Doom Eternal (2020)

This was my first time playing this game again since it first launched back in 2020 (PTSD flashbacks kick in) and I think I somehow liked it even more?

Doom Eternal is basically Doom 2016 but high on LSD, at a glow stick forrest rave where everyone is living off of 5-hour Energy and adrenaline shots. It is INSANELY fast paced, chaotic, and above all else (and most importantly) fun!

Mick Gordon's roaring and pulse-pounding soundtrack is purely electrifying, the added weaponry and abilities add depth to the upgrade system and the way you approach each encounter, and the bosses are bigger and better than ever.

There's a ton more lore to explore here too if that's your thing. We visit a wider variety of locations and the new movement abilities help make every single moment feel energetic and lively.

Sure, the platforming stuff isn't (or won't be) everyone's cup of tea, but I feel like it's pretty easy to get a hang of and once you do start to get in the flow, it's actually kind of enjoyable. The only time I was cursing it out was when there were sections that REQUIRED complex platforming and it took me many, many tries. Even if it was an optional thing like getting a collectible toy, it was still a major piss off when falling for the 10th+ time.

I can totally understand why this sequel isn't as beloved as the 2016 reboot (or maybe it is and I'm just out of the loop?). It's a little too long, the platforming stuff frustrated many and the added weaponry/abilities felt like "too much" for some people, making the game too complicated and thus not very fun.

But me personally, I dug almost all of that, including the additional enemies which I forgot to mention! Of course, that's minus the annoying-ass snake people with whips and that chunky mf with the spider legs that was always putting shields in my face.

Though I prefer the simplicity and retro feel of Doom 2016, I genuinely think this is a masterpiece that stands side-by-side with the best of the series. (Game finished on June 5, 2025)

This game makes you feel like the greatest and most powerful being to walk the earth, and I don't mean that lightly. As someone who slightly prefers DOOM 2016 out of pure preference, this game was still a wonderful treat to blaze through, returning to the world of DOOM and the Doom Slayer once again. It wasn't perfect, and I have qualms from changes made from 2016, but they were few and far between and hardly dampened the experience.

Mick Gordon not being in charge of the OST here is a crime against humanity, and it is my one major critique against the game. Let this not reflect on the quality of the OST here without him (as it's still fantastic, props to everyone involved), but it is one of ID Software's biggest missteps to have had the mistreatment of Gordon occur in the first place.

Overall, highly recommended when you need the rush and catharsis of slaying demons and feeling awesome while doing it, and playing this so soon to DOOM: The Dark Ages releasing gets me excited for what's to come next out of ID and their fantastic team of devs that are making the only good thing to come out of Bethesda in the last decade.

A followup to 2016's Doom game that takes all gameplay to the next level so to speak.

The gameplay is very fluid and fast paced without being too difficult to parse in my opinion. The story also goes into an interesting direction, sacrificing some of the dread of the 2016 game in exchange for an even stronger power fantasy.

Personally I think the art decision isn't as strong and I miss some of the tone of the 2016 game, although I might be in the minority there.

Also the music is just incredible, no notes.

4 / 5 Stars

With most sequels, it's easy to say "if you loved the OG, you'll love the new one."

I don't know if I fully agree with that here. But I don't think I can fully disagree either.

I loved both Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal. But these entries are distinct enough to trigger near-opposite reactions in the player. They speak the same language, but with different accents. Doom (2016) is a beautifully cathartic old-school romp. Doom Eternal is an acid-trip demolition derby where you play the role of driver, car, and acid simultaneously.

If that sounds intriguing, then DE will not disappoint. But understand, this will not feel like (2016). You'll have similar guns, alt fires, mods, and equipment, but you'll be asked to deploy them more frenetically and methodically than before. It may very well not be for you. It may also be exactly what your lizard brain craves.

In a twisted way, even though they're very distinct entries, I'd consider Doom (2016) required reading before Doom Eternal. It's not strictly necessary, but if you're new to shooters (especially boomer shooters) it's in your best interest to learn to walk before you run/dash/wall climb/triple somersault/ingest concentrated horse cocaine.

Besides, Doom (2016) is a fantastic experience everyone should try out regardless. And, I'd argue, a more broadly enjoyable experience. But Eternal offers something not found in (2016) or even most other shooters: concentrated horse cocaine. Or at least the video game equivalent of it.

If that sounds intriguing, definitely give it a shot. Though maybe put it on Easy if it's your first game in this ilk. If it's not your thing, no hard feelings. Not everyone's into snorting concentrated horse cocaine. Nor should they.

I rarely play direct sequels, I tend to prefer new stuff. It's not necessarily a conscious decision, more a matter of priorities. That's probably why one of the few series of which I played almost everything is Resident EVil: it was brave enough to radically change so many times, even if here and there it lead to failure. Also, I liked Doom 2016 but I got kinda bored by the last few missions, which were a bit too samey for my taste. So Doom Eternal ended up in the "I'm sure I'd like it, maybe one day I'll play it" bucket. But then I received it as a gift and I started playing it. Then I stopped it to play Atomic Heart, which I left around half point to play Jedi Knight. Then I completed Jedi Knight, I completed Atomic Heart, I went back to Doom Eternal and for an hour I had no clue on how to play it. But then I got back on track and I completed it. And I got bored around the end.

Anyway, I liked it. But the first hour was a drag: it seemed to do EVERYTHING I was happy Doom 2016 didn't do and actually mocked. So much stuff, so much story, cutscenes, lore, docs, stats, powerups, upgrade this, upgrade that, use this on that so you can unlock that other thing, jump here, jump there, do some platforming, explore, exploit weak points I have to explain to you how to do it so I stop the action and tutorialize you and it kinda feels like we are in Nintendo Land. Where do you put this rune? I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T CARE I JUST WANT TO SHOOT THAT THING GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FUCKIN MENU!

But, as I said, I like sequels that dare trying something different so... Also, after a while, I realized you can basically ignore most of this stuff. After the initial "you cray people broke the game" feeling, I started really liking the ideas. The fact that it forces you to play in a certain way, being in constant movement, using all the attacks and the features otherwise you will get stuck with no ammo or health. You have to do everything but you can do that however you like and it's much less limiting than what those initial tutorials would make you believe. So, it's cool.

But still, I think I'm just gonna read the DLCs on Wikipedia.

Man, Doom 2016 was a breathe of fresh air. Remember that game? We all thought that game with a problematic and protracted development was going to be dead on arrival but it came out swinging. It introduced us to Marty Stratton and Hugo Martin's concept of 'move forward' gameplay, central to which was the 'glory kill'. Hey, you have one smidge of health? Well, go out kill that demon and get it. It added this urgency and anxiety to and fps game I hadn't felt in a long long time. I was hooked.

Not to mention, the tone and the story the game was trying to tell was on point. They pulled back from 'tell not show' approach of Doom 3 that rubbed me wrong and hinted at a story through brief codices and how the 'Slayer' interacts with the world, often with smoldering barely controlled anger.

Doom Eternal comes around and I'm thinking.. 'how are they going surpass their first entry in this reboot?' Well, let's get right to it: they improved the combat and blew it on the tone and story. I initially bounced off the combat because I found the additional tools they give you overwhelming. The tools tweak the combat such that you no longer rely so heavily on power ups strewn about an arena to feed your insatiable lust to 'rip and tear'. Instead, you largely get your fuel (ammo, health and armor) from taking out enemies. You need to use these tools and I found it just too much to remember all the ones I had at my disposal. To me, it felt like the elegance of the first game was gone UNTIL I mastered the tools.

Now I don't want to play the game any other way. In fact, I went back to 2016 to test my hypothesis and found that game slow and boring by comparison. I was used to the pace and juggling act asked of me by Eternal. IF you were like me and put the game down after struggling with the additional tools thrown into the mix, please try and push through that because they were able to elevate and improve upon that rush that DOOM 2016 so beautifully provided.

As for the story and tone, this is where they messed up. The energy soaked neon guitar filled fortress of doom replace a dark tone and a subtle rebuttal to fracking and corporations gone wrong. They pull you out of the story for some cutscenes a few too many times and the codex entries this time around are just a little all over the place and didn't grab me the same way the original's did.

In summary, I hope that the next time they get around to making a DOOM game, they rein in their urge to 'tell and not show'. I want the gameplay of DOOM Eternal but the story and tone of DOOM 2016. DO it! Or, just reboot Quake and blow our minds in that arena.

I don't care if this game wins the GOTY awards or not, it is probably one of the best games I've played lately. It is just so frantically fun, even running around looking for the secrets is fun.

Level design is awesome, combat is fast paced and fun, and while the final battle is slightly disappointing and it amounts basically to "shoot here a lot, run around getting more ammo, keep shooting here a lot", the rest of the game still makes it absolutely worth it.

I have no intention of trying multiplayer, but I'd like to get Ancient Gods at some point. For now and until then, I'm happy with this.

I just finished my playthrough of Doom Eternal, and I feel like I just got off a 12 hour roller-coaster - exhilarated! Just like the demon hordes meeting the business end of the chainsaw, I'm going to gush a bit now...

Everything from the story, the graphics, the music and the pacing are all fantastic. Special shout out to the sound designers and composer - they incredible metal found in hell is balanced by the creepy techno vibes on earth and even creepier angelic voices in heaven (someone made to be even more unsettling than hell).

The core addictive gameplay loop of Doom (2016) is preserves and enhanced in every way possible with the addition of more of pretty much everything, and combined with a graphics boost you can feel every blood punch and demon bone breaking, which just weirdly makes you want to come back for more.

I could nit pick a bit - the story, as great as it is, picks up in a weird and confusing spot making me wish we got a bit more explanation of where the Fortress of Doom came from. The demons do indeed vomit rainbows of items and though it can be distracting a bit I got a bit of a dopamine hit when I made it happen, so I didn't mind very much. Yes, the platforming is a bit awkward, but also cool at the same time.

Probably the biggest and most perplexing sin is the choice to use awkward cut-scenes to indicate doors/passages opening breaking the flow of combat, and when you are using the biggest guns/turrets in the game you need to watch a (really cool) movie vs pulling the trigger yourself. Strange choices, but they don't totally mar the experience of the game at all after you get used to/past them.

Overall, I 100% got my full priced money's worth out of this game in the last 12 hours and I'm confident it will remain one of my top gaming experiences of the year, and maybe the decade. Rip and tear, until it is done.

OK. Ten days later, but I was finally able to write a review. Not my fault that Bethesda only send the review codes to Latin America the same day it launched.

Anyway, review in spanish. As usual. I didn't liked it as much as the previous one. The overwhelming amount of systems, the unnecesary detailed plot, the way it overstays its welcome a little and the forced 'gaas' elements (Really, why does Doom needs a battle pass?) really affected my experience with it.

Its a very good game. No doubt about it. But it seems like id Software didn't knew where to stop when adding and adding things just to make it MORE than its predecessor.

Also, fuck the Marauders and their fucking dogs. They're glorified QTEs.

Wow.

I’m floored with how much this game managed to improve over 2016, a game I was really happy with already. This games takes 2016 and really just smashed the fuck out of it. From the moment you unlock that chainsaw, this game is a fuel ride that never ends.

The opening moments of Eternal start off with immediately giving you that combat shotgun. Instead of the truly naked pistol opening of 2016 we are dumped straight into the action. You get your first modbot not much soon after that, and the game just never really even took a minute to stop. It’s a testament to classic Doom games while reinventing everything there was about 2016. The gameplay here is absolutely perfect in every sense of the word. It forces you to learn how to deal with every enemy and take every encounter with a different approach. All the while an insane soundtrack accompanies you. The colors and art design is varied and interesting. The story is like an episode of a Saturday morning cartoon and I think that’s something we all needed. If you need a game for this quarantine, look no further.

Doom Eternal asks a lot of the player, but it’s all worth it.

In its opening hours, you’re presented with skill trees upon skill trees, countless weapons and subweapons and weapon mods, and enemy type after enemy type that each throws a different wrench in your plans as you work your way through the game’s dozens of combat setpieces. Each enemy has a few specific weaknesses and ways to disable it which are easy enough to master on their own (well... usually), but in these big arena battles, they synergize in ways that can really mess you up if you don’t properly prioritize and execute a good plan.

I found the initial hours to be a rough experience bogged down in pace-breaking tutorials that felt like information overload—I just couldn’t keep up with the systems and the demands of combat. Many players have been advised to simply turn down the difficulty to avoid frustration, but I’m so glad I kept it on that challenging Normal difficulty level.

All of this, the difficulty, the complexity, the movement, serves one big goal, and my fellow Bloodborne and Sekiro fans will recognize this. When the going gets tough, most modern shooters would ask you to run behind cover, wait for a shield to regenerate, use a health pack, something like that. The player is discouraged from running into the action in the name of realism, which sure, has its place, but Doom Eternal is not concerned with realism. Health, ammo, and armor are directly regenerated through active combat mechanics that force you to confront enemies or die anyway. All these systems and all this challenge are designed to force the player into a fast & furious, dynamic, active playstyle that is rough to get a grip on, but when you do, it’s fun in ways other shooters just can’t really approach.

Many players, including many fans of Doom 2016, which I didn’t get super into, won’t like to be forced into a playstyle or to be told that they’re playing “wrong.” I think this is a fair criticism, but the game offers you several ways to solve problems within its framework. I felt I had to be so much more thoughtful and creative in the game’s set, specific parameters than in the previous game. Your mileage will vary based on your level of patience and willingness to trust that the game has your fun in mind when it repeatedly kills you.

The game is visually so vibrant and varied compared to the last game. Giant mechs and other crazy things make each level distinct and super cool-looking. I don’t feel like I’m getting lost or ever really need to look at the map, I don’t feel like I’m running through the same kind of place for 4 hours, the demons are really fun to look at and destroy. The levels are perhaps a bit too long for their own good, but they’re individually well-paced with different types of challenge that rarely devolve into just “get this keycard and go back to this place,” they are just demanding in different ways.

Boss and mini-boss encounters were a lot of fun and challenge, and like a Castlevania or something, they incorporate well as standard enemies later on. I particularly love fighting the now-infamous Marauder, which demands careful positioning, quick turning and reaction speed, and sharp attention to resource management to beat, but got easier and easier each time.

In conclusion, I think like Bloodborne, this game’s early difficulty and seeming complexity run the risk of turning some players off of the experience altogether, but for the patient gamer who is willing to face the challenges head-on, to actually learn and improve, they will find a game that pushes the level of engagement and excitement in the shooter genre to unmatched levels. It’s like I now know why high difficulties in other shooters are so unfun, and see a potential of what games like this can be like, similar to third-person action games and twin-stick shooters and roguelikes that I love. Despite the issues, an easy recommendation.