Doom Eternal is the latest installment in the Doom series. It even has some great DLC released for it in the form of Ancient Gods. Yet, is Doom Eternal Worth It?
Origins of Doom
If you are even moderately aware of video game culture, you know about Doom. The original game was released in 1993 and created by legendary programmers and game makers John Carmack and John Romero. This first Doom revolutionized gaming and is still recognized as one of the best video games of all time.
It is also partly responsible for the invention of the First Person Shooter genre. Gamers all over the world can easily recognize the Doom Slayer just from a glance. This popularity led to the creation of the sequel Doom II: Hell on Earth in 1994. This was followed by Doom III a decade later, in 2004.
After that, the series seemed to have all but disappeared for many years. Yet, Bethesda Softworks revitalized the series in 2016 with Doom. It was a fantastic sequel/reboot for the franchise. The sequel to Doom 2016 is available now, but is Doom Eternal worth your time and your purchase? To determine this, we will assess Doom Eternal from several angles.
The Next Chapter
While most of your time in any Doom game, Doom Eternal included, will be spent ripping and tearing through all different types of hellish creatures, there is, in fact, a very interesting story being told for those who are willing to pay attention. Doom Eternal doesn’t just serve as a sequel to the previous Doom. It’s a continuation of the story that began with the original game all the way back in 1993.
As you progress through the game’s many levels, environmental storytelling and cutscenes/audio logs will convey to you the story of the Doom Slayer (also known as Doom Guy). It describes how the forces of Hell fear him because he is the only one who can stop them.
Doom Eternal’s story campaign also goes into the origins of the Doom Slayer’s power, and what makes him special. Doom Eternal serves as the next chapter in a captivating narrative for fans of Doom. It’s even a great game for newcomers to the series looking to appreciate an interesting story.
Vicious, Tactical Combat Makes Doom Eternal Worth it For Many
You can’t have a Doom game without incredible gunplay and combat, and Doom Eternal has that in spades. It differentiates itself from its predecessor by changing the very nature of its combat. It forces the Doom Slayer to fight smart and manage his resources.
This contrasts with the more old-school Doom gameplay of running through a hallway and shooting everything. It also adds many new weapons. Furthermore, each weapon has a slew of upgrades that you will be able to unlock throughout your quest.
This change to make the game more than just a simple horde slaying game makes it worth it to buy Doom Eternal for fans of the series looking for a change of pace or a greater intellectual challenge.
Doom Eternal’s Enemies Require You to Be More Tactical
Enemies in Doom Eternal now have weak spots that you will need to hit for a tactical advantage. This is especially true when you become overwhelmed by the mob of demons trying to rip your throat out. For instance, the dual cannons on a Revenant’s back can both be shot off to prevent them from attacking you at range. This basically leaves them defenseless.
Damaging these weak points also opens enemies up to glory kills faster. A glory kill is Doom’s wince-inducing kill animation, which often involves you watching the Slayer tear something off and beat the enemy with it. They’re always satisfying and fun to watch.
It takes a little while to get the hang of the flow of combat and hitting weaknesses. Yet once you do, you’ll be able to hit the enemy’s weaknesses while running, dashing, and flying through the air. And this is just in the main game. Doom Eternal has a competitive multiplayer mode called Battle Mode.
Special Equipment
You’ll need to be that mobile at all times in encounters due to the sheer number of enemies you’ll be tasked to eliminate. Doom Eternal is great at throwing you into an excellently designed arena – an area full of enemies. It teaches you how to use your entire arsenal to eliminate them. This includes using special equipment like your chainsaw and shoulder cannon to stay in the fight.
The chainsaw makes enemies drop ammunition for your weapons when they are killed with it, and the brand-new shoulder cannon has several uses throughout the game, with perhaps the most useful being the flamethrower mode that makes enemies drop armor shards to build up your defenses.
These methods are key to the bombastic, almost dance-like combat in Doom Eternal, and anyone looking for well-designed enemies and encounters along with an excellent arsenal of weapons will have a lot to enjoy here.
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First Person Platforming
For gamers wondering “is doom eternal worth it,” you should be aware that in addition to the excellent combat, Doom Eternal also adds a new layer of gameplay onto the tried and true Doom formula: platforming. Each level and combat arena is intricately crafted to give you multiple ways of traversing it. Moreover, with brand new movement options, your options are massively expanded.
The game will have you making dangerous leaps onto precarious ledges and climbable walls and frantically swinging from bars sticking out of the environment. Odds are that you will die quite a bit from a missed jump, but that is just part of the fun, and it’s something that the first game never offered.
When fighting enemies, you will have threats coming from every angle, even possibly above and below you. With new moves like the double jump and dash, you’re able to reach new areas, dodge enemies, and get in and out quickly so you can move on to the next demon. This freedom of movement sets Doom Eternal apart from the previous game, but also from other FPS games.
Increase in Enemy Variety Makes Doom Eternal Worth a Purchase
Another way that Doom Eternal ups the ante over the previous Doom game is in its incredible variety of threats. This game more than doubles the number of demons and other enemies in Doom Eternal you’ll fight. It includes new ones and even re-introduces demons from Doom II: Hell on Earth from 1994. For fans of the genre who wanted more variety in their hordes, this makes Doom Eternal completely worth buying it.
Doom Eternal doesn’t just have the standard Imps, Hell Knights, Pinkys, and Revenants. You’ll also have to face new versions of old favorites, recreated from the ground up for modern hardware.
Hyper-violence
Doom as a series has a reputation for being incredibly violent. Even the original game, which looks silly to us now, was very controversial in its time for the gruesomeness it portrayed. Each game since then has continued to carry that mantle, although its effect has become diluted with age and the rise of other violent video game series.
Doom 2016 was a return to that ultra-bloody gameplay, but Doom Eternal does something unusual. It utilizes a different art style that features brighter colors and more fluid animations that give its level of violence a different feel.
Don’t get me wrong, pulling a Cacodemon’s eye out and crushing it is still gloriously violent and makes Doom Eternal totally worth buying. Yet, it doesn’t feel the same as it did in the other Doom game, with its more photorealistic art style and setting. Doom Eternal’s brutality feels almost cartoony and silly compared to Doom 2016, in the same way, that it is funny to watch Wile E. Coyote be crushed by an anvil.
Violent video games, especially the best boomer shooter games, are not for everyone, but if it either doesn’t bother you or if it is something that you actively seek out in your video games, you know the Doom series has what you need, and Doom Eternal’s goofy, bloody mess is the latest and the best entry into that lineage.
Final Thoughts on Is Doom Eternal Worth It
With all of this information in mind, I think it’s clear to see that Doom Eternal is absolutely worth it and your time. This is especially true if you are a fan of other Doom games and want to continue the story of Doom 2016 or are looking for a challenging experience. The game is also perfect if you just want something violently silly to enjoy.
Yet, one word of caution, the game’s fantastic multiplayer can only be played with others on the same platform series as you. In other words, Doom Eternal is not cross-platform enabled. You should buy Doom Eternal on the same platform that your friends are looking to buy it.
There is a level of skill required in learning and understanding Doom Eternal’s specific brand of combat, so if you’re averse to doing anything other than running and gunning, you might want to skip it. The level of complexity is an order of magnitude greater than Doom 2016.
But for everyone else and those willing to learn something new to experience awesome gameplay and a great story, and those asking “is Doom Eternal worth it?” I’d say the answer is yes. It’s an amazing game that is definitely worth buying. In my opinion, it is one of the best games I’ve played in the past few years.
