If you thought that giving people access to the Halo 3 Beta to incentivize them to buy Crackdown was savvy marketing I think Bethesda just injected rocket fuel into Wolfenstein: The New Order’s hype train by announcing today that anyone who preorders Wolfenstein: The New Order will be able to access the Doom Beta at some unspecified time in the future (likely before the release of Half Life 3).
You could argue that Doom 3 was a technical marvel but very simplistic in terms of game design, which begs the question: why do I think this is bad for Wolfenstein? The last Wolfenstein, which was released in 2009, was received with mixed reviews and the game’s developer Machine Games, while possessing talent from Starbreeze, who have made some of the most immersive and innovative first person shooters in recent years is unproven. Attaching the Doom beta to it seems like a desperate move to curry interest. I hope that it’s unnecessary as the game itself looks great, Nazi slaying with some fast paced gunplay reminiscent of Pain Killer.
Here’s a new trailer that will show you exactly what I mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nt1hjIMSGv0
What I and some of my fellow Dual Pixel writers are most curious about is how Doom will be affected by John Carmack’s departure. Less monster closets perhaps.
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be released on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, PS3 and PS4 on May 20th in North America and May 23rd in Europe
