‘Doom Eternal’ brings packs of hellish demons to Earth

Bethesda’s first surprise of its E3 2018 press conference came when it announced Doom Eternal, the sequel to 2016’s reboot of the iconic first-person shooter franchise.

The teaser trailer had all the Doom trappings, giving it away before the title came on screen: Fire, destruction, demons, and more fire. When the developers at Id Software got on stage to briefly discuss the sequel, they said the trailer actually showed Earth, “Hell on Earth.” 2016’s Doom took place on Mars. While the distinction may not matter much, it’s neat (and terrifying) that the fiery demons have hitched a ride to our home planet.

The Doom Slayer — Doom‘s protagonist — will be stronger this time around, which suggests more powerful weapons and perhaps more versatile melee moves. It sounds like you will need that extra power, as the demons have not only arrived on Earth, but they multiplied. Doom Eternal will have twice as many demon types. That is good news considering that one of Doom‘s shortcomings was the relatively small group of demons to destroy. One of the new demons appears to be some sort of a massive worm.

While Bethesda didn’t show any gameplay footage, it promised a full reveal at QuakeCon, the annual conference featuring games under the ZeniMax Studios umbrella. At least we won’t have to wait too long. QuakeCon kicks off on August 9 in Dallas. Registration for the event begins on June 29, and attendance is free.

The Doom franchise is known as one of the two that popularized the first-person shooter (the other being Id Software’s other major franchise, Wolfenstein). The first game launched in 1993 and was followed up by two successful sequels throughout the next decade. The series took a prolonged hiatus before the reboot launched in 2016 to much fanfare and critical acclaim. Doom perfectly blended old-school shooter ideas with fast and fluid mechanics made possible by current generation consoles.

Bethesda didn’t reveal a launch window or which platforms Doom Eternal will play on. Considering Doom was ported rather successfully to Nintendo Switch, it certainly seems possible Doom Eternal could launch on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch at the jump.

Let’s just hope the multiplayer is better in Doom Eternal.

Updated on June 26: Added registration link for QuakeCon.