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[Helios]

Doom Eternal features the series’ first hub area

For the first time in the Doom franchise, Doom Eternal will feature a hub area to see how the Slayer "spends his free time".

www.pcgamesn.com

After the big gameplay playthrough of Doom Eternal, the team answered questions asked by members of official Doom fanclub the Slayers Club. One of those questions asked about the Doom marine himself, and how he got all his muscles. In the middle of Hugo Martin’s attempts to describe the Slayer’s exercise regimen – “He’s ripping and tearing demons apart all the time.” – Marty Stratton leaned over and whispered, “should we talk about the hub? Maybe?”
At least, he tried to whisper, as it’s rather hard to do that when you have a microphone up to your lips. “You’ll learn a lot about him,” replied Martin, “you’ll see where he hangs out – again, if you care – you’ll see how he spends his free time, and you’ll learn a lot about him through the game, if you look for it and pay attention. It’s pretty cool.”

 

[deriks]

Maybe is a scenario like the HQ in Wolfenstein, but I guess with no NPCs besides Dr Hayden

 

[Fake]

Doom: Lost Legacy.

 

[EightBit Man]

This will probably imply a lot of replayability, unlockables, and surprises.

 

[mcz117chief]

This will probably imply a lot of replayability, unlockables, and surprises.

Good Lord, why?! Why not just make it a good ol' shoot bang. No shitty collectibles, unlockables, rune trails, whatever. Just solid fps mechanics, good guns and lots of targets.

 

[Ivory Blood]

Ehhh, if it's anything like the latest wolfensteins, this will completely kill the pacing. Slayer doesn't need characterisation beyond "kill all demons and everyone else who stands in the way". Mark my words: them trying to bring more "story" into this is going to be a disaster.

 

[Dunki]

This is doom for fucks sake.

Why would you ruin it. This game does not even a story or deep character. Just get him monster to kill as brutally as possible.

 

[Nymphae]

Good Lord, why?! Why not just make it a good ol' shoot bang. No shitty collectibles, unlockables, rune trails, whatever. Just solid fps mechanics, good guns and lots of targets.

Why would you be against adding additional content? It clearly did not come at the cost of the gameplay in Doom 2016.

 

[Orta]

Fuck that shit. Doom is a pure shooter, I don't give a fuck how Doomguy "got his muscles" or what he spends his spare time doing in a hub for Christ sake.

Absolute nonsense.

 

[mcz117chief]

Why would you be against adding additional content? It clearly did not come at the cost of the gameplay in Doom 2016.

The rune trials definitely did, then you had to unlock secrets and collect stuff and do "missions" to get unlock tokens to make your weapons and suit to perform properly. Also, you had to collect those energy crystals to get the standart 200/200 hp/armor pool (also ammo was tied into this, wtf why!?) I did not like that about the game at all.

 

[cireza]

I hope that we will also get to discover his sexual preference.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Sounds more appropriate for Duke Nukem

 

[Nymphae]

The rune trials definitely did, then you had to unlock secrets and collect stuff and do "missions" to get unlock tokens to make your weapons and suit to perform properly. Also, you had to collect those energy crystals to get the standart 200/200 hp/armor pool (also ammo was tied into this, wtf why!?) I did not like that about the game at all.

Yeah I suppose I see your point, I didn't really find it to be a problem. I slowly worked my way through all the difficulty levels and had a blast trying to do everything, ymmv I guess.

 

[EverydayBeast]

This is doom for fucks sake.

Why would you ruin it. This game does not even a story or deep character. Just get him monster to kill as brutally as possible.

True

 

[FireFly]

Ehhh, if it's anything like the latest wolfensteins, this will completely kill the pacing. Slayer doesn't need characterisation beyond "kill all demons and everyone else who stands in the way". Mark my words: them trying to bring more "story" into this is going to be a disaster.

There was already story in Doom 2016, it was just "optional". From the start, Hugo's philosophy has been that the story isn't necessary, but is there if you want it. I don't see that this is any different.

Besides, I think it is far more interesting and mysterious to make the Doom marine a mythical figure, rather than some generic soldier.

 

[Fuz]

It's fucking DOOM for god's sake.

 

[mcz117chief]

Yeah I suppose I see your point, I didn't really find it to be a problem. I slowly worked my way through all the difficulty levels and had a blast trying to do everything, ymmv I guess.

Yeah, I still like the game though. Even bought it for Switch so I can play it whenever. I like RPG elements in FPS games, like Shadow Warrior 2, but DOOM to me is kind of a genre by itself, it still feels like yesterday when every FPS was called a "doom-clone". I'm not even that mad, just disappointed a bit.

 

[Tesseract]

great idea actually, staging areas in shooters are incredibly underrated

and it's gonna be funny shit to watch the slayer walk around and get the christ treatment from all the employees

 

[Strider311]

I hope that we will also get to discover his sexual preference.

Spoiler

They will be sure to tell us even if we don’t care.

 

[Spukc]

why not fucking turn him transgender
give the enemies health bars
and make him destroy a big wall in hell

oh and don't forget the bethesda.net login

 

[SweetShark]

Fuck that shit. Doom is a pure shooter, I don't give a fuck how Doomguy "got his muscles" or what he spends his spare time doing in a hub for Christ sake.

Absolute nonsense.

No man, we need to learn how much cute is his pet rabbit Daisy.
I am serious, I WANT TO SEE THE FREAKING RABBIT ALIVE!!!!!!!

 

[SweetShark]

why not fucking turn him transgender
give the enemies health bars
and make him destroy a big wall in hell

oh and don't forget the bethesda.net login

After the update with the other titles, it will have a login for the prizes playing DOOM for Slayer Club.

 

[Spukc]

After the update with the other titles, it will have a login for the prizes playing DOOM for Slayer Club.

can't wait. Maybe i can collect enough slayer point to buy my own rainbow slayer flag of acceptance

 

[93xfan]

This will probably imply a lot of replayability, unlockables, and surprises.

Such as you have to have a Bethesda account to play?

Maybe they can revoke our some more game licenses while they’re at it.

 

[Cattlyst]

Suprised they haven't called the main protagonist 'Doom Person.' Y'know, because 'Doom Guy' isn't really very inclusive...

 

[Mista]

Eh, I don’t mind that but definitely won’t waste my time finding all the collectibles. Those days are over for me

 

[JimiNutz]

I trust id
I remember people doubting 2016 as well and that game ended up being the shooter of the generation.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I hope that we will also get to discover his sexual preference.

Who cares, he's still going to die at the end of Doom Eternal so they can introduce Doom ma'am in the next game.

 

[FireFly]

Suprised they haven't called the main protagonist 'Doom Person.' Y'know, because 'Doom Guy' isn't really very inclusive...

This is the same game that made a joke about calling demons "mortally challenged", so as not to offend them. Yet, somehow we're to conclude the game is pandering to political correctness because it includes a hub area, and attempts to minimally flesh out the main character?

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

You don't need to dress up a steak. Just stop.

 

[Ulysses 31]

I hope that we will also get to discover his sexual preference.

And his pronouns.

 

[MMaRsu]

Good Lord, why?! Why not just make it a good ol' shoot bang. No shitty collectibles, unlockables, rune trails, whatever. Just solid fps mechanics, good guns and lots of targets.

The fuck no rune trials are u insane boi

 

[Juke Joint Jezebel]

Calling it now, it's gonna be that "Heaven" location we saw in the first trailers and Samuel Hayden will be the orchestrator of the hub in his "ascended" form.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

I guess I'll have to wait to pass judgement until the game releases, but I'm skeptical about this feature.

We'll see.

 

[dm5k]

I personally think a hub area sounds awesome. Yes I want mindless rip & tear violence. But I also want more to do in this game.

 

[Belmonte]

I was watching a video about hub worlds some days ago which had an interesting information. 54% of the people who played Wolfenstein on Steam finished it. Doom have 30% finish ratio. The video argues that this difference can be explained by the hub between the missions since it breaks the intensity, making it more palatable and less tiring to the players.



I'm not sure it is because of the hub, since there are many things which can explain this difference, like difficulty and release date of the game but he makes some good points. I put the video in the relevant part but the entire video is interesting.

It has been some time I'm thinking about the importance of the tempo in gaming. Perhaps, what most people don't like about classic games is not the difficulty or the "hardcoreness" of them but the tempo. No downtime, like a music which only gets more and more intense with time.

Dark Souls and Monster Hunter are very well recieved even if people regard them as hard games.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Hey I'm trying to be a little bit media blackoutty about Doom Eternal and I don't care about hub areas one way or the other...but can I just ask, have there been anymore nods to politically incorrect humour since the reveal? I found the reveal quite amusing but from what little I've seen more recently of the game (while trying not to look too much) it seems promotion mostly talks about gameplay and that offensive humour has been either de-emphasized or possibly maybe even removed. Was hoping someone who has looked thoroughly at the game's coverage could speak on this?

 

[ResilientBanana]

Good Lord, why?! Why not just make it a good ol' shoot bang. No shitty collectibles, unlockables, rune trails, whatever. Just solid fps mechanics, good guns and lots of targets.

But that’s what makes games of old good. You don’t have to collect them, but I want to. I prefer to spend a little more time in the games I enjoy.

 

[dirthead]

My predictions for this game are shaping up to be completely accurate. The acclaim for Doom 2016 has id enjoying the smell of its own farts a little too much, they're losing sight of why people liked Doom 2016 (the simplicity and straightforwardness of it), trying to pack a Doom game with "lore" is just as stupid as dark slow plodding Doom 3 was (just in a different way).

You can just look at the game and see a lot of things are off. The shoulder flamethrower doesn't feel Doom. Climbing on walls like Spiderman doesn't feel Doom. It's weird. Actually putting heaven/angels/some stupid lore in there instead of vaguely suggesting it is WEIRD.

They're losing sight of the appeal. People liked Doom 2016 precisely because it just shoved aside the "lore" and let you kick ass.

It's kind of comical how no one seems to be able to get Doom right. All you have to do is basically remake the first two with good mazes (not linear ass monster arenas chained together) and include some good DM maps and cooperative play. NO STORY. At all. You don't even need voice acting. It's simplicity itself.

People simply want a AAA straight forward kick ass FPS.

 

[MiguelItUp]

As a huge DOOM fan, I don't understand the negativity. On paper, it sounds bizarre, sure. But it's the team that made 2016, there's nothing to be worried about. Especially if you enjoyed 2016. If you didn't, well, then I don't know what else to say.

A part of me will always love DOOM's ambiguity, but a part of me is also really excited to see how the lore unfolds. Though I'll admit I don't care about seeing his face in Eternal or the future games.

 

[dirthead]

As a huge DOOM fan, I don't understand the negativity. On paper, it sounds bizarre, sure. But it's the team that made 2016, there's nothing to be worried about. Especially if you enjoyed 2016. If you didn't, well, then I don't know what else to say.

A part of me will always love DOOM's ambiguity, but a part of me is also really excited to see how the lore unfolds. Though I'll admit I don't care about seeing his face in Eternal or the future games.

I never understood the ass licking Doom 2016 got. I thought it was good but not great. Enjoyed it despite the glory kill system not because of it, and they're doubling down on it.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I never understood the ass licking Doom 2016 got. I thought it was good but not great. Enjoyed it despite the glory kill system not because of it, and they're doubling down on it.

To each their own, I loved it a ton. I actually played the Eternal demo at Quakecon as well, and it felt really solid. When I first started playing 2016 I was concerned the glory kill system would irk me, but after spending more time with it I wasn't negatively phased.

 

[Fbh]

Weird to see so much negativity about this.
From the way they describe it seems like most of the stuff is completely optional and simply there for those that are interested in looking for it.

At least, he tried to whisper, as it’s rather hard to do that when you have a microphone up to your lips. “You’ll learn a lot about him,” replied Martin, “you’ll see where he hangs out – again, if you care – you’ll see how he spends his free time, and you’ll learn a lot about him through the game, if you look for it and pay attention. It’s pretty cool.”

If you read some replies in here without reading the Op you'd think they just announced he will return to this Hub after every mission to talk about his feelings for 10 minutes in unskippable cutscenes.


Doom 2016 had lore and story too. It was done really well in fact because it was fun an interesting for those who cared, but mostly done in a subtle and optional way. It was great because it realised some people might enjoy the background lore but no one is playing Doom to have plot and story shoved down their throat

 

[GenericUser]

I'll try to not overreact here. With Doom 2016 Id proved that they know how to pull off a great doom game and I give them the benefit of the doubt here. I'm pretty confident that they streamlined the hub area to a level that you'll be probably able to ignore all of the optional lore shit (I don't give a flying fuck about dooms lore either).

Also, please take note that this is not the first hub area in an Id Software game:

 

[KillerKowalski]

I'll try to not overreact here. With Doom 2016 Id proved that they know how to pull off a great doom game and I give them the benefit of the doubt here. I'm pretty confident that they streamlined the hub area to a level that you'll be probably able to ignore all of the optional lore shit (I don't give a flying fuck about dooms lore either).

Also, please take note that this is not the first hub area in an Id Software game:

This is the first thing I thought of...hoping it's in line with Quake's hub.

 

[RobotXTaisen]

I'll try to not overreact here. With Doom 2016 Id proved that they know how to pull off a great doom game and I give them the benefit of the doubt here. I'm pretty confident that they streamlined the hub area to a level that you'll be probably able to ignore all of the optional lore shit (I don't give a flying fuck about dooms lore either).

Also, please take note that this is not the first hub area in an Id Software game:

Yes, but we don't know how Ranger spent his free time inside this hub, his hobbies, etc...

 

[dirthead]

I'll try to not overreact here. With Doom 2016 Id proved that they know how to pull off a great doom game and I give them the benefit of the doubt here. I'm pretty confident that they streamlined the hub area to a level that you'll be probably able to ignore all of the optional lore shit (I don't give a flying fuck about dooms lore either).

Also, please take note that this is not the first hub area in an Id Software game:

That isn't a hub. It's simply one of the best, most elaborate difficulty/episode selection menus ever made.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

I hated it in Wolfenstein 2. Climbing up and down ladders to collect someones arm etc, was so stupid and too many cutscenes on it, I couldn't even bring myself to finish the game because it killed all pacing for me.

 

[Deleted member 738976]

Hubs can be fine.

 

[GenericUser]

That isn't a hub. It's simply one of the best, most elaborate difficulty/episode selection menus ever made.

the actual level/scenario select screen was also like this. I get that the comparison is lacking somewhat, but I wouldn't read too much into the fact the the new doom will have a hub area. I doubt you are forced to stand there and listen to boring dialogue instead of killing demons. I think ID knows very well what doom fans expect.