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Video games have come a long ways in 23 years. In the 90s, Doom was one of the biggest game-changers of the industry. It was a smooth, rip-roaring demon-slaying experience, with its own unique texture and style. It paved the way for hundreds more FPS games to follow in its wake. Isn't it strange that after all this time, there's only been two official sequels? Since the release of Doom 3, shooting games fell into a pretty generic niche, thanks to a plethora of military-themed titles. We've seen more innovation out of Bioshock, Tomb Raider, The Last Of Us, Heavy Rain, and other odd places. Where has Doom been all this time?
As it turns out, Doom 4 was in development for a while, but had to be scrapped because it just wasn't cutting it. Developed from the ground-up, 2016's Doom is made as a return to form. It's not the harrowing horror/survival ordeal that game #3 was, this was designed to tap into the energy and spirit of the original saga. So the question now is, did id and Bethesda succeed?
I was honestly afraid to play this game, remembering how unsettling Doom 3 was. I wasn't sure I could handle the new Doom, especially after hearing that many levels would force you to clear out hoards of demons in large arena-style levels before being able to move on. It sounded punishing.
It's not. Like all great games, 2016's Doom is empowering—the game offers you immense firepower, speed, and abilities to turn you into a fast and vicious demon-slayer. It's challenging, but hardly impossible—the game is smooth and fast, and you have to stay fast to make it past each area. You get a pretty nice arsenal of guns (everything from a puny pistol to a chainsaw to the Super Shotgun to the BFG and everything). You get upgrades that can make you a faster and better marine. You get powerups at key spots. One really wicked feature that makes this game even more empowering is "glory kills," which allow you to rip demons apart with your bare hands. The game might seem imposing when you start, but once you unlock weapons and upgrades, it's a breeze (unless, if you're a real hardcore gamer who craves a challenge, you can always play the campaign on nightmare mode). Each level is immaculately detailed and well-designed, with secrets in many interesting corners, and a lot of awesome scenery to behold. Populated by so many recognizable creatures (everything from imps to the Spider Mastermind), the game is a massive throwback, but its experience is genuinely fresh and awesome.
The games wastes little time in developing its story. From the opening onwards, you snap into action, finding yourself in the middle of a ruined Martian base overrun by demons. As you progress, you'll catch on to what happened. There are just a few characters to the game—there's not much development to them. I wish there could be more substance to the story, but for Doom, it's fine for what it is. Just like the original two games, story is not the main draw, its just a way to string levels together. In this case, the story's a little better than the original game, but not quite as complete as Doom 3.
On top of that, the game offers a few solid multiplayer options. The classic game modes—deathmatches and such—are available and are fine for what they are. It's pretty standard: you join a match, you shoot people, you level up and keep going. You can choose some loadouts, but it's far simpler (and less refined) than a Call of Duty game. A far more interesting feature is the Snapmap mode, which allows you to construct levels with modular tools. The array of rooms and objects available is limited, but logic tools let you design games with countless possibilities. It can be quite adventurous and intriguing to see what inventive levels users have published using these simple features.
The game itself looks pretty sharp and polished. It sports decent textures, lighting, rendering, and very smooth animation. Sounds and voices are good—music is smashing. This game is well-written, more in the sense that the game shows you its ideas through the gaming experience rather than dialogue.
Just when I thought Doom wasn't for me, this game comes along and reminds me of what it is that made the originals so appealing. Far less clunky and more polished than its predecessors, I'd say this is the best one of the lot. It successfully empowers and immerses you in the hellish fantasy of a demon-stomping marine. It can't get much more awesome than that.
4.5/5
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