"Tear and shred until it's done," is one of the first sentences that fall in the intro of Doom Eternal and quite aptly summarize what I will experience with this game in the next three hours. Doom Eternal consistently docks on the strengths of its predecessor, which means something like: crazy fast-paced old school action in a contemporary style. Hell yeah!
"Tear and shred until it's done." As these words still echo through my head, I look out of orbit at the earth overrun by demons. The damnation that began on the Mars moon Phobos in 1993 finally reaches the home planet of humanity in Doom Eternal, which is hardly recognizable moments later. The big cities are in ruins, the dimensions of hell are gradually consuming the surface, as if someone had cut open the intestines of the planet, which are now spilling out of the wounds and bubbling on his face like a purulent pimple.
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60 percent of the people have already fallen victim to the apocalypse. So that the other 40 do not experience the same fate, we shoulder the rifle and chainsaw (the iconic Doom weapon is actually available after a few seconds in the tutorial) and start looking for the powerful demon priests who … oh no matter the story completely careless. We tear and shred!
hell of Earth
The first level of Doom Eternal is visually reminiscent of the Darksiders apocalypse – ruins of houses and car wrecks everywhere – but in a version that would also be suitable as a cover for a heavy metal album. Unmistakable and from the very first moment Doom: blood, intestines, skull symbolism, the bodies of tortured creatures crammed together in spiky cages …
However, the second level of the game no longer looks earthly at all, certainly not “hellish”, but on the contrary, like the derogatory counterpart to it: Exultia, as the name of the place is, is virtually “heaven on earth”, one city floating on clouds, whose buildings with turquoise domed roofs are reminiscent of the Italian architecture of the Star Wars planet Naboo. Level 3 then sends us to the Arctic, where snow and ice form a clinking contrast to the lava caves that we crossed on the way there.
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Doom Eternal visually creates its alternation through extremes that clap each other whenever there is a risk of becoming monotonous. At one point, I imagine myself in a dead end in front of a huge demon carcass, which Godzilla itself should be a few heads taller. When I want to turn around again, a thought comes to me which I initially think is incredible and therefore let myself be stammered for a moment like Louis de Funès: “No, yes, oh, now, but not really, oh my god, actually ! “I blow a hole in the demon's body and continue my way through his intestines, down the esophagus into his stomach, past his heart, through his intestines and… sometime out on the other side… What a madman Trip this game is!
Clever stupidity
The gameplay of Doom is just as uncompromising as his look: rather direct and with a start in the face, rather than just a moment shy, rather three floors over the top than a second meekly. At first glance so dull that you only realize at second how the third eye winks ironically that you don't take everything so seriously.
Because although Doom Eternal may initially appear as if the 90s are calling in the background and want their gameplay back, it is probably the most modern nostalgia experience you can currently experience, precisely because it is actually none: old school but not old-fashioned, contemporary but no frills, simple but demanding, demanding without overwhelming, nostalgic but not retro, modern but not trendy, conservative and yet unadjusted. If the 90s really called, it was only because they secretly wanted that gameplay back then.
Because Doom Eternal shooter action is reduced to the essentials: Id Software deliberately whistles on all the new-fashioned bells and whistles, such as sneaking around, exploring or even an open world, on everything that could distract from the real thing that is only important: the pure action. In a way, Doom Eternal is a heavy metal song that has become playful: At first, it is just loud and monotonous, but if you listen more closely, you will recognize the craftsmanship, the subtle nuances in the tension arc and the emotional force that tears into a frenzy.
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The developers affectionately refer to this game principle as a "shooter puzzle" and their genre as a "power battler". What that means? In Doom, the focus is on pure shooting, which alone, however, promises little success. Instead of just being stubborn, the right approach for every situation counts. Each enemy type has its specific Achilles' heel, which has to be found out in order to switch to superiority in the fight against it: The flying blobs, for example, which actually only consist of a ravenous mouth, can be defeated with pure force of arms, but it is easier it, you throw a grenade in their throat, where they "explosively choke". Enemies with shields fend off most of your projectiles, but with the plasma cannon you take cover from their hands and leave them naked.
If an opponent is shot, he can be torn to pieces in an effective finisher, which practically also refills your health or ammunition and is therefore tactically necessary so as not to bleed out. In this way, Doom quickly creates a frenzy in which the brain and hand accelerate their activity to the speed of light: pumping enemies with lead, finishing, changing weapons, firing a rocket, picking up ammunition, throwing grenades, chopping three enemies simultaneously with the chainsaw – at some point you only act instinctively and out of the corner of your eye, because everything is in one flow, in which conscious thinking only stops.
The levels of Doom Eternal are structured like linked battle arenas. Only when you have finished all the opponents in one section will you continue in the next – a bit like in Serious Sam, which already in the 00s sniffed 90s nostalgia. This time, the areas are much more spacious than in the predecessor and both in their structure and in their hypnotic speed are reminiscent of the multiplayer shooters of the late 90s such as Unreal Tournament or Quake 3 Arena. After two to three hours, a hint of monotony creeps in, but that's basically the only negative that can be said about Doom Eternal at the moment.
Might as well jump!
The fact that Doom Eternal is serious and yet incomparably ironic with his ode to the shooters of the 90s can be seen most clearly in a game mechanics that for good reason has been almost completely banned from the genre since it really doesn't belong there: Skill and jump passages. After all, word should have gotten around after the final level of Half-Life 1 at the latest: precisely fitting jumping in first-person perspective NERVT just ANIMAL !!
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But Id Software deliberately whistles on all conventions and rules of the genre, as if to mockingly demonstrate to you that the king and inventor of the genre need not stick to such trends. On the contrary, Id Software seems to want to say provocatively to all other developers: "Nothing is shit per se if you just do it right."
In some moments, Doom Eternal even plays astonishingly similar to the daring Jedi acrobatic scenes in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (which were also inspired by a game from the 90s, namely Tomb Raider) – only in the otherwise for such tricks rather unsuitable ego perspective. I jump onto a platform, which immediately threatens to sink into the lava beneath it. Therefore, it goes on to a wall in no time at all, to which I cling, like Kratos climbing up, from where I take a courageous jump to a beam, where I can swing and save myself up through the air to the safe mainland.
The cool new gameplay trailer for DOOM Eternal also reveals a few additional details about the story.
These passages require considerable skill and timing, and I confess that I died of them much more often than I did the demon enemies. Still, I'm surprised at how precise and easy they are. When I die, it is because I made a mistake, was too careless or unfocused, and not because of the controls or unfair game design.
On the contrary, these scenes demonstrate that climbing and jumping passages in modern third-person games basically only exist as contemplative breaks from the action, and not because of the challenge. Doom Eternal, on the other hand, is a game of breathlessness, not breathing. Next time I call the 90s, I'll tell them about it. You will be proud of yourself.
