Bethesda Softworks began accepting sign-ups to participate in the new Doom multiplayer alpha last week. Those who paid the price and were lucky enough to get selected have quite a bit to look forward to this weekend.
For the rest of us, today brings the opportunity to check out what all the fuss is about as Bethesda has published gameplay footage to salivate over.
Executive Producer of Doom for Id Software, Marty Stratton, goes over what alpha players can expect - one map, one mode and one demon with a handful of weapons to choose from. I don't know about you, but I got a heavy Unreal Tournament vibe (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Stratton reiterates that this isn't a game demo or even a beta which means it doesn't necessarily represent what the final game will look like. The purpose is strictly to test the gameplay experience as well as all of the backend servers and whatnot. Anything Bethesda can do to try and avoid the all-too-familiar launch day disaster is acceptable in my book.
As per the non-disclosure agreement, alpha participants won't be allowed to share content from the game although I'm sure something is bound to leak out at some point over the coming days - after all, this is the Internet we're talking about. The alpha kicks off on Friday, October 23 at 12:01 ET and runs through Sunday, October 25 at 11:59 ET.
What are your thoughts on the gameplay footage? Do you plan on picking up Doom when it launches? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.