Bethesda has a lot of really strong IPs in their catalog and they’re thankfully not holding back when it comes to creating VR iterations of them all. Both Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are getting full VR versions that bring the whole games into the immersive realm and now DOOM, one of 2016’s very best games, is getting a VR-focused offshoot as well called DOOM VFR.
We had the chance to go hands-on with DOOM VFR this year at E3 2017 and came away extremely impressed. Our Editor-in-Chief, Tal Blevins even named it his favorite game of E3 period. Today, Bethesda released a new video showing some of the game’s creators talking about its development, challenges, and what makes it unique. You can watch it right here:
There are a few interesting tidbits that weren’t discussed so clearly prior to today. For starters, you don’t actually play as the iconic Space Marine you usually do in all other DOOM titles. In DOOM VFR you’re actually playing as someone named Dr. Peters who transfers his consciousness between different robot bodies that give him various abilities. This helps explain the game’s teleportation-focused movement system.
After so many games have added full smooth locomotion support a lot of people seemed upset at the game’s announcement that movement is handled via teleportation only. However, after having tried it for myself, no intensity is lost. The teleportation adds an excellent new layer of gameplay as it lets you slow down the action every now and then so you can enter a slow-motion style of gameplay to line up some really incredibly moments. It’s also a fresh take on the classic “circle strafing” concept popularized by games like DOOM and requires you to actively and frequently bounce around the levels. In addition to teleporting you can do quick dash movements and even make enemies explode by teleporting directly inside of them. The team is calling this a “telefrag” because of course they are.
According to the video we will see some brand new areas as well instead of only retreading ground from 2016’s DOOM reboot. The action was fast, frenetic, and ferocious when we tried it at E3 so we’re excited to find out if that intensity can hold up across the game’s 4+ hours of content.
There is no clear release date for DOOM VFR yet, but it should be coming before the end of this year. According to Bethesda it will release on both the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR (PSVR.) Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
