Here’s How DOOM Eternal’s Extra Life Power-Up Works

There was a lot happening during QuakeCon 2018’s DOOM Eternal gameplay extravaganza, and people are still parsing things out and diving through interviews for as much information as possible. One particular point of interest was the silly “1-up” collectible, which grants an “Extra Life” to the Doom Slayer when he grabs it. But what the hell does that even mean in the context of DOOM Eternal? Well, there’s an answer, and it’s even pretty interesting.

According to an interview snippet from VG 24/7, the power-up essentially functions like a bonus checkpoint. Like DOOM before it, DOOM Eternal has a fairly generous checkpoint system. If you die, you’ll only be penalized in a bit of lost time. In the new game, if you can snag a 1-up, it seems to mechanically reproduce the checkpoint effect in the middle of a firefight. The screen apparently goes grey for a moment, then you’re back in the action with a brief burst of invulnerability.

The purpose for this new power-up seems to lie in DOOM Eternal‘s new Invasion mechanic. If you turn it on, other players can invade your game playing as demons, and that sounds like it can really disrupt your campaign progress if it goes poorly. This is an extra little tool at the player’s disposal that acts as a counter-balance.

[Source: VG 24/7]