Month: May 2019

Bethesda has been relatively tight-lipped about its upcoming E3 2019 press conference. However, the one game we do know is at the show is none other than Id Software’s Doom Eternal. This sequel to the critically acclaimed Doom reboot is firmly placed upon lists of many’s much-anticipated games.

At E3 2019, there’s bound to be a ton of new details about the game and footage displaying all manner of over-the-top demon-slaying. But until then, here’s what we know about Doom Eternal right now, and what we’re hoping to see.

What We Know So Far

The last we saw of Doom Eternal was some new gameplay at a GDC panel following Google’s Stadia reveal this past April. Before that, we learned a substantial amount about the game at QuakeCon 2018.

Doom Eternal continues directly after the events of the first game. The forces of Hell have invaded Earth, and the Doom Slayer must stop them by any means necessary. While you’ll be spending most of your time on Earth, it appears the game will briefly take place in space on Phobos, the innermost moon of Mars.

As the Doom Slayer this time around, you’re equipped with quite a few new mobility options, which includes a dodge maneuver and the ability to swing on poles in the environment. The new suit is decked out with built-in weapons, like a retractable arm-blade and a shoulder mounted launcher. You also have access to what the game calls a Meat Hook, a glorified grappling hook that can latch onto enemies and clear gaps. Power-ups are returning, and it looks like they can enhance your characteristics in a variety of ways–either temporarily or permanently.

New weapons will appear, but we’ve not seen them much yet. So far, the only guns that have been shown have been from the previous Doom, such as the Combat Shotgun, Super Shotgun, Heavy Cannon, Rocket Launcher, and more. A few of the older guns are returning albeit with some subtle changes. The Plasma Rifle is back and it can now shoot orbs that electrify enemies. On the other hand, some old weapons have been revamped, like the Ballista, which is a new version of the Gauss Cannon that can fire electric bolts.

Classic demons from the franchise’s past are getting reintroduced to the reboot continuity. So far we’ve seen Arch-Viles, Arachnotrons, Imps, Cacodemons, Barons of Hell, and Pain Elementals. To make encounters with these treacherous monstrosities more flashy and exciting, Id Software is implementing new tech to make demon bodies progressively deteriorate in combat as they suffer damage.

Lastly, a surprise addition to Doom Eternal is a new mode called Invasion where other players can jump into your campaign as demons and hunt you down. Though, if you’d play alone, you can turn off the feature.

What’s Confirmed At E3

Bethesda has confirmed that Doom Eternal will make an appearance at its E3 2019 press conference. Though, the specifics as to what it will show remains unclear. We’ll have to wait and see what sort of heavy-metal-tined demon shooting the company has in store for us this coming June.

What We Hope To See At E3

A lot of the Doom Eternal gameplay has shown off combat either in the fleshy landscapes of Hell on Earth or Phobos. Honestly, we’d love to see what the other locations on Earth look like, like the intriguing demonic temples or sterile underground chambers that point to an even more extensive Doom universe lore this time around.

We’d also love to see gameplay demonstrating how much the new maneuverability options impact combat. We’re curious about the new enemy types they’re introducing that take advantage of your expanded toolset, as well as the obstacles presented that will break up the flow of battle. In addition, we’d like to see how maneuverability impacts the PvP antics of the Invasion mode.

As a bonus, it would be cool to see how Doom Eternal runs on Switch. Seeing how great the original Doom ran on the hybrid handheld console, we’re excited to see how this latest iteration of the series’ fast-paced shooting fairs under the humble power of the Nintendo’s hardware.

While more gameplay is always a plus, we’re mostly hoping that Bethesda caps off its Doom Eternal showcase by finally announcing a release date. For a while, Doom Eternal has been loosely confirmed to launch sometime in 2019, so knowing when we’ll get to play it exactly would be fantastic.

Activision appears to be preparing to reveal the next Call of Duty, as it has changed its social media accounts to reflect the impending announcement. The franchise says it is “going dark” and has changed its logo icon on its official Twitter account.

That all seems to suggest an announcement is imminent, likely sometime before or during E3 2019. Activision usually announces its annual Call of Duty installments before E3. Though Activision doesn’t hold its own press conference for the event, a Call of Duty trailer is often featured at the press briefings for Microsoft, Sony, or both. This year Sony is bowing out of E3, but Microsoft could still show it off.

Rumor has it that the next Call of Duty will be a reboot of Modern Warfare, dropping the numbers and simply calling itself Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. This would be the fourth Modern Warfare game, following up on last year’s Black Ops 4.

Black Ops 4 dropped the longstanding tradition of story campaign modes in Call of Duty games, instead focusing on its competitive multiplayer, Zombies, and new Blackout modes. This year’s installment will bring back the campaign–which would make sense for rebooting a story-focused series like Modern Warfare–and we know that it’s already playable.

The recent reboot of Hellboy has been one the year’s most notable failures, taking only $40 million at the worldwide box office and receiving mostly negative reviews. There were reports last month that the movie suffered from a number of behind-the-scenes problems, including fights between producers and director Neil Marshall, and star David Harbour not being cooperative. Now Harbour has commented on its disappointing performance.

In an interview with Digital Spy, Harbour explained that much of the film’s issues were out of his control. “We did our best, but there’s so many voices that go into these things and they’re not always going to work out,” he said. “I did what I could do and I feel proud of what I did, but ultimately I’m not in control of a lot of those things.”

Harbour went on describe the problem that all comic book movies have when compared to Marvel’s output–and in doing so came up with the concept of the “the chocolate spectrum.”

“The problem that I have with comic book movies nowadays is that I think, and it’s a result of the power of Marvel stuff, it’s like chocolate, it’s a flavour,” he said. “And I sort of want a world where there’s more flavours than just comparisons to chocolate. So in that way when Hellboy is viewed on the chocolate spectrum, it does very poorly. That being said, it also has major problems.

“I think as a rental or as a movie that you see on an aeroplane, I think you’d be like, ‘Oh that was fun’ because it’s a fun movie, and I think it was unfairly bludgeoned as a result of these comparisons.”

Hellboy also starred Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane, and Thomas Haden Church. It followed two Hellboy movies directed by Guillermo Del Toro in the 2000s.

In related news, Harbour is set to reprise his role as cop Jim Hopper in Stranger Things Season 3, which hits Netflix in July. Check out the first clip from the new season, which was released last week.

Google will be shutting down the YouTube Gaming app as of May 30, ending its short stint of a dedicated standalone app for gamers. Instead, YouTube Gaming viewers are encouraged to visit a YouTube hub page that will serve a similar purpose. The browser destination is being similarly relocated.

In an FAQ, the company recommends merging your subscriptions to retain most of your streaming preferences. Still, some things will change for YouTube Gaming fans. There is no way to set the new hub page as your default YouTube experience, though Google notes that you can simply bookmark that page. It also says you’ll lose your saved games as the company explores “better ways to organize your game interests on YouTube.”

YouTube Gaming launched in 2015 as an all-in-one hub for gaming live streams. It also functioned as a testing ground for new YouTube features. But the separate app is said to have created confusion among viewers. Of course, nothing is happening to your favorite streamers. They’ll still be operating as normal, so if you just like to watch YouTube’s livestreams, essentially nothing will change for you.

Google is currently in the process of introducing gamers to another new bit of tech, the Stadia streaming platform. The debut event promised integration with YouTube, including the ability to jump directly into game at the same point you were just watching on a stream, or for streamers to play with their viewers live. Google recently promised we’ll be seeing a few key details about Stadia soon, including price, game announcements, and launch info.