@travmoody
DOOM ETERNAL (id Software/Bethesda Game Studios – X1/PS4/PC/Stadia/Switch – November 22, 2019) – This game fucks. I never had this much fun frantically sprinting around, shooting, torching and chainsawing demons — mindlessly parkouring around every last bit of adrenaline left in my sweaty palms. My 60 minutes with the game (20 at the Bethesda presser party and 40 yesterday at the E3 booth) was the right kind of hell…
Doom Eternal has far more enemies than its predecessor and they have zero issues ganging up on you; the sequel forces you to think more strategically when it comes to traversing the maps. There’s many more obstacles to blitz around, double hop, double dash, and.. wait for it.. monkey bar swing and rock climb, so you must keep an eye on ammo and health pick-ups while grapplehook-shotgunnin‘ down those ghastly skeletons and Krang-looking aliens.
While Eternal very much feels like a continuation from 2016’s Doom — and that’s absolutely a great thing — a few new weapon additions come to mind. Despite the pace, the Precision Bolt rifle will help against distant/elevated foes while the Flame Belch led to a nice over-the-shoulder combo/melee option when the going got rough. These kids at id sure have a wild imagination.
While the tutorial in our demo was extra tedious, a booth employee was nice enough to skip it in my second go-around so I’d have more fun in hell. It just sucks I’m still not playing. Believe that Doom Slayer’s fully prepping a scorching hot Demon dish this November, complete with all the fixings. 4.75/5 Bibles.
WOLFENSTEIN: YOUNGBLOOD (MachineGames/Arkane Studios – X1/PS4/PC – July 26, 2019) – Wolfenstein is tough. Wolfenstein appears even tougher when you’re playing with a friend, since these damn Nazis are clearly ramped-up since The New Colossus. Twenty years later, Soph and Jess Blazkowicz are doin’ the damned thing, following in daddy’s footsteps while searching for him. You’ll run into plenty of BJ’s ol’ pals. And kill lots of ’em.
Although my fellow GHG staffer Sarah and I didn’t play enough of the demo to see exactly how intensive co-op play goes, coordinating attacks felt less strenuous the more we played. Manning a turret from the top while the other pistol-bearing sister took the more stealthy approach was the way to go. We finally cleared out a lot of these bastards on the fourth try.
Players will no doubt appreciate the fun banter between Jess and Soph. I’m interested in how their gifts and personalities play out, particularly with special abilities like cloaking and ground-stomping. Youngblood promises to get funkier than previous ‘Steins when it comes to battle techniques. We’ll know more next month closer to release. 3.5/5 Bibles.
-Travis Moody