‘We don’t want to do something for the sake of doing it’
This weekend will see fans the world over Rip and Tear their way through a brand new installment of the pioneering shooter series, Doom. But while Doom Eternal features all of the chaotic single-player destruction that is the franchise’ trademark a staple of multiple games – Deathmatch – will not be included in the sequel’s multiplayer modes.
In a recent interview with Shacknews, Bethesda’s Senior VP of Marketing and Communications Pete Hines explained why one of the most expected modes in the First-Person-Shooter genre did not make the cut for Doom Eternal‘s multiplayer action.
“That mode is eons old,” begins Hines. “The biggest problem we thought we had with Doom 2016 was that [multiplayer] wasn’t done at id, and felt really disconnected from the base game that everybody loved… Whether you’re playing by yourself or with others, we want it to feel like you’re all playing the same game. That’s as opposed to, ‘I’m a badass demon slayer in single-player, but when I go over to multiplayer, there are no demons, and it’s just Deathmatch.’ I don’t know what that has to do with [Doom] other than that, ‘well, a couple of decades ago we had that, so we should just have that again.’”
Hines summarises the situation by simply noting “We don’t want to do something just for the sake of doing it, or because something has always been a certain way.”
As you can read in Chris Carter’s review, Doom Eternal is packed to the rafters with gut-bursting, face-tearing action, coupled with the exploration and collectible elements of the highly praised Doom (2016). There are multiplayer elements, such as the asymmetric 2v1 “Battlemode” but it looks like hardened Deathmatch devotees will have to look elsewhere.
Doom Eternal launches March 20 on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Stadia, with a Nintendo Switch release to follow later in 2020.
Bethesda’s Pete Hines defends not including Deathmatch in Doom Eternal [Shacknews]
