Doom Eternal is coming this year (HOORAY!), but the classic games re-released last year are receiving a new update today. On Bethesda.net, the company outlined some substantial new features. The first is that the game will now run in 60 FPS. The original ran at 35 FPS, so that will definitely be smoother. Better? I dunno, but I am curious.
Quick saves are one of several quality of life features added in today’s patch. If you pause the game, you can click the R1 button to save the game. If you make some bad decisions or the bad demons make you cry (happened to a friend, not me, a friend), you can also pause the game and reload your quick save with a press of the L1 button. There is also a quick weapon select feature, a weapon carousel, the ability to play on any level without beating the previous levels, aspect ratio selection, settings for overall brightness and level brightness, smaller HUD when playing in split-screen, and a random SFX toggle that can “turn off randomized sound pitches during playback”.
Those are great, but I’ve saved the best for last. There will now be support for add-ons, and some big ones will be available today. For Doom, John Romero’s Sigil will be available, and it’s great to see one of the original founders of id Software included. For Doom II, Bethesda is dropping the No Rest For the Living Add-on created by Nerve Software when the game came to XBLA. Both Doom and Doom II will receive the TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment. These two alone will add over 60 new levels to the game. More add-ons are expected in the future, and Bethesda is looking for suggestions from the community.
It’s mostly good news, but there is some less than good news. The patches to add these features are relatively small. Doom is 381.504 MB, and Doom II is 377.152 MB. Even with the PSN’s download speeds, you won’t be waiting long to try those new features. For the less than good, the add-ons are accessible from the menu, but you’ll need to have a Bethesda.net account to download them. If you are offline, the add-ons will still work after you have them.
You can read about the new features on Bethesda.net, but the patch notes go into a lot more depth. I’ve been thinking of running through the old Doom games to get ready for Doom Eternal in March. At $4.99 each USD, I may just have to pick these up.
Do add-ons and updated frame rates open your wallet, or do you still install the old Doom from a collection of 3.5-inch discs?
