Doom hasn’t been in a better place than now since it came out. Both 2016’s Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal were hugely successful with both fans and critics. While we don’t know for sure if id Software is actively working on another game in the series, the truth is that the idea is very attractive.
Therefore, there is a good opportunity to release a mobile prequel. It’s true that most people who rush home from work to boot up their console or PC don’t really appreciate the havoc the mobile market has wreaked, but the thing is, now is the right one time is.
Advertising:
Do you know what’s wrong? What’s so compromising that you question Bethesda’s ability to handle the Doom license? Mighty Doom, the mobile prequel I was talking about, which might offer sporadic entertainment, but is so mired in anti-consumer monetization that it’s really hard to forgive.
Mighty Doom is a twin-stick shooter with roguelike elements, meaning you’ll start over every time you die. Her weapon is a Doom Slayer that fires automatically. All you have to do is move it to hit the myriad demons standing in your way and dodge enemy fire.
I’ll address the few extenuating circumstances first. Mighty Doom has a solid soundtrack built around Mick Gordon’s iconic tones and soundscapes. In addition, the transition to more colorful and “cute” graphics succeeds and the new chibi-style designs of familiar demon types are quite clever.
Well, that’s all the good things I have to say. Let’s see, it’s true that the game is free. It’s worth mentioning as it’s an incentive for you to download it and see what you think. The problem is not that the monetization itself is very provocative, but that the way these systems are implemented discourages the player from…how should I put it, playing.
Advertising:
First off, there’s a wide variety of currency types: energy, coins, specific keys for each of the 8 types of tools you carry, and crystals (some of which can be bought with real money, by the way). Of course, there are also loot boxes that give you faster access to important upgrades. It’s all very confusing and designed to encourage the player to buy in bulk “just in case”.
Not only that, you also have 20 energy and it costs 5 to start a game, so you can’t always play Mighty Doom whenever you want. This is reminiscent of titles like Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery or Dungeon Keeper Mobile. Of course, you can speed up energy regeneration by using crystals, the same currency you need for loot boxes.
Each tool can be upgraded dozens of times and it’s really hard to tell the difference when you’ve only bought a single upgrade for a single tool. So as the game progresses, you get frustrated because Mighty Doom presents you with what is called a “difficulty spike,” a high difficulty increase that seems to be intentionally inserted to force you to buy more premium currency.
Maybe I’m not the best player and I’m certainly not used to mobile controls, but I know twin stick shooters and I know that very soon Mighty Doom will start presenting you waves with too many enemies and increasing the health of the enemies up to such an extent that it seems impossible to complete levels 4 and up (after only a few hours of gameplay) without having to purchase upgrades with real money.
Some enemies like Revenants will shoot grenades at you, Pinkies will run at you or out of sight, and levels can easily start out with 30-40 enemies attacking at once, making them utterly impossible to defeat without installing significant upgrades.
I can’t imagine how long it would take to complete or continuously enjoy Mighty Doom without spending any real money. I haven’t finished it yet, but I feel like I’ve played enough to say that Mighty Doom tarnishes the franchise’s reputation. Not only that, but it’s also a reminder that the mobile market is still a toxic swamp full of ghosts trying to pretend they’re something completely different from what they really are.
Bethesda, you should be ashamed.
