Speedrunning is an unavoidable and fantastic part of video game culture, and surprising no one, DOOM Eternal is already seeing beginning to end playthroughs in only 31 minutes. In the video below, Distortion2 breezes through the entire game with methodical precision and ingenious moves.
A quick peek at the video sheds some light on what speedrunning entails. Usually one cannot play the game normally or as intended. Instead these individuals have learned the game inside and out, not just in the normal progression used by the majority of players, but with all the unintended bugs and glitches that exist. Right off the bat we can see Distortion2 glitch through various parts of the map, allowing him to bypass areas that would eat up precious time.
Speedruns are usually split into different categories, such as Any% runs, that disregard how much of the content is completed so long as the final endgame is done. Conversely, 100% runs require all content to be defeated. Glitchless runs are, as the name implies, the closest approximation to “normal” gameplay, where none of the glitches seen in the video above would be permitted.
While Distortion2’s speedrun is certainly impressive, a future patch to DOOM Eternal might accidentally or intentionally ruin whatever glitches were being used to bypass large parts of the map. We on the other hand hope that future patches cause even more glitches in the game for crazier speedruns!