After the ever present, amazing quality of Doom from 2016, expectations were astronomical for Doom Eternal. The fans wanted it more than oxygen, Bethesda wanted to deliver it because Fallout 76 was such an abysmal failure and all of the non-fans wanted to see just what the crap people were so hyped about. With test footage filling youtube, gameplay demos whetting the appetite of game reviewers at QuakeCon and promos of Doomguy and Isabelle from Animal Crossing looking absolutely adorable, you could stack the ladder to space and you still wouldn’t reach the levels of NEED Doom fans were feeling!
Did it deliver? Well, the answer has more asterisks than a High School band poster. Today, we’ll be looking at the game that was needed so badly that both Bethesda and Gamestop were willing to put their businesses on the line just to make sure that it was released on time without any interruptions. After such a line of excellence, the Doom series has been held to the highest of standards. Id had their work cut out for them. Keep in mind: Yes, this is going to be compared to the former Doom of 2016. It’s a sequel, so it’s got to bring the goods just like Doom 4 did. There’s a lot to go over, so let’s dive right in!
One place where this game absolutely thrives is in its graphics and details. Much like its predecessor, this game knows how to deliver when it comes to the demons and the gore. No matter what anyone says, the bullets piercing through the flesh with the blades piercing the skulls looks astounding! You can look anywhere in this game and if you’re not in awe with its attention to detail, you’re laughing at the many callbacks in-jokes you’ll see along the way.
You can just tell where levels could have been lived in at some point in time. They looked like a real city that’s been ripped to shreds by a demon invasion. The implications are revolting, but just remember, it’s a game. This is not just city wreckage, either. This is planes flying through buildings and office buildings with desks in shambles. There doesn’t seem to be any bodies, but you can imagine that they were transformed into the creatures you now fight.
Every demon, from the smallest imp to the mightiest of barons have gotten an upgrade in graphics. Even if they are miniscule, you can tell the difference when you have a side by side comparison. Not only do the old demons have a return but there are several several new types of demons, as well as monsters we haven’t seen since Doom 2. The detail is so awesome that you can even see the meat fly off of them as you shoot them. One shotgun blast and you’re starting to see tendons beneath their skin. It’s quite the spectacle to behold.
Glory kills make a return, though, it is worth mentioning that many of them rely on the new left arm blade the Doom Slayer wears on his newly upgraded armor. Though, it was a bit more fun to see him twist them with his bare hands, the blade is not an unwelcome addition.
Where Doom 4 took place either in hell or on Mars, this game takes place mostly on Earth. Sometimes, however, it takes place in a coliseum surrounded by a catedral! The level design for this game are out of this world and they cannot be overstated. They range from beautiful and breathtaking to sinister and grim. Either way, they hit the nail on the head.
Once again, amazing work done by the devs at id. With some fantastic voice work done by everyone involved, you have no problems suspending your disbelief and getting right into the universe that is Doom Eternal. The gun sounds have impact and the explosions have the boom you crave! They even improved on the grenade effects all around.
Though many would argue that the techno aspect of the soundtrack is misplaced, it is very reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails, with whom id used as many aspects of inspiration. It is fantastic ripping skulls apart to this soundtrack. The music was designed to hype up as you get to the tearing of limbs. It works. You can just feel Doom Slayer’s anger with shredding guitar licks while blaring carnage upon hell itself!
Okay, hunker down, this is where things get complicated. You’ve got the ripping and the tearing, let’s get that out of the way right off the bat. There’s blood for everyone and plenty of guts flying around to keep you sated and keep the demons dying at your feet. All of that is there and it is a lot of fun when you’re clawing through the crowd with the monstrous fury that is unrivaled.
However, let’s start at the very beginning. They went a little heavy on the learning curve when it came to the start. Not only are there some somewhat difficult enemies right off the bat, but there are a lot of smaller demons around them to keep you busy. This would not be so bad, par for the course even, if it weren’t for the fact that you are getting ridiculously low amounts of ammo at the word go. This was a very, very questionable decision. If there is one thing that Doom is known for, it’s your arsenal and how you can carry ridiculous amounts of bullets without the need to reload. You don’t need to reload (In fact, on PC, the R key is for the grenade) but what you do need is the chainsaw. Where this melee marvel was somewhat optional and fun gimmick in the 2016 rendition, now it is obligatory to the point of death! This takes away from the fun factor on many levels. When you run out of ammo and then run out of fuel for your chainsaw, you have other options, but that is a whole nother can of worms.
Let’s open one of them in the form of the Blood Punch. Sometimes, when you’ve powered it up enough, your initial punch (outside of the glory kill) will explode and maim your enemy more than it would. The normal punch is so weak that even a zombie feels like it was made of titanium when the Doom Slayer’s punch takes three, four, even five tries before he goes to the softened state for glory killing.
While we’re on the subject of new mechanics, there is also a multiple currency system that can get rather confusing when you’re trying to figure out what you’re spending. This can be forgiven when you know that id refused to put microtransactions in this game. In fact, a lot of things can be forgiven in that light, so kudos for that.
Then we move on to some of the most frustrating aspects of this game. The pacing is absolutely bipolar. One common complaint about Doom 2016 was that it got a bit monotonous in the amount of time spent with nothing but killing demons. In response, Doom Eternal added in a very prominent mechanic in platforming. Where the Argent Tower in 2016 was easily one of the worst parts of that game, now you get to see aspects of that all through the game. This stops the game’s pace when you either can’t perform the tricks or just don’t know where to attach to a wall. They even slap a big ugly hook on the front of the game’s greatest weapon, The Super Shotgun (yes that’s a subjective opinion, but this is my review and that’s what I say) so that you can do more platforming. Yes, it’s kind of cool to impale demons with it and shoot them up close, but the platforming gets ridiculous! When you just want to pull the heads off of imps but can’t because you need to literally jump through hoops, it can get agitating.
Something that’s more of a nitpick than a complaint is when you first run into new demons. The game literally stops and holds up a sign in front of you saying “Here is the new demon, here is their weak spot, use this to kill them.” Running into new demons should be something of an experience, now it just seems like you have a little angel on your shoulder, whispering you their dirty little secrets and taking the fun out of the discovery. This also happens to a bigger degree when you get new weapons and new devices to use. Only then, they instantly teleport you to a test arena to try them out. Once again, experience, discovery, gone.
The last thing that you should know, going out on a high note, is that the new boss battles are amazingly awesome! You run into some familiar faces as well as some new faces and either way, it’s just fun to see. Fighting these big behemoths actually overshadows the 2016 game in that you get more, bigger and better bosses. I will not spoil these for you, just know that they are worth the wait. You just gotta get through those darn obstacles and climb those stupid walls!
The problem with Doom Eternal is not so much that it’s hard to learn, it’s more just how you learn that’s the problem. The game can run you through the weapon and demon classes all it wants. All of these lessons and cutaway classes are fine and dandy, but applying them while nine or ten demons are nipping at your heals and chasing you around the table like a creeper is a completely different story. You really need to have some experience with Doom 4 or First Person Shooters in general if you want to survive your first few outings with this game. It doesn’t take a lot of time to learn, but you better be on the verge of mastering it very quickly.
This is accentuated when you are forced to learn all of your gadgets and the buttons they are attached to. One wrong push of the button can very easily mean your death.
Doom Eternal takes the concept of challenge and just adds all of the tabs in the filing shelf to each and every single page. This game is hard! It doesn’t matter how good you think you are. If you take this game lightly, it will bash your face in with its monstrous claws and laugh at you as you get back up. Some of this challenge is relieved with the addition of Extra Lives, which let you stay in the game even if you die, but those are finite. If you do not upgrade your Health, Ammo and Armor in a hurry, you will die many times.
When people think of the challenge of Doom Eternal, the first image that comes to mind is none other than the Marauder! This is a brand new beast first instituted as a boss battle, but then brought in as a monster to fight alongside other demons! These guys are atrociously difficult unless you get lucky or are able to fight them alone. The fact that they spawn demons dogs does not help with this concept in the slightest.
Not only did they introduce the Marauder to the cast of enemies, but they also brought back the Archvile! I will not go into detail about these annoyances, but oldtime Doom fans will know what that means. I’ll just let that soak in.
It’s not so much that they keep throwing hordes of enemies your way, but it’s also that they find new and creative ways to make them more ferocious. That’s definitely a point in the game’s favor. No matter your gaming style, you will find your challenge here. You will die, don’t you doubt.
Where the game differs greatly from its ascendants the most is the fact that it features an extremely prominent storyline. Doom 3 didn’t even have this level of narration coursing through its gory veins. The destruction of Earth and the forces on both opposing sides are delved into much further. You get to see far more of Hell’s rankings and you even get to meet Doomguy’s peers and allies in his battles against them.
Honestly, it’s nice to have, but at the same time, there’s a bit too much. There even comes times when you start asking questions that never get answered. Characters are shown, do something or say something and then they bugger off, never to be seen or talked about again. It helps to add to the Doom Slayer’s awesomeness when you see how he interacts with normal human beings, but then you see people try to order him around. The Doomguy rarely talks, but that doesn’t help when you want to know who these people actually are and what their relationship is.
The story gets a bit annoying when you are given cutscenes that seem to serve no real purpose, nor do you see where some of them fit into the story. You learn a lot more about the Doomguy and what you learn does not take away from his mystique, so that’s definitely a strike in the game’s favor. Not to mention, you always have the option of skipping the cutscenes altogether, so it’s not a real hindrance. You can read the flavor text too, but there are demons that still breathe.
While replaying the platforming puzzles isn’t the most enticing idea in the world, there is still much to be found in every level. In fact, the addition of cheat codes by itself is plenty of incentive to replay this entire game to search every crevice. The secrets are bountiful in their treasures. You collect little figures of all of the monsters, just like the Doomguy figures of 2016, and they are just as cute as they should be. Then there’s the music records and the secret challenges that you can check out and conquer for more perks and amazing gameplay!
While I do not enjoy it quite as much as Doom 4, I will be glad to pick this game up and munch demon flesh in the future. It is worthy of the Doom name, that much is for certain. The only real crack in the mirror is the pacing for this game. There were times when I just wanted to pull my enemies apart like fresh bread but I was stuck trying to push the climb-wall button and jumping through red tape in order to do so. However, the platforming puzzles are toned down as the game goes on and you gain more ammunition as you gain levels. It’s a fantastic game, it just takes a little while before it starts reaching its full potential.
Though, it didn’t fully live up to the hype building around it, in my honest opinion, it really just took a bit of acquiring taste. When you tally up the demon blood spilled as well as the size of said demons that you kill, you can definitely come out in the black. You definitely meet your rip and tear quota and you have a lot of fun doing it. Do not let this escape your collection and do not let any of Hell’s minions escape your grasp!
