Doom Eternal

id Software

First Person Shooter

PC, Playstation 4, XBox One

2020’s Doom Eternal is a sequel to Doom (2016). It’s a Doom clone where you play as Doom Slayer and your goal is to bring doom to demons that want to bring doom to Earth. Yadda yadda yadda, you all know that. And by now most of you probably know that Doom Eternal is fantastic. What you don’t know is that it’s actually the best action game ever. Probably. There are some tiny problems, but we’ll get to those. Let’s start from the beginning.

As I promised a second ago, I’ll talk about some problems. When you boot up the game, you are greeted by Bethesda demanding you register on their DRM service. Why is this a necessary step? No one knows, but it got me quite mad. So much so that I contemplated for a good half an hour if I should just ask for a refund, even though I was really looking forward to the game. In the end, my trust in id Software prevailed and I (reluctantly) gave Bethesda access to some of my private information. This is just proof of how weak we are and how these companies are taking advantage of hype culture. Game publishers are (mostly) the worst.

Now that I’ve taken that off my chest, let’s talk about the game.

The game is pure fu#%ing awesomeness. At its core, the game isn’t that much different from its predecessor. You are the Doom Slayer and you are engaged in a fast, brutal fight against the hordes of Hell. You rip and tear through demons. The end. But it is also so, so much different from Doom (2016).

One thing you’ll notice right away is the difference in the art style. Doom Eternal takes the game in a more cartoony direction, adding in way more colour and character to the environments and the demons. The ultra-violence in the game is more akin to the Looney Toons than anything else. You spend the game popping demon’s eyeballs and shoving them down their throats, breaking their arms and impaling them in their heads (with their broken bones), slicing and dicing their bodies and causing them to explode like the meat balloons that they are. But as gruesome as that sounds, you can’t help yourself but laugh at how cartoonish and outrageous those situations can be.

The approach to storytelling has also seen a change of direction. Doom (2016) had a minimalist story, where it actively tried to present it as not necessary for the overall experience. Some of the more memorable moments of that game were just how uninterested the Doom Slayer was in the explanations, reasonings and directions given by Samuel Hayden. But, if you paid just a little attention to it, you’d realise that there is some nice exposition and world-building happening under the hood. 

With Doom Eternal, they decided to go all-in with world-building and exposition. The game constantly showers you with information about the Sentinels and the Maykrs, the demons and Argent energy, the Titans, and the Crucible. There is so much going on in the game that you might just end up laughing at how ridiculous it all is.

The level design is far more varied, as you spend the game hoping between not just Earth and Hell, but other planets as well. These levels are further enhanced by a bigger focus on platforming. Double jumping is available from the moment you boot up the game and is soon joined by new wall-climbing and double-dashing mechanics. This results in some sections being more akin to something like Super Mario than a Doom game. And by comparing it to Super Mario, I mean it in the best possible way. 

Finally, it’s time to talk about the gist of the game. The meat and potato if you will – the gameplay. As I said, the core is the same, but there is so much that has changed. Gone is the endless munition, gone is just spraying everything with bullets (mostly shotgun shells). The chainsaw takes up a huge new role, becoming a crucial element in the new ammo management mechanic. Ammo pickups are scarce, coupled with a greatly reduced carrying capacity. Even fully upgraded, you still carry far less ammo than in the predecessor. To make it more manageable, the chainsaw now has one auto-refilling charge (and two others from pickups) which you are encouraged to use on weak enemies, like imps and zombies, to get ammo. Zombies, in particular, are really important for this ammo management mechanic. The game constantly respawns them, giving you a constant ammo flow.

These fodder enemies are also great for quick health and armour refill. Oh and speaking of armour – the game has a new item, the flame belch, which burns demons for armour shards. This way, you are constantly juggling between chainsawing for ammo, glory killing for health, and demon burning for armour.

Now, that might sound like a walk in the park, but the devs knew what they were doing. All the returning (and new) demons are far more formidable foes and they all have their unique roles on the battlefield. Most of them have special weaknesses that you can exploit in combat, but they also have their strengths which, when ignored, can take you out easily. 

This – combined with the sustainment management and enhanced traversal options – adds a whole new layer of strategy to the combat. You need to tirelessly jump and dash around, watch your positioning, change target priority on the fly, constantly switch between each and every weapon, and take note of your status bars. It’s a highly visceral, heart-pumping experience. It’s a game that creates a sort of high I haven’t felt in a video game in years. Especially when you take into account that Mick Gordon soundtrack. That sweet, brutal soundtrack that perfectly follows your every action.

The game is surprisingly lengthy, with a first playthrough taking anywhere between 15 and 25 hours. Couple that with a slew of difficulty options, collectible cheat codes, a promise of regular new master levels (remixes of the game’s regular levels), and the arcade-y extra-life mode and you’re guaranteed to get tons of value. And there’s also an asymmetric multiplayer mode that is… okay. Ish.

Doom Eternal has set a high bar. Not just for this year’s releases, but action games in general. It’s an improvement over its predecessor in every way possible and – in an era that is still dominated by military shooters and slower-paced battle-royale games – a breath of fresh air. The fact it’s selling so well makes me really hopeful that we’ll start to see fast-paced strategic shooters more often.

For more game reviews from our Sequential Planet staff, click here!