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Each level in Eternal and its DLCs showcase the remaining collectibles on the automap by type. You can also use Fast Travel once you're at the end of a level and Mission Select once you've beaten a given level to jump around quickly to where you need to go. They made it very easy to collect things in Eternal, and personally I enjoy the 100% campaign playthrough much more than in 2016. Many of the collectibles have a "end goal" to them at the Fortress of Doom hub - the demon collectibles sit on a shelf and unlock viewable demon models, music track collectibles are displayed as posters to play music from, the Sentinel Batteries unlock various compartments, and the Slayer Gates grant keys to unlock the Unmaykr weapon. If you unlock all cheat code collectibles, you also unlock Ultimate Doom on the Slayer's PC in the Fortress. All these collectibles in a given level represent the standard 100% campaign playthrough. If you want an optimized visual guide, here's a 100% playthrough by ZeroMaster: Some "unmarked" secrets include a password on the Slayer's PC to unlock Doom II, and a secret way to randomly spawn two Tyrants in the Super Gore Nest level. The above up to and including the video is what I would consider a 100% playthrough of Eternal. The next part are things you can 100% outside of a singular playthrough if you value achievements and cosmetics: --- There are in-game and external achievements if you want to go for those in your 100%. Here's a Steam achievement guide for the external ones: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2031543270 The in-game achievements are more numerous and trickier - but generally you can unlock cosmetics for beating the game, its DLCs, Master Levels, and Horde Mode all on Nightmare and Ultra-Nightmare. The Master Levels also have Classic Modes with their own unlockable cosmetics each. There are also multiplayer achievements with unlockable cosmetics but that's up to you if multiplayer is worth it, especially since mostly the most dedicated pros are just playing it these days (if even). Depends on if you value the cosmetics as part of your 100%. If you do value cosmetics in your 100%, there are also rotating seasonal events with unlockable cosmetics. You unlock the cosmetics by completing weekly missions or spamming levels. The seasons rotate once every three months if I recall correctly. You can also purchase some of them for real money, but I wouldn't recommend that. There are a few once-Twitch Prime ones that are sold now as well, like the Doomicorn cosmetic. You can also unlock cosmetics if you link your bethesda.net account to Doom I, II, 64, and 3 (although 3 had to be from the bethesda.net store version, which isn't available anymore). There are a few other unobtainable cosmetics - like the Slayer's Club ones or the Friday Night Fight multiplayer one. That's everything I believe.

There is? Anyways, I would recommend watching Horde Mode gameplay by players who achieved Slayer rankings and try to learn from their playstyle to see the difference between what you're doing and what they are. Here's a few videos from searching: Also, I would recommend beating the main campaign, DLCs, and Master Levels on Ultra-Nightmare if you haven't already - Horde Mode is tough and one of the last things they added to the game, so it's recommended you master the gameplay loop before trying to hit top 100. And of course, do a lot of play and practice of Horde Mode itself - you'll eventually improve with time by slowly memorizing what works and what doesn't. For example, knowing when to pick up multipliers and how to score perfectly on the time trial sections. Good luck with it.

Pretty interesting interview. Missed hearing Hugo geek about random shit. Didn't expect them to put Marty in any interviews after the Mick situation. A few key points: - They mentioned "more than double the AI". 2016 had 12-16 and Eternal had 20-24 iirc - if they actually have "more than double", that would be a lot of enemies to have on screen. Would be very cool to see what kind of combat encounters they can have now. - They mentioned slower projectile speeds and opting out of multi-tiered arenas (in the style of Eternal), and that the weaving between projectiles will be the "jungle gym" for the player to navigate through. I'm starting to suspect they indeed took out jumping from the game - which honestly sounds very exciting because of how committed they seem to be about the grounded approach. - They mentioned having locations that you can return to and have "open up", also mentioning sandboxes. He did mention there will still be traditional linear sections but it seems they're going for a more open space design. Sandboxes would imply non-linearity but we'll have to wait and see.

The Bethesda article talking about Dark Ages' inspiration by Classic Doom in terms of gameplay and Hugo Martin's vague response to the Glory Kill question definitely makes me suspect they won't be in the game and instead the gameplay loop will revolve around the Shield Saw and melee strikes to recover resources. Maybe the Shield Saw recovers ammo, while melee recovers health? That way the player can stay in the fight without having to go through animation finishers. Also it was something he suggested in the Eternal developer livestreams, but Hugo does mention that there will be less put into the Codex and more into the story itself. I really do hope they take a more restrained approach to the lore. Speaking of, I realized that there's a good chance the ending of Dark Ages, or within a DLC if those get confirmed, will cover the Slayer's crusade within Hell after Argent D'Nur falls - "In the First Age" material. Would be interesting to see. Likely also see the return of the Icon of Sin since it was key to Argent D'Nur's fall, and possibly fight it again so that it could get later resurrected in Eternal? There was also a line in 2016's Slayer Testaments that does mention the Slayer's battles across time - "And in his terrible rancor between worlds and through time" - so maybe it could give an excuse to later visit other environments? The environment where he punches the Titan looks so much like Mars with its structures' architecture, there's even a structure in the background with a massive energy beam - not unlike the Argent Tower. Also looking back at the Slayer Testaments, the line "with sword and shield of adamantine strength" is a bit funny now that he has an actual shield. Also, David Levy confirmed on Twitter that he isn't involved in Dark Ages. So possibly just Andrew Hulshult or maybe bringing in another composer?

Looking pretty neat. I thought we'd just get a cinematic teaser with later gameplay at QuakeCon like they handled 2016 and Eternal, but I'm not complaining. The visuals feel a lot closer to Eternal than expected, but I do like how much more "metal" they're going with the art direction and design. Still find "The Dark Ages" a very weird subtitle, and I still wish it was a sequel - but I guess we'll see how they handle things. Story-wise they had some loose ends from the end of Eternal like the Crucible's or Samur's fate. Gonna be a little weird seeing the Hell Priests, Samur, and Khan Maykr again since we dealt with them in Eternal. It's also an opportunity to flesh out Valen, King Novik, and maybe even the "wretched who shall not be named". --- I wonder what the flying city in the clouds is at 0:24. Initial thoughts was something Maykr-adjacent but it's not the cybernetic look Urdak had. It could be inspired by the Empyrian map from Doom 2016 multiplayer - which was also a flying city in the clouds with Night Sentinel imagery. The fur cloak looks kinda goofy in a cheesy way but I like it as a redesign element. The automatic weapon with the skull ammo that spread-fires looks like it might be the Heavy Cannon stand-in. Not sure what the demon at 1:08 is - looks like it's mounted. The mount seems too small to be a Pinky, but it's possible since Eternal lore mentioned Pinkies having demon masters that we never get to see. The demon on top has multi-directional flame attacks which remind me of the Blood Maykrs' attacks - although one of the flame waves turn green randomly. Not sure what that might mean. Interestingly, the weapon the Slayer is holding appears to be based on the Plasma Rifle. The Shield is quite interesting too - he can toss it for a return Captain America style, use it slam into a group of enemies, block enemy fire, perform a charging bash, and even stun a Hell Knight at 1:23 with a timed "parry" (you can notice the Shield flashes green when the Slayer uses it at the "last second" unlike earlier when he was blocking the projectiles). With its versatility and place in the Slayer's left hand, I assume it's going to be the new mechanical feature - like the Equipment Launcher or Blood Punches were for in Eternal. The demon at 1:27 reminds me of a Gladiator initially with its body structure and its own shield - but its head and yellow chest orb reminds me of the Doom Hunter. It's possible this is supposed to be the original Agaddon Hunters mentioned in Eternal's lore. The Slayer follows up with some melee strikes with a flail and a kick - could be a new mechanic or could just be fancying up melee combat. Someone did mention the lack of Glory Kills - perhaps they're planning on redefining the gameplay loop? Eternal was already quite advanced so it'd be strange if the follow-up was slower or even faster - but if they can adjust the loop for a different approach, I think that might be interesting. Perhaps it will revolve around the shield and melee strikes. I know the mech suit moment is going to be a crowd-pleaser since a lot of people wanted it since Eternal had an unused mech in the Fortress of Doom, and I do hope it's executed well, but I'm a bit cautious about a "vehicle" section - especially since the Revenant section in Eternal always felt bad to play through. Hopefully they handle the gameplay aspect of that well so it doesn't feel restrictive. Interestingly the environment where he's punching a Titan at 1:34 looks a lot like Mars with its sci-fi facilities, but I imagine it could be a Sentinel outpost at best (since they do mention the Sentinels did live on Mars at one point in Eternal) or alternatively it could be a spot in Hell. Hard to say for sure. The Titan does have a sword interestingly, and I do appreciate we'll actually fight Titans since we just sort of ignored/freed most of them in Eternal. The dragon looks a bit different than the Wintherins from Eternal's DLCs - but I like it. Much more bulkier and imposing. Not sure how I feel about a third-person sequence but I guess it makes sense for piloting a flying mount if we need the spatial awareness. Hopefully we get to fight a demonic dragon after all. The Slayer also has a nail gun at 1:21 that he uses to pierce an Arch-Vile, sticking it to a wall. It could take the slot of the Ballista / Gauss Cannon maybe. Some other things: the environment at 1:00 looks a lot more industrial than expected with its pipes, chains, and metal gratings. Could be a reimagining of what Sentinel technology is capable of (we do see a mech suit in the back rising up) - or something Hell or Maykr adjacent. Also while the Soldiers appear to be Sentinel-themed this time around (and all the other demons getting a redesign), the Possessed appear to be based on the Unwilling / Hell Zombies from before. Also a bit hard to tell, but the Hell Knight appears to have an exposed brain - which is a pretty interesting redesign. --- Anyways, looks cool and I'm curious to know more about it mechanically. Hopefully Master Levels come back, the post-launch ones were very good from Eternal. I'm morbidly curious how they'll handle the multiplayer for the third time - I do hope they add co-op support but I'm not holding my breath for it. Eternal did have a push for a few "modern" features like the event pass (essentially replaced by store packs), following players (removed), or invasions in singleplayer (canceled) - will we get more of that kind of thing? The skins seemed fairly popular at the least. The originally named "Doom: Year Zero" had very, very high projected earnings in that leaked Bethesda finances report - they're putting a lot of faith in this title even from a while ago. I wonder what that IDKFA trademark was for from earlier in the year. Maybe something Classic-related? IDKFA is a "Give All"-type cheat code so my guess was maybe another remaster or collection, but that seems unlikely to me. I also wonder if something will come out of that datamined suggested mod support updates for Doom Eternal. They did mention wanting to make modding easier in the future, so maybe Dark Ages will be the start of that? The absence of SnapMap, as flawed as it was in 2016, was very much missed in Eternal. Will the codex/comic set between 2016/Eternal ever come to light? Hugo Martin is pretty open so I imagine someone eventually is going to ask him about it. Finally, the music seems pretty neat - I imagine Andrew Hulshult and David Levy would be back? I did find it interesting that The Ancient God OSTs didn't have much in the way of Classic references (Mick Gordon did a lot of those), so I hope they get to lean more into that in Dark Ages. Anyways, time to hibernate until QuakeCon I guess... --- TL;DR - Looks cool. PS: The Steam page's summary description for the game is a bit funny since it's in all-caps

Spoilers/Thoughts: I recorded long-form non-commentary gameplay of Phobos Episode 3 for those interested in seeing someone's approach to the encounters and levels. I played the previous episodes (but never recorded them) on Ultra-Violence years ago, but decided to do Hurt Me Plenty for this one to make sure I could finish the campaign without embarassing myself while recording - but LOL, I wasn't expecting nearly 7 hours, most of which felt like I got lost and confused trying to figure out the puzzle solutions (or dying a lot more near the end). I did feel quite proud that I didn't look up the solutions to any puzzles (unlike episode 2 iirc), but I do admit I started feeling frustrated after a while. Could be because I got exhausted playing continuously, but it did sometimes feel like I was fighting for 10 minutes to follow with 30 minutes of head-scratching back-and-forths. I had a similar impression with the Darksiders franchise - I enjoyed the combat but would get annoyed by the puzzles since I could never intuit most of them on the first go. That being said, it was satisfying to solve them all eventually with time. It could be like a Doom 64 thing where I didn't like the leaning into puzzles but when I replayed it later, I ended up enjoying it a lot more since I knew the general solution pattern to look for. The recording is interesting from that perspective of seeing where I miss things and what it takes for me to figure out the solution for that unspoken eureka moment. I really quite enjoyed almost all of the combat encounters, it's been a while since I played the earlier two episodes so I couldn't remember if they were in there too - but the modified enemies are really refreshing as someone who plays/played a lot of Doom 3. The enemies being faster, less predictable, and having new abilities just makes the gameplay a lot more engaging. Plus even on Hurt Me Plenty, it's tough. I was doing well enough early on in the video but could feel the pressure building near the end. Some of the fights are maybe a bit too claustrophobic. You generally need a good understanding of the enemies to dispatch them as quickly as possible, but because of Doom 3's extreme headshaking-on-being-damaged quirk, getting hit once by something like a Pinky or even a Wraith/Maggot here is generally going to get you killed most of the time, especially with the added enemy aggression and greater quantities in Phobos. I kinda wish the Rocket Launcher didn't do splash damage, or there was a new type of heavy weapon (think Gauss Cannon from 2016), that can give me a "fuck off hellspawn" option for close-range - because the best ones currently are Chaingun and Plasma Gun but both are automatic weapons and are risky to depend on in a close encounter if caught off-guard. Maybe I could've used the SSG more often (fits the definition at least) but I always felt low on Shell ammo, that I felt compelled to conserve for the regular Shotgun in case the Machine Gun ran out (which it rarely did tbh). That being said, I actually liked the ammo economy in Phobos - it's very, very easy for Doom 3 ammunition to spiral out of control but I actually felt that Phobos was a perfect balance between "just enough" and "not enough". It encouraged me to look around but I didn't feel like I was starving either. Good stuff. The only thing I disliked about the combat really was probably that Arch-Vile boss battle - I didn't get it and began worrying I'd soft-lock myself into running out of ammo. I couldn't get a good hit on the spiraling Souls at first, but managed to figure it out relatively quick - and it's a decent gimmick for a boss. Then when the six of them appear, I had no idea what to look for. They were seemingly invulnerable so I thought maybe it was a timed thing. Nope, apparently one of them are glowing at a time and I have to shoot that one. I couldn't really tell I was damaging it though, or if it was meaningful, because it spawned Zombies - and it took me a (long) moment to realize the "glowing" effect had shifted to another Arch-Vile and I was supposed to damage that one, but the glowing effects are kind of difficult to notice, or any feedback by damaging them. And during one such attempt, they ended up dying and to be honest, I don't really know what I did differently other than live/shoot for a bit longer. As an aside, their flame explosion attacks feel a bit too wide - it's reliable to jump away but that gets tricky with the spawns and pillars, getting kinda claustrophobic quickly for a fiery demise. I could feel my heart sink when two Hell Knights (I don't know what these new variants are called) spawn in right after that - and I had basically only Rocket ammo left. Or my heart sinking even further when one seemingly respawned shortly after dying - I thought it was another puzzle I had to figure out. But thank god the bastards finally died. Granted, this was the final encounter of the episode so it makes sense for it to be difficult - but holy heck, I'm on Hurt Me Plenty lol The actual level and world design continues to be impressively immersive across all three episodes. There's so much detail packed into the world and I appreciate how some of the levels loop back into themselves, or make clever use of their geometry - like that sequence where you use the tram/lift/thing to access a floor, then ascend the floor out a vent shaft to crawl across the top of the tram/lift/thing to get to the other side of the facility and into another vent shaft. Very satisfying. Some of the looping about can definitely make it confusing where I'm supposed to go, especially if I'm on a puzzle sequence and I can't tell if I'm going the right way or not. For example I discovered that vent/lift/crawling moment before it was supposed to be important for your progression - so I spent a long time on the other side wondering what I missed. That's compounded by having some "stuck" solutions often involving interacting with a small maintenance shaft's GUI tucked in a corner, or a well-hidden set of ladders in a corner the eye would pass by generally - these mandatory solutions would just encourage me try to inspect every nook and cranny for way longer than I probably should be at any given moment I felt unsure. Which likely contributed to my feeling of "fighting 10 mins, then looking around for 30 mins" feeling I had. Story (some spoilers + Firewatch?) Overall though, I enjoyed Episode 3 and look forward to seeing whatever's made next. I had some issues with pacing and story but the combat sequences, level, and world design held their own well enough. I did play 7 hours of it non-stop after all. I do think some of my opinion is probably influenced by playing for that long in a single sitting lol. Hope the gameplay is interesting to comb through and that my thoughts/feedback were enjoyable to read. P.S. - There's a bug at 48:00 in the video where you can fall into the slime pool without taking damage and walk around. Also the interact and biohelm keys were unbound for me at the start, which led to confusion pre-recording when I couldn't figure out what to press at the start of the game.

I'll have to wait and see a trailer. To be honest, as much as I love and prefer Doom - I was really hoping for a Quake 1 reboot. There could be one by MachineGames, but I really wanted id to be the ones to do it. I'll still get hyped over anything Doom though - even if "The Dark Ages" is a very weird title for a Doom game to have. Also, as irrational as it is because it's likely a continuation from the "Year Zero" leak from a while ago, I do hope this is not a prequel set during the Slayer's time in Argent D'Nur. I do want to see what happens next after TAG2, a long-awaited follow-up being a prequel kinda bugs me - like how I felt about Serious Sam 3 being a prequel to Serious Sam 1, then somehow Serious Sam 4 being a prequel to Serious Sam 3. Alternatively though, perhaps "Dark Ages" is referring to the time of the Slayer being imprisoned - I don't really see why the Slayer's time during Argent D'Nur would be considered the "dark ages". There were some rumblings of Doom's ties to Quake, like with the Maykrs supposedly transforming into eldritch beings post-Transfiguration or Hugo wanting to go "monster truck" rather than Ferrari for their next title, and with the reported "medieval" setting of Dark Ages, that's something else Quake-adjacent. Maybe they'll combine that with the speculation of a female protagonist a while ago, Crash, to tie Doom and Quake together and it's about her during the "dark ages" of the Slayer's imprisonment. I'm just coping here though, safe bet is a Argent D'Nur-set prequel. Anyways, only two weeks left to go until we find out. I wonder if they'll ever address that (likely canceled) comic/codex that was supposedly close to completion ages ago and was meant to tie 2016 and Eternal together...

Mighty Doom being sunset sucks but it's not entirely unexpected. It's had a rocky and unclear development cycle. Heck, I only covered it on here and subsequently would upload gameplay clips because I figured it would get shutdown someday. It's a shame too because while the game had its issues with repetition and monetization, I actually began to enjoy it in small doses after the run-and-shoot/events update. The developers did listen to most feedback from what I could tell, since many of their beta updates addressed issues like room variety and enemy placements, and even a request on Reddit to add a randomized skins option was added the very next update. However, Mighty Doom's issues were with its core gameplay loop, monetization, and more apparently post-launch, a lack of long-term gameplay. While I did come to enjoy playing the daily events, I still couldn't shake the boredom that would come from playing the actual campaign for long periods of time. While they certainly improved from the beta days, the room-to-room gameplay still felt overall repetitive especially for something like 40 rooms to go through in a single level. The monetization was what one would expect from a modern mobile game, although the placement of ads as ways to resurrect or collect crystals (premium currency) was rather unsavory. It also didn't give much value even if you did spend on lootboxes, there would be posts on r/mightydoom about people being disappointed about their 10-pulls. That's not really going to be a successful model to convince people to continue spending if that's the kind of game they want to make. Perhaps the most interesting issue was the post-launch lack of endgame/updates. This was evident halfway through the beta period actually, when they stopped updating the game for months (or was it a year? I can't remember) only to randomly announce its release date out of nowhere. While they managed to release a few new levels and features (i.e. difficulty variants), there actually wasn't all that much to do in the endgame. This will probably be a strange criticism for someone who plays regular Doom games, but these kinds of mobile games are generally "infinite" in the sense that players won't ever reach their goal because there's just too much to grind for and the pace of updates means there's always something new to look out. Mighty Doom was awkward in the sense that you could actually "finish" the game after a few months of grinding - way too long for a regular Doomer but way too short for a mobile gamer. You could even make it through free-to-play because the endgame wasn't all too difficult either. I would like to say I do like that I can "beat" the game without issue compared to other mobile games but if they want to make the kind of mobile game that Mighty Doom is aiming to be, this approach isn't really a recipe for longevity. As the final nail in the coffin, the writing was on the wall for the past few months due to a lack of new levels and the 2-3 most recent events lacked event-exclusive enemies (the Fallout event levels are effectively a reskin of the Winter event earlier). That being said, I would rate my time with Mighty Doom as being more positive than negative really and I wish they'd keep the game running. It sucks whenever an always-online game (didn't even have multiplayer either to pretend to justify that) gets shutdown. Some games do get a second-life with community support preserving the game, so I hope Mighty Doom goes into that camp at some point. We already have too much lost media from the mobile Doom titles. And ever since I found out about the existence of Megaman X Dive Offline, I wish more studios would invest in an offline versions of their sunset games, but that's probably just idealistic daydreaming. As an aside, I've had bad luck with some of these games lol - Darkspore, Onimusha Soul, Yu-Gi-Oh Cross Duel, and now Mighty Doom are all games that got shutdown. It is kind of intriguing though that they had an in-game survey for Mighty Doom asking about extra gameplay modes (including a level editor?) some months ago, but it seems nothing will come of that. Or the fact that the CG cinematic features a Cyberdemon, which has not (and likely will not) appear in the game either. Wish I extracted the audio from the events, some of them were actually pretty nice. Most of the uploads on YouTube are just from the launch and don't include them it seems. The Mars Core track is probably my favorite. And it's neat that they had a lot of homages to Classic tracks. The Quake event with new weapon models was sweet as well. The event-specific boss skins were amusing too, like the Hotdogcubus skin (Mancubus variant) from Doom Eternal being an actual boss in the summer event. Plus experimenting with gameplay modes in events was cool, like the larger "scrolling" rooms, survival gameplay, time-attack, boss rush, etc. Amusingly yet another Doom game with Doomguy skins but none for the Doom 3 marine (I'm still salty from Doom Eternal). Anyways, here's hoping people find a way to continue playing past the shutdown in August. Now into id's next game, whatever it might be...

I killed it. It's a demon in a Doom game and Revenants are supposedly in constant pain and agony according to the 2016 Codex anyways.

DLC 2 still has mixed reviews on Steam: 62% overall and 63% recently - so basically reception to it has remained the same since it came out. I wouldn't say it "ruined Doom" though, it was just a weak pay-off to Eternal due to a variety of gameplay and story reasons. I'm willing to move past criticisms on its (lack of) ambition since the covid excuse is reasonable for its development cycle. Although the gameplay philosophies and story directions of DLC 2 were eyebrow-raising, so I hope they take lessons to heart and course-correct on their next entry. I think I was too harsh initially towards Hulshult/Levy's tracks - they're actually great. I still prefer Mick's interpretation of Doom - but the new composers did a great enough job. Blood Swamps, World Spear, and DLC 2 Credits music live rent-free in my head.

I was hoping for the next title to be a reboot based on Quake 1, but it's not entirely surprising that they would continue Doom with its proven success - plus with the continued cross-promotions and recently released Mighty Doom, so it was clear they wanted the franchise to remain relevant. "Year Zero" is an interesting title, possibly a working one as Fallout 76 was referred to as Fallout Worlds in that same document. My immediate thought goes to a 2016 prequel set during the Slayer's time on Argent D'Nur - as that was certainly year zero for the Sentinels. However, it wouldn't exactly be a "year zero" for our hero - maybe as his start as the Slayer, but his story began on Phobos. Plus, I recall Hugo Martin expressing hesitancy about the idea for a DLC set between 2016 and Eternal because it would be awkward in terms of power level or explaining why he loses his weapons again - I feel like that would be applicable here. Not like either of these considerations strongly contradict the initial thought of a Year Zero set during Argent D'Nur. A more out-there alternative interpretation of the title, aligned with the current year being Doom's 30th anniversary, makes me wonder if they could possibly do a modern remake of Classic Doom to make it aligned with 2016/Eternal. It's a shaky thought though, I don't think id Software would be interested in "redoing" something as classic (or abstract) as Doom, and it might come off as quite similar to Doom 2016. Another interpretation, if we view 2016 as a redo of Ultimate Doom and Eternal as a redo of Hell on Earth - is if Year Zero could perhaps be a "redo" of Doom 3 set in the past, featuring a different protagonist and another try at action-horror. Not sure how that would work realistically though, or if they would be willing to part ways with the Slayer in the next "big" Doom game. Perhaps I'm just hesitant to accept a "Year Zero" because I would honestly prefer a Doom Eternal sequel over a prequel, and that's if they absolutely had to pick Doom over Quake. Granted, the document doesn't contain any information about the then-unreleased Quake remasters - I'm not quite certain if they would appear there or not based on how developmental timelines go, but perhaps it's a sign that things could change. So maybe there's still hope for Quake. That said, I'm not complaining about more Doom either - it's my preferred franchise. I wonder if we'll see an announcement later close to December because of this year's significance - but that also seems unlikely to me because I feel as if QuakeCon would've been an opportunity to announce something for a new game. Although if Starfield got delayed by about two years according to the document, maybe we can apply the same delay to Year Zero - and if so along with past release timings, that would suggest a cinematic/gameplay reveal for Year Zero this year (2023), followed by a release in 2025. I'm 50/50 on that timeline, mostly hesitant because they skipped the opportunity at QuakeCon - so the only other opportunity would be announcing the title at The Game Awards, which is just three days before Doom's anniversary - so perhaps that could be aligned well enough for them.

When Doom 2016 opened up with the Slayer awakening from a sarcophagus, we could view that as a metaphor for the franchise itself. With The Ancient Gods DLCs having the Slayer put back into the sarcophagus (and dealing with the Dark Lord, the overarching antagonist of the newer Doom titles), I perceive it as id Software putting Doom back to rest, for now. They could have spin-offs like Mighty Doom, but I don't think they'd go as far as to change the protagonist since the Doom Slayer has been quite successful. With that said, I think a new Quake reboot would not only be rewarding for long-time Quake fans, but also give id Software an opportunity to work on something other than Doom since the past 15 years or so. Doom Eternal had already dialed the push-forward combat design of Doom 2016 up to 11, and it's difficult to see how they can push things further past Eternal's already hyper-active and complex resource-management of a gameplay loop. They could dial it back, but I don't know if that makes sense for them to do right now. A new Quake reboot would give them an opportunity to be flexible with the game design since they can afford to make changes without worrying about disappointing fans who preferred Eternal's combat loop. Not only that, but they can explore new design spaces in trying to resurrect Quake. If anything, I could envision something between the purity of Doom 2016 and combat management of Doom Eternal for a Quake reboot - a simpler heavier approach but still involving active gameplay choices, since I think if Hugo Martin is still game director, he would go for that at some level. A Quake reboot based on Quake 1 would also make a lot of sense, since that's the only Quake without any real dedicated follow-up. They also released the Quake 1 remaster a short while ago, which could be an appetizer similar to how Doom 3 BFG was an appetizer before Doom 2016. The real consideration is whether making a Quake reboot makes "sense" from a financial point of view compared to just making another Doom game, since Quake has certainly struggled in its last few entries. And despite Doom Eternal coming to an end, they've still been cross-promoting the brand with Doom Slayer appearing in Fortnite or developing the Mighty Doom spin-off. There was that job posting for id Software from a while back about working on an established FPS brand with "sci-fi" and "fantasy" elements, which could either mean Doom or Quake. I think a new Quake game would be great, but I wouldn't complain about more Doom - as I'm more into Doom than Quake anyways. I just think Quake deserves a modern re-imagining and there are a few signs that would have it make sense, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out their next game is indeed another Doom sequel. I don't think it's likely at all, but these recent sci-fi horror titles and remakes have me low-key wishing for a Doom 3 remake as well. With their modern tech and gameplay design sensibilities (relative to their mid-2000 era), I think another go at Doom 3 as a proper action-horror would be incredible and an opportunity to do the original concept justice.

As some may know, Mighty Doom is getting released next month (funnily enough about a year since after this post was made). I don't know why it took this long to release, I was beginning to suspect the game was quietly canceled. This year will be Doom's 30th anniversary, so maybe it has something to do with that. As a recent update was added to the game, I figured I should record some updated high-level gameplay footage too. I go through the menu systems, daily events gameplay, and the final mission (Hell on Earth Pt. II). Some notable additions in this update include: a battle pass, weapon skins, destructible walls, shootable barrels, the addition of the Burst Rifle (from 2016's MP!), some new weapon powers in-run, and maybe the Mars Core maps randomly back in the daily Events levels. Here's the gameplay: Admittedly, I've been enjoying Mighty Doom recently more than before in bite-sized bits. Its major criticisms are still there like general repetition dragging longer gameplay and its sour-taste mobile-standard monetization set-up that drives its progression system. I can really only tolerate 15 minutes in a day, and that's just to complete the daily event levels. And not to mention that mobile game preservation in general is terrible, and this game being always-online doesn't help in that regard either. There's a decent chance this game might go the way of Doom Resurrection in how many years. On the upside, they do bother to add a few new ideas, like the fight-able Hell Priest bosses, enemy (boss) variants with extra/modified attacks like the ice Imps, and elemental damage and effects for each enemy and weapon. The developers have been trying to vary up the moment-to-moment gameplay with updated room layouts and enemy compositions, so I'll give them credit for effort there. Besides adding the battle pass and weapon skins, they've also added more environmental interactions this most recent update - you can destroy walls with enough damage, there are explosive barrels for you to shoot at, and there seems to be more hazards in rooms. Not to mention, drastically overhauling the gameplay with the added ability to move and shoot in an earlier version also helps it set itself apart from other Achero clones while also leaning more into the expected Doom gameplay. While it's easy to be pessimistic about its longevity (in both playtime and lifetime), I think the developers have shown signs of at least listening and trying, and I think that's commendable. Definitely worth a try if you're interested in having something on the side, but probably not enough on its own to be enjoyed at a deeper level, let alone be considered the main attraction for Doom's 30th anniversary.

If I recall correctly, the relevant namedrop was specifically at The Game Awards 2016.

Glad we finally get Mick's perspective on the subject. It's a long read but definitely worth it. It's a really damning statement, especially with the proofs provided. The fact he wasn't paid for months (and even still for "rejected" work that was used anyways), had to crunch for days/weeks, had delayed / absent follow-ups for communications, and was manipulated along the way several times only to be blamed solely in the end anyways is really shitty and puts id Software in a bad light. Marty in particular comes off as an ass. The way they mistreated and manipulated Mick so blatantly, as if they didn't want to work with him, comes off as bizarre. The timing of Mick's statement is also notable, since id Software is expected to reveal their newest game within the next year or so. This will definitely cast a looming shadow over that project (especially since the soundtrack in the newer Doom games have been an oft-discussed highlight), and hopefully Mick's statement catches on long enough for there to be some sort of amicable resolution. The fact that Marty's out-of-the-blue Reddit post is one sticking point they refused to relent on is absurd. Regardless, I still doubt we'll see a resolution where Mick and id work out their differences to re-release the Eternal OST proper unfortunately. I also wonder how this will reflect on Hugo, since he did comment a few times in Marty's Reddit post to quote its contents. Mick's statement also highlights another under-the-radar issue, specifically with id Software / Bethesda now in control of the r/Doom subreddit and Doom Discord. According to Mick, he reached out to an r/Doom moderator to take Marty's Reddit post down due to real-world harassment, which was obliged - but soon after re-instated, with the moderator blocking Mick. Marty's lawyers soon contacted Mick to tell him that taking down the post "greatly offended" Marty. With id Software / Bethesda in control of both typically fan-run message boards, they now have the ability to directly control what users can see posted about the companies on those boards. I don't see this changing anytime soon either but it is certainly concerning and something to keep in mind. Finally, I hope Mick's statement catches on and he is able to recover his professional reputation and stave off at least some off the harassment. It sounds like an incredibly frustrating and shitty situation all-around. I don't understand why id Software mismanaged and mistreated Mick so poorly, it comes off so absurd and ridiculous. I do wonder if they'll release a counter-statement or if they'll just hope this all blows over by the time they promote their next game. In any case, I wish Mick all the best. He deserves a lot better.