Doom 64's official announcement trailer is a demonic blast from the past

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The remake of the 1997 Nintendo 64 release will be out next year.

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Doom 64 was confirmed for PC and dated for March 20, 2020 a couple of weeks ago, but you may have missed it because it came along with the news that Doom Eternal is delayed into 2020. So here's a reminder, in the form of the official announcement trailer.

It's not the announcement trailer, really, because Doom 64 was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64. But it never came to PC (or any other platform, for that matter) and while the original Doom of course did, the 64 version was enhanced in a number of pretty significant ways, including better graphics, new levels, and a new weapon.

The visual improvements are obvious in the trailer, but it's still very old-school Doom, and I do wonder whether there's enough "newness" there to make it interesting at a time when we have all sorts of Doom mods as well as new (and very good) retro-styled shooters to choose from, such as Dusk, Amid Evil, and Ion Fury. Games like Blood: Fresh Supply prove that new games can successfully retread the '90s, and while I'm eager to give Doom 64 a go, my curiosity right now is more anthropological than anything else. Maybe that'll change once I've got my hands on the super shotgun again.

Doom 64 will be free with all preorders of Doom Eternal. Standalone pricing hasn't been announced.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.