Doom Eternal preview & 15 minutes of gameplay takes you to hell back

"Saturday morning cartoon quality is the tone of everything," Hugo Martin, Eternal JudgmentCreative director, he said to start our conversation. "Because, I meant that …. it would end."

And he is right. That's all. I recently played about three hours of new Doom – the 2016 software id sequence, which was my own game, and Polgon & # 39; s collection of the year – and I always had a smile on my face.

After all the accusations, it's hard to remember that The judgment (2016) had been in the development of hell (lol) for years before getting its construction, and recalled nearly a decade after it was announced as “Doom 4.” And when it was finally released, it was done in a similar fashion, as if it were introduced as a liberal rather than a congratulatory one.

So imagine my surprise, about four years later, to play Eternal Judgment, a game of it feels like its predecessor – now with all the pumps and humanity a game like these needs. Destruction upon all her seed, indeed Saturday morning cartoon. Also Eternal Judgment he gets that, and relies on that, more than any Doom game I've ever done.

While The judgment (2016) would be a nearly perfect match – and I won't hear any objections – the case can be made that its heavy metal, composition letter is often too focused on self-reflection and is not enough to humble yourself – you know. Of course, the jokes were there, bound by coders and collections. However Eternal Judgment

predicts sweetness. The team in the id cut a painful exterior to reveal the inner humility of the franchise.

“A humorous building with a sincere slaughter. That is our vision, ”said Martin.

“And the AAA production,” series executive producer Marty Stratton added. "That's one of the best parts of working with Doom these days. We're getting to make a big budget, AAA game with an overseas building. We must not take ourselves too seriously."

“Imagine if Sam Raimi made a reality series so that Dead Evil 2, but he had an Avenger budget. That is what the Eagle is, ”says Martin, explaining this idea of ​​a big-budget pulp to be a central theme of the studio in all development.

As with any B movie, Eternal Judgment it's very subtle. Additions include Blood Punch, Melee's powerful attacking ability to fulfill its trademark Global Kills, and Flame Belch, a flame that is hung over the shoulder that fires enemies, unleashes precious firearms. And while I did not encounter this specific narrative during my time playing the game, Martin highlighted perhaps the best example of this in our discussion: In Games, Doom Slayer (i.e., Doomguy) has a floating castle headquarters in the world.

Its name? Martin exclaims: “The Castle of Doom.

“Why? Because it's so awesome, that's what it needs to be called. ”And that's right. "Everything about Doom is done with a wink and a smile, as you break the demon's foundation and put it on his face … or one of the bones in his arm."

“The tibia,” Stratton adds, laughing.

It's a cord that is closed with blood. To make the game fun, it's self-explanatory – to really do shy buildings, as they say – without actually making it ugly or crippling.

“For every development The judgment

(2016), we were continuing to ponder what it meant to be Doom and what that tone was. And we got better at it, ”said Stratton.

"As the rate of violence progresses, minute by minute, on Doom – it will be very difficult to have an abortion after a while," Martin said. "It must be fun, it must be a smile. If the whole (Glory Kill) was something like Saw, you'd just be like, & # 39; I can't handle this right now. & # 39;"

I can guarantee they actually don't like Saw. In one of Cacodemon's Glory Kill's animations, he catches his eye – apparently with a squishy, ​​toy-like quality – and then shoots the rest of his floating red face out, where the beast responds with a Scooby Doo-esque kind of "Pipes." That is, I really did.

The emergence of Doom, and how Eternal Judgment It wants to surprise players while staying true to the spirit of the franchise, sounding the other way in this latest outing: the announcement. While The judgment (2016) are well documented speed as the base point of the frame, Eternal Judgment additional layers for mechanics on top of this formula, including some simple puzzle elements in the middle of the game.

Obviously, The judgment (2016) had its fair share of encounters with platforms – I argue that each battlefield is a puzzle within itself – but id wants to expand these "combat" areas. Eternal Judgment

with not only a double jump from 2016, but an air dash, a rider ride, and a monkey chase.

"It's about adding new things to the game that should be saved Eternal Judgment engaging from start to finish, ”Martin said of the game's new features. “Criticism of The judgment (2016) what is really good,, are the road and arenas, the stadium and stadiums. (…) But in the middle of the arena, we had to do more. We had to do more to give you great skate parks to kill demons in it; we needed to make the spaces between the Scythian parks just by engaging with these huge fight scenes to solve them.

“Levels are challenging for you. Demons challenge you. And solving a level formation is like defeating demons. We don't want it to end 50/50 – Doom about killing demons? "

Part of the comparison of these new "battlefields" with the main battlefields is the goal of efficiency. “It's platform-based,” says Martin. “We want the game back. The rolling puzzle that was difficult to determine is first level becoming second nature, and then repeating that first level, you can just be Tony Hawk who goes through it and is satisfied with that. ”

Tony Hawking passing through a demonic killing park in the park, then taking a break from the Castle of the City as he or she wanders the Earth covered in the burning pentagrams of the continent, sounds like the dream of a pubescent fever of an entire generation raised from the beginning.

Which means, as the father of two kids struggling to find time to play Doom's last game – even though I really did get that time – I'm looking to get up in the mornings, before I get ready for school kids, the smell of a Saturday cartoon.

Eternal Judgment is expected to be released on March 20 on Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One. The Nintendo Switch version is also in development.