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There's a new 'Doom' game coming to Android, and it just entered early access
Mighty Doom doesn't actually look all that mighty
It looks like Bethesda has plans to cash in further on mobile (as if The Elder Scrolls: Blades wasn't bad enough), and so the studio is testing a top-down shooter called Mighty Doom. This game is currently in early access in New Zealand, though details are light since Bethesda has yet to announce the title officially. What we do know is that this is a free-to-play mobile game that will offer casual level-based gameplay that takes place in famous Doom locales.
Doom and Doom II are now playable at up to 120 FPS on Android
16:9 support and DeHackEd-based add-ons are also in the mix
Bethesda released Doom And Doom II on Android back in July of 2019, but both games had a rocky start thanks to a forced log-in, music changes, and a lack of features. Unlike most AAA devs on the Play Store, Bethesda actually put in the work to improve each game, and today another large update has been pushed out to both titles. You can now view either game in 16:9, and high frame rates have also made the cut, which means you can now play at 90 FPS and 120 FPS. Support for DeHackEd-based add-ons is also in the mix, and a few performance improvements are here to seal the deal.
You can pick up Doom and Doom II for free if you bought a Chromebook
Plus The Elder Scrolls: Legends Fall of the Dark Brotherhood IAP worth $20
Chromebook ownership comes with plenty of perks: Android app support, stellar battery life, low hardware prices. But on top of all those implicit benefits are a handful of external perks Google provides in a constantly-changing selection — free stuff like apps, games, and Drive storage space. Chromebook owners will now be able to snag Doom, Doom II, and The Elder Scrolls: Legends Fall of the Dark Brotherhood expansion, though these offers aren't working for everyone.
Doom and Doom II updated with better touch controls, adjustable FPS limits, expanded controller support, and more
Go ahead and lock the game to 30FPS, you crazy retro fan, you
Bethesda recently updated the Android versions of Doom and Doom II to bring a bunch of new features to the titles, such as tweaked touch controls, support for adjustable frame rate limits, not to mention physical controller support along with mouse and keyboard support. Heck, Bethesda even added a toggle for Vsync (a rarity for a mobile game), for those of you that would like to reduce either title's input latency. So no matter how you slice it, it would appear that Bethesda has actually improved both games, though it could be argued that all of these features should have been available in both titles from the jump.
DOOM 64 lands on Stadia, bringing classic pixelated carnage to the platform
Early DOOM Eternal buyers are getting it for free
Admit it, your soul demands a meal made of crazy guns, demons from Hell, and a side of exploding barrels. If you were a gamer back in the late 90s, your first taste of this exquisite dish may have been served up by DOOM 64, a sequel to DOOM II launched exclusively on the Nintendo 64. It's back after 25 years, but this time on Stadia; and now everybody can be nostalgically engulfed in the low resolution chaos.
Doom Eternal launched on Stadia in March — notably day and date with consoles and PC. We reviewed it and found that it not only performs admirably on Google's gaming platform, but it's also generally a ton of fun. If you've been waiting to jump in because you're averse to full-price Stadia games, now's your chance: it's currently $44.99 (that's $15 off).
Five months in, Stadia is, ever slowly, packing its library with more and more quality titles. With the release of Doom Eternal earlier this month, the platform hit a major milestone: its first major AAA game to launch day-and-date with PC and consoles. Should you be lacking the local hardware horsepower to bust demon skulls but you're reluctant to stream a game as notoriously fast-paced as Doom, I'm happy to report that, if your network is up to snuff, Eternal runs wonderfully on Google's cloud platform. It's also an intense and immensely gratifying experience.
Doom Eternal hit Stadia, consoles, and PC today, and there's good news for early adopters. If you snag the game on Stadia by April 3, you'll get some free bonuses — including access to Doom 64 when it launches on the platform later this spring.
The Doom series is among the best-known video games in the world, so it's great to see that Google managed to secure the rights for the latest title in the installment — in fact, this is the game Stadia has been hyping even before the service itself launched. Today, Doom Eternal has finally landed on the platform, along with being released on most other common consoles and stores.
Doom Eternal on Stadia won't be 'true 4K,' but it will outperform the PS4 Pro version
It will still run at 60FPS, no matter what resolution you're playing at
The main promise of Google's Stadia streaming platform is that it's not bound by the limitations of fixed hardware: it can scale to accommodate the demands of the game, instead of the other way around. However, it seems one of 2020's biggest titles will push Stadia to its limits: Doom Eternal.
Bethesda pulls its games from Nvidia GeForce Now, just days after Activision
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is the only Bethesda title left on GeForce Now
GeForce Now's promise of being able to stream all your existing PC games isn't quite panning out. Activision Blizzard pulled all its games from GeForce Now shortly after the service left beta status, saying it wants to negotiate new terms with Nvidia, and now Bethesda Softworks has done the same.
Bethesda ported the first two Doom games to Android (and consoles, and PCs) late last year, as part of the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The re-release had a rocky start, especially with a required online login, but that and other bugs have been ironed out. Now the ports are getting feature updates on all platforms, including Android.
[Update: Forced log-in no longer required] Bethesda just released DOOM and DOOM II on the Play Store
In celebration of DOOM's 25th anniversary, Bethesda has released official ports for DOOM and DOOM II on the Google Play Store. Each title is available for $4.99, and since they are both premium releases, you won't have to worry about any advertisements or in-app purchases.
The Doom series is perhaps one of the most iconic in gaming, so much so that it's been ported and hacked onto just about every platform and gadget imaginable. There are plenty of unofficial ways to play Doom on Android, but today owners of NVIDIA's SHIELD Android TV and SHIELD Tablet (and sadly, no one else) get a chance to own the entire series in a single package. Doom 3: BFG Edition is now available on the Play Store for $10.
Update: To the developer's surprise, Google has returned D-GLES to the Play Store. People who bought it in the past no longer need to send emails requesting updates, and those who have purchased the Amazon version will continue to get new releases going forward. The latest one adds support for Amazon Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick.
Gamers in the mid-90s might remember spending hour upon terrifying hour playing Hexen: Beyond Heretic. The technology might have changed, but now you can get reacquainted with the realm of Cronos in this port from the same developer that brought us the Doom and Heretic ports. However, this game only comes with demo files – you have to provide the genuine article.
Kokak, the developer behind the Android port of Doom GLES, has brought another iconic game to Android devices everywhere, recently releasing Heretic GLES to Google's Play Store. As fans of old-school gaming would hope, Heretic GLES (like its Doom counterpart) supports physical controls on the Xperia Play or your keyboard or gamepad.