Your enemy in DOOM may be cheating, but it’s okay because it’s part of the game

One of Titanfall’s most popular additions for multiplayer shooters were Burn Cards, limited use power-ups that tied into the game’s progression system. A player could use them to unlock special abilities like a force shield, a better weapon, or faster sprinting until their next death. While they aped the look of collectible card game pieces, Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment wisely resisted making them available for purchase as microtransactions.

DOOM from Bethesda and id Software will have its own version of the concept in Hack Modules – limited use multiplayer power-ups tied to player progression. (Bethesda says they are also not tied to microtransactions.) Think of them as developer-approved cheats. Unlike Titanfall’s implementation, DOOM’s Hack Modules are centered around control, or as id’s Marty Stratton explained, giving a leg up to less experienced players.

Stratton likens Hack Modules to the proverbial “court vision” that the very best athletes seem to innately have. “Think of Hack Modules as an emphasized awareness of your surroundings that may, if you utilize it well, make you more effective,” Stratton says. “Good players ‘see’ these things inherently. But none of these affect the game’s balance by changing how powerful your gun is or anything like that.”

DOOM is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC on May 13th.