Quakecon reveals Doom Eternal trailer and other gaming news

THIS year’s Quakecon gaming event featured big announcements for Doom Eternal, Quake Champions, Fallout76 and The Elder Scrolls Online.

Screengrab from Doom Eternal Fire Baron teaser.

GAME publisher Bethesda’s annual three-day QuakeCon event in Dallas in the United States had some exciting reveals for gamers over the weekend.

The most notable announcement was a gameplay reveal for Doom Eternal, additional content for The Elder Scrolls Online, Quake Champions going free to play, and more information on Fallout 76.

The convention was held in Texas over the weekend and the highlight for many was the first look at gameplay for the upcoming Doom Eternal, coming to all major platforms at some soon-to-be-announced date (but likely at the end of this year or sometime in 2019).

A 20-minute gameplay trailer was revealed, showing the player “The Doom Slayer” fighting

their way through a ruined hellscape on Earth following a demonic invasion.

Doom Eternal is set in a ruined hellscape on Earth, following a demonic invasion. Picture: Screengrab from trailer.

The no holds barred video highlighted some of the new weapons available, notably a detachable blade on the Slayer’s arm, as well as an underbarrel grappling hook on his side-by-side shotgun, with the Slayer putting them to good use on a variety of demonic enemies.

One interesting feature was the ability for “real players to invade your campaign as demons for a dramatic and unpredictable twist anytime you’re playing the campaign”. “Or join the ranks of the damned yourself as you become a demon and invade a friend or other player’s campaign,” a Bethesda statement said.

“Invade others either by yourself or with another player, as part of a hunting party, to give the Slayer a true taste of Hell.”

Everything fans of the original game loved appears to be back, along with new enhancements to ramp up the experience even further.

Suffice it to say, there are a lot of people — myself included — who are very much looking forward to the game’s official release.

A destructible demon featured during the 20-minute Doom Eternal trailer previewed at Quakecon at the weekend. Picture: Screengrab from trailer.

Bethesda’s online hero-based shooter Quake Champions was announced as being free-to-play

effective now, with the full game due to come out of early access and release later this year

(again, no official date, but we’re running out of 2018 so it’s not likely to be too far away).

According to Bethesda, the free-to-play version comes with two Champions, while others are available for purchase or to earn by spending in-game rewards.

“Free players can choose to upgrade to the Champions Pack at any time — a special early

adopter bundle that includes all 14 current Champions, as well as all future Champions, and

additional in-game rewards,” a statement said.

“The Champions Pack is currently on sale for $AU29.76.”

Fallout 76 will be released on November 14. Picture: Screengrab from Quakecon.

The forthcoming Fallout 76¸ set for release on November 14, was also the subject of a dedicated discussion panel which revealed the statistics and perks developed for the single-player Fallout games, and how they would work in a multiplayer environment.

The biggest change is the introduction of perk “cards” the number, of which for a particular statistic (strength, perception, endurance, etc) can support, will change depending on

how many points the player has invested in the top-level statistic.

Game director Todd Howard has confirmed there will be modding support for the game —

something that has become a key component of other Bethesda RPGs including Skyrim and Fallout 4, allowing players to change their gaming experience in a variety of ways.

Further details haven’t been announced which is admittedly unsurprising given the online nature of the game and the technical difficulties mod support could pose.

The Elder Scrolls Online will feature new Wolfhunter content. Picture: Screengrab featured at Quakecon.

The Elder Scrolls Online in action. Picture: Screengrab featured at Quakecon.

Rounding out the announcements was the news that The Elder Scrolls Online is getting

additional content in for the form of Wolfhunter — which, as the name suggests, involves

werewolf hunting.

The new content is available for PC now, and will be available for console versions of the game on August 28.

Originally published as Quakecon reveals Doom Eternal trailer and other gaming news