DOOM

Developer: id Software | Publisher: Bethesda Softworks | Release Date: 2016 | Genre: Action / First Person Shooter | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

It’s hard to believe now, but once upon a time, every game with a first-person viewpoint and gun was described as a “Doom clone.” The 1993 classic wasn’t the first game that allowed players to shoot things from a new perspective, but it was undoubtedly the most influential. However, since then, the genre has continued to evolve, and even the third official Doom game, released in 2004, rebooted the franchise as a horror shooter instead of following in the action-fest boots of the original. Since then, things have been very quiet on the Doom front, and apart from a high-definition remaster of Doom 3, it didn’t look like Doom 4 would ever become a reality. Fast forward to 2016, and against all odds, id not only managed to release a new Doom but also designed it in such a way that it stays true to its roots without feeling dated.

The original Doom didn’t waste much time on the plot and simply cast players in the role of an unnamed space marine stationed on Mars. His employer, the Union Aerospace Corporation, performs secret experiments involving teleportation, and before you know it, demons are pouring out of the gateways. Instead of being a sequel to Doom 3, which was a franchise reboot, Doom (2016) once again reset the clock to tell the story from scratch.

This time, your character wakes up chained to a stone sarcophagus as hungry demons close in. Making short work of the demons, your character retrieves his Praetor Suit and sets off to kill every demon in sight. You soon learn that you are on Mars, where the invading demons have transformed the research facility into a holiday destination thanks to UAC. It seems that after a bit of an energy crisis on Earth, UAC managed to open portals to hell to siphon off their resources. Things were going well, and numerous artifacts, including the sarcophagus holding you, were retrieved from the demonic dimension. Of course, nothing good ever lasts, so eventually, one of the scientists involved in the project lost her mind and made a deal with the demons, which resulted in the current catastrophe. It’s a little more involved than the original story but still boils down to gruesomely killing everything in sight.

Instead of being a lowly space marine who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time because he assaulted a superior officer, your character is now the mythical Doom Slayer. Apparently, your talent for ripping and tearing through demons is so legendary that you strike fear into the hearts of all of hell’s inhabitants. Unable to kill you, they only managed to lock you away in a sarcophagus, which is where UAC got their hands on you. It’s goofy and over the top, but who wouldn’t want to be the ultimate bad-ass demon stomper?

Doom 3 received a lot of flak for slowing down the pace and relying on jump scares instead of action to get the adrenaline pumping. On the other hand, this game is a glorious throwback to the original’s fast-paced running and gunning. Instead of sneaking around dark corridors with a flashlight, you are a one-man army that doesn’t let anyone stand in your way or intimidate you. Unlike Doom 3, you are not locked in a facility with demons; they are locked in with you.

The single-player campaign of Doom is spread across 13 different levels, and, provided you don’t play it in the easier difficulty settings, it should take about 13 hours to complete. There’s also a reason to return to previously completed levels, as each one is packed with secrets and collectibles. Levels are large enough that there is room for some exploration, even though the story is linear. It also makes backtracking through some of the more sprawling levels a little more rewarding. While most of your time is spent at the UAC research facility, you will also be taking a few trips to hell along the way. As an added bonus, you can even discover the original Doom levels if you search hard enough.

We understand that not everyone is equally good at first-person shooters, but Doom is definitely the type of game where you want to keep the difficulty setting as high as possible. Facing and then overcoming seemingly overwhelming odds is quite a rush, and the sheer pace of combat makes it a blast. This is not the type of game that allows you to hide behind cover while taking occasional potshots at enemies as your health slowly regenerates. Instead, you are given no cover, no regenerating health, and enemies that will swarm you the second you stand still for too long. Thankfully, enemies drop health and armor pick-ups when you kill them, which means that the most efficient way to stay alive is to kill enemies as quickly as possible. Usually, one would want to put as much distance between yourself and a demon, but in Doom, you can close in and perform a “glory” kill on enemies if you’ve dazed them. Dazed enemies glow so you can pick them out from the crowd, and depending on the direction from which you approach them when performing the glory kill, you could snap their necks, stomp their heads in, beat them to death with their own severed limb, or much more. Once again, it’s gloriously violent and over the top, but it fits in well with the rest of the game. Glory kills also reward you with more health and ammo pick-ups, so you’ll want to perform as many of them as possible.

The guns featured in the original Doom inspired other shooters for years, so seeing the return of the classic is great. From the shotgun and rocket launcher to the chaingun and plasma rifle, it’s never been more fun to blow demons to bits. However, one of our favorite weapons is the new Gauss cannon, which feels a lot like the railguns from the Quake series. Of course, the BFG 9000 also makes a glorious return and can still clear the screen of enemies. However, it can only hold three shots at a time and is best saved for when the situation becomes really dire. The chainsaw is also back as a special weapon that shreds pretty much any enemy but consumes most of its fuel in the process. Chainsaw kills are not just gloriously messy, but along with the blood and cuts, your enemies will also spew out health and ammo like pinatas.

A fast-paced game requires responsive controls, and Doom definitely delivers in this regard. Your character can tear through enemies like a bull in a china shop, and you can also perform a double jump move to navigate the environment. This is useful for exploration, secret finding, and combat as you sprint around dispensing death and destruction. Along with the jumping comes a new ledge climbing ability, and power-ups, such as quad damage and haste, also make an appearance. As old-school as the game is with its action, it does incorporate some modern elements that might sound out of place for a Doom title. These include optional challenges that can be completed on each level, a weapon upgrade system, and character and suit upgrades. There’s even a new “Rune” system where you can teleport to challenge arenas to unlock items that enhance your abilities or give you other advantages. Most of the weapons are already a lot of fun to use in their default state, but with two modifications available for each and different upgrades, things become even better. You can even swap attachments, so you are not restricted to just one of the upgrade paths per weapon either. The only things you can’t upgrade are the BFG 9000 and chainsaw, but these are already so powerful that they have their own keys to activate them.

Doom is powered by id Tech 6, so it looks great and runs great. The art style is a lot more comic-book-like compared to the gloom of Doom 3, but overall, it feels a lot like the original games. The hell sections are perhaps not as visually impressive as they could have been, but each level has nice set pieces that will make players stop and stare for a bit. Your foes are the same demons that have been making a nuisance of themselves on Mars since the first game, but they have all been given a fresh lick of pixel paint. Some of them, like the Pinky and Cyberdemon, look much more menacing, but nothing in this game could remotely be classified as scary. Well, apart from the “Ultra Nightmare” difficulty, which features permadeath, You can’t quicksave your way through the game either, as the game autosaves at preset checkpoints no matter what difficulty you choose.

The game also delivers in the audio department, with relative quiet while you explore and then a shredding metal soundtrack as you rip and tear through enemies. The combat tunes have a very Nine Inch Nails feel, making the action feel even more over the top. The voice acting is decent, but only a handful of characters are speaking in the game. However, the Doom Slayer never utters a word and prefers to let his guns do the talking. Most of the guns sound decent enough, but we would have liked them to be even louder and more gratuitous. The demon sounds are also mostly drowned out by the metal soundtrack. The controls feel great, and we had no issues pulling off moves like double jumping or climbing ledges. It does take a while to get used to the fact that you can’t reload, though.

The single-player campaign is undoubtedly the game’s highlight, but it also features a multiplayer mode. However, this was not developed by id, which means it struggles to differentiate itself from all the other multiplayer options out there. It features a progression system to keep players coming back for more, but being able only to carry two weapons definitely detracts from the experience. It’s telling that id released an update later that unlocked all of the premium DLC for multiplayer and also revamped the progression system. There are still some die-hard fans playing the multiplayer mode, but it never had the kind of impact that the original game had, and far better options are available. The “SnapMap” feature, which allows players to create their own custom levels, is rather neat, but once again, it can’t come close to what modders could do with the original games. It makes creating levels easy for just about anyone to do, though, and we have seen plenty of creativity on display.

When all is said and done, Doom (2016) turned out to be a far better game than anyone expected. Its troubled development meant that expectations were quite low, but id managed to turn things around and deliver a solid experience. It’s not perfect—we still encountered the odd bug or two—and the multiplayer won’t be winning any awards, but for sheer visceral fun, it’s hard to beat.