The year 2020 is finally here. That means new video game franchises, new sequels, and new reboots. The DOOM franchise is in the latter category—the series was restarted to enormous acclaim back in 2016 with the release of DOOM for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. This year, we're getting a sequel to that lauded demonic shooting gallery game called DOOM Eternal. The follow-up has a new trailer out now that looks, well, cool as hell (sorry).
Eternal is one of the most anticipated games of the year. Developed by id Software (the original studio that brought us the very first DOOM game all the way back in 1993), the sequel looks full of the exact sort of hellfire bloodlust and decapitation for which the games have become so well-known. God (or Satan?) is it good to see it back. Whether or not you think this level of brutality is appropriate for young adults and teens to be playing, you have to admit—the first-person shooter genre softened up recently. Games like Fortnite and Overwatch took it away from the blood-spewing precedent that franchises like DOOM or Castle Wolfenstein (also an id Software series) set back in the early '90s. It's about time we see some legitimately frightening violence from the first-person perspective again. I want to kill demons with a sword!
Among the earliest shooting games in the industry's history, the DOOM franchise inspired everything from Quake to Gears of War to Halo. Without DOOM, we probably wouldn't have the first-person shooter genre that is played so much by competitive and casual audiences today. And like the Mortal Kombat franchise, DOOM is one of those series that introduced players to a bloodier, more adult kind of video game. Parents hated it. Us kids of the '90s thrived on the carnage. What's more fun than hiding with your friends in a basement on a sunny day, blowing up demons with a bazooka?
In today's crowded first-person shooter genre, it's always hard to predict how older vestiges of the industry will be received. That's not to say DOOM doesn't have any staying power for gamers—the 2016 reboot was among the biggest games of its year. But right now we have so many FPS games, especially ones that rely on a sturdy online community, that single player titles like DOOM feel like a thing of the past. That can be good, though. Not every game has to entail flossing on an enemy's corpse in a 100-person battle royale match. And if DOOM Eternal is anything like its predecessor, we are definitely in for a treat.
The sequel is set to drop on March 20, 2020, on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. It'll hit the Nintendo Switch at a later date.
