The original DOOM was renowned for its pioneering multiplayer mayhem. Now, as the launch date for the reboot edges closer, Bethesda has revealed the six multiplayer modes designed to provide competitive pugnacious thrills and spills in the new DOOM.
Bethesda's multiplayer teaser video, above, doesn't show all the six multiplayer modes but provides a short sharp introduction to several of them. In short, the multiplayer modes are; Soul Harvest, Freeze Tag, Warpath, Domination, Team Deathmatch, and Clan Area. You might already have a good idea of some of these modes, but let's make sure and run through them…
The first mode Bethesda highlights and first shown in the video above is Soul Harvest. In this mode players collect the souls of their fallen friends or foes. If an enemy grabs the soul they get a point but sprightly allies can snatch that opportunity away from them. Adding interest to this mode – where the first player is killed a demon rune is dropped. Anyone who kills the rune demon gets five souls.
In Freeze Tag your shots encase your enemies in ice which can then be pushed about like ice pucks – into a lava flow, for example. If one of your comrades is frozen you can guard them to speed up thawing. The first team to freeze everyone wins the match. To add a bit of spice there's a demon rune drop in the map.
Warpath is a variation on King of the Hill where a single capture point moves around the map in a predetermined path. Meanwhile a demon rune mirrors its movements on the opposite side of the path. Points add up as your protect the capture point for longer, with victory to the team reaching the predetermined score first.
In Domination you have to manage three static capture points over the map. The demon rune spawns randomly in this map. Again this mode is won by achieving a pre-set score.
Team Deathwatch is described by Bethesda as "one of the two purest takes on classic modes in DOOM multiplayer". It is simply two teams pitted against one another using their best customisations and loadouts, powerups and power weapons.
Another classic mode rounds off the multiplayer mode offerings – Clan Arena. The last team standing wins so you simply have to eliminate all the enemy (no respawns) or at least be stronger in numbers by the end of the time limit.
DOOM is released on Friday 13th May.
