Facing down another player, I was hopping around and blasting rockets until I accidentally mantled up a catwalk, grabbing a bar and pulling myself up until I was 20 feet above. The new traversal scheme, which allows for grabbing edges and climbing up to a higher surface, actually opened me up to an incredible sequence of events. The focus on constant movement fills combat with a great sense of scope, as you know that both you and your errant shots are filling the space. Twitch shooting skills can save you, but making yourself harder to hit by moving around like a caffeinated hummingbird is the key to success. The game felt like a Quake match taken down a few dozen notches. The movement system is more robust than you might remember if you haven’t played a “classic” id shooter in a while. New promotional screens for the single-player game released by Bethesda Softworks at Quakecon. The area is littered with opportunities to both get the drop on the other team and slap your forehead after jumping into the fire. It's pure team deathmatch laid out over a hellish foundry replete with lava pits, jump boosters, and a bevy of multilayered, overlapping catwalks. The demo featured a single multiplayer map, named Heatwave, but it's a tight, workable location for the six-on-six setup. Though you can change loadouts between deaths, it probably won’t be long before you realize you just want rockets forever. This last addition is pretty great: drop it down, then hit the equipment button again to warp back to that spot, getting you out of a sticky situation and potentially telefragging an unsuspecting enemy to boot. Your armaments are mostly familiarly retro-rocket launchers, plasma guns and, of course, Super Shotguns-but then you also have new equipment like grenades and a teleporter device. The first thing you do in the demo, in fact, is establish your loadouts, picking one of three presets (Assault, Sniper, or Ambusher) or customizing your own with two weapons and a piece of equipment.

The demo shows off a game that carries an understanding of what it means to blend the memories of yesteryear with modern sensibilities. Based on some hands-on time with the game at QuakeCon this week, fans probably won't be disappointed-and neither will newcomers. With over a decade since the last major Doom release in 2004, this franchise reboot has to clear a pretty high bar of fan expectations. And by the looks of the dozen other fans before us with mice and controllers already in hand, he's not alone. This pogo stick of a man next to me in line is obviously excited to play the Doom multiplayer demo at this year's QuakeCon.

He is jumping-literally jumping-with joy, bouncing up and down with clasped hands and wide eyes.

Revenant doom 2