Well, the closed Doom Multiplayer Beta is over, and I’m happy to say I had the opportunity to spend a large chunk of my weekend going on killing sprees and channeling my inner demon. The multiplayer certainly isn’t perfect, but it sure as hell feels good to be back on Mars. Here are our opinions on some of the more controversial aspects and mechanics of Doom’s latest iteration.
Loadouts
It seems the age of finding weapons throughout the map and starting everyone with a generic rifle are long past. In the beta, players were given access to three starting classes and could unlock three custom classes as they ranked up. While I enjoyed this system initially, later in the weekend it dawned on me just how much of the game is taken away by using a loadout system. Half the battle in games like Quake, Unreal Tournament, and Doom was frantically searching for that shock rifle or rocket launcher, creating artificial matches of King of the Hill all across the map. While there are still plenty of pickups and super weapons like the Gauss Cannon still spawn, primary weapons aren’t one of them. I don’t hate the decision to go this route, but it does still feel weird to just spawn with a rocket launcher.
Speed/Pace
If you’ve played any sort of Doom or Quake multiplayer before, you know it’s fast. There’s still no sprinting but with the running pace as slow as it is, I kind of wish there was. It’s not so bad when you’re in a firefight or if you picked up Haste, but especially in the zone control mode you can feel a bit slow trying to race from spawn to the objective. It feels like jumping and climbing kind of slows you down as well, especially when double-jumping or having to climb when you reach the edge of a platform. The entire experience is still very much a twitch-action shooting gallery, but something feels wrong when you’re not moving fast through empty areas.
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“The entire experience is still very much a twitch-action shooting gallery, but something feels wrong when you’re not moving fast through empty areas.”
Demon Runes
I don’t care what anyone else says, the Demon Runes are AWESOME. This timed pickup is a great addition and I can’t wait to try out the other demons – the beta only gave access to the Revenant, the classic shoulder-mounted rocket launcher baddie. Not only do Demon Runes create fun points of contention during a match, but they can really help turn the tide of battle. It feels strong but not over-powered, and you’ll be dispatched quickly if the enemy team is on their toes. Taking down a demon is not only badass, but you’ll then get a chance to steal the Rune and wreak havoc yourself after. Don’t forget to go for those glory kills when they’re least expecting it! Everyone is susceptible, even demons.
Click on through to page 2 for the final two reasons.