I began penning this article as the team was checking into QuakeCon 2016. The assignment came to me rather easily, pick a topic in the DOOM universe and run with it. The topic, the incoming DLC and its glaring hole, campaign content, came easy. Merrily, I began clicking away on my keyboard before I was distracted. Quickly, we moved into a new day, Friday, the first full day of the convention. I returned to my article, this article, only to be caught in the middle of it yet again. Not by a newborn, but by a new interview with executive producer Marty Stratton revolving around my topic, the incoming Unto the Evil DLC.
Unto the Evil and, as of press time, all the upcoming DLC, is set to focus on expanding DOOM’s multiplayer appeal; new modes, new maps, new demons, new guns. Unto the Evil is offering a great mix of content across the multiplayer spectrum. Bravo. Multiplayer is the lifeblood of the franchise, as it is for most FPS titles. But many players do love the campaign, the tailored experience, the setups, challenges and general creativity of level designers and all their tricks. Pacing, atmosphere, music, these are the elements that disappear in the frenetic pace of multiplayer competition, the craftsmanship.
That’s why I was upset when campaign content was suspiciously absent from the DLC plans. I desire the full gamut of the level designer’s prowess to become financially interested. That’s not to say multiplayer design is in some way a lesser challenge, or experience, it’s that I’m not interested in ponying up for multiplayer content having barely touched the game since my last LAN excursion. Combine those two and I’m game, even at a small price bump and I’m back in the fray in a heartbeat. And that, the luster of additional themepark shooting would ensure I’d mess around with multiplayer once again.
Sadly, that’s not in the cards. At best, there’s discussion of a Score Attack mode. With no proposed release date. Whoopee!
