A game of pure action in demonic lands
Image credit: PlayStation (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Summary
- Name of the gameDOOM Eternal
- Launch date: March 20, 2020
- Developer: id Software
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
- Genre: First Person Shooter (FPS), Action
- Context: Direct sequel to DOOM (2016), focusing on a large-scale demonic invasion of Earth and other worlds.
History and narrative
Let's see, the Doom saga has never been one where its main objective is to give you an unforgettable experience in its story or to leave you with a message of life. Although this game, with its predecessor, brings us something more elaborate, with our favorite Slayer facing hundreds of demons to save humanity. To give you more context, in this game the Earth has already been devastated by the demonic invasion; in 2016's Doom what you do is avoid the catastrophe, well, in this one it already happened, so it gives it a little more value, since the story is not to save the world, but to recover it.
DOOM Eternal features a more elaborate story than its predecessor, with the Doom Slayer taking on demonic hordes to save humanity. Our Slayer is an imposing figure, as he should be. Basically, our enemy is known as the Priests of Hell, who are a leading figure of the demons, somewhat interesting you might say, though beyond that other events happen involving dimensions, ancient races, advanced technology, you could describe it this way.
What I liked the most in this section is that they expanded the lore of the saga a lot more. Sometimes it's hard to pay attention to the game's story, since it's so dynamic and full of action that you don't concentrate much on what the characters are saying; at least in my experience this has been the case. It expands more of the Makyrs civilization, which are more advanced critters. Something I saw coming is introduced, giving us the result that the Slayer is not just a human, but more of a mythical figure, which makes a lot more sense with respect to everything he does, because let's break it down: he's a muscular guy with a helmet and a gun tearing demons twice or three times his size apart and with reflexes better than a cat. There must be something mythical and powerful about him, don't you think?
The narrative is told through 3 ways: codices, which are collectibles; environment, everything you see can give you clues to something; and finally, short cinematics. The characters are very X, as they are the enemies and the Slayer. The game takes all the story, narrative, characters and so on as secondary. So don't expect to see anything very constructed in this game in this aspect. Compared to DOOM (2016), there is more story, but it's still a gameplay-centric game.
Gameplay
The game's gameplay is where you should have high expectations. The combat I define as a very aggressive and dynamic one, it can become somewhat strategic with the use of weapons and map traversal when you have large hordes attacking you.
I don't just see this game as a shooter, but rather as a fast-paced, real-time resource management game. Because the combat is so dynamic and there are so many enemies, it turns out that ammo, your life and so on run out pretty fast, so the game forces you to manage everything well and if you don't, you end up dying.
How does the game help us get through these battles? If you need life, you use a Glory Kills mechanic; if you need ammo, you use your chainsaw, which is too satisfying to use; if you need armor, you use the flamethrower. This creates a constant cycle of attacking, recovering resources and continuing to attack, which can become tiring in the long run, and the more enemies, the worse it gets.
In this game, don't even think of hiding or playing passive; violence and aggressiveness are rewarded here. One day you may be upset, play DOOM for a while and vent your anger against the demonic hordes. Each weapon serves its purpose and works best against certain types of enemies, which makes it much better and reduces repetitiveness. I've seen that some even have alternate mods that change their use.
You have to alternate weapons and abilities many times, as each enemy has an easier way to be defeated; for example, the Cacodemon is vulnerable to grenades, the Arachnotron you can destroy its turret, the Marauder requires good timing. I liked this, as it doesn't make it from just shooting these devil critters.
The Slayer's mobility is key here, he needs to be fast and he achieves it quite well, now including walls to hold on to, grab bars, combat platforming, resulting in a more vertical and faster combat. Its learning curve is more demanding than its previous game, but it really is an easy game to understand and learn; in an hour you would already know its controls well. Which, by the way, are precise and fluid, as it should be for its amount of action.
Compared to its predecessor it does improve quite a bit and feels like a more elaborate, more technical and demanding game. What I can say that I didn't like is that yes, the repetitiveness of the battles is very noticeable and tiring. Even in the final missions I found it very tiring: battles so long where sometimes you don't even know what you're doing right, since they attack you from all sides; there are enemies that are sponges of bullets and even missiles.
Let's see, the game, having so much action, overwhelms at times. I think it's a game where you play for a while and then rest and resume; that is to say, I don't see myself ever playing it for many hours. In my experience I advanced with a daily mission, although I could play 2, I did not do it because it can be tiring, but it is not boring.
Graphics and visual design
The graphic quality is excellent, offering us a great performance with id Tech 7, which makes it look pretty good. I could say that this Doom looks more artistic, a bit more colorful and alive than the previous one, which was a bit darker and duller. This is clearly to wake up the player for the level of action the game has.
One problem, at least that I considered, was the enemies. A few new ones are added that are quite good, but it must be said that there are many enemies that are the same as the previous game, which could look a bit bad for a 4 year difference from the previous game. Don't get me wrong, they look great, although I did expect to see different enemies; which there are, but many have been seen before.
The scenery looks great. Really, I loved the design of the areas, with places like hell, destroyed cities, futuristic bases, which represents the game quite well. The animations of the Glory Kills, chainsaw cutting, are brutal and visually satisfying, making you want to replay it over and over again.
Sound and music
The soundtrack is intense and energetic, it's industrial metal, can you imagine Doom with another kind of music? Not at all. It has a soundtrack that goes very well with the dynamism of the game, although I must say that most of them are very generic or not the most memorable. The one I remember the most was the game's menu music; for some reason this is the one I remember the most and the others are fine, but I haven't paid much attention to them.
The sound effects are very good, although I can say that with respect to the weapons some sound better than others or at least their sound is more striking. The jumps, the chainsaw, the blows, even the sound of the Slayer climbing I liked. Where it could have been better is in the sound of the sword; for such a powerful weapon I would say it should have an impressive sound effect.
With his voice acting, if his story isn't his strong suit, this really doesn't stand out at all.
Difficulty and accessibility
The game has a difficulty selector. I admit, I played on easy because I do consider the higher difficulty to be a pain in the ass. It really is complicated because of the sheer number of enemies in an area, sometimes very small.
The game demands quick reflexes and smart resource management, it can help you develop your quick decision making skills. On easy you may have a challenge or two, but it won't become impossible, so I consider it an accessible game for everyone in this aspect.
With respect to its accessibility options, it meets the market standards in the year of its release for a game of its style, although there are games of the same year that stand out much more than this one in this section.
Additional content
The duration of the campaign can take from 12 to 20 hours approximately; I have taken me about 15 hours, which for a game of its style is pretty good. Its replayability depends a lot on the player, although it does have many modes in which you can put more hours, such as secrets, challenges, character upgrades and includes a multiplayer mode: a battle mode where we are 3 players, 1 takes the role of the Slayer and the other demon. The idea is to smash each other's faces in rounds; whoever wins more rounds wins the game, a simple but functional concept. Personally, I played a little online, but it was not attractive enough for me to play it more.
It includes 2 expansions called The Ancient Gods Part 1 & 2, which to get both can be almost as expensive as buying the game again. I have not been interested in buying them, but for fans it may be worth it.
Technical Aspects
I played it on PS5 and its performance in most areas was very good. I have perceived a very stable FPS and fast loading times. I have seen in general a good optimization and I have not experienced any bug or glitch, or at least I have not noticed. A 5 star technical service.
Value for money
The game at launch was $60, which isn't bad, although I don't think I would have paid full price for it. I have to say that I borrowed it from a friend, so it was fine for me. I would mostly recommend about $40; if you get it for less, so much the better.
Its price is not badly justified by the company, but I don't feel it's worth it for a casual player. If you are a fan you can buy it complete and even its expansions were at 20 dollars each, which, all at full price, is very expensive; so, I recommend an offer.
Trophies / Achievements
- Platinum obtained: No
- Percentage of trophies obtained: 50%
- Estimated time: 25-40 hours
- Platinum difficulty: The most complicated thing may be that you need 2 games to be able to platinum it and the heavy thing is the multiplayer trophies. It really is very self-descriptive and it's just a cleaning of trophies there is not much science, I think it makes it more difficult the fact of wanting to play it 2 times and put many hours that in my case it was not so.
Conclusion
DOOM Eternal is a game that knows what it's about and doesn't try to be something it's not. Here you will not come for the story, although it is more elaborate than before, you come for its gameplay, for its constant action and for that feeling of being in a relentless combat against demonic hordes.
It's a game that improves a lot compared to its previous release, it feels more technical, faster and more demanding, which can be very positive if you like this type of experience, but it can also be a point against if you are a more casual player or if you don't like to be so concentrated all the time. It has moments where it can get tiring because of the repetitive or overwhelming of so many long battles, but at the same time it never gets boring. It is one of those games that you enjoy more in short sessions, where you enter, destroy demons and leave satisfied.
Overall, it's a very solid, well-optimized game, with gameplay that stands out tremendously above everything else. If you like intense shooters and don't mind a constant challenge, it's definitely a worthwhile game, but if you're looking for something more relaxed or with a deeper story, it might not be for you.
My final rating for Doom Eternal is:
4.1/5
