Oh this game. This game is just beautiful. Its absolutely, completely, and superbly, amazing. I don't even know how to completely describe it. I can run down a long list of awesome games it reminds me of, or these weird deja vu moments where it feels like I've done something like this before, and yet all I can think of is that this is simply Doom and it is one of the best FPS games made... especially in recent memory, but lets see how it holds up in the long run before I declare it to be one of my new favorites. Still it really feels that way right now as I'm blasting through it, already about half way or more through the campaign because its hard to put down. Though it does have its share of issues, and I'll get to those soon enough.
So... where do I begin to describe this game? The basics you'd want of Doom is here. You're fighting off a variety of monster types on a dark gory industrial sci-fi station, with occasional bits of hellish atmosphere, you're swapping between a full arsenal of weapons, you're on the edge of your seat at tough combat scenarios, thrashing metal in the background, power-ups, you're combing the map looking for secrets, occasional puzzling bits or platforming, and... its just Doom. Except its got changes. The new Doom has far more enemies and enemy arena type scenarios taking a slight step towards Serious Sam, then there's the glory kills where hurting the enemy enough brings them into a state where they can be contextually grappled for a stylish kill like something out of bulletstorm, oh but that's also a big portion of how you'll get some health back if you're on your last leg bringing in a feeling like out of Space Marines or Bloodborne. Of course without a massive emphasis on health kits, what's the deal with secrets? Well you've got secrets like art collectibles, suit upgrades, weapon mods which can be acquired with points in a weird way that feels a touch like R&C, and rune challenges that put you inside an arcadey time trial mini-game to unlock a special power, and then build your character around potentially 3 of them... which can further be upgraded by completing challenges. None of these changes should really bother anyone though, because they're all still catering to the Doom mindset. You're still looking for secrets, still grasping for resources in tough fights, and the melee kills leave far more of an impact to the nature of Doom rather than being a gimmick. You've got to understand that just watching the animations is boring, compared to running around in a room swarmed with pinkies, hell knights, imps, and mancubuses firing at you at the same time and suddenly you flip the tables on one by ripping its eyes out, get a chunk of your health back, chainsaw another for added ammo, and use what you got back to tear down everything else that dares to challenge you. Its an insane adrenaline rush that just comes off as nothing less than amazing.
Despite all the games that were running through my head, and name dropped above, none of them describe Doom itself. This isn't even best described with the old Doom, but rather this is evolved well and beyond that ancient game. Its its very own thing, Its more impactful, bloodier, smarter, more high-tech, and I'm even just going to flat out say its better than the old Doom. Its merely attached by name and influence, and I'm so glad they went back to that well instead of thinking to follow COD like the majority of others have. All I can think about lately is this recent game called Doom, not the old, not looking too much into what it compares to, but its just by itself a fantastic, phenomenal, and master-crafted funhouse of fast shooter action. Yes I know some people will hate me for saying it actually beats old Doom with mods, but I really think it does. I respected Doom as a good shooter that holds strong at its fundamental level, and Brutal Doom + other extras as... well really fun quick FPS action. It was great just to boot up and play a level or two when I didn't know what else to do, or just wanted raw power-fantasy style FPS entertainment. This new Doom has me the most excited I've been this whole year to turn on a game. Even more than R&C which I sort of took it easy with (still haven't technically completed challenge mode).
Oh and lets talk about story. Story is definitely here, and very rarely will it stop and spout exposition. I know some are going to moan about the little times it does, but its so infrequent and harmless that I have to question your patience and will power if this is the thing that really upsets you after over an hour of amazing gameplay without any. You had to skip text bits in the old Doom, so you'll live with this. I personally love its inclusion, because contrary to what some say, I'd actually like to think FPS can craft a damn entertaining world and plot to be a part of. Doom does just enough to qualify for that. Its not quite as cheesy and amusing as Doom 3, yet it surprisingly makes a lot more sense and impact in the time it does spend, and I strangely admire that even though Doom 3 will always have a special place in my mind for its tone. However Doom uses even less time to strike up a better narrative, and its actually a little hilarious about it as well. You'll be hearing all about the UAC's decent into demonic studies, and madness, while the one friendly (who's the "dead" founder with a brain transplanted to a massive robot) tries to direct your path, and you smash up and treat him with disregard along the way through the madness. Weapons, monsters, places, and characters all have stories and backgrounds you can read up on, and Doom guy himself is basically explained as this supernatural beyond-reality character that was actually dug up alongside hell's artifacts as a long great warrior that fights with relentless rage. The game has just enough story to be cool, while still prioritizing the gameplay to the point where it comically gives itself the middle-finger by making the Doom marine such a rage-fueled jerk as far as silent protagonists go in the face of more serious characters. Its win-win. You get cool monster lore, get to understand the place and the way things worked, you know your character, but you're almost constantly experiencing it through the gameplay with minimal interruptions. Oh yeah and even the multiplayer announcer is a character explained as the sentient UAC computer Vega, that Mr.Robot-man built.
In general though, Doom keeps its gameplay first, and that really shows through the whole experience. There's even some really clever and well thought out things to the system. The chainsaw (which was overrated, lets face it. It was an extension of melee where you drained health, and got shot at waiting for the enemy to die instead of using a real gun. Kind of dumb) has been redirected to a unique special ability with a limited special ammo pool. Pulling it out with its own button, you put it to an enemy, and it automatically kills them if you've got the ammo. Bigger enemies use up more, but its best to get the pesky types out with it. Slicing someone with this gives you a pinata worth of ammunition for generally all weapons. What this perfectly translates to in actual combat terms is a strategic use of resource management, or a drastic life saver in combat. You come down bursting your weapons out, unloading a massive payload on the waves of hell knights, and mancubuses, and then suddenly a damn annoying summoner comes out and you're favorite weapon is on its last bit of ammo. Pull out the chainsaw for the summoner, reap the benefit of a load of ammo, fire 3 rockets into a hellknight and rip him apart for health, and you're fresh to go in the battle. Its an amazing turn-around element that's just ripe to balance out the odds in combat, or as just an excuse to use your favorite gun beyond its boundaries.
Basically Doom is taking the Dark Souls route of being about the damn game. We've got a shooter that isn't trying to force you into contrived stealth, isn't trying to be the jack of trades with cheaply implemented mechanics that don't make a lot of sense like useless activity clutter, and its actually refreshing that the game isn't boasting a developed character. The character is just as developed as it needs to be. The gameplay is far more developed, because that's what needs to be. That's what will hold up in time. That's what made Doom 1 great and still enjoyable today. Now they've passed that torch onto Doom 2016, which is made even better with its combination of innovations and throw-back gameplay choices. Doom 3 put more attention into the tone and atmosphere, and that's why you don't hear much of it today. Its slow gameplay, wonky hitboxes, dated influences, and even decisions that the team couldn't agree on were all present and made the game release to a mixed fanfare that hasn't lasted with time. Its not an awful game, but its not as fun as the game that came way before that with a full force of gameplay. Now Doom is back again, and its re-assumed that focus.
However... the problems come in when you look a little to the right and left side of things. I'm talking about the extras, Snapmap, and Multiplayer. Now the MP beta was a lot of fun and I stand by that, but upon loading it up and playing it now with everything in the game, I definately see that complaint about overpowered weapons contradicting the loadout arena mixture. I've been insta-killed far more than in the beta by weapons I've never even heard of, never the less do I have any chance of accessing them because of the lame grind. Furthermore its baffling that not only did they remove (as in actually take out, not just forget to code) bots that players have seen and heard about before, and there's also no private system for your buddies. Oh and the custom maps are in an entirely different gated piece of the game, where you have to load up each of the 3 chunks. So you can't just smoothly transition MP into a custom new map, nor do we get anything to browse our matches by like you may be keeping your fingers crossed for. You just have matchmaking, and customization. The multiplayer is still okay enough, but after playing the campaign its just hard to get yourself to take the MP as serious
On the snapmap end, all of your 4 player MP stuff can be accessed after that lengthy boot-up process, and then you get to choose whether you create, or play. But... not sure how well you'll create now. Its currently broken under multiple ways. I had two message-less crashes losing my map progress, and doing a weird thing where it doesn't let the game load anything else up until I reset it. Then when I finally started saving after every single test phase of a map, eventually the spawners all broke. The very logic and rule set that allows triggered monster events universally just stopped working, even ones I didn't touch. After having made some cuts, logic re-routing, and just redoing it all manually, I cannot get the spawners to operate again as if the entire map file is just broke with it. A fundamental part of creating a good campaign-like map is gone, and over an hour's of work and testing is shot. Oh and lets not forget that while its gated away from the stock online, the multiplayer sure loves to intrude on Snapmap where it shouldn't. Two weapon limit is forced on you regardless of your intentions, the pacing of your movement is just a bit... off, the graphics are slightly duller, and you can't pause the game. There's also a lack of certain props, where things like gore and corpses that exist all over the campaign can't be found. I know that's a bit of a nitpick, but it feels stupid making a map full of demons where every single room is just so perfectly pristine, clean, and hollow. There's just this heavy disconnect from the campaign, and it truly is a cheaply done map maker in the end. If this is really what is supposed to replace modding, they fucked up big time here, and I'm sorry for the PC community about this brain-dead move. This could at least be fun on the console side if it actually worked like it was supposed to, but it currently does not, and I'm a little upset about that.
So... yeah, Doom is fantastic if you were looking at it from the campaign perspective. Don't let the disappointing extras get you down, the core reason you should be picking this up in the first place does far more than merely delivering a fun game. Its absolutely phenominal, and is exactly where FPS would have been long ago if not for other distractions from those that looked to detract from the genre instead. However Doom is here now, so lets not worry about that. Load up the double barrel super shotgun, and go test it out on that cacodemon's big green eye. Its time for me to go back and redeem mars... with bullets.
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