It's arguable that there is no FPS game as influential as Doom. Upon the first game's release back in 1993, it sent a shockwave throughout the video game world that is still being felt to this day. The original series is so popular, that any FPS game that came immediately after it was immediately labeled as a Doom clone. Now, Bethesda has made an announcement which is likely to please fans of the old school titles.
In a recent post to Twitter, the juggernaut studio and publisher announced that it has released another free Doom mod. But it's not an add-on for Doom 2016 or even Doom Eternal. The mod hearkens back to the original games and is just one in a growing list of new maps for the re-releases of both Doom and Doom 2. The 12 new levels for the mod, which is called Earthless: Prelude, only took a few days each, totaling less than four weeks to build the entire add-on.
For those who have been playing the reboot of the franchise, both of which have been well-received, especially Doom Eternal, Earthless: Prelude is a nice trip down memory lane. The developers say they were inspired by old Doom maps they used to make back in the mid-2000s, which they dug out and wanted to repurpose for this project. This add-on is also a spiritual successor to one that came before it, called Deathless.
Modding Doom is something that has been a tried and true pastime since time immemorial. It has been rife for tweaking ever since the first game was released, and the likes of this new one show that it still has so much potential. Of course, it's not just making new maps that keeps the games alive. Earlier this month, one user managed to get classic Doom to run on a vertical monitor.
The game is also not just celebrated with custom maps and modifications. In February of this year, gamers and developers celebrated the Mars Perseverance landing by splicing an image of Doom Guy onto the grainy image of the red planet. id Software's original pixelated FPS has gone down in history and with Bethesda still looking to bring the originals back to the fore, it's a series that is not going to die any time soon.
Doom Eternal is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Bethesda