This past weekend, I was able to take a hands-on look at the multiplayer part of DOOM through the closed Beta on Xbox One. Below you can take a look at both modes, as well as some of the customization options, but if I had to summarize it in one word it would be: Wow.
I used to play twitch shooters with my brother and Doom/Quake/Unreal were the big three for LAN parties. While I do love Halo, there was a sense of urgency that has been missing from shooters.(especially on consoles) That urgency is back. I found my self frantically running down corridors and jumping up on ledges hunting down the people who were hunting me. While it is still team based, it didn’t feel “camping” based. Combine that urgency with some satisfying weapons, and the ability to turn into a demon as a power-up, and this game easily made a lasting impression on me. This is just a skim of the gameplay too!
For the customizing, it is neat that you can now change your armor pieces, colors, patterns, lights, etc. The amount of customization is actually a little overwhelming, which is a good thing. Each match you play, you unlock a new armor piece/color/pattern/light that you can use for your character. Each unlock is random, so it encourages you to just play and play until you find what you like. For the weapons, you can now customize your load out to have which primary, secondary, and “grenade” you want, as well as preset loadouts. Not only are you able to now make your loadout, but each weapon can be customized with different colors, patterns, sheens, the who shebang. While it doesn’t affect the weapon, it does make you feel like that is your super shotgun and your rocket launcher.
Overall, I had a ton of fun with the Beta, and it only scratches the surface. It had death match as well as a new king of the hill that moves around the map on a track. Come May, this is a must have for me.
