Bethesda’s latest patch for last year’s Doom reboot is a doozie. The fittingly-named Update 6.66 delivers substantial changes to the game's multiplayer mode and does away entirely with its season pass, DLC that has cost some players as much as $39.99 on top of the cost of the base game.
Marty Stratton, Game Director for Doom, revealed in a recent blog post that all three multiplayer DLC packs – that’s nine maps, three new guns, three playable demons, new equipment, armor and more – are now free for all. Veteran players will receive a special badge recognizing their commitment to the game while those that have achieved the max character level will earn a unique Slayer badge.
Bethesda has also revamped the game’s multiplayer progression system. Instead of the current random unlock system, additional items will now unlock through specific leveling requirements and / or in-game challenges which will provide a bit more consistency and predictability.
All veteran player levels will be reset to zero. Gamers will have the option to completely reset their unlocked progression items and experience the new progression system fresh or retain the unlocks they have acquired or purchased and then unlock the remaining items through the revised progression system.
Furthermore, Bethesda has replaced the oft-criticized Hack Module System with a Runes System that is similar to the one found in the main campaign. As such, multiplayer Runes are now persistent abilities earned and included in a player’s loadout that don’t need to be activated (and do not expire).
It doesn’t end there, however, as Bethesda has also overhauled much of the in-game HUD to feature better callouts for challenges, awards and scoring. Kill cards now provide a more clear and accurate account of how a death occurred including the weapon types used for the job and the damage doled out. Tweaks have also been made to various menus and user interfaces including post-match summaries.
Doom holdouts can try the game for free on their system of choice. The free weekend for Xbox One gamers is active now and runs through July 23 at 12 p.m. Eastern while PC players can battle it out through July 23 at 4 p.m. Eastern. PlayStation 4 owners will have to wait until next weekend to get their fix – from July 27 at 12 p.m. Eastern through July 30 at 12 p.m. Eastern, to be exact.
Last but certainly not least, Bethesda is offering Doom for just $14.99 during the free play periods. That price includes a digital copy of the full game with campaign, arcade mode and all of the aforementioned multiplayer DLC. If you've been meaning to pick the game up, now looks like the ideal time to do so.
Doom Update 6.66 Patch Notes:
Multiplayer:
- Fixed an issue where textures appeared to glow on the player’s character.
- Fixed an issue in Multiplayer where players would respawn frozen at the beginning of a Freeze Tag round.
- Fixed an issue in Multiplayer where parts of the player model appeared transparent in some circumstances.
- Fixed an issue where players would disconnect from a match under certain conditions.
- Fixed an issue in Infernal Run where picking up the ball when out of ammo would cause problems with passing or receiving the ball.
- Fixed an issue with the Multiplayer Challenge “Aimbot Hax” where Reaper Longshots would not count towards challenge completion.
- Fixed an issue in Multiplayer with inconsistent power item spawns on Outbreak.
SnapMap:
- Added rotate on XYZ axis to the Grab Object manipulate controls
- Added setting to remove network limitation on single player only maps.
- Resolved various freeze and crash bugs.
- Fixed various matchmaking and lobby issues.
- Fixed visual bugs that result from combining specific HUD elements
- Fixed various freezes and crashes with using Campaign Model.
- Fixed coop crash with Bob and Rotate settings.
- Fixed bug that caused AI to run into blocking volumes set to Block Demons and AI Sight.
- Improved collision issues causing AI to partially fall into blocking volumes set to Block Demons.
https://www.techspot.com/news/70221-doom-update-666-unlocks-all-multiplayer-dlc-revamps.html
