This time around, however, id Software wants replayability to be 'very high'-it wants all sorts of players to be encouraged to give Doom Eternal's campaign more than just one go.

'In hindsight, that was the decision that we made and at the time it seemed good.' Skill had less to do with the different difficulty levels rather than it just being a general sense of being more, I suppose, dickish. 'The game changed too much from each difficulty last time around, which I think discouraged people to play it at higher difficulties.'Īn example Martin mentions is how enemy attacks, like a fireball for instance, just felt overall more accurate than lower difficulties. Maybe, just maybe, they'll bump up to Nightmare or higher on a whim.ĭoom Eternal's new approach to difficulty is based in part on feedback from the previous game, Martin says. If all goes according to id Software's plan, the deeper you get into Doom Eternal on a lower difficulty setting, maybe the less challenge you start to feel-less and less you'll feel those tense moments with the guitar shred where you're on the brink of death. 'The only difference is that on the hardest setting, it's just way fucking faster, you know? So I think that's our goal.'ĭoom Eternal, similarly, will in essence be just that: way fucking faster.

I still need to do all the same things hit the jump the same way,' he says. I mean, I'm still needing to power slide. 'In Mario Kart if I play on easy, it's the slowest setting. 50cc is just slower than 150cc, but they all require the same skill. In Mario Kart, Martin argues, the only thing that changes per skill setting is speed. It's a comparison everyone can pump the brakes for: Mario Kart. Martin has an interesting point of comparison for the renewed difficulty experiences-which yes, again includes a permadeath mode, this time called Extra Life Mode.

(Or rather, a properly unfair Doom experience.) According to Martin, it's that way so everyone can get the fair Doom experience. In Doom Eternal, even lower difficulty levels are intended to feel just as intense as Nightmare or Ultra Nightmare. In fact, in an opening presentation before siccing the press upon Doom Eternal's first three hours, Martin accentuated how id Software has rethought its approach to difficulty in this year's hellish sequel. When Hugo Martin asks me what difficulty I've been playing the latest Doom Eternal demo on, I sheepishly say Hurt Me Plenty, the second notch above what's basically 'easy mode.' The creative director doesn't blink though.

Doom 4 difficulty levels