Rock out with your c**k out.

So let’s try something different this time around. I was watching a video by Upper Echelon Gaming on Nioh 2, and he said his video was a first impressions video rather than a review because he didn’t beat the game yet. By the time you’re reading this, I’ve beaten Doom Eternal, and following in UEG’s words, I’m going to review this game.

Here’s my first ever review on this blog.

Doom Eternal is…

majestic.

What You Need to Know

Doom Eternal is the sequel to the awesome Doom from 2016. You continue in the steps of the legendary Doom Slayer as he travels to Earth to save the world from Hell taking over.

Prepare yourself because it’s about to go all the way freaking down.

Gameplay

If you played Doom, then this game is pretty much the same thing.

If you haven’t played Doom, then stop reading, go play it, pick up Doom Eternal, and then read this.

Doom Eternal is a first person shooter but much more arcadey (I know that’s not a word let me live). You control this badass silent protagonist who has faster movement speed as you zip around the area killing demons. Much of what makes Doom’s identity if the weapons and actions. Players will load up on a massive arsenal of ridiculously powerful weapons and rip apart demons with their bear hands. If you’ve never played Doom think of God of War meets Gears of War. There is a bit of strategy to fights now as some enemies are weaker to certain guns. It’s pretty neat and appreciated so it doesn’t feel like you’re just shooting brick walls.

Doom isn’t only about weapons and slaying. There are opportunities for you to explore some well designed maps and discover secrets aplenty. Hidden collectibles, vinyls, and Pop Funko like action figures are cleverly scattered across the maps and some of them are challenging to discover. There are also secret encounters you can take part of which throws waves of demons at you and challenges you to kill them all.

A rather interesting addition is including extra lives. Similar to the Mario games of old, you can find extra lives that work just as those did. Find an extra life, and you’ll use it to respawn as soon as you die. It’s a peculiar design choice that I didn’t expect it to be in the game at all, but it makes sense (more on that later).

There is a bit more focus on platforming this time around that in the first game. The Doom guy can grab onto specific walls and climb them and swing on poles which is pretty disorienting in a game as fast paced as this. You’ll find yourself swinging, climbing, and traversing all over the many diverse locations you travel.

Another interesting choice is the hub. Similar to Borderlands 3‘s Sanctuary in space, the Doom guy travels in the Fortress of Doom. You’ll return to it from time to time and will receive new weapons, admire all your collectibles, or upgrade yourself. Sentinel batteries are a form of currency that allow you to unlock hidden power ups such as weapon mods, praetor tokens, and sentinel crystals. P.s. leveling up is pretty much the same as it was in Doom. Find tokens to unlock upgrades for your suit, weapon mods unlock different mods for your guns, and sentinel crystals operate as the argent cells allowing you to upgrade your health, ammo, and armor.

Thoughts

I freaking love this game.

I think what makes me so ecstatic for the game is that it pulls no nonsense. The opening cutscene made me want to run through a brick wall like the Kool-Aid man. You jump straight into the fight, and the action is dialed up to 100. It’s like the jump from God of War 2 to God of War 3; players know exactly what’s going to happen story wise and they want to experience it right now.

I hate saying this, I really do, but the game gets pretty hard at points. The Slayer Gates throw dozens of douchey demons at you, and if you’re not prepared you will die. I played through on “Hurt Me Plenty” aka Normal mode, and I’d find myself cursing because I got fisted in the corner. I think the inclusion of extra lives caught me off guard at first, but then I started getting my ass handed to me. Extra lives are much better than reloading a checkpoint every time you die.

To be fair, the last game was pretty easy so it’s a nice change of pace. There are strategies to killing certain demons like shooting grenades in the Caucodemon’s mouths or shooting the turrets off of the Revenant. I felt rewarded when I killed every single demon, I could sit back to relax and survey the massacre that took place. However, there is one particular enemy called the Marauder who’s ridiculously tough, and people on Twitter have been asking the developers to nerf him. I’ve never seen a single player experience get nerfed so who the heck knows what’s gonna happen, but outside of Dark Souls, I’ve legit never experienced a douche of his nature.

There is a surprising amount of story to digest this time around. Besides saving Earth, you’ll learn more about the Doom Slayer and what his purpose is (besides killing). It’s a much welcome addition, although they never explain what happens between Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal, at least not that I’m aware of. That last part bummed me out.

Visually speaking the game is phenomenal. I was playing on my PS4 Pro, and it looks great. The high octane combat runs perfect with 30 demons on your screen shooting the heck out of you. The environment is full of Hell on Earth, and it almost me of Devil May Cry at times. The developers added in a Mortal Kombatesque dismembering system where shooting enemies will blow off chunks of meat. Glory Kills are back, they’re freaking meaty, and they feel more varied this time around. Maybe it’s just me who thinks that last part though.

There is a multiplayer mode for this game, and I don’t even think I’ll try it out. If I do, it might be a one and done. I did notice that there is a Battle Pass style system that rewards you cosmetic items. Having only played the single player mode so far, I was receiving experience points that leveled up the pass although it was pretty slow.

Doom Eternal is a weird game to describe when it comes to explaining why it’s so good. It’s not overly complex to the point where you can say the sequel is an evolution of the series. It’s just a really good, visually appealing, balls to the wall sequel. If you couldn’t tell, I enjoyed it a ton, but I definitely need some time to detox before I replay it because it stressed me out. Interestingly enough, there are two DLC packs slated for the game releasing “within 12 months of its release“. Where this leads, I obviously do not know, but hopefully it’ll be good content.

Verdict: Play the hell (get it?) out of this game.