More Game Pass PC action, and this time, it's a game I have been wanting to play for most of the year. BACKGROUND:
Doom Eternal was one of my most anticipated games of this year. I got Doom 2016 for the Switch two years ago and was blown away by its frenetic rip-and-tear gameplay, so it's probably no surprise that I was incredibly excited to see the sequel. Unfortunately, the Switch version ended up getting delayed, so I didn't get to play it on release. It did come out eventually earlier this December (nearly nine months after its initial release everywhere else), but a day one purchase was not in the cards. Then I noticed that this was on Game Pass PC. What an unbelievable stroke of luck! PLOT: After the events of Doom 2016, Earth has been invaded by the forces of Hell, leaving a significant portion of the population dead. The Doom Slayer, after being whisked away at the end of the previous game, has returned, and he's on a one-man crusade to rip and tear these motherfuckers and save the world. Unlike Doom 2016, which has a (more or less) straightforward plot, Doom Eternal goes all in on the world-building, expanding upon how the Doom Slayer came to be, further establishes the connection between the reboot and the original series of Doom games, introduces 700 new concepts and characters (like the Makyrs and the Sentinels), and expands upon things that were established in Doom 2016 (Argent energy being the key example here). I thought all this new lore was interesting, but I can totally see this being way too much for some people to follow. Thankfully, you can skip the cutscenes and ignore the codex entries if you just want to focus on beating the shit out of demons. PRESENTATION: This is easily the best Doom has ever looked. The overall visual fidelity is remarkable: super detailed models, plenty of flashy visual effects, excellent lighting, and even nice rendering for water. Seeing classic Doom monsters fully realized in 3D never gets old, and neither does seeing chunks of their flesh explode out of them. In terms of design, a lot of the demons are back from Doom 2016, but the game introduces a handful of new demons. Some of them, like the Archvile, the Arachnotron, and the Pain Elemental, are from the original Doom II, and seeing how they've been reimagined in the modern era is awesome. Many other designs are completely new, like the Makyr Drones, the Sentinel Knights, the Doom Hunters, and the Marauders, and they all look pretty cool. Doom Eternal leans even more heavily into the blend of occult and cybernetic in terms of design, and it's evident in the designs of the new monsters. Whereas Doom 2016 was restricted to Mars and Hell in terms of locations, this game takes you through more places in the campaign. You still stop by Hell and Mars, but now you get to explore an Earth completely devastated by demon attacks, UAC space stations, and even entirely new planets like Urdak and Sentinel Prime. Seeing the variety of locales is pretty cool, and a step up from the previous game. The music is still incredible, with Mick Gordon returning from the previous game to compose a score of face-melting heavy metal tracks to complement the game's mile-a-minute action. Combat in this game is already thrilling, but the music helps elevate the experience to another plane. GAMEPLAY: Doom Eternal is a first person shooter, which means you're gonna be blowing the heads off of a lot of demons in this game. If you've played an FPS before, this won't feel any different, but this game has a lot of elements and mechanics that set it apart from its contemporaries. One of the main things that makes Doom special is how incredibly fast-paced the action is. The Doom Slayer moves pretty fast, you don't stop to reload, you have all sorts of mobility options (more on that later), and shit is coming at you in every direction pretty much all the time. If you hold still, you're probably good as dead. Another thing that adds to the nonstop action of Doom is the way you replenish resources. Need health? Perform a Glory Kill (a brutal finisher attack you can perform on weakened foes, and one of the highlights of Doom 2016). Need ammo? Chop someone up with a chainsaw (which has now been improved to replenish one fuel tank over time). Want armor? Use the brand new Flame Belch flamethrower. Basically, if you need something, you have to fight for it, and while you will encounter some of these things simply sitting about in the levels, they will rarely be enough to see you through to the end. The gameplay loop is essentially "kill so you can kill some more," and it's a damn satisfying loop. The Slayer's arsenal is pretty much the same as it was in Doom 2016. You have the shotgun, the Super Shotgun, the Ballista (which is functionally similar to the Gauss Cannon from the previous game), the Plasma Rifle, the Heavy Cannon (AKA the assault rifle), the Chaingun, and the BFG (of course). You also have access to the chainsaw, as well as the Crucible (a badass sword). Like before, each weapon has a specific ammo type tied to it, and you'll need to manage it well if you want to stay alive. Similarly, you can equip mods to every weapon (except the Super Shotgun and the BFG), giving you alternate options in combat. Some of these mods are back from the previous game (like the scope on the heavy cannon), while others are brand new (like the beam attack for the Plasma Rifle). You can only equip one of these at a time, but once you unlock both, you can swap them out at will. The most radical change in terms of weapons (apart from the new mods and the Ballista) comes in the form of the Super Shotgun's new ability. The Super Shotgun has what's called the Meat Hook, which you can use to pull yourself towards enemies. It's one of the most fun mechanics in this game; it's basically Link's Hookshot, except it can blast your head off. In addition to the Flame Belch, you also have Ice Bombs now, which does what you expect and freezes opponents. It's a fun alternative to the regular grenade (which is still in the game). You can upgrade each weapon mod by spending weapon points to unlock passive buffs. Unlocking all the buffs unlocks a weapon mastery challenge for that particular mod. Completing the weapon mastery challenge unlocks yet another passive buff that significantly improves the current weapon mod. The weapon mastery challenges are pretty tough (but not impossible), but you can find Mastery Tokens that just let you bypass it entirely if you want. Speaking of upgrades, you can collect Praetor Suit Tokens (which upgrade your suit's abilities), Sentinel Crystals (which can give you more health, ammo, and armor, plus grant unique buffs), and Runes (again, more unique buffs). Apart from a few alterations, this is mostly similar to how upgrades worked in the previous game. Many of these are worth the trouble of getting, as they do a lot to make the Slayer stronger. The enemies are all plenty tough (especially when you have to fight a million of them at once), but it's the new enemies you have to watch out for. The Marauder is a thrill to fight because of how you have to bait it to hurt it, the Doom Hunter takes a lot of hits, and the Archvile is your worst nightmare because it summons buffed enemies. Things get tougher when you encounter buff totems (which you have to destroy unless you want to get your ass kicked), or run into Empowered Demons, which are tougher enemies that managed to kill other players in their campaigns. New to this game is the fact that some demons have a specific weak point (other than the usual headshot). For example, destroying the cannons of the Revenant significantly weakens it by rendering most of its offense useless. It's usually challenging to take out these weak points (especially when you have to worry about dozens of other enemies), but it's quite satisfying to pull off. There are a few boss fights in the game, and they're all no joke. The Marauder and the Doom Hunter actually start out as boss encounters before becoming late game enemies. The final boss is none other the Icon of Sin, who was the boss in the original Doom II, and that fight looks like something straight out of a kaiju movie. All the levels are decently large, and like before, there are plenty of secrets to find. These range from various upgrade items, challenge rooms (which require you to kill all the enemies within a time limit), and a plethora of collectibles (including cheat codes you can toggle when playing). You can also find Slayer Gates, which take you to super hard combat encounters, that, when completed, gives you one of six keys to unlock a secret super weapon. The game keeps track of what you have, and you can easily replay levels to get what you missed via Mission Select. Each level has challenges and progress trackers, and completing each nets you rewards like Weapon Points or Praetor Suit Tokens. Once again, you gotta fight if you want to get stronger, but in many cases, you get some of these rewards just by playing; only some of the challenges require some effort (either through skill in combat or by successfully finding secrets). Many levels also have platforming sections. In addition to the double jump, you now have the ability to scale specific walls, swing across monkey bars, and dash. I like the platforming challenges, though most other people may feel differently. The dash in particular is a fun new ability, as it gives you helpful mobility in fights. There are also brief swimming sections where you need the RAD suit (a returning power-up from classic Doom) to survive the toxic water. In terms of level hazards, there are spikes, electrified floors, sticky goop that keeps you from jumping (very annoying), and Mario-esque rotating fire bars. On the subject of power-ups, a couple of them make a return, but they seem rarer in general. The most prominent one is the 1UP, which brings you back if you die (as opposed to sending you back to your last checkpoint). New to this game is the Fortress of Doom, which serves as the Slayer's base of operations. In between most missions, you stop by here. In the fortress, you can practice killing demons, view your collectibles, and unlock items using a collectible known as Sentinel Batteries (which are either found hidden in the levels or unlocked as mission rewards by completing challenges). It's pretty awesome that the Slayer has his own HQ, but apart from what I've mentioned, there's not much you can do on it. As always, Doom has the traditional difficulties from "I'm Too Young to Die" to Ultra Nightmare. I played on "Hurt Me Plenty" (which is the "normal" of Doom), and it's no pushover. This game has a multiplayer mode where players face off against each other. One player is the Slayer, while two others fight against them by controlling demons. I like the idea of playing as the demons, but this mode didn't really hold my interest. There are also a plethora of cosmetics, like weapon skins, different costumes for the Slayer, different demon skins, and icons. You earn most of these by completing Milestones (AKA achievements), while some seem to be tied to limited-time events (which have this Battle Pass thing going on where you earn XP and unlock rewards as a result). It's neat, but it doesn't really seem to be a big deal unless you care about showing off in multiplayer. VERDICT: Doom Eternal takes what I loved about Doom 2016 and improves upon it well. The action has been polished to be as fast-paced as ever, progression is satisfying, the weapons are still a ton of fun, there are plenty of new demons to kill, and the levels have plenty of secrets to them. I also liked the new platforming stuff, I loved the phenomenal soundtrack, and found the plot interesting (which may put me in the minority). Apart from some minor gripes and a multiplayer mode that didn't really do anything for me, I can say that this has been one of my favorite games of this entire year. Go play it if you love Doom or just want to feel the thrill of being the most unga bunga demon killer of all time. Here's Doom Eternal on Steam: DOOM Eternal on Steam (steampowered.com) - end -
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Derryck
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