Doom is popular franchise that is considered by many The father of the FPS as in the early 1993 it was the first game of it's genre.
Needless to say it had a massive impact within the gaming industry and definetely inspired many games that followed. Whether it was a direct "copy" or simply inspired by the idea. In 2014 the game
was announced and in 2015 the first gameplay was reveal. This was massive news, as there wasnt a proper entry to the franchise since 2004, so this installment was meant to be the revival of the Doom IP.
Developer was confirmed to be Id Software who developed all the previous games and publisher was going to be Bethesda.
As mentioned this was going to be the attempt to bring Doom back with the new reboot. The developers were excited as the fans seemed to be accepting the new visuals and the overall gameplay of the series.
Upon its release in 2016, the game was praised by critics and gamers alike who found the game to be one of the best of the series, from the visuals, to the audio all the way to the gameplay. The satisfaction
of the game can be seen by the various nominations and awards that the game received during and after its release. It was even a Game of the Year nominee however it lost to Overwatch which took
2016 and the hero shooter genre by storm. Sales wise, Doom perform well reaching 2Million by early 2017. Later in 2017 a Nintendo Switch copy was released and in 2020 there was a Stadia release which further boosted the sales numbers.
In 2020 Id Software and Bethesda released the sequel Doom Eternal which was also critically aclaimed and a GOTY nominee.
Personally this was my first Doom experience and all i can say is it did not disssapoint.
Story of the Game
The game begins with a demonic voice speaking directly to the player before we witness our character The slayer/Doomguy who awakens from a Sarcophagus. How he get there in the first place is unknown as the reboot technically takes place after the originals one. Apparently this question will be answered at some point in the far future. Doomguy awakens and finds out he
was released by Samuel Hayden, the chairman of the company UAC who transfered his brain into a robot. He also learned that he is currently located in a facility on planet Mars and is currently under attack by demons from Hell. In a room close to his location, the slayer finds his armor which he proceeds to put on. Whilst trying to figure out what cause the demonic invasion
he receives a call from Dr. Samuel who asks for his colaboration something that the Doomguy originally ignores and tries to make his way through the facility alone. Along the way, he comes across alot of recordings which reveal what was going on to the facility. We get to know that a scientist name Dr. Olivia Pierce is responsible for opening poartals between Hell and Mars.
She also seems to know alot about the Slayer and how he got himself in the Sarcophagus. After ignoring Samuel for so long, Samuel proposes that if the Slayer helps him he will provide him with information about what is going on. Reluctant at first Doomguy proceeds to team up with VEGA(an Ai of Samuels) and even prevenets a melt down of the facility's foundry. He also learns what
were the motives of Pierces.
Without going much into spoilers, some events occur and as a result Doomguy is being dragged into Hell. The Doomguy is not scared at all and in fact he proceeds to rick havoc in Hell whilst also finding recordsing of former UAC expeditions including the one of Haydens that happened to be the discovery of his sarcophagus. Again through some events, Hayden and the Slayer finally meet face to face
with the chairman revealding the existance of the Helix Stone, an artifact used to harness Hell's energy. He also asks the player to go to Pierces working station/office and gather any information that can be found and the slayer is sent off.
What will the Slayer discover there?
What's gonna happen after his discovery?
Whats gonna happen to the world and who is pulling all the strings?
These are the questions that will be answered.
Thoughts on the story
I personally really liked the story despite not having many cutscenes. Afterall this games narrative is given to us whilst playing the game. Thankfully, Doom(2016)'s story is its own thing that doesnt require the player to know the events of the classic Dooms game which is something i personally as a newcommer into the series appreciated.
The story itself was very interesting as it makes you wonder alot of things from frame 1. For example, the first question from the beginning is how did the Slayer enter the sarcophagus. Why are there demons there and what occured. Thankfully, everything but the first question is being answered in the game. To say that i liked Doomguy's personality
will be an overstatement as he barely talks. However there are some small moments which show us a glimpse of his personality as in playing with figures or simply refusing to be Samuels lapdog etc. The 2 survived characters Dr Olivia Pierce and Dr Samuel both act individually and have different goals and plans. Their characters are well written and
have some unexpected moments in the story. The lore exposition is good with all the relics, UAC company and hells energy being exposed to the player in a regular pace in order to not overstay their welcome and to not drag long enough. Similarly to the gameplay, the action is escorting the narrative which makes the whole experience fun.
Gameplay
Similarly to it's predecessors, Doom is an Action First person shooter where the player controls the Doomslayer who awaken and is ready to bring Hell down. The game is fast pace that focusses on the action and the chaos in the mense of the battle. From the beinning of the game the player is given a small pistol to begin his mission. As expected
and as seen in promos and trailers, the slayer picks weapons from the battlefield in order to increase his weaponry and ofcourse to make the gameplay more flexible. The world has a linear design that leads the player to the main objective but there plenty of open areas where the players can battle freely with the demonic spawns. Additionally smaller routes
exist that sometimes lead to key items or simply allow the players to reach the same objective through a different path.
The Doomslayer allows the players to feel very powerfull as they traverse through Mars and Hell itself. The players can traverse freely to any direction they want and they can even platform around by jumping and double jumping. There is fall damage when falling from a real high place but the player can reduce it by triggering the second jump abit before the landing.
On the bottom left there is a blue and a green bar. The green bar indicates shields where as the blue life is the actual HP of the slayer. Receiving damage reduces the bars and when the blue ones completely runs out the slayer dies. Life and Armor can be regenerated by collecting armor pieces thats appear in light green or health capsule represented in a blue with
a cross. These recovery items can be found around the world and can also dropped by fallen enemies.
The basic gameplay will have the slayer going through different levels, slaying demons and collecting key items in order to progress. The game can also be seen as a FPS Run and Gun. The slayer collects various weapons which can be used to slay the beasts that come with different strengths and usage. For example, Shotguns are more effective in close compat whilst
the plasma gun, minigun and others can be used in both close and long distance battles. Additionally, there are weapons like the RPG/Rocket launcher and the Gauss Cannon are more powerfull destructive weapons. These weapons pack a punch and add variety to the gameplay. Needless to say that these guns can be updated and also expanded on by using weapon enchasment cosmetics.
For example, the SMG can have a scope and can be used as a sniper, or they can equiped rockets that can be launched and explode within a certain time. Weapons can be swapped by oppening the Weapon wheel and enchancments (given both re unlocked) can also be swapped with a tap of a button. Tapping the weapon wheel button will quick swap the weapon between the last two weapons
used by the player. An an "Ultimate" the player can also use the BFG which is the most powerfull weapon of the slayer that deals huge damage and can target everyone around the projectile. Bringing the weapon wheel on that slows time around the slayer, can be used when firing the BFG in order for it to stay exposed for a longer period time damaging the enemies longer. All the weapons
have a certain ammount of ammo and can run out when using only one weapon. The only weapon that has unlimited ammo is the pistol which is the weapon the player starts with. Ammo can be found around the world in the forms of ammo crates of different colour(eg. red being for shotguns etc.). Similarly to health, ammi can also dropped from enemies. Last but not least, the player can
use a Chainsaw which uses fuel ammunition. Any enemy(not including story boss fights) will be one shoted by the chainsaw and the player will receive max ammo for every weapon except the chainsaw and the BFG.
A thing that will stand out from the first minute is the brutality of the slayer. When you damage an enemy they will sometimes begin to flash. If the player continues to shoot them with the guns they would die normaly, however if the melle button is used near them, the Doom slayer will perform a Glory kill. Glory kills are cinematic attacks
that will destroy the enemy in a brutal way, like smashing their heads with his fists, breaking their leg so they wont get away to then finish them off and plenty more. Theres different animations based on who the enemy mob is and there are different ones based on the location the glory kill was made. For example being above the enemy, behind them, looking
down on them etc. Glory kills grant frames of invincibility and the fallen enemy drops armor and health regenerations. Last but not least certain areas around the world have a power up which the player can trigger by simply touching it. Once triggered it will stay for a short period of time. The powerups are usually in an obvious place and they
re represented as colorfull power orbs with an aura.
These are:
Berserk(orange)
During Berserk State, the Doomslayer stops using his guns and mellees everything. Each mellee attack turns into a glory kill.
Haste(yellow)
During Haste, the slayer becomes faster on his feet and shoots his weapons faster
Invulnerability(lime green)
As the name suggest, the slayer becomes invulnerable to damage unless its faling of the map.
Quad damage(Purple)
This power up effects the weapons and allow them to deal way more damage than usual.
Thoughts on the Gameplay
I believe that i had a fair ammount of FPS games, like Overwatch and Call of Duty, but none of them felt as satisfying as Doom. The game wants the player to feel the power of the slayer and that is well translated in the game. You go again all these demons that come with different powers and size and yet here you
re destroying them with your guns and hands. Shooting with each gun is satysfying as the damage, shooting speed differ. Its also has a nice pace on how often the slayer receives a new "toy"(gun). Its also worth commenting on the fact that weapon progression is a thing and additional weapon power ups exist for each weapon which differs their style.
Changing the weapon with a tap of a weapon is also clever as it allows the player to use both and not just commit into one. Landing a glory kill is very satisfying and the whole game is all about moving and shooting.
Post Game Content
Upon completing the game once, the player can try to play the main campaign again however there will be new game modes unlocked such as Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare mode. Basically this increases the difficulty to a crazy ammount of challenge. Speaking of challenge, you can always play the game
again and try to perform certain challenge as to use certain weapons or others.
Whilst replaying the campaign/missions, the players can try and obtain all 200 collectibles. The collectables come in multiple forms, some are cosmeticks, some expose lore, some help in game and others award tokens. Each level/mission has an Automap that can be collected which will reveal the map
including the location of certain collectables. The maps have tablets that act as Datalogs which expose the players to more lore and also Elite Guards. The elite guards are UAC elite force dressed in red who fell fighting off the demons. The slayer will receive their datacard which will also reward them with a certain
type of Token that can update/boost the slayer. Around the maps Drones can be discovered that can boost the abilities of certain weapons if collected. Trials and Classic Doom levels/rooms can be discovered that upon completing will unlock the game or give certain boost to the slayer. Last but not least and
my personal favorite is the fact that the Doomguy is a collector himself. Around the levels, he can collect small figurines of himself in different costumes. The player can see these Doomguy figurines in the menu and when selected, they can reveal different in games model. The hero himself, in game looks/models
of the enemies and of the weapons.
Aside from collectable hunting and challenge mode, the players were able to experience for the first time Multiplayer mode. Multiplayer was a fast pace arena shooter where the players had a variety of game modes to go through. First of all Deathmatch had players team together and kill the opponents within a certain time limit.
Freezatag, was a mode where the fallen player was freezed until the teammates helped them or until the whole team was wiped out. Domination is a game mode that had a moving objective and teams had to stay within the zone. Domination was a mode that had different areas and players had to capture them receiving points each time.
Soul harvest was a mode were dead players dropped soul orbs and the players could collect them. All the gamemodes where fast pace with each player having their own 2 weapons of choice equiped. During the game around the map random perks would appear that would allow the heros to collect hack modules that temporarily gave them
perks(like those found in the game) and runes that would allow the slayers to transform into the demons found in game. Last but not least, a slayer customization option was available that would allow everyone to change the look of their slayer.
Last but not the developers allowed players to make levels for the community with the help of SnapMap. This is a level creation tool which allowed players to create edit and modify maps. The developers allowed the players to use in-game assets in order to not only create singleplayer levels but also multiplayer or competitive multiplayer maps.
They were able to place enemies(not bosses) into their maps, and even change their powers, stats and behavior. For those who didnt want to put alot of effort, the gamemode was able to automatically generate enemies for their maps. With every mapcreator game, people were able to share their levels with other players, who could leave a rate.
Keep in mind playing the online experience years after the games release might not be the same, as people would ve most likely moved to Doom Eternal or other FPS, after all the game is almost a decade old.
Sound and Graphics
Doom 2016 is a visually stunning game and it came with brand new visuals which came to be the standard from the series going forward with Eternal and Dark Ages. The world design is nicely done but nothing to praise much as most of them are in the form of following the path and fight on the arena. Despite the level layout not being as impressive as other
parts f the game, it did come with nice background designs and with some nice deisgns on the arena for the battles. Additionally the mob designs are worth praising as the demons from hell look better than ever. Alot of effort went into establishiing the glory kills which as mentioned come with a variaty as theres a plethera animations based on who the glory kill
is being done on and from which angle. Different power ups, ammo and health(shield,med) re easily detected during gameplay. Itt doesnt have many cutscenes, but the lack of them wasnt as noticable.
The music department of this game does not dissapoint. Doom became synonym with metal rock music. Every single level has its own metal instrumental that escorts the chaos the slayer is bringing with him. Despite not being a rythm game, the background OSTs match the vibe 100% as the gameplay is action pack and that genre of music suits it.
The weapon sound effects, the explosives and the demon yells themselves make for a great result. The voice acting does not dissapoint as the delivery of the lines were packed with motion. However, keeping it real, the voice acting is not what this game will be remembered audio wise.
Final Thoughts
Overall Doom 2016 was a successfull reboot that manage to bring the classic formula of the 1990s into this era. As i mentioned, i originally played the game close to Eternal's release and again recently in order to write this review, and i gotta say
the game still holds good. It definetely turned me into a fan of the series, as following the 2016 gameplay i played both Eternal and its Dlcs and im looking forward on reviewing the Dark Ages down the line. Doom 2016, had an interesting narrative which
kept things interesting with its characters and their motives. It ended up with a satisfying ending which also left alot of anticipation for Eternal. Gameplay wise, it brought the classic formula back with the glaze of 2016 standards. Its worth saying that
despite Eternal being out now, this game still feels different and worht experient as depite the slayer being the same, the game philosophy is different. As mentioned, theres a lot of things to do after completing the game in the form of collectables, challenge
runs and SnapMap. The online is not active but there are servers in which you can request members of the community who will be willing to play. Overall, the game established its goal, it brought Doom back from the archives, it was well received from gamers and critics
alike and it sell pretty well.
This is a video with my time with Game
In this video, i recorded myself playing the game. As i finished the game long before writting this, i had to redownload and play the game to remember the game and not mix it with Eternal. Thats why you can see all weapons unlocked and everything.
