My Thoughts on Doom

As someone who wasn’t alive when Doom and Doom 2 were all the “Rage” (sorry) I’ve forever been trying to catch up on them. I got around to playing through the first game and a significant chunk of the second before something newer and shinier caught my eye and I never went back to it. Plus I thought Doom 3 was actually pretty good even if saying so is considered blasphemy to most fans.

Doom i.e. Doom 4 is a game that knows exactly what you want from it and it wastes no time letting you have it. Within a minute of starting the campaign, you’ll be blasting the heads off of some shambling zombie types before storming off on your grisly quests to maim, stomp and tear your way through an assortment of mindless demons until they are sufficiently pulverised into a fine paste. Why? Because you’re Doomguy and that’s just what Doomguy does. He’s a busy man with little time or concern for preamble or unavoidable exposition and he wants you to know this as he punches a TV monitor off its stand just because the man on the screen dared to fill in some backstory.

Thankfully, most of the plot here is completely optional as you can storm passed a majority of the exposition spouting holograms or just choose not to pick up the various documents scattered throughout the missions. Honestly, I would recommend opting out as it’s not really something worth bothering about and the game is fully aware of that.

It’s all about that fast-paced, non-stop arena style gameplay and if that’s what you’re looking for then Doom is right up your alley. When I say that the action is non-stop I’m not exaggerating. It really is just 12 hours of shooting demons in the face with a punchy arsenal whilst circle strafing around enemies and occasionally backpedalling furiously to avoid any balls of fire that may be heading your way. Said arsenal is diverse but I found that the super shotgun is just flat out the best weapon for most encounters meaning that I all too often ended up treating the other weapons as placeholders whilst I went on the hunt for some shotgun shells. That being said none of the other weapons are bad per se, it’s just that in most encounters you’ll be face to face with enemies so the use of a ridiculously powerful shotgun makes more sense than say… the light tickle of a plasma gun.

Weapons can all be upgraded with attachments of different kinds. Some are more interesting than others, the assault rifle gets mini rapid fire rockets whilst the super shotgun unlocks the use of its second barrel… um cool. Your suit can also be upgraded but honestly they’re all a bit dull. Lots of stuff like the ability to climb ledges or swap weapons slightly faster. There are also the obligatory health, shield and equipment upgrades, it’s all terribly exciting.

As you progress you may spot the odd rune hovering about. Basically, they’re small challenges that, if beaten will award you with a presumably smaller rune that gives you an ability or a buff of some kind. These too can also be upgraded by crossing off the relevant prerequisite. It’s often a case of killing X amount of demons in an irritatingly specific manner or hoovering up a bunch of ammo whilst having the required rune equipped.

Anyone predisposed to a bit of the old ultraviolence will surely find the glory kill system to their liking. From watching previews I grew worried that they may hinder the fast paced combat and become repetitive. However, I found that they didn’t really break my flow, instead serving a few useful functions. The first being that they act as a means of recuperating health and armour and the second being the second or so of invulnerability that the animation grants. That moment of rest is very welcome because man, this game is fast.

Levels are often huge and full of secrets with multiple objectives to track down. Aesthetically they’re all a bit bland and after a while, it becomes hard to tell missions apart as the majority are all so visually indistinct. That being said, they are a ton of fun to kill demons in so mission accomplished I guess. Environments feel refreshingly gamey as if they were designed for fun gameplay first and foremost. In a lot of games, it feels like the player is plonked into the game world as an afterthought but that isn’t the case here. Arenas feel like arenas and not demon living space.

It all runs at a mostly smooth 60 fps and looks pretty damn good whilst doing so on Playstation 4. In terms of bugs and glitches, I did experience a few. One caused me to get stuck and then all of a sudden it granted me the power to walk above the map which was fun until I realised that I couldn’t get back down again. The other issue was with the audio where background noise would sometimes cut out entirely, requiring a console restart to fix. Altogether though these minor problems could easily be addressed with a patch.

Dooms multiplayer component caused a bit of a fuss when the beta eventually opened to the public. Many were very vocal about their dislike for the custom loadouts and general slowness of the gameplay when compared to classic Doom action. There is a fairly bog standard assortment of modes available, nothing really worthy of note. The only thing that I actively disliked were the demons buffs. Running into even the worst of players when they were a demon would almost always result in my untimely demise. That is unless my team pulled together to fight it but let’s be honest how often does that happen in any console TDM mode.

As someone who participated in both the alpha and the beta I can say that not much has changed in the final version so if you weren’t a fan back then; well, you aren’t going to be a fan now. And whilst it is enjoyable in short bursts I can’t really see many sticking around for long. This is mainly due to it feeling like a hodgepodge of other modern multiplayer games rather than its own thing. Ultimately, it’s a pretty inoffensive offering that will probably keep most folk entertained for at least a few hours.

SnapMap is a surprisingly accessible level editor that, like every other level editor will be wholly reliant on the community and their extended efforts over the coming months. The maps created by the devs have some neat little ideas such as a giant playable piano and a memory game. But whilst those missions are nice and gimmicky the most promising aspect of this mode is the ability to, in theory, have a substantial amount of user-generated combat missions for players to enjoy long after they’ve tired of the campaign. SnapMaps biggest drawback is the fact that maps are limited to 4 players meaning that there is little scope for user made multiplayer maps. The addition of which would have made this mode truly special.

If for whatever reason you plan on buying Doom for the multiplayer and SnapMap offerings: first I would ask why? And secondly, I would say probably not to bother. But honestly, who is putting down the £40 for those modes when it’s really all about the campaign.

Overall I’d say Doom offers the best single-player FPS campaign I’ve played since Wolfenstein: The New Order. Whilst it’s not quite as smart or as memorable a game as Wolfenstein it excels in similar areas. Both treat their predecessors with respect whilst also carving out their own identity, managing to adapt the formula without losing touch with what made it great in the first place. There is nothing obtuse about its gameplay systems or structure, it is pure straight to the point, unbridled fun that will surely quench any fans thirst for the classic arena shooters of yore. If Uncharted 4 isn’t your thing and you’re wise enough to give the new Homefront a wide berth (at least until the reviews are out) then I’d say pick this one up.