In a situation when competitors went online, forgetting about a strong single-player campaign, or turned into a slow sandbox in the open world, the id Software brainchild managed to offer exactly what fans had been waiting for so long: drive, meat, huge monsters, and cool guns.
All this came complete with a powerful atmosphere, beautiful graphics, and excellent optimization, allowing you to enjoy smooth control at 60 frames per second even on consoles. And thanks to Snap Map editor, countless modifications and maps appeared for the game. Dang, there are even mods for free slots no download available in Doom 2016.
Of course, we looked forward to a full-fledged sequel. Moreover, nothing has changed in recent years – almost no one releases classic FPS games anyway.
The story of Doom Eternal begins a few years after the events of the last game (Doom 2016). The earth is captured by the forces of hell, which send hordes of evil spirits through portals. Entire cities are affected by the darkness that envelops the skyscrapers with huge tentacles and streaks the landscape with demonic pentagrams. Lava rivers flow through the streets, huge titans walk among the ruins, and most of humanity died in a fiery hyena.
The main character is in orbit inside an antique space station, which resembles a Gothic temple with elements of Giger’s work. Together with Vega AI, he is trying to track the location of three priests to close the gates and give humanity a chance to revive.
id Software unexpectedly completely updated and deepened the world of Doom, offering a complex multiverse, in which ancient powerful races are traveling through space and time, and forces trying to control the balance, pursuing their interests.
A detailed description of the world is revealed in numerous notes and sketches in the style of BioShock and Metroid Prime.
Developers deeply prescribe a plot with complex names, unexpected places, and atmospheric events, revealing thousands of years of the history of various races in a code that is becoming huge towards the end of a single-player campaign.
At the same time, the scriptwriters combine the games of the series and reinforce everything with visual content, sending the character to amazing worlds with their unique design. As a result, Doom Eternal becomes an incredibly exciting journey with magnificent landscapes, unexpected locations and a story that is more complicated than it seems at first glance.
Bethesda plans to develop Doom by analogy with the iconic Warhammer 40,000 series and Halo with books and maybe new movies.
Deep detailing of the in-game lore does not change the gameplay of Doom Eternal. The main development of the story takes place in the background through the notes and sketches mentioned above, communication by walkie-talkie and study of levels. Sometimes cute screensavers are demonstrating the strength and brutality of the protagonist, both with a view from the eyes and from a third person, but most of the new Doom is reserved for the gameplay.
Game designers continue to develop the ideas of the last game, offering great levels in which linear walkthrough, exploration, and fast action are perfectly combined. Areas with simple riddles alternate with battle arenas, where superior enemy forces oppose you with the support of mini-bosses.
The return to the station after almost every mission and the plot in which the hero constantly travels between the most different corners of the universe allows us to achieve excellent diversity, but at the same time makes the impression more fragmented.
The developers added even more platforming elements to the gameplay, creating a complex three-dimensional map and expanding the acrobatic abilities of the hero. The Doom Guy can grab onto ledges, uneven surfaces, climb and jump from walls, etc. He is also able to break through dilapidated partitions of the environment.
Designers have created interesting sections where you have to make several difficult acrobatic combinations in flight or solve a spatial puzzle, tied to physics and logical thinking.
Developers don’t make too complicated obligatory sections with jumps, everything is as convenient as possible, a visual map helps to navigate in space, and the navigation system prevents you from getting lost. In this case, id Software motivates you to use all the abilities of the character.
Moving in Doom Eternal is vital, as the enemies are very fast, and the game further twists the dynamics, calling new opponents into the arena next to the hero. It also works to your advantage, allowing you to replenish your health, armor and ammo supplies in time, using brutal finishing moves, a flamethrower, and a chainsaw. Of course, this is all balanced, because a chainsaw needs fuel, and the flamethrower takes a long time to recharge.
Weapons in Doom Eternal have two upgrade options that change the auxiliary shooting mode. So, a shotgun can be both a grenade launcher and a machine gun, which allows you to adapt to a particular enemy.
Switching between guns, upgrades and shooting modes in time, you can deal with hordes of enemies much faster. A similar weapon system was in Halo: Combat Evolved, and it’s great that Doom Eternal uses the best practices of the genre.
When dealing with opponents and exploring locations, you will find numerous secrets, such as music from previous id Software games, extra lives (works as a resurrection in case the character runs out of health) and get special items that can “level up” your abilities and weapons.
Unlike Doom 2016, these optional, but really useful activities are made much more interesting. To get an item, you need to solve a fascinating puzzle. And except a couple of points, the developers leave you access to all areas of the level using the system of opening cuts, which simplifies the study of locations.
The only thing that disappointed us was the lack of powerful bosses. In Doom 2016, the studio made some memorable huge opponents, but in Eternal, you are mainly fighting with mini-bosses, who then become ordinary enemies in a demonic squad spawned across stages of the game, and the levels often end with a meat fight in the arena, a short splash screen and return to the space station.
Graphically, the game looks great. Thanks to the new locations of the expanded lore, id Software artists were able to fully demonstrate their talent by presenting ancient temples, Gothic fortresses, destroyed megacities and magnificent cosmic landscapes consisting of pieces of levels rotating in space.
All this is complemented by a chic soundtrack from Mick Gordon, with atmospheric covers on cult classic themes.
Doom Eternal has magnificent duels, incredible graphics, gorgeous landscapes, interesting levels, a powerful soundtrack and complex lore that will surprise fans of the game. id Software reminded us what is the right single-player shooter is. To the ideal, the project lacks only a more integral world and cool diverse bosses.