I bought Doom for the PS4 on release day but throughout 2016 I just kept on pushing it back to play something else. It wasn’t until I was able to finally pick it up over the xmas period that I realised what a huge mistake this was.
In Doom you play as the Doomguy and are tasked with killing hordes upon hordes of demons in an incredibly quick arcade style shooter that seriously does the series some justice, like to know how? Read on dear readers:
Gameplay
As mentioned briefly above, Doom adopts a quick arcade style of First Person shooting allowing you to utilise a ton of guns to your disposal in which my friend very accurately described as “Badass simulator 2016” and he honestly couldn’t be more correct.
As you roam through the various areas of the mars base levels or wander through the depths of hell with the huge array of guns presented to you, only stopping to pull out a demons heart and shove it down it’s throat, you begin to understand why the Doom Marine is so feared throughout the demon realm. The combat is perfectly fluid allowing you to sprint around the multiple arenas gunning down demons and tearing their limbs off in some of the most satisfying gameplay I have ever experienced, it is hard to put this into words so here:
See how amazing that is? All those weapons AND A FUCKING CHAINSAW but still you stop every now and then to use your bare hands.
Whilst I will admit that it certainly LOOKS flashy on paper, I can also confirm that the gameplay FEELS as fluid and perfect as it looks.
Now, I know there are retro Doom style levels that feature in the game and provide even more amazing gameplay for the player – but at the time of writing I have not found a single one of these so expect an update on this bit once I follow a guide and unlock all these levels… Yes I am replaying the whole game in order to do this and it will be delight to do so, I might even invest more in the lore of the game this time around.
Story
I considered writing this whole review without even bothering with writing about the story at all BUT I thought I had better touch on it, however briefly.
Basically this is the ENTIRE synospis of the story: You (The Doom Marine, Doom Guy, whatever you call him) wakes up at the beginning of the game to all the shit hitting the fan and the demons have broken out of hell and you have to kill them… So you go and kill them all. There is a spot of betrayal at the end and a few trips to hell along the way to chase down Olivia (the games villain) with a cliffhanger at the end.
I mean seriously, the story isn’t bad by any means; it’s just that it is completely eclipsed by how amazing everything in the rest of the game is that you forget to pay much attention – I feel that if I read all the optional text pieces and everything else then the lore would of made way more sense and been more engrossing, but I didn’t I focused on the incredible gameplay and AMAZING graphics and music.
Appearance, Setting & Music
The graphics of Doom certainly do justice to the modern day expectations of video games, more than once I found myself glancing through the character models in awe at the level of detail that is put into each and every single one of the demon models that you are so carelessly tearing apart.
Mixed with a huge amount of level variation between hell and the mars base you never find yourself stagnating in the same corridors without a purpose or a place to go.
This is all mixed with an awesome industrial metal soundtrack (which is now on my Spotify account) creates a video game setting that I will not soon forget. I know I literally JUST mentioned how good the soundtrack is but I have to set aside another few words to state this, the soundtrack is phenomenal, tearing through Demons whilst the metal plays in the background increases the atmosphere ten-fold and again, makes you FEEL like an awesome badass.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer is the weirdest part of Doom, I haven’t played more than a few hours of it yet but I know I didn’t overly like it at first. I did, however, do a complete 180 turn on this after a few hours of playing online with a friend in the “Infection” style mode that allowed me to hunt down other players as a demon, or enact my vengeance with the shotgun
It has to be admitted that it was a jarring experience going from a game with over a dozen guns available at all times to a Call of Duty style loadout system which allows you to have two guns and I cannot help but feel it would have benefited far more by an Unreal Tournament or Quake style of multiplayer mode.
Verdict
A perfect story mode that is bogged down a little by the multiplayer in the early hours, Doom is a MUST PLAY for any gamer.
9.5/10
TL;DR
Doom Marine kills fuck loads of demons in a variety of ways. Gameplay is great. Ending is lacking but we don’t care. End credits are rad. Real treat to play.