Monday 28 September 2020

Doom Eternal raises hell on Game Pass this week



No sooner has the gaming world picked itself up following Microsoft's shock purchase of ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion dollars. id Software and Bethesda Softworks' Doom Eternal is coming to Game Pass this Thursday.

The first sequel to the 2016 reboot of a classic first-person shooter (FPS) franchise is on many Game of the Year (GotY) lists for 2020. This move is a mission statement from the Redmond-based company.

Despite Doom being the first multiplayer game I played with friends at university, Quake and Wolfenstein were far more memorable. The latter boasting compelling narratives until the co-op abomination Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Way back when this blog began, I religiously played Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory on my LCD iMac G4 AKA Luxo Jr.

In the wake of last week's news I've cancelled my PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox Series X day-one pre-orders. There's life left in my PS4 and Xbox One X. However, I will be getting an all-digital Series S for the bedroom.

Matt Charlton, our resident gaming and gadget guru, messaged me regarding the upcoming redesigned Xbox app for iOS (currently in beta on TestFlight). So, that's an additional way to access my Xbox game collection a la the official Remote Play app for PS4.

I've been a Game Pass advocate since launch and Xbox is my daily goto since lockdown. So much so, I've decided to partition my built-to-order iMac with 5K Retina display 2TB SSD, when it arrives in late October (COVID-19 permitting), to run both macOS and Windows 10 (using Boot Camp). Game Pass for PC is bundled with Game Pass Ultimate for Xbox and I'll pickup a new Shock Blue (affiliate link) wireless controller for use with the iMac, iPad Pro and iPhone SE.

Doom Eternal is available on Game Pass on 1st October. The first campaign expansion, The Ancient Gods: Part One, announced at QuakeCon 2020 is available 20th October. Expect more Doom titles to appear including Doom 64.

Have you held off subscribing to Game Pass? If so, are you now tempted? Let me know in the comments below.

2 comments:

  1. Ooh I've got an official title!

    I've been really impressed with Game Pass - both for PC and Xbox.

    The majority of games I've played in the last 6 months (aside from Fortnite) have been games available through Game Pass and it's allowed me to discover such gems as 'Deliver Us the Moon' and has meant I don't need to put the disc in for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Arkham Knight (the weakest of the three Arkham games).

    Flight Simulator was available day one on PC and I've been able to also play the Age of Empires Definitive Edition games.

    Stacking cheaper codes from places such as CDkeys allows you to get a years Game Pass Ultimate for around £80-£90, saving £40 on the £10.99 a month sub if you can afford to pay it all in one go.

    Having first party titles available effectively for free on release day (when other platforms are charging £50-£70 for their titles) is a no brainer for me. Adding Bethesda (among the other companies contained within ZeniMax Media) can only increase the number of titles that I get to play for no additional cost.

    I too cancelled my PS5 preorder. But the Series X preorder is staying along with the Series S preorder for my eldest.

    It's an exciting time to be a gamer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A well-earned title for all the years you've contributed to this blog!

      That's a great tip regarding stacking Game Pass codes. I did that following the E3 announcement using Amazon, Game and Smyths Toys. Especially helpful during times like we're living in now.

      Delete

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