DOOM Eternal (PS4, XB1, PC) Review

SPC concludes the month of March with a brand-new review for a very big game. It's one that was on my most anticipated games of 2020 list from the beginning of the year. It's DOOM Eternal, and the SPC review is finally here.

Heavy Metal Massacre

One of the big surprises of 2016 for me was the launch of DOOM and just how much I loved that game. It catapulted to near the top of my favorite FPS games, and everything from the brilliant flow and manic pace of combat to the labyrinthine levels that encouraged and rewarded exploration cemented that fact for me. Now, it's four years later, and DOOM 2016's sequel is finally here. DOOM Eternal has all the makings for a "rip"-roaring and "tear"-ibly good time, but some decisions along the way deny it from being a superior game to its 2016 older brother.

DOOM Eternal takes up where its 2016 predecessor left off with Hell's monsters having begun their invasion on Earth. The planet is ravaged with more than half of its population utterly obliterated, and there's but one legendary hero ready and able to rip and tear until the job of vanquishing Hell's demonic forces from Earth is done--the Doom Slayer. With a heavier focus on story and lore than DOOM 2016, I saw myself growing bored enough with the story enough to completely skip some of the cutscenes. After all, all of the various scenes, sequences, and codex moments were interrupting the flow of the gameplay to the point where I was getting annoyed so much that I used that inner aggression outward on Hell's demon horde. An unintended positive for a story that I couldn't have cared less about. It doesn't help that my memory of the majority of DOOM 2016's tale was diminished, as DOOM Eternal heavily references major story parts of its predecessor.

Regardless, similar to its predecessor, but more so this time around, DOOM Eternal demands a lot of the player, having them juggle multiple balls at once in combat in order to survive each and every intense, ultraviolent skirmish that they find themselves thrust into. You have a limited arsenal at the beginning of the game, but it's more than enough to dispatch the foes that you encounter at first. Plus, by the end of the 15-hour campaign you're practically drowning in means and methods to rip and tear your enemies, so it's good that the campaign steadily introduces new weapons and mechanics as it goes on.

Blood? Check. Gore? Got it. Hyper-violence? You know it! That's DOOM alright!

Think of DOOM Eternal's combat and systems as a layer cake. It begins with but one level of deliciousness, but then as the campaign goes on, the layers in the form of new weapons and abilities pile on, and they're done in such a way that you're not struggling to keep up. You're helped as well by numerous tutorial screens when new mechanics and weapons are introduced (and these can be turned off via the options menu). When the campaign has reached its final chapter, you have a scrumptious cake (or in this case, combat and systems) that are layered, refined, and definitely on the sweet side.

The variety of locales is much greater in DOOM Eternal than what was seen in its predecessor.

And you'll need to use every mean and method in your arsenal that you have because ammo is in scarce supply in DOOM Eternal. I mentioned the concept of juggling multiple balls, and that's really what you're doing. You need to keep your ammo supply up, so you need to occasionally tear through the riffraff with your chainsaw to have them drop ammo. You need to stay alive, so using the all-new Flame Belch to incinerate foes, casting them alight in a blazing fire, and attacking them so they give you precious armor is paramount. That's in addition to needing to keep your health in a satisfactory, safe state, so when a hell spawn is in a weakened state, flashing blue and then orange when you're in proximity, it's time to perform a Glory Kill, granting you even more precious health in the process.

The Doom Slayer presents his version of reconstructive surgery.

Constantly being on the move isn't just recommended in DOOM Eternal--it's required to stay alive. As one of the tutorial messages notes, "Stay in one place for too long, and you're dead." Sage words and smart advice. To survive the almost mosh pit-like ferocity and number of enemies you'll face at a given time, you need to keep moving, jumping, climbing, strafing, and switching between weapons and their two alternate methods of fire, pummeling demons with bullets to weaken them well enough to go in for that oh-so-cathartic-and-rewarding Glory Kill.

When you're not engaged in the death ballet that is DOOM Eternal's combat, you're doing lots and lots of platforming to break up the action. Plenty of times you'll find yourself scaling specially marked walls--but not so specially marked that they're too easy to pick out in the environment--and other times you'll be swinging off of horizontal bars and making precarious leaps over bottomless pits. Fortunately, falling down such a pit only results in a small decrease of health. A new dash move is introduced early on in the campaign, and this allows you to jut out with a sudden burst of speed either midair or on the ground. This move is great not only for gaining extra distance in midair to cross otherwise insurmountable chasms, but it's also used to smash open walls to find secret goodies.

With the platforming in DOOM Eternal, it's oftentimes best to look before you leap.

And like its predecessor, DOOM Eternal is packed with secrets, almost too many that I got overwhelmed at times. There are toys to collect, songs, cheat codes, extra lives--a new mechanic that brings you back to the battle when your health runs out in battle (notice I said "when" and not "if", as DOOM Eternal is quite the challenging game), Praetor tokens, crystals, Runes, among many others. Finding secrets is a lot of fun, and fortunately, you're helped by abilities you can unlock as well as an auto-map feature that shows the general area where secrets are hiding. It's just up to you to discover the way to reach them. This time around, DOOM Eternal shows golden question marks icons in-game to show where secrets are hiding as opposed to the unmarked locations from its 2016 predecessor.

Secrets in DOOM Eternal aren't just there to check the box of the necessary "collectibles to add content" in the game: they're included as unlockables for content as well as to boost your Doom Slayer's capabilities like never before. Praetor points that are found from statues can be spent to upgrade your suit's abilities, weapon points that are earned from completing combat scenarios both mandatory and optional (as well as super-hard, but super-awesome Slayer Gate scenarios) can be spent to unlock secondary and tertiary functions of weapons, and special crystals increase the Slayer's maximum health, armor, and ammo capabilities. Thus, there's a good reason to seek secrets out, besides them just being cleverly hidden and damn fun to find.

DOOM Eternal mixes up combat with exploration well enough, though it's obvious when you're going to enter a combat phase as opposed to an exploration one. After all, a giant arena-like area with power-ups, health, armor, and ammo scattered about is generally a good hint. For the most part, combat and exploring/platforming sections are separated from one another with some mild crossover.

Weapons can easily be switched between via a helpful weapon wheel, so you can quickly get back to blowing holes through Hell's forces without too many interruptions. Now, if only the same could be said about the story.

From my experience, DOOM Eternal is a more difficult game when compared to its predecessor. Some of this is a fair challenge, offering combat scenarios that demand all of the aforementioned juggling of the combat systems in place, but other times it just feels cheap. There are many fights that pit you against an onslaught of demons of multiple types that just easily overwhelm. Certain fights increase the speed and attack power of enemies via a buff totem. Instead of engaging in the enemy, you have to run and jump around like an idiot avoiding crazed demons all the while searching for a blasted totem to destroy before you have a fighting chance to take them on.

One level (a particularly annoying one, all things considered, might I add) featured a fight where enemies are buffed up, and I spent a good ten minutes, losing multiple lives, searching for a totem to destroy. It turns out that a new enemy type was summoning buffed creatures, and unlike every other new enemy encounter in the game, this one didn't have a tutorial message to tell me this. Frustrating design right there, as is whoever thought purple goo that prevents you from jumping was a properly place for gunfights was a lovely idea for this type of game.

Then, there are the boss fights which are heavy step down from DOOM 2016. They are great for testing your patience, but often they involve being bombarded with enemies while having to weaken the boss. The final duo of bosses tried my patience for how long the battle took because if you give too much attention to the boss, you'll be blindsided and obliterated by the enemies you're ignoring. This is a different kind of juggling act--having to battle a never-ending supply of demons while slowly depleting the health of a boss--sort of like rubbing your stomach and patting your head--except it's not a particularly entertaining or engaging one.

On the other side of the spectrum, I did find more to like than I previously thought I would about the added, all-new version of multiplayer, the asymmetric 2-versus-1 Battlemode that pits one super-powered, arsenal-heavy Doom Slayer against a duo of player-controlled demons. Currently, five demons are available to play as, including familiar favorites like the Mancubus and Revenant, as well as newcomers like the Arcvile and the devastating Marauder. In order to win a round, the Doom Slayer must defeat both demons before either can be revived. Battlemode arenas are generally taken directly from the campaign, offering some slight refurbishing for multiplayer purposes, but they're nothing particularly novel or memorable design-wise. Overall, matches are a blast, and finding out whether you prefer to play as the Doom Slayer or a demon--and which manner of demon--is part of the fun. Still, I wish the oft-forgotten but always enjoyable Deathmatch of DOOM 2016 had made its way to DOOM Eternal, as I do prefer that to what this game offers.

Battlemode is inspired, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the traditional "Deathmatch" from DOOM 2016.

Despite doing so many things better than its predecessor, an occasionally unfair feeling of difficulty, a heavier and unwanted focus on plot, and a weaker multiplayer mode diminish DOOM Eternal as a better sequel. It's a disappointing sequel in this regard, but it's merely a mildly disappointing sequel at that. The combat is better than ever--offering more satisfying means to obliterate your enemies than ever before, the new dash mechanic adds a more engaging sense of mobility--something that I will greatly miss when I return to DOOM 2016, and the level design is as strong as ever. DOOM Eternal may not be a better game than its predecessor, but that's an almost impossible bar to leap over to begin with.

[SPC Says: B+]

DOOM (NSW) Review

I can think of no better game to review now when we have a fear of nuclear annihilation thanks to two overgrown children in power. It's none other than DOOM for Nintendo Switch!

It took less than year, but already the Nintendo Switch is DOOMed.

In 2016, Bethesda and Id Software came out with one of my favorite games from that year, the revitalization of a series through a game simply titled DOOM. It brought the series back to what it made it so successful back in the early '90s. With a new coat of paint, astonishingly creative design, gore-filled, action-packed goodness, and a rocking Mick Gordon soundtrack, DOOM 2016 amazed and bewildered with its insane quality.

One of the things that was so prominent about DOOM's 2016 release was just how visually impressive it was. It's the type of game that Nintendo Switch owners could only dream of having. With much befuddlement, Bethesda and Nintendo announced last year that DOOM would indeed be coming to the Switch. How?! What massive compromises would have to be made?! Would someone pinch me, because I think I'm dreaming?! But, screens came out, then videos came out, then impressions came out, and apparently, DOOM on Switch wasn't just a reality, but it was supposedly running well. After playing through DOOM's 2016 release on PlayStation 4 and now in 2017 and 2018 on Nintendo Switch, is DOOM on Switch a worthy port for Nintendo fans?

There are no friendly faces to be found in Hell, so just shoot at anything that moves!

DOOM forgoes the linear corridor shooter aspect of AAA gaming that has permeated all throughout FPS games over the course of this past decade and some change. Levels in DOOM are labyrinthine-like maps of sprawling chambers, rooms, hallways, and vistas, sprinkled with areas to explore, secrets to discover, enemies to wipe out, and blood to be shed. The amount of optional content in each level can get a bit staggering: from the well-hidden, secret alcoves containing little DOOM-Guy dolls, to dead UAC soldiers holding onto ID cards that can be used to upgrade the player, to playing battle scenarios in the Rune Trials to earn a much coveted Rune, to Argent Cells that can found and utilized to power up either the player's health, armor, or ammo capacity.

Then, there are the three challenges in each level. In the earliest levels, these start out as simple tasks, such as killing two enemies at the same time, but they can get more complex and complicated as DOOM progresses, sometimes requiring the player to kill several Imp enemies each with a different Glory Kill.

This place is going to be in serious need of a good interior decorator after we're done here.

Speaking of the devil, or at least Glory Kills, these powerful, instant-death maneuvers allow you to wipe out a flashing enemy with a melee attack for a satisfying kill. After peppering an enemy with enough bullets and damage, the enemy will start flashing white. Get close enough to it, and it'll flash orange, meaning you're close enough to deliver a final blow with your melee button. Not only do Glory Kills feel great to perform, but fallen enemies that succumb to them drop much needed health. After all, DOOM is old school in how it handles health. No regenerating health in this game, ladies and gentlemen.

My, what big... everything you have! The better to get blasted by rockets with!

Now, let's get to the part of the review that most who have already played DOOM back in 2016 on other systems are interested in: How does the game play ported to the Nintendo Switch? Well, overall, DOOM on the Switch runs well considering the hardware. It looks best in docked TV mode, but it's also impressive in undocked/handheld play as well, though not as much, of course. In docked mode, the visuals are sharp and exude plenty of details while undocked sort of appears to have a Vaseline smear filter over it, especially when things like motion blur are turned off.

There are some noteworthy issues with DOOM on Switch specifically in the technological and especially the audio department, however. For one, DOOM isn't exactly lacking bugs. I've had times where I've had to restart portions of levels because one enemy found itself hiding beyond my reach, outside the level's geometry, meaning I couldn't kill every enemy in the room, thus keeping the doors locked shut. Other times I fell through the floor to face my doom in the great beyond below levels. An annoying audio glitch occasionally popped (and I do mean that literally) up, where the audio would pop really loudly and then get followed up by a bunch of silence. Sometimes this would correct itself while other times I'd have to restart from my last level checkpoint. These are small, niggling issues, but they add up to a less than stellar experience for the campaign overall. I'm really interested in seeing if the maker of the Nintendo Switch port, Panic Button, and publisher Bethesda will work together to remedy these bugs.

These particular enemies take to the air and pummel you with missiles.

Control-wise, there are a multitude of offerings to get a button layout that works best for any type of player, but at the same token, the analog sticks of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons don't particularly feel built for this type of game. Many times I found myself struggling to center onto an enemy target by just using the right analog stick for slight movements. Instead, I ended up having to strafe a lot to center my aim, which was not something that was a requirement on the PlayStation 4 version I played back when the game launched. Movement also is a little challenging at first, and that comes simply from having to get used to the range of the Joy-Con analog sticks. It's nothing that ruins the Switch version of DOOM, but it is something to consider. Thankfully, when it comes to multiplayer, everyone is on the same handicap.

It's certainly not strawberry jelly accumulating on the edge of the screen here. Better take cover.

Speaking of, DOOM 2016 received plenty of regular updates on competitor systems and on PC as well. At first, DOOM multiplayer was very basic, and not worth investing too much time in due to how little there was to enjoy, and how limited the community was online. With update 6.66 (har, har) already included in the Nintendo Switch version of DOOM's multiplayer, everything has been improved for a superior experience right from the get-go. All of the addition modes from past DLC on the previous versions of the game, all 16 maps, all weapons, and a new challenge system that unlocks costume pieces and other rewards as you complete in-match goals like killing 10 players with your Heavy Assault Rifle or getting 10 Revenge medals, make for massive improvements to the multiplayer experience.

The challenges are without question the most addicting piece of DOOM's multiplayer. These give you a wide assortment of tasks to accomplish within matches that you can gun and shoot for (literally). Each challenge completed (and they don't take too long to accomplish as long as you're aiming for them specifically) unlocks a new piece of content in the multiplayer for your custom character. Whether they are armor pieces, new colors and skins for said armor pieces, colors and patterns for guns, and experience, the constant winning of new goods through satisfying challenge conditions means that there's always something to shoot for in multiplayer matches, even if you find yourself on the losing end of each and every match.

Hell must have frozen over -- Your buddy Phil did well in a DOOM multiplayer match.

DOOM's multiplayer isn't just notable because it's really the only choice Switch owners have for a competitive multiplayer FPS experience, but it's also so because it's a damn good competitive multiplayer FPS experience in general. Whether practicing without a boost to your stats and challenges in Practice Mode playing offline against bots, or taking the bloodshed online against up to 9 other players in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and a variety of other modes, DOOM's multiplayer has greatly upgraded its experience since the original 2016 game's launch. It says something when someone who doesn't play much online multiplayer gets completely engrossed in DOOM's multiplayer since the 6.66 update like this particular reviewer has, and I don't think I'm going to be stopping anytime soon!

The Nintendo Switch's port of DOOM is a commendably done one by all parties involved. Bethesda for deciding to port the game to the Nintendo Switch, Id Software for collaborating with Panic Button to do the actual porting, and Nintendo for securing the game on Switch and building a hybrid platform strong enough (and surprisingly so) to allow DOOM to even be ported to the Switch in the first place. While technical problems in both visual and audio performance do seep through on occasion, DOOM on Nintendo Switch is a game you can play like Hell and rip and tear anywhere.

[SPC Says: B]

DOOM (PS4, XB1, PC) Review

DOOM is one of the biggest surprises for me so far this year. It's a master class in first-person shooting action and exploration that all adds up to a mighty enjoyable experience. Check out how and why with the SuperPhillip Central review.

Play Like Hell.

Confession time. I haven't played much of the original Doom. Yes, revoke my gamer card if you must, but after playing the brand-new reboot, DOOM (notice the name in all caps because that's how it's being marketed, and it's not just me yelling the name out loud), I felt immediately like I was taken back to the golden age of classic shooters, and that is a feeling I haven't felt in a long time. It was absolutely, positively a great feeling.

In this iteration of DOOM, you awaken as a nameless and not-particularly-talkative soldier who had been strapped down to a table. Upon leaving your initial prison, you enter your suit, and see the literal Hell that has taken over the facility, the Union Aerospace Corporation's research quarters, with red blood painting the walls, ceilings, and floors and showing torn asunder corpses all over the place. Apparently, trying to siphon and harness the energy from Hell was indeed a bad idea. Who knew.

At its core, DOOM is a simple shooter, dumb fun at times, repetitive at others. However, there is no question in mind that this dumb fun, which makes up the majority of DOOM's 13-level length, is sometimes all one needs to have a great time. Running from chamber to chamber, eliminating all of Hell's demons that occupy the room, allows the ability to progress on in a given level. You begin solely with a modest pistol. Shoot a foe enough, and they'll start staggering, flashing a hue of blue or orange. At this time you can run up them, press the melee button and perform a Glory Kill. This usually results in ripping off a demon's appendage and smashing it into them to make them wish they never escaped Hell to begin with. Glory Kills grant you with a supply of health pickups, making these very important to get considering that DOOM is the type of game that doesn't have regenerative health to ease the burden of battle.

Well, no one said Hell's finest were going to win any beauty contests.

A relic of a bygone era in shooters returns like it never had gone away with chambers where you are forced to kill all enemies before proceeding. Unlike traditional shooters a lot of us play now, the careful hiding behind cover, popping one's head out to take pot shots at a vulnerable foe, isn't how DOOM plays out. Instead, the game encourages you to rush around areas right out in the open, maneuvering through these chambers of death, blasting away at enemies, picking up health packs along the way, while either blowing demons away with your gun, or performing a well timed Glory Kill to not only gain pickups but also to get a brief respite in the chaos of battle, as performing a Glory Kill gives you complete invincibility during the deathblow animation.

The demon horde that occupies both the UAC on Mars and Hell is full of varied types of size, shape, danger, and aggression. Starting out in DOOM, the enemies featured are small, sauntering zombie-like cannon fodder for you to blast into oblivion. As you move on to later levels, the dangers become more prevalent demon-wise-- of course dipping into the who's who of DOOM enemies like the Mancubus, a colossal bloated foe that launches shots from the guns that are located where its arms should be; the Pinky, a charging bull-like bastard whose only course of attack is to run into you while shrugging off even the most powerful of your attacks; and the Baron of Hell, a giant demon that rushes you, getting up in your face to deliver monstrous close-range attacks.

This Mancubus is good at short-range, medium-range, and long-range attacks.
A true danger in every sense of the word.

Aside from typical demons found throughout DOOM's thirteen levels, occasionally you'll encounter at the end of a level a boss to battle. These confrontations aren't as simple as circle strafing a giant foe while slowly emptying their health bar. No, these fights actually reminded me slightly of the Metroid Prime series's boss encounters, having you need to be aware of when a boss was telegraphing an attack and requiring you to evade it intelligently. There's still the matter of aiming of a boss's weak point, slowly plugging away at turning these stronger demons into demon souffle.

DOOM's level design is quite unlike what we've seen out of a lot of first-person shooters over recent years. It's by no means a corridor shooter at all, instead offering rewards for fine exploration of its levels through its labyrinthine-like design. Secrets abound in DOOM's levels, featuring worthwhile rewards like enhancements to your suit, upgrades to your weapons, and collectables. Many of these secrets are housed in truly clever locations, so exploration is indeed highly rewarding and most importantly, a lot of damn fun. Sure, some can simply be found by just taking a detour when it's obvious which path you should actually be going, but other times more persistent observance of the environment can show hidden things like an out-of-the-way ledge or obscured vent that leads to something massively gratifying.

The environments and levels offer lots of verticality and secrets to discover.

One of such secrets found in levels are runes, which when interacted with, they transport the player to a special area where a specific objective is given to them. These objectives include clearing out all of the enemies in a room with limited health and ammo, performing a specific Glory Kill on a set number of foes, or reaching a destination before time runs out. In exchange for completing said objective, the player earns a rune, which can be equipped to do a wide host of benefits, such as staggering enemies more quickly, giving the player more control in the direction of their jumps while in midair, and getting speed boosts directly after performing Glory Kills, to name just a few. Runes can be leveled up once to master them, giving the player an even greater level of benefit to the ones equipped to them.

It wouldn't be DOOM without the BFG, and yes, this IS a big [redacted] gun.

In addition to finding runes, field drones can also be found in levels, some hidden some in plain sight. These give players weapon mods to their guns. From performing a charged burst with the regular shotgun to being able to lock on multiple mini-rockets from the Rocket Launcher, these new mods for weapons add to the variety of ways you can take out Hell's spawn, making for even more engaging combat and shooting action. These mods can be upgraded via points earned from exploration and combat. Mods can also be mastered by completing certain tasks a specific amount of times. Such a weapon mod mastery task like with the Super Shotgun requires you to take out more than one enemy with one shotgun burst. The tasks to master a weapon mod are different between each weapon mod, and this adds to the longevity of DOOM, while also rewarding players for altering their play style.

The single player campaign of DOOM is indeed a massive treasure and pleasure to play. The multiplayer component on the other hand doesn't fare as well, though it is still fun in its own way. Unlike the campaign, DOOM's multiplayer sticks more closely to a Call of Duty or Halo by way of having two weapons equipped to each player at the start of the round. You can find health and ammo pickups through the various maps, but the big draw here is various demon runes that turn players into seemingly omnipotent demon beings. These can turn a simple match into a total blowout, as playing as a demon throws the balance of the multiplayer out the window and into the depths of Hell. Still, like I said, there is fun to be had with DOOM's multiplayer, but it's obviously the weakest part of the entire package of the game.

The Plasma Rifle unleashes contained charged shots to unload into enemies.

While DOOM's traditional multiplayer is a bit of bust, the game also features a map-building component known as SnapMap. Here, you simply cycle through level parts and snap them to a grid to create a series of rooms that can be played cooperatively or competitively. The amount of different rooms isn't the largest, and you definitely can't remake old maps from past DOOM games, but what's here is rather exciting and enjoyable. The inclusion of a helpful tutorial assists in giving inspired creators the ability to make some pretty cool stuff. The also helps along with the tutorial that SnapMap itself is so intuitive and accessible with its specific tools.

With an absolutely masterful single player campaign that harks back to old school classic shooters without feeling 100% dated while offering new school fun, DOOM delivers. The levels encourage exploration, and the open-ended approach to combat makes for firefights that give the player control over how they want to play. The multiplayer is indeed weak compared to the rest of the package, but overall, DOOM is a blast from the past while still retaining many features from the present.

[SPC Says: A-]