It’s no surprise that Bethesda takes a lot of pride in the work their developers do. They’ve provided us with some of the most unusual and enjoyable masterpieces on the modern day market. As part of their goal to make some of the best looking games that offer us experiences and stories unlike any other, Bethesda and the developers under their umbrella have had their work cut out for them over the past few years.

Their newest franchise The Evil Within has been well received since its launch and has even earned a round of applause and has since become a critically acclaimed franchise for the publisher. Reboots of classic franchises Wolfenstein and DOOM have also done quite well for the publisher and the developers behind the games. However, the spotlight has been cast upon the DOOM franchise once again when Pete Hines, senior vice president of Marketing, spoke to DualShockers in an interview with the following quote:

“I couldn’t give you any guesses as to what we’re going to announce and when those games will be out. But I will say, we have a lot of new stuff to talk about at E3. Whether or not folks realize it, this is the Hell on Earth time for us with E3. We are in the midst of so much planning and work for all of that content but I’m really excited.”

Anyone that knows anything about DOOM knows that the second installment in the classic series was called DOOM II: Hell on Earth. The second installment featured some of the most beloved memories of the series including weapons, new enemies, some of the trickiest level designs on the market and even some of the best music to ever come from the franchise.

While there is little to no confirmation of Pete Hines’ commentary, we can sit down and take a look at a few features we’d like to see come from a DOOM (2016) sequel with our fingers crossed hoping that a few of them make the cut. After all, it’s not like we haven’t talked to a few within id Software’s ranks about this before during QuakeCon 2016 and 2017.

 The inclusion of weapons that were previously multiplayer exclusives.

In DOOM (2016) the multiplayer portion of the game saw quite a few differences from the singleplayer bit. There were more weapons, ones that players had never seen before, giving us a chance to take our time learning how to use them in every combat situation imaginable. However, this also meant that some of these weapons would never see the light of day inside the games core campaign and would only find themselves at home within fanmade maps and online competitive play.

Among the few things we’d like to see added into the core experience of DOOM II: Hell on Earth (please let that be the name), we’d love to see some of the multiplayer weapons added in. They’d make great additions to the core experience of DOOM II. Weapons such as the Hellshot would be superb weapons to hide among the Hellish landscapes we’re no doubt going to be seeing. Even weapons such as the Burst Rifle and Static Rifle have a lot of opportunities to become highly used weapons that fans get to enjoy.

But even with all that said, we know that DOOM II: Hell on Earth (if that’s the name they choose) could see some new weapons for fans to learn to use in all kinds of fast-paced combat situations.

Weapon-based Glory Kills

One of the things we absolutely love about DOOM (2016) is the fact it’s always pushing us to continually move forward, to smash through every obstacle possible, and belittle the forces of Hell in any way possible. One of those ways was to get close, bash their face in, rip their arm off, or even rip their innards out while performing a Glory Kill.

Now that DOOM II: Hell on Earth could very well be on its way, we have one thing we’d love to see: Weapon-based Glory Kills. What does this mean? The Glory Kill being performed will be altered by what weapon you have equipped. Say you have a Plasma Rifle in hand? Why not shove it down a demon’s throat, unloading a quick burst of heat out of it and watch the demon melt before you?

What about say the Lightning Gun? Who wouldn’t want to see the Doom Slayer slam it into a Mancubus’ gut, pull the trigger and light them up like a lightning rod? It’s just one of the many possibilities there are if some of these weapons were put into the game and weapon-based glory kills became a thing.

The return of some classic demons and some new ones

When it comes to DOOM and the endless possibilities of what demons may or may not make a return, we know that there’s one, in particular, many fans have been dying to see: the Archvile. The Archvile is one of the biggest baddies there is and it’s probably one of the most intimidating of them all. Its ability to shoot flames, move rather quickly and sustain quite a bit of damage is an impressive feat.

While it does seem id Software may have given the Archvile a new approach with the Summoner. While both do share quite a few similarities, they are also both quite different from one another. The Summoner can teleport, it can summon demons and it can even come off as an extremely defensive opponent due to its maneuverability. This is quite different from the Archvile in the aspect that the Archvile was more of an aggressive foe and they would sometime attack in groups instead of one at a time making it a perfect fit for the newer play style in DOOM II: Hell on Earth we should be prepared to experience.

But there’s no doubt a couple of other classic demons are missing such as the Arachnotron, which briefly made its appearance as the Mastermind when fighting Olivia Pierce when she awaited her blessing from the forces of Hell. It can even be noted that creatures such as the Pain Elemental and the DOOM (2016) demon’s, the Prowler and Soul Harvester, were both absent from the base campaign, leaving us with the ability to wonder just what id Software has up their sleeves and let us wonder if they even plan on using these few seemingly forgotten demons in their upcoming game.

It’s time to revisit some classic levels.

DOOM II: Hell on Earth isn’t remembered just for its massive abundance of levels, but rather, it’s known for its soundtrack, it’s gameplay elements, and even its larger than life map designs. Maps such as ‘O’ of Destruction, Refueling Base, and even Barrels ‘o Fun would make great additions to the newly rebooted franchise.

Toss in the awesome music capabilities of Mick Gordon and Robert Price and have them come together for new versions of “Into Sandy’s City”, “The Demon’s Dead”, and even songs such as “The Healer Stalks”. It wouldn’t be much different from the sound we got with “At Doom’s Gate’ with DOOM (2016) and would even help bring a sense of nostalgia back for those looking to relive moments of their childhood in an entirely new way.

While there’s no doubt these maps might be implemented through a throwback system much like what was in DOOM (2016), it would still be nice to see some of them completely re-envisioned with id Tech 6, offering experiences from past titles that are unlike any other experienced before. Mix in a few of the demons new and old and it’ll be a ripping and tearing good time.

Last, but not least, an optional HUD.

Let’s face it. I love the HUD and UI from the previous entry. I absolutely found the minimalistic approach to actually be well done. It was clean, easy, and wasn’t filling the screen with unnecessary information. Long story short? It was nearly perfect, but something did scratch at the back of my mind while I was playing through the hundreds of hours of content that I’ve enjoyed (I love SnapMap, what can I say?).

That very something was a helmet-like HUD, one that resembled the Doom Slayers helmet. An approach that would make the level of immersion something even more-so enjoyable than ever before. Luckily, it works and it worked quite well for games like Halo 5: Guardians and Resident Evil VII‘s DLC Not a Hero. While there is a bigger chance this won’t happen, it’s still something some fans would no doubt get to enjoy and would love to experience in the upcoming sequel or DLC.

Whether or not they do this is completely up to id Software, but it’s surely something we’d love to see and we hope to see it become a thing in this next installment or DLC. For now, we’re just going to have to wait and see what the teams at id Software have planned for us starting at either E3 2018 or possibly QuakeCon 2018.

Final Thoughts

Whether or not we actually see DOOM II: Hell on Earth or whatever they decide to call it, at E3 2018 or QuakeCon 2018, we already have a lot to go on based on small snippets and pieces of information that were handed to us through the previous games codecs and journal entries. For now, however, we just have to hold tight and hope to see what happens later this year.

We’ll keep you updated regarding this topic as we approach E3 2018.

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About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console game reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPGs, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.