‘Doom’ Dropping On PC And Consoles May 13: Gameplay, Mods, Beta, System Requirements And Everything Else We Know So Far

After sitting in purgatory and descending slowly into development hell, Doom is nearing the surface and is set to see the light of day this spring. The latest installment of one of the FPS genre's most influential games just might be worth the 12-year wait, but that's going by the promising details that have been revealed about what's now been reborn simply as Doom.

Now in charge of the franchise, video game publisher Bethesda Softworks on Thursday set a date for the release of Doom. It will launch on May 13 for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Story And Backstory

Whether or not 2016's Doom is indeed a reboot of the 1993 hit, the game is at least a retooling of what it was originally designed to be: Doom 4.

Work on Doom began in 2008, about four years after the last Doom game, and it morphed into several embodiments before. In 2013, developer id Software finally rebooted the game that wasn't a reboot.

Whatever Doom is, it's another gory descent into Hell's colon. And Hell is where you make it. In the reboot's case, Hell is on Mars.

Demons have clawed through a portal at a Union Aerospace Corporation portal on Mars. Those demons will provide plenty of fear and fodder for Doomguy and the gamers controlling him.

Gameplay

For those worried this will be an on-the-rails ride slowed with cutscenes and QTE, Hugo Martin, Doom's creative director has said that the studio is aware that story isn't a big part of a Doom game and the reboot follows that approach.

"It's not what people come to Doom for; they come to kill demons and blow sh-- up in amazing ways," Martin said. "That's really been the focus for us. That said, we've definitely infused some pretty good mystery and some fun things for players who want to find it and want to dive in and explore it a little bit."

id Software has instead focused on the twitch act, frenetic footwork, man-portable missiles and gratuitous gore that fans have fallen in love with.

"Rock 'n' roll was our inspiration for everything," Martin said. "There is a lot of heavy metal in our hell, and that is intentional."

The campaign, which got a new trailer along with the release of the game's launch date, will be supported by a multiplayer component and a level editor for those with a slightly different vision of hell than the one id Software has.

2016's Doom will also include some character customization, which is key for spicing up the multiplayer mayhem. Along with tweaking character skills with experience points, players will also be able to augment their ability with the new runes elements.

Beta, Mods And System Requirements

For anyone who bought the Wolfenstein reboot new, Bethesda gifted them guaranteed access to the beta for the new Doom. id Software held a closed alpha for the reboot last year, but a closed beta period for Doom 2016 has yet to be announced.

Also yet to be announced are the minimum and recommended hardware specs to run Doom on PC.

And finally, there's nothing official on mod support. The closest thing to mod support for now is the game's level editor, but with Bethesda putting this game out, it isn't unreasonable to hope for official mod support.