Doom Eternal Update Adds NVIDIA DLSS And Ray Tracing To Unleash The Hounds Of Hell
When we reviewed Doom Eternal last year, we lauded its amazing graphics and thrilling gameplay, noting it is a graphical tour de force underpinned on the id Tech 7 engine. Our initial impression still stands up, and might even undersell the experience. How so? A new update adds NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and real-time ray tracing to the mix for GeForce RTX card owners.
Ray-traced reflections now abound in both the main campaign and expansions, adding another layer of visual fidelity to a game that already looks gorgeous.
"Virtually all metallic surfaces and objects realistically reflect their environment, as do bodies of water and other materials with reflective properties. See the Doom Slayer reflected, along with demons and weapons fire, and enjoy gameplay enhanced with realistic reflections that further immerse you in the action," NVIDIA explains.
The caveat is that you need a GeForce RTX card to experience Doom Eternal in all its hellacious glory. Well, that and the fact that Doom Eternal is not one of those games where you are encouraged to stop and smell the decimated demon corpses—frenetic gameplay rules the day. Still, we'll take the visual upgrade to put our fancy hardware to good use.
Turning RTX 'On' adds reflections to both transparent and opaque surfaces, which can reflect friendly and enemy weapon fire and impacts. It also enhances glass and windows, and pretty much all objects.
As to the performance impact, that is where DLSS comes into play.
Turn DLSS On In Doom Eternal For A Performance Boost
Source: NVIDIA
"When activated, NVIDIA DLSS accelerates performance by up to 60 percent at 4K, enabling virtually every GeForce RTX GPU to exceed 60 frames per second with ray tracing enabled, and all settings cranked to their max," NVIDIA says.
We have not tested this ourselves, but we have evaluated DLSS 2.0, which generally works as advertised. Assuming NVIDIA's figures are representative of what to expect, it's pretty neat to see the GeForce RTX 3060 go from below 60 fps (43.9 fps) to comfortably above 60 fps (73.5 fps) at a 4K resolution, after enabling DLSS.
At 1440p, even last generation's GeForce RTX 2060 shoots past 60 fps with DLSS turned on, hitting 82.6 fps, according to NVIDIA's benchmark figures. Good stuff.
Win A GeForce RTX 3080 Ti And A Bunch Of Cool Doom Eternal Swag
We're glad to see real-time ray tracing and DLSS find their way to more AAA titles, we just wish graphics cards were more plentiful. To that end, you can try your luck at winning a sweet bundle consisting of the following...
- GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card
- Titanium Doom Slayer mini statue
- Titanium Doom Eternal GeForce RTX t-shirt
- Doom Eternal mouse pad
- Doom Eternal PC game code
- $100 of Bethesda store credit
That's a pretty good haul. To enter, head to the Bethesda Store in North America or Europe by July 6, 2021 (11:59 PM MST) and register for a chance to win. Bethesda will randomly draw 200 winners on July 8, 2021, and contact them by email. Good luck!
