DOOM Eternal - Mar 20, 2020

[Teoskaven]

It's better this way if you ask me, November was extremely crowded with important releases of all kinds, and if this serves to iron out bugs and stuff, the better. Sure, March 2020 is also shaping to be a stuffed month too, but better than November if you ask me.

[SonicWind]

Bust out your Hell energy sword. The new DOOM Eternal trailer is here.

 

[Eurisko]

Cant wait!! Looks amazing!

[SonicWind]

So, Bethesda allowed quite a few YouTubers/game websites to play DOOM Eternal last month. All of their opinions were highly positive.

As for the here and now, IGN is covering the game as an IGN First title, meaning they'll be making new videos about it all month. Here's their first two videos (don't watch the first if you don't want spoilers):

 

[SonicWind]

DOOM Eternal is upon us in a little over a week. Here's the launch trailer:

 

[McGroose]

The fact that they provide Doom 64 is really nice! I don't think enough people have played that version of Doom yet, it's one of the best ones IMO.

Oh, and the game looks amazing as hell, best FPS of all time, 10/10, I can't wait, haven't been this excited for a game in a while, and all the usual stuff I'd say at this point.

I do hope the multiplayer is better this time around. Not to say Doom 2016's original multiplayer was bad, I had some fun with it, but it definitely felt like a second-rate priority compared to how great the singleplayer and mod co-op was for Doom 2016.

[Bobnik]

ngl, I pre-ordered Doom Eternal mostly because I wanted that Doom 64 on PC.

Oh, and also Eternal looks great. I still have some concerns about the dash mechanic and extra lives, but the game still looks fantastic. Can't wait.

[sleel_asia]

I like this 

[Bobnik]

So I finished the game today on Ultra-Violence (aka hard). Oh man, this was a game alright.

I'll start with what's probably a pretty important statement - if you're expecting Eternal to play similarly to Doom (2016), DON'T. While on the surface it has the mechanics and overall gameplay from the previous game, the overall dynamic, the new mechanics, the revamped old mechanics and a lot of other changes make the game flow much more differently. To the point where it feels like you're playing a character action game akin to DMC or Bayonetta, just on several dozens of energy drinks and probably some coke.

Aesthetically the game's a lot more varied compared to Doom 2016. You get Hell on Earth levels, you get levels for other planets, even other dimensions. The worlds are a bit more alive in this one. For example, at the first level there are walls that are actually cages made of deformed humans that actually move, and you can see their arms sticking out and moving. The kinda disgusting-looking insides of different Titans are pulsating, the huge demons moving what's called the Hell Barges, etc. It just gives more life and worldbuilding to the games.

Story-wise it's...there I guess. There are a couple of cool moments in the game

Spoiler

Like the fact that we are actually playing as the Doomguy from the original games, including Doom 64 (the rerelease of which got a new level that actually kinda ties to the "reboot" series)

but overall I found it...okay, if not a lil bit dull at points. I've seen a few people complain about the cutscenes and how bad those are. While I won't say that they're outright bad, they do feel a little bit weaker than the small amount of cutscenes Doom 2016 had, despite looking better. But I'm not gonna complain too much about that, because it's not a very important aspect of the game.

Music I don't even want to talk about much. It's Mick Gordon. It's good. Heavy metal choir was a great choice. Not much to say.

Now the gameplay... Hoo boy, this is probably one of the most intense shooters I've played in quite a while. The gameplay loop is somewhat similar to Doom 2016, only there's a lot of platforming sections inbetween arenas. I liked platforming sections, they are as much of a breather as they are involved in the gameplay. The combat is something else though. For one, you get much less ammo for weapons than you did in Doom 2016, which encourages you to swap weapons much more, as well as making you use the chainsaw a lot more often. Some people might not like this design decision, but I liked it. Doom Slayer's movement speed has been lowered pretty noticably, making it harder to dodge projectiles just by running. On paper this'd also mean that the combat would've been slower, right? Here comes in left shift button, aka the dash ability. At first I was kinda skeptical because I felt like the dash would've diluted the gameplay more, but no, it not only is mandatory to actually go somewhere in this game, it makes the combat so much quicker it makes Doom 2016 look like a generic modern shooter.

And you need that quickness both movement-wise and thinking-wise. Enemies are divided in different classes and most of them have weaknesses that you pretty much have to utilize to get somewhere on higher difficulties. That, in combination with resource management and awareness of surroundings can make the battles kind of exhausting. But when you pull off the hard battle, it feels really good. The optional stuff is also pretty good. The optional gore nests are timed battles, which are kinda like combat puzzles. I've done most of them and they're fun, except for the one where

Spoiler

you have to beat a Marauder in 35 seconds

Slayer gates are probably the highlights of this game for me. They're essentially more enemy arenas, but instead of being on 12 cans of energy drinks and some coke, it's 5 times that amount. You have to stay on your toes and show your skills in quite intense fights, and I love that!

I wanna talk a bit more about the game, but there's just too much and I need to construct my thoughts more thoroughly, so I'll stop there for now. I got all the secret items, most of the optional gore nests, still have to do the master levels that are in the game or try out Battlemode, but I need a break lol. Overall it's a great-ass game and I don't regret getting it. Maybe I'll be more critical of the game in the future, but yeah.