Last 2019, Bethesda announced they would be rereleasing Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3 to modern platforms. Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch, and mobile all got new versions of these games.
While this was welcome news for the 25th anniversary of Doom, it later came to light that these ports had a lot of issues. Front and center was a DRM login requirement, that Bethesda did remove after launch. There were also issues with uneven pixels, aspect ratios, and music. While Bethesda did put the work in to patch these issues out, fans were definitely still left wondering if they could have done it better.
It’s now the 30th anniversary of Doom, and this time, Bethesda got it right. They have announced a new rerelease simply called Doom + Doom II, now coming to Steam, GOG, Epic Game Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Game Pass.
Before we got through all the new features, here’s what you need to know now: if you already own the 2019 versions of these games, even just one of them, you get this rerelease for free. Interestingly, GOG made their own versions of Doom and Doom II, that’s not Bethesda’s 2019 version, but GOG owners also avail of this free upgrade. It’s a really great make good for how this rerelease played out five years ago.
This is a real upgrade to the 2019 version, too, since it now runs on NightDive’s KEX engine. This package comes with everything listed below:
- Doom II
- Doom II
- TNT: Evilution
- The Plutonia Experiment
- Master Levels for Doom II
- No Rest for the Living
- Sigil
On top of that, it also has Legacy of Rust, a new episode made in collaboration between id, Nightdive and MachineGames. They are also bringing back Deathmatch with a new 25 maps, for a total 43 map pack. And yes, that means it also has online multiplayer, deathmatch and co-op, for as many as 16 players. And, it’s cross-platform.
Somehow, we’re not done here. This release has mod support via BOOM, which means you can play mods even on console, thanks to a built-in mod browser. Some community mods are already available, including Sigil II, and more will be added in the future.
One enhancement that some fans may not fully understand is IDFKA. Andrew Hulshult is a video game composer, who made soundtracks for Doom-style games like Dusk, Amid Evil, and eventually Doom Eternal itself. In 2015, he released IDFKA, a modern remake of the original Doom soundtrack. He made it available to players as a mod to add to their games, but now, it officially joins Doom + Doom II, with a modern remake soundtrack of Doom II to go with it.
Lastly, yes, Bethesda did not forget about performance. Doom + Doom II runs at a minimum 60FPS at 1080p, but can go as high as 120FP at 4K on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. If there’s anything else that we missed, we’re sure that at this point, you don’t need to be sold on it anymore.
You can watch the official Doom + Doom II trailer below.
