake Con 2012 Panel Schedule Released


Posted on July 24, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Bethesda has just released the full list of panels and panelists that will be at Quakecon 2012. I’ll be there as well and will have an opportunity to interview some of these people and ask questions at the panels. If you have any questions you’d like asked, then post a comment here or email me at danielshannon@brokenjoysticks.net with the subject QuakeCon 2012.

The full schedule is posted below.Read More

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