Doom Eternal hands-on preview: Hell on Earth

When we last left the Doom Slayer, also affectionately known as "Doom Guy," he was bringing pain and big guns across all of Mars and then straight into the bowels of Hell. It was such a visceral and invigorating experience that 2016's Doom became the 2016 Shacknews Game of the Year. But Doom Eternal won't just see players take the fight into Mars and Hell, because the demons are now bringing the party straight to them.

Doom Eternal doesn't go back to Mars, but rather cuts right into the middle of a full-blown demonic invasion of Earth. Humanity is in its final moments, as the invasion has engulfed the entire planet. The Doom Slayer sets out to put an end to the demon horde the only way he knows how: by blowing anything in his path to cinders. The settings are different, but the action is just as high-octane as ever, as Shacknews recently had an opportunity to play through the first few hours of Doom Eternal.

"This is very much our Evil Dead 2," id's Hugo Martin said during a press Q&A. "I think Evil Dead 1 was amazing, but Evil Dead didn't become Evil Dead until Evil Dead 2. It's where the tone of Evil Dead 2 really came together and I think that's what we're doing now. I think we really nailed what Doom is for this generation. Because the team was in place from the very beginning, we were able to hit the ground running much faster. We're just overall better at making Doom games, so we can make more content at a higher quality at a faster rate."

Those who have played the 2016 Doom should know what's in store. Eternal retains many of the hallmarks of the previous game, bringing back many of the previous game's weapons, abilities, and enemies. After a brief tutorial showing off the Doom Slayer's capabilities, it was time to head to Earth to confront the demon invasion. Eternal's action sequences also feel like something out of the previous Doom, with death metal music ushering in wild arena-style combat.

Players will use weapons like the Combat Shotgun or the Plasma Rifle to wipe out every demon in sight. Each weapon can be upgraded over the course of the game, with weapon attachments able to assist in battle in various ways. For example, the Combat Shotgun has an attachment for grenades, which comes in really handy against the classic Cacodemons. Each enemy has a weak point to focus on, such as the Arachnotron and its plasma cannon. Taking out enemy weak points is the key to either defeating them or making them much easier to tackle. At the very least, players should endeavor to weaken as many demons as possible, because having them at full strength when they're flanked by dozens of their friends is not something anyone wants.

Demons in large quantities segues nicely into the key component for Doom Eternal. Glory Kills are back in a big way. If an enemy is on the brink of defeat, players can cue the Glory Kill to viciously dismember them and recover some health along the way. In Eternal, this is now mixed with other finishers, all of which replenish a different resource. The chainsaw makes its return, which can slice and dice foes in a single strike. Chainsaw kills will help players refill their ammo for all of their weapons. The chainsaw does require fuel, which can be found throughout each stage. Deeper into our playthrough, we uncovered the Flame Belch, a scorching attack that weakens enemies with fire. As enemies burn, they'll drop armor.

Where things might get a little dicey is in keeping all of these finishers straight. Playing on a gamepad, I frequently got the Glory Kill and the chainsaw mixed up (some might be able to tell by watching our video footage) and that led to staggered enemies recovering and going right back on their rampage. But once players understand what does what and are able to balance the Glory Kill, the chainsaw, and the Flame Belch, they should fluidly be able to cut down the demon ranks as they run around the arena trying not to get overwhelmed by their strength and numbers.

The other key item that stood out about Doom Eternal was the noticeable change in scenery. Those who got tired of the red surroundings of the previous Doom are in for a treat. Players are going to explore a slew of new environments, starting with Earth. From there, players will journey to different planets in an effort to save what remains of humanity. According to Martin, this is to help reduce one of the big criticisms of 2016's Doom: repetitiveness.

"Every new location requires an art kit," Martin added. "We were able to have a lot more kits available to us. So that way, instead of just going to Hell, Mars, Hell, Mars, as you saw already in the first three levels, we're going to take you to tons of places and that will not stop. You will continue to see new things all the way up to the end of the game. So I think it's a real testament to the team that we have and how well we're all working together that we were able to produce so much content in the time that we had, to be able to provide you guys with these new experiences through the entirety of the 22-plus hour campaign."

New worlds mean new challenges and this will include a surprising amount of platforming sections and jumping puzzles. In-between demon hordes, there were a number of challenges that required jumping from place to place, with obstacles or enemy fire in the way. One of the latter puzzles I tried required hitting a door switch in mid-air, requiring pinpoint precision to avoid falling into the abyss below.

Even beyond the story (and there is a lot of story) there's plenty to keep players engaged. Upon reaching the end of the second level, I saw two divergent paths. One led to the end of the stage, another led to a Slayer Gate. The Slayer Gates are filled with additional challenges, which players can jump into in an effort to earn rewards. Anyone who doesn't feel like they're prepared to face a Slayer Gate can return later, with Fast Travel available for all previously-played levels.

Players will need all of the abilities they can muster, given where the story appears to be going. In the first two levels, the Doom Slayer sets into motion his plan to save humanity against the Khan Maykr and the forces of Hell. However, King Novik and the forces of Heaven appear to be displeased with the Doom Slayer's effort, urging him to resign humanity to its fate. The campaign looks to be a handful, even on normal difficulty. However, seasoned Doom players will be happy to know that Eternal will not only go all the way to Nightmare difficulty, but there's also a special roguelike difficulty, which will test how far players can go on Nightmare in a single life. Those who attempt to brave this difficulty will find markers throughout the game indicating where their friends died during their playthroughs.

In fact, Doom Eternal hopes to get social in more ways than one. During our playthrough, we ran into special "Enhanced Demons." These are standard enemies that killed friends on our friends list. These enemies will be clearly marked and will drop greater rewards once they're defeated. Likewise, if there's an enemy that takes you down over the course of your game, that enemy will be marked in any of your friends' games in the same manner. This feature is separate from the Invasion mechanic, which Bethesda and id are looking to launch shortly after Eternal's launch.

Bethesda and id disappointed a lot of Doom fans when Doom Eternal was delayed, but the game on display last week looks to be a significantly polished product. The environments look crisp, the action is intense, and the PC version appears to have no lag issues with dozens of enemies on-screen at a time. The scenery may look different, but this is very much Doom. Rip and tear until it is done when Doom Eternal releases on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on March 20. The Nintendo Switch version is coming soon.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?