Doom Eternal rushes in with extreme prejudice against any and all first person action shooters. All hail to the King…sorry Duke. It’s insanely over the top, incredibly visceral and a marvel to see in action. This is Doom as we know it, but cranked up with extreme intensity in every conceivable measure. Buckle up and reload that chamber, this is going to be one crazy ride.
Hell’s Armies have Taken Over
Our favorite demon slayer who takes no prisoners is up against the greatest opposition in record, in both number and sheer number of enemy variants. This is post apocalyptic Earth, where the world has been completely over run with the worst creatures imaginable from the darkest and deepest depths of the underworld. The incredibly smooth flowing and frantic formula from 2016’s Doom is here, but with many improvements and tweaks. I have no doubts this will stand as one of the best shooters this generation.
While blazing fast action and carnage is still at the forefront of the gameplay here, there is also a new implementation of strategy among the explosions, headshots and chainsaws. You’ll be wise to exploit enemy weaknesses and strategically take out the weaker opposition first. This will net your ammo and health depending on how you finish them and let you methodically take down stronger foes. For example, melting your enemies rewards armor, executions yield health and kills via your trusty chainsaw returns precious ammo. Ammunition goes quick as you might imagine, with so many enemies and secondary fire options on each firearm. This opens the door to some amazing combinations for dealing out maximum damage, while keeping the gameplay fresh and exciting throughout the entire campaign.
“Once you get your head around the core mechanics, it is a absolutely thrilling experience, where in time you can decimate all.”
There is even a pretty good story attached to the 15-18 hour campaign. I just wish it featured more cutscenes and less readable dialog, as the visuals are cutting edge and look incredible on the Xbox One X. I can only imagine how entertaining full cutscenes for the entire story would have been. While it’s upscaled from 1800p to 4K (2160P), it still looks brilliant and maintains that crucial 60 fps mark. Even on the PC, you’ll need a RTX 2080Ti, Intel Core i9-9900K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, plus 16GB of RAM to max this beauty out on Ultra-Nightmare.
Players now have a home base properly titled The Fortress of Doom to visit between missions. It will showcase all your rad collectibles found throughout each level and features other cool set pieces like toy enemies and iconic music tracks that Doom fans will surely appreciate. Our epic protagonist sports new armor for this latest outing, capable of setting enemies on fire via a small mounted turret located on his left shoulder. Following up with the sharpened blade attached to your right arm provides a brutal finishing move that is quick and deadly.
Doom Eternal is all about giving gamers options in how they take out the opposition. The double barrel shotgun returns, but with a new trick. It now comes equipped with grappling hook that launches you towards your enemy. It closes the distance with immense speed. I often thought of Scorpion and kept waiting to hear “Get Over Here!”.
Runes can be found throughout your venture and are extremely valuable, enabling enhanced speed, greater air control or even the ability to slow down time. There are 9 Runes in total to find and you can equip up to 3 at a time. These give your demon slayer even further power and special abilities that will make you an even greater threat to Hell’s troops.
Finding these are actually, well fun. This is thanks to the new and strangely enough delightful platforming mechanics implemented in Doom Eternal. Had this been done haphazardly or with poor controls, this would have been a disastrous design choice. This is not the case however, as you will find yourself leaping and dashing across great distances with impressive speed and accuracy along the way. The wait was worth it guys, this is the best Doom yet by far. There are loads of weapons to choose from and an awesome roster of ferocious enemies and bosses to face off against. Prevent their takeover with the efficient plasma rifle, powerful rocket launcher or go with the melee based energy sword called The Crucible Blade. What are you waiting for…go save the human race!
Conclusion
Doom Eternal takes their winning formula from 2016 and somehow manages to tweak it to near perfection. It offers one of the most thrilling single player campaigns found in any shooter this generation…period. The new elements of strategic gameplay and outstanding platforming mechanics raise the bar for this iconic IP even further into the stratosphere. This epic war to save mankind from Hell’s army is one you simply can’t miss out on.
