'DOOM Eternal' Fortress of DOOM Gameplay & Castle Grayskull Inspiration Revealed
In DOOM Eternal players will be able to train, develop new equipment and take a break from killing demons in the Fortress of DOOM, a massive hub space inspired by He-Man's Castle Grayskull.
In a new gameplay preview video released by IGN, DOOM Eternal creative director Hugo Martin walks players through the Fortress of DOOM, revealing how players can use the hub to power up, as well as its sprawling Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic.
"This is the player's hub. This is where they'll be able to take a break and learn a little bit more about the story and things that are going on within the world of the DOOM universe and DOOM Eternal," Martin says in the video.
"A huge inspiration for us tone-wise—we think of it as something like a Saturday morning cartoon. And certainly there was Castle Grayskull, and so we have the Fortress of DOOM," Martin said. "Everything in the DOOM games tends to have 'doom' in the title, which we think is kind of funny."
Martin describes the new, centralized hub as chock-full of "environmental storytelling," particularly in its architectural styling, which reveals new information about the Night Sentinels.
"We hope that players are asking questions like 'Why do I have this?' and 'What's with this architectural style' and 'Where is this from.' All of that is just part of the experience," Martin said.
The player protagonist—the Doom Slayer—was once a member of a holy order of knights from Sentinel Prime. They were corrupted by the armies of hell and now stand between the player and victory over the demonic hordes. The Sentinels look to be a major part of the DOOM Eternal campaign, with Sentinel items scattered throughout the upcoming game.
"They'll be able to unlock progression items using sentinel batteries they've collected throughout the levels," Martin said. "They'll be able to investigate different parts of the hub to unlock some different skins that they can put on as the player."
By plugging sentinel batteries into sockets spread throughout the fortress, players can unlock items and power up new wings, like an elevator to a training space where you can "murder demons without consequence." As players make progress through the Eternal campaign, they'll find equipment to unlock new upgrades at specialized consoles throughout the fortress.
Other unlockables to be uncovered in the Fortress of DOOM are less practical, such as the vinyl records that can be hung in frames throughout your base, from which players can spin classic DOOM music tracks. There's even a room for the Doom Slayer's arsenal, which players can explore at their leisure.
But maybe the most evocative addition to DOOM Eternal is found in its sprawling atrium: a titanic mecha version of the Doom Slayer armor.
"I spent quite a lot of time designing the jaegers on Pacific Rim," Martin said. "Certainly putting large mechs in DOOM is a bit of a childhood fantasy, and I'm pretty excited."
It's yet to be revealed whether these mechs will ever be awoken over the course of the campaign or whether players will get the chance to steer one into battle. Many players noticed the massive BFG-10000—a building-sized planetary defense weapon—in DOOM 2016. Is it possible that piloting the Fortress of DOOM mecha will enable players to wield the extra-powerful version of the classic DOOM weapon?
DOOM Eternal will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Google Stadia on March 20.
