Bethesda’s first surprise of its E3 2018 press conference came when it announced Doom Eternal, the sequel to 2016’s reboot of the iconic first-person shooter franchise.
The teaser trailer had all the Doom trappings, giving it away before the title came on screen: Fire, destruction, demons, and more fire. When the developers at Id Software got on stage to briefly discuss the sequel, they said the trailer actually showed Earth, “Hell on Earth.” 2016’s Doom took place on Mars. While the distinction may not matter much, it’s neat (and terrifying) that the fiery demons have hitched a ride to our home planet.
The Doom Slayer — Doom‘s protagonist — will be stronger this time around, which suggests more powerful weapons and perhaps more versatile melee moves. It sounds like you will need that extra power, as the demons have not only arrived on Earth, but they multiplied. Doom Eternal will have twice as many demon types. That is good news considering that one of Doom‘s shortcomings was the relatively small group of demons to destroy. One of the new demons appears to be some sort of a massive worm.
While Bethesda didn’t show any gameplay footage, it promised a full reveal at QuakeCon, the annual conference featuring games under the ZeniMax Studios umbrella. At least we won’t have to wait too long. QuakeCon kicks off on August 9 in Dallas. Registration for the event begins on June 29, and attendance is free.
The Doom franchise is known as one of the two that popularized the first-person shooter (the other being Id Software’s other major franchise, Wolfenstein). The first game launched in 1993 and was followed up by two successful sequels throughout the next decade. The series took a prolonged hiatus before the reboot launched in 2016 to much fanfare and critical acclaim. Doom perfectly blended old-school shooter ideas with fast and fluid mechanics made possible by current generation consoles.
Bethesda didn’t reveal a launch window or which platforms Doom Eternal will play on. Considering Doom was ported rather successfully to Nintendo Switch, it certainly seems possible Doom Eternal could launch on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch at the jump.
Let’s just hope the multiplayer is better in Doom Eternal.
Updated on June 26: Added registration link for QuakeCon.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.