Mein Gott: Wolfenstein Preorders Secure DOOM Beta Access

DOOM is coming but it might well not be called DOOM 4 anymore. I think DOOM 3 was a reboot but perhaps it's not too early for another. Bethesda send word that preordering the new and spectacularly ridiculous Wolfenstein game will secure access to the beta for the next game in id's aged series. Presumably that's DOOM 4, or the artist formerly known as Doom 4. It's a game that has been far more clandestine than its title suggests would be possible. But, yes, this means that DOOM is happening and presumably happening at some point in the near(ish) future. There's no word on when the beta will open up but Wolfenstein: The New Order comes out on May 20th/23rd, depending on which side of the Pond you live on. There's a new trailer below. It made me feel a bit queasy.

BOOM BOOM indeed.

It was back in April of last year that the turbulence of Doom 4's development (kind of) came to light. Like an imp from a monster closet, it sort of surprised me but mostly just disappointed me. Later, Tim Willits suggested that the version of DOOM that had been constructed lacked a quintessential DOOMiness. Perhaps that's why the '4' is gone and we're back to plain old 'DOOM'. I would have added an extra couple of 'O's and an exclamation mark but, hey, why mess with a classic?

Beta access makes me think multiplayer and bundling with Wolfenstein makes me think of Zone of the Enders having a Metal Gear Solid demo as an attractive piece of plumage. How many people who preorder will be doing so for the DOOM beta rather than the Nazi-chainsawing? Hard to tell, I guess. There's probably a lot of crossover appeal.

Hopefully this means we'll have more information about DOOM in the near future. Announcing beta access for a game that lacked 'spirit', 'soul' and 'personality'* less than a year ago, by the studio head's admission, shouldn't be exciting but for many people of a certain age, those four letters contain a sort of magic.

Say it with me - DOOM DOOM DOOM.

*incidentally, I think the now-departed Carmack was possibly DOOM's brain rather than its soul, spirit or personality