Doom Eternal Preview – Too Much of a Good Thing?

What can you say about Doom? If you've played the 2016 reboot, you already know everything, don't you? This is a hectic shooter with classic solutions, some kind of storyline, but if the main character is not even interested in the exposure, then why should we? The devil, however, lies in the details – however cliche this may sound – and the three hours I spent with the latest game from idSoftware shows that we don't know everything yet.

The Earth is screwed. The first thing we see in the opening seconds of Doom: Eternal is our beautiful, sky-blue marble. But there's something wrong with it. Ah! I already know. Maybe it's because it's not so blue at all. Or maybe it's the burned-out pentagram the size of a continent. In any case, the Earth is screwed. The invasion of demons continues, and, as you can guess, the task of Doom Slayer is to send them straight to the bosom of Beelzebub or some other infernal senior manager with bad attitude.

And although the new Doom treats the story pretty much just like the previous part, it's also clear the developers decided to slightly expand the setting, and tell more about the order to which the protagonist belongs. But I won't reveal anything else. What's important is that, just as the last time, the storyline in Doom Eternal isn't trying to be too serious, and takes right into the nitty-gritty. To my surprise, during these three hours, I followed the story with more curiosity than when I played the first part. It's charming in its stupidity and self-awareness. But then, I'm biased, because I just love the "invasion from hell" kind of stuff. But if you're afraid of the story compromising the real protein of Doom, i.e. shooting, you can rest assured. The gameplay remains the main thrust of the game. As does meta gameplay.

BETHESDA DOES IT WELL

It seems Bethesda is able learn from its mistakes. The marketing campaign of 2016's Doom mostly emphasized the mediocre multiplayer mode, rather than the fantastic singleplayer campaign. No media outlets received copies of the game before the premiere. This didn't bode well; the game hadn't initially been selling well, because it wasn't really clear what to expect. This time, it's the opposite. The single-player campaign is advertised as the core experience, and the redesigned multiplayer should be a nice addition.

Never too much!

In general, little has changed in Doom Eternal. It's more of the same thing – facing hellish invaders in the most brutal way possible. Familiar weapons, familiar monsters, glory murders that allow regenerating lost HP – all that will make a big return. On the one hand – it's awesome. In my opinion, 2016 Doom was a great shooter. Fast, shameless, with amazing gunplay. On the other hand – meh. Things might start to resemble a reheated dinner, rather than a proper main course. And maybe it really is reheated, but it's of course not identical, and besides, it has a completely new breading. During the three hours of gameplay, the game constantly provided me with new pieces of the puzzle, which started to shape up into a very pleasant image.

The first Doom emphasized aggression. Low on HP? Smash a monster, and get a first-aid kit. Ran out of ammo? Here's a chainsaw. Kill an infernal bastard with it, and it will produce a fountain of valuable ammo. These two elements return in the second part, but the developers have added the third one – a flamethrower. Setting enemies on fire makes them slowly dropping parts of armor to collect. Killing such a torched monster causes it to shed an even better armor. Hence, combat has everything you need. Of course, additional first aid kits, ammo, and armor are constantly scattered around the arenas, but a skilled player won't need them. Everything he needs can be found in the bloody bowels of hell.

I also got the impression that Doom Eternal is a bit more challenging than the previous part. I played on the penultimate level of difficulty and I uncertainly balanced on the verge of life and death for most of the fights. All the raw materials I needed were at my fingertips. I just had to play more aggressively to get them.

This element makes Doom Eternal even more hectic and brutal than before. At the same time, it also requires taking a minute sometimes to consider what is needed the most at the moment. After using the chainsaw or flamethrower, you need to wait a bit until the fuel is restored. Glory kills have no recovery time, but to get them, you need to race around the arena from one monster to another.

The arena-type combat is still the mainstay of Doom's fights. Again, the maps are arenas connected by corridors, where the infernal troops will be waiting for us. We do get something new. First, there are more interferences on them, such as walls spitting fireballs, electrical traps, and an especially evil invention – a sticky layer on the surface that slows you down. However, to compensate for the gnashing of teeth caused by it, the developers have provided us with several tools that give an edge over the abominations we fight.

Arenas now provide more flexible movement for the Doom Slayer. Launchers that will quickly shoot you up or forward, teleports that will take it to the other end of the arena, directly behind the enemy. Not only that – Doom Slayer himself is much more mobile. Almost from the very beginning, he gets the dash ability, which can be used twice in a row. Then you need to wait a few seconds to use this skill again. Not enough? Well, there's more. The hero can also cling to walls in special spots. Although this new ability is not particularly useful in combat. It was introduced because there are much more platform elements here.

Mario Eternal

The developers have to diversify the experience. If they're tired of fighting, you need to find something else to tire them. For example, jumping. Platform elements in the new Doom are fairly typical. From time to time, we get to a point, where we'll have to do a lot of jumping to reach the next location. We won't even sweat at first. Doom Slayer's acrobatic abilities only come in handy later on, in various combinations. And this is an element that I'm not completely sure about. On the one hand, it's nice that developers are playing with the form and trying to diversify the gameplay. On the other hand, the platformer components noticeably lag behind the rest in terms of quality, and probably unnecessarily disrupt the pace of the game. You can see that the creators tried to revitalize them somehow by keeping them complex enough, but the sequences were mostly frustrating. Perhaps they'll be more interesting in the later stages of the game.

Doom house

Some pass time from fighting will be provided by the Doom Fortress – the dwelling of our protagonist. So, for some unspecified reason, Doom Slayer is now an owner of the house floating above the ground (of course, it's not an ordinary house, but a place that could only be inhabited by the greatest butcher of demons in all twelve dimensions). Along with the progress, the DOOM Fortress will grow in size with the help of collectable cores that we'll find in the game, as well as when performing special challenges (identical as in the previous part).

Doom Slayer's house is huge – it's actually a separate location to explore, with its own collectables, secrets, and hidden rooms. How will the Fortress work in the full version of the game? Hard to say. I didn't have a chance to examine it thoroughly. I only visited Doom Slayer's room full of easter eggs, a prison, where I could check out the arsenal, and a special room with challenges that we can access with the keys found during the game. The DOOM Fortress is also a place where we can return to the previous levels with a quick journey. But don't be afraid, Doom Eternal is not going down the generic, open-world road. This still is a largely rail-shooter that takes you straight through the subsequent levels. Thanks to fast travel, you can simply return to a location and look for whatever you've missed.

Fortunately, the developers learned a lesson or two from the previous part – the variety of locations in the new Doom is much greater. The Fortress is not the only new "biome" that we will visit. In addition to standard, futuristic bases, there are snow-capped peaks, ravaged lands, ancient ruins, and dark temples. Each of the levels I managed to play through offered several different landscapes. This is a step forward. If you remember, the 2016 reboot played out in the hallways and rooms of the Martian base, the surface of the red planet, and the occasional visits to Inferno. Doom Eternal offers much more in this regard.

You have 3 lives

Now that I think about it, I feel like the new Doom would be perfect for arcade machines. Maybe it's not a typical arcade game, but its self-awareness and homage to the era of simple entertainment is just begging for a honorable place in the game room. This feeling is amplified when, for example, you pick up an extra life hovering above the ground. And I'm not talking about a first aid kit, but an actual green helmet with the word "1Up" above it. Yes, Doom Eternal reintroduces the system of multiple lives, but it's not quite what we're used to.

In a typical slot-machine game, the number of "lives" tells how many times we can die and not lose progress. You run out of lives, you start all over. The developers of the new Doom decided to use this idea and adapt to the realities of the satanic adventure of Doom Slayer. A "1Up" guarantees that during a fight (or some of the platform elements, they can be surprisingly deadly) our life drops to zero, we will be revived in the same place to continue the fight (or a deceptively harmless platform puzzle). In my opinion, the system works like a charm – not only does death not disrupt the pace, but the desire to explore is rewarded with a specific benefit that significantly affects the gameplay. If we don't have any lives, we will have to reload the game.

Hell after a facelift

And, as I said, Doom Eternal can be difficult. The menagerie of our demonic friends, of course, has been enriched with some new faces. We have a demon with a snake's tail – very agile, very resilient, and pretty powerful both at distance and in melee. And, as before, the sheer pace and chaos of combat means that boredom is impossible. The game quickly begins to mix creatures, and each requires a different approach.

As my grandfather used to say, "art is demons' weapon." Well... the creators from idSoftware must have known my grandfather, this saying was guided when they started playing monsters. And most of the time, there is one way or another that will allow you to get and edge. When Cacodemon tries to bite you, fire a grenade from a shotgun down his mouth. He will swallow it, and it will explode in his guts, leaving the devil vulnerable to instant glory kill. The small version of the Spiderdemon has a very nasty gun on its tail – nothing prevents you from shooting this gun off. The same can be done with the Mancubus' weapon. The developers have given us new ways to kill, but the monsters can bite back.

At some point in the game, I saw a prompt saying that an enhanced demon appeared in the arena. Where did it come from? Why is it enhanced? What is the meaning of life? I don't know the answer to the last question, but I already know the answer to the first two. Sometimes we are killed by a demon – life just works like this. This demon gains vitality, and becomes more powerful than his pals. Doom Eternal knows which demon killed you and when. This killer demon may visit another player's gameplay from time to time. It's harder to kill, but then provides much better loot. This basically is a stripped-down Nemesis system from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. The difference is that the demon does not attack us, but invades other players.

Doom RPG?

Fortunately, we'll be able to cope with such a monster, as the game offers an extensive character development system. On the one hand, it's similar to what we saw in the 2016 Doom. On the other, there's quite a few novelties. We can increase HP, armor, and the amount of ammunition we get, by collecting special crystals.

These statistics are divided into smaller categories. If we get all the upgrades of one category, we also get a bonus. We can also find runes. In the previous game, you had to pass a special challenge to get such a rune. This time, it's not necessary. Runes can make Doom Slayer move faster for a few seconds after a glory kill. Three runes can be active at a time.

To improve armor, we will also need items designed for this purpose. Weapons will also get their own enhancements, of course. During our hellish holiday, we find improvements that provide additional firing modes. This, however, is not everything. We can improve the alternate firing mode by obtaining more weapon points. How do we earn these? ? Once every sometimes, you run into a special arena that has to be cleared, which is rewarded with precisely these points. In addition, there are the so-called "secret clashes," or "collectable" fights that you have to discover. A secret encounter requires us to defeat a certain group of opponents within a certain time (for example, kill two Cacodemons in 15 seconds).

If all these additions make you freak out about Doom no longer being the Doom, but rather an awkward hybrid of shooter and RPG, then calm down. This is still very much a shooter, through and through. Character development, at least at this stage, seems more of a curious addition that a core part of the experience. No statistics will help you if you don't master the hero's mobility and your own aiming.

The three hours I spent with Doom Eternal convinced me that there would be a worthy sequel to the three-year-old reboot. The gameplay is really a smooth, joyous experience. All the new elements fit well, and feel like a natural extension of the system. I'm not entirely sure about the platformer elements, though – they're merely correct, and I'm afraid that in the long run, they might be just a nuisance that we'll have to bear in-between intense and fun gunfights. At this stage, it's difficult to say how the DOOM Fortress will work out. The very idea that Doom Slayer has headquarters seems completely out of character. But I suspect this will be another totally optional addition. Well, we'll get to see how much the new Doom is really worht in about two months' time.