tweak their arsenal how they see fit, lending for a unique style of play from player to player. While playing you can swap mods on the fly so you won’t have to worry about some station or menu to worry about. This also makes exploring a lot of fun as you’ll be wanting to upgrade often.
Graphically the game looks fantastic running on the PC with the idTech6 engine. Dark and gritty is the name of the game, and while you won’t be peeing your pants in fear like we did with Doom 3, the world you travel through is truly gruesome. Canonically DOOM seems to take place in a timeline many generations removed from the first game as the bits of the story you find mention the events of that game. It seems that Doom 3 was some sort of alternative universe version as it doesn’t seem to fit here, but there are still a number of Easter Eggs to that entry. Some hell weapons can be seen on display as well as the rune system the game uses for its in-game challenges. DOOM is full of references to past iterations and you can even unlock the levels of the original Doom that are hidden within each map.
The gameplay is fast and furious and I can’t tell you how fun, and weird, it is to have actual boss fights again in an FPS. These fights are a lot of fun and will put your skills to the test. In an age of set pieces in first-person shooters, it’s fun to face off against monsters that soar above you in height and power simply to kill them. Add in a rocking metal inspired soundtrack and you have a game that really pumps you up as you play. The fifteen or so hours it’ll take you to complete the campaign feel expertly paced. There is nary a moment of downtime, and the few slow bits of story integration actually help keep you involved in what;s going on. You see, DOOM isn’t about you, as I stated before, but is really the story of Samuel Hayden (a scientist cyborg) and his protegé that went mad with power once the demons of hell took control of her. The dozens of data pads that you collect and the recorded holograms helps to keep you pushing forward, unearthing the next bit of the puzzle.
But things aren’t done as DOOM is essentially two games. The multiplayer portion of the game is an entirely different animal. It feels more Halo than anything, but it works well enough for most. There are far better options out there in the shooter space, but DOOM places single-player first and then offers up a fun multiplayer experience, something that is happening a lot less in other AAA titles. On top of the you have access to a full set of tools to create levels for other to download and play online. This feature is really fun to play with and is a first (at least as far as I know) on a console shooter. DOOM offers up an immense amount of content and should make you question the offerings we’ve been getting from a lot of other big studios.
While I love DOOM and am calling it my first “Must Have Game” of 2016, there are still some nagging issues with the game. None of these hurt it, but they did annoy me and I have to mention them. You have a melee button that serves as your “Glory Kill” button, but I had a lot of issues with the games mindless drone minions that are littered around as health pickups. If you run and them and melee attack them chances are you are going to fly right past them. DOOM has a sort of lock-on system and for whatever reason when in motion it doesn’t quite line up. Thankfully this only happens with the cannon fodder enemies, but is was aggravating to say the least. The rune system used for challenges is also weirdly implemented. Instead of being a seprate mode, these runes on in each level and when you find one you can then activate a challenge. I’d much rather them be on the menu someplace as they take you out of the experience. Another issue is that the game tends to feel a little slow. Being Doom, you’d expect the game to move quickly, but you often feel like a tank with some jump jets than an actual persons running around.
DOOM is a fantastic shooter that shows you can teach an old dog new tricks. While it doesn’t revolutionize the shooter genre, and let’s face it, nothing else ever will like the original did, DOOM is a bloody good time. Pick this one up and get to blasting demons with extreme prejudice.
J. Luis
@_ShadowGallery