DOOM ETERNAL - Game Review (9/10)
I think it would be apt to describe this game as “heroine in playable form”, for once you get used to it, it’s hard to find anything else a good substitute. Released in March 2020, DOOM Eternal serves as a sequel to 2016’s DOOM, a bolder and stronger take on the formula. The focus remains the same: traverse the map, collect items, shoot whatever demon spawns, repeat. But where it excels is not by expanding the player’s strength, but by restricting it. Smaller ammo capacities force the player to be strategic. Where before they may have been able to rush in, they are encouraged to assess the area, evaluate which enemies to face first, and make use of every support item to ensure the room is cleared. Each enemy can be made easier by using specific weapons and learning how and when to use each support item adds a fun learning curve that is oh-so satisfying when mastered. The combat in the game is nothing but state of the art, a swan dance and an example for all games that follow, but regrettably the rest of the game holds up a bit weaker. The story is ignorable, mere bullet points to get you from place to place, and level traversal helps to balance the game’s pace but quickly gets boring and repetitive. But these things make up less than a fifth of the what the total experience is and the real meat of the game, the combat, more than makes up for it.
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