Introduction
Doom Eternal has to be one of the most interesting First Person Shooters that I have played in a long time. There is so much about this game that really worked for me, with the secrets, the weapons, and just how fun the areas are to explore. The game is a blast to play from start to finish and I just wanted more of it. In my opinion, Doom Eternal is much better than Doom 2016 because everything here is more enjoyable as an experience.
Pros and Cons
Pros
-An interesting story, with lore scattered throughout the levels
-Awesome gameplay, with an arsenal of weapons to use at your disposal
-Lots of upgrades to find to make your weapons more powerful
-Beautiful environments with a badass soundtrack to go with them
Cons
-The platforming can a bit difficult at first
-Not all Weapon Mods felt useful
Story
The story takes place after the events of Doom 2016 where Earth has been taken over by Demonic Forces. The demons are being ruled by the Khan Maykr and her three Hell Priests who all seek to sacrifice mankind. Doom Guy is of course pissed for two reasons. First, the demons have taken over the world and destroyed 60% of the world’s population, and the second, Berserk was and still is on its hiatus. So now it’s up to Doom Guy to rip and tear through demons and save humanity from the Demonic Invasion.
Doom Eternal has an engaging story. I enjoyed how everything unfolds and you can just feel that Doom Guy is not a person you want to mess with. It’s in his character, you know it and the demons know as well.
Lore is handled through Codex Entries that you can find that provides information about the areas you visit. Each area has a collection of codex entries to discover, so if you really like the idea of learning about the environments, then I’d say you are in for a treat. Learning world lore as I progressed through the game instead of having it told straight out was something that I really appreciated. None of this is required, it’s all optional so you can skip it completely if you wish.
Gameplay
Doom Eternal has some of the best gameplay that I have experienced in a shooter in quite some time. The weapons that you pick up are all fun to use; I have never had a moment where I felt that a weapon was useless. The Combat Shotgun was fantastic to use in the later parts of the game thanks to its Weapon Mod where one shot turns it into a sticky bomb that will do a good chunk of damage. There are other weapons to use like the Plasma Gun, Chaingun, and the Heavy Cannon just to name a few. All of these weapons require ammo and you can find some throughout the levels, however, you can also obtain ammo by killing demons with the Chainsaw. It has a total of three charges and it will recharge itself for one use, if you want to use it more you will have to head out and find some gas.
When an enemy is near death, you can perform a Glory Kill and they will drop health packs when killed by this. The lower your health is, the more health packs the enemy will drop so you can get back into the action.
There are also environmental hazards to be aware of as you traverse through the areas. Some of the environmental hazards took inspiration from Bowser's castle in Super Mario with flames that you have to avoid to prevent damage.
There are multiple things that you can upgrade throughout your journey including Weapon Mods, the Praetor Suit, Sentinel Crystal Routing, and runes allowing for a more customized experience based on your choices and strategies.
Weapon Mods you can be acquired to upgrade your arsenal. Most weapons will have two weapon mods slotted to them with an optional 3rd upgrade by completing a challenge. There are several combinations that I really loved using like the Plasma Gun's heat blast where as you fire the weapon you can build up heat which will fire a damaging blast in front of you, and the Chaingun's mobile turret which gives it four barrels to fire from, yes you heard me, four barrels. These combinations help to allow preferred playstyles to be chosen by the player.
The Praetor Suit can also be upgraded with Praetor Suit Points which gives upgrades to stuff like the grenade or the general information you get to help you locate stuff. Then there is the Sentinel Crystal Routing, these will upgrade your total health, ammo, or armor, while providing an additional perk for you to use when you upgrade two of them in a giving column. Finally, there are the Runes, these will give you yet another perk for you to use, like performing Glory Kills faster to being able to move faster while in the air.
There are really only two issues that I found with Doom Eternal’s gameplay. The first one has to do with some of the early platforming as it is difficult to do and requires more trial and error than anything. Second, I did not find some of the Weapon Mods that useful. A good example was a mod for the Combat Shotgun where you can turn it into an assault rifle. There are just better options for assault weapons in this game that would be better off used than an assault shotgun. Now this is more of a personal preference and everyone does have their own play style but it is worth noting that you may find mods that aren't necessarily better to use just because they are available.
Soundtrack
Doom Eternal has one of the best main menu themes I have heard. It really gets you into the feel of what you are to expect from a game about killing demons. It’s a remix of Opening to Hell from Doom II. Now the other songs that are present are also fantastic to listen to, the BFG Division is not just a good song but it’s also Doom Guy's heartbeat.
Graphics and Performance
Doom Eternal is beautiful in many ways. The environments are full of color and are just amazing to look at. ID Software managed to make Hell a very nice-looking place which I thought I would never say, but I just did. I was able to run the game at 60 FPS with no issues, it is well optimized with no issues present. I played it with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM.
Final Verdict
I have never played an FPS as amazing as Doom Eternal, as not many of them can check all the boxes in regards to what gamers expect and can appreciate. There are so many good weapons to use, lots of upgrades to acquire, and so many ways to take out enemies. The creativity and freedom to play the game how you want to play in addition to the exciting combat, makes Doom Eternal a pleasure to experience from start to finish.