Intro
As we move into the final months of 2024 I'm fully steeped in my newfound obsession with all things Doom. Having recently completed the Master Levels for Doom II and as I work on my next mission of completing Final Doom, I'm occasionally taking breaks with a different flavor of Doom goodness: 2016's DOOM.
As of writing I am around seven-ish hours into the game (which excludes time spent adjusting settings) and have seven of the thirteen levels completed on Hurt Me Plenty difficulty. I'm taking my time going through the stages on my first time through to see the sights and explore the maps, although there are plenty of secrets I've missed so far.
Knowing vaguely what I have to look forward to coming up, I'd say that I'm solidly halfway through my first playthrough of the game, and already I know I'm going to be returning for a second and probably third. That should clue you in to what I'm generally feeling about DOOM 2016.
Here's where I'm at with the first entry of nu-Doom, in no particular order.
What I enjoyed from Rage 2, DOOM serves more readily
I actually played and completed 2019's Rage 2 several years back, a game made collaboratively between Avalanche Studios and id Software. I don't consider Rage 2 to be an excellent game, but rather a passable game with excellent combat. Now skipping ahead in time (and yet backwards in release date) and pretty much everything I enjoyed about Rage 2's gameplay is present in concentrated form in DOOM.
Combat encounters seem even better-crafted and finely tuned thanks to DOOM's more controlled and (relatively) more linear structure. The ease of control and accessibility of all your moment-to-moment gameplay options is still here, which makes me realize just how little id needed to change to help craft the gunplay of Rage 2, where your character abilities and weapons options feel like an extension of yourself, the player. My takeaway after beating Rage 2 was wishing that the game were just the fights and none of the open world, and while DOOM doesn't fulfill that wish to the letter, it's significantly more focused of a game and benefits greatly from it.
That said, I think I like the pistol from Rage 2 more than DOOM's. In fact, I really don't like DOOM's pistol at all. Here's hoping that after I collect more weapon upgrades I can make it more enjoyable to use.
DOOM is Doom, sort of
Setting the record straight first: I like DOOM (2016), and might even love it. But a mixture of the immense hype surrounding the game and my own preconceived notions about what a modern Doom game "should" be means that my first hour of DOOM was, while enjoyable, mixed together with some disappointment as I started to get a feel for what the game wanted to be, and what it didn't.
This really isn't much of the actual game's fault, and I commend it for having a strong and clear sense of identity. DOOM wants to be 2016's DOOM, not 1993's, 1994's, or 1995's. It's a product of contemporary id Software: of the id that had not only made the Quake games, but also Doom 3 and Rage. Despite its name, DOOM 2016 isn't just a Doom game, it's an id Software game, with all the experience, precedent, and context that it pulls with it.
Okay, personal feelings time. The first hour or so of DOOM was disappointing twofold. I was disappointed that the game didn't live up to the image of the mythical "perfect follow-up to classic Doom" that I've heard about and silently hoped for; and then I was disappointed that I was disappointed. Like, obviously it wouldn't live up to all of the exaggerated hype, but I was sad that I wasn't practically bouncing in my seat and freaking out over every little reference to the classic games in a way never-before-seen. I was eager and ready to be blown away and I wasn't, but that doesn't detract from the fact that DOOM is still a great game. I just think it's a disservice to both games to oversimplify DOOM 2016 as a successor.
Instead DOOM is, in my eyes, best treated as a younger sibling of classic Doom. There are plenty of aspects of the gameplay, pacing, and structure of classic Doom that you just won't find in 2016's DOOM. But that also works vice versa. The newer game has chosen to forge its own path in so many aspects that it's in many ways completely distinct and almost unrecognizable when compared to older entries in the series. Coming to terms and respecting the decision to reimagine Doom in a modern way rather than obsessively chase after replicating the old, classic experience is probably the key to enjoying it for what it brings to the table.
This is also why I can play a couple hours of Doom II and then immediately jump into DOOM 2016 without any real sense of fatigue--they're thoroughly different games.
Classic Doom makes great prep for DOOM and its rhythm
To counterbalance the above, I would also firmly state that DOOM 2016 is definitely enhanced by playing the classic games prior. And no, not just to get all the "point at the screen pogging" references. I mean that DOOM's rhythm of exploration, platforming, and combat which sometimes alternates and sometimes overlaps is complemented by a familiarity and level of comfort with how classic Doom plays. Finding alternate paths, uncovering secrets, and analyzing each combat encounter for short- and long-term consequences are all high-level concepts that you can carry over from classic Doom and benefit from in spades. The specific ways that these concepts are applied across old- and nu-Doom are night and day in terms of differences, but at a high level they still share common ancestry.
The more labyrinthine and deliberately-paced maps in Thy Flesh Consumed and the latter half of Doom II prepared me for some of the quieter moments of DOOM, allowing me to take them as opportunities to regroup, gain resources, explore, and take in the atmosphere, rather than a frustrating roadblock to the visceral and satisfying combat. It's always a little sad when a Gore Nest or ambush combat challenge ends and all the demons are dead, but that's tempered by the reassurance that I'm now allowed to explore and prepare for the next confrontation.
I think that if DOOM 2016 were my first ever Doom game, I'd be much less receptive to these at times drawn-out breaks in the action. I won't call them "downtime" because these periods still ask for you to be engaged. It's not the often-boring "point A to point B" commute that you run into with overly-large-yet-barren open world games (another chance to mention Rage 2). You are consistently rewarded for actively engaging with the level design, which coils and weaves into itself to make backtracking and navigation a little puzzle as you uncover caches of health, armor, ammo, and a variety of different upgrades (not to mention other collectibles and Rune Trials).
From the first seven of thirteen levels so far the rhythm of DOOM 2016 feels like a sine wave with deeper troughs of calm and higher crests of action, where transitioning from one to the other feels like moving from one distinct state to another. Classic Doom generally tends to mix its navigation challenges with combat together, and enemy encounters will happen more frequently, many small ones and some larger scenarios to add an exclamation point to a given map. I tend to play classic Doom with a near-constant state of tension and readiness to fight, while DOOM so far has a more clear split between combat and non-combat; the enemy encounters are larger and take longer to really punctuate the combat high, then give you ample time to breathe as you head to your next objective.
DOOM 2016 needs you to go with its flow
Hurt Me Plenty is no slouch when it comes to difficulty, especially on the first playthrough. The struggle to progress from a fresh character to a more upgraded one as you make your way through the game's stages really necessitates an eye for the collectibles to make sure you're equipped for the ramping up challenge you have to look forward to in each subsequent stage.
The fewer upgrades you have, the less leeway you have to make mistakes. On the first playthrough, DOOM 2016 does not give you too much forgiveness for sloppy play. Combat challenges will often kill you if you try to phone it in; each encounter will usually have a specific intended solution and clearing that encounter usually hinges on your ability to understand what the scenario asks of you and executing it.
I'm a fan of games that discourage cheesy strategies and incentivize proper play, which is usually the most fun way to play. The enemy and encounter design of DOOM 2016 is a form of this, with certain weapons and fighting methods obviously preferred due to how each of the enemy cast moves, reacts, and resists certain damage. Thing is, I'm not sure if I love how this is done, and it makes a foundationally very flexible combat system feel just a bit stiff. I understand that it gives each weapon and weapon mod in your arsenal some added significance because of how they each match up against certain enemies, but in practice it's a mixed bag in my book. Mostly good and very rational design decisions that sometimes make me feel like I'm having a little less fun. Here's some examples of what I'm talking about. ⚠️ Gameplay spoilers for enemy design.
- Possessed Security, aka shield guys, have an energy shield that's both durable and quick to recharge. Instead of wasting ammo trying to break the shield, you should get around that shield by either maneuvering yourself, waiting for the enemy to move its shield to the side for a clearer shot, or using splash damage. The EMP-like Stun Bomb on the Plasma Rifle can nullify the shield easily.
- Mancubi have a primary weak spot on their stomach and can also be effectively damaged with shots to the head or back.
- (I actually had to look this one up because I had mistakenly thought that Mancubi just had damage reduction to impact weaponry save for headshots, and that explosive damage was the primary intended way to fight them. This isn't quite correct, as seen above.)
- Summoners teleport and/or dash around while mostly-invisible, leaving telltale red trails in their wake. Weaponry that has travel time / arming time such as grenades (both Equipment grenades and shotgun-mounted) and rockets will likely miss without a direct hit or other way to trigger explosions early or have hard lock-on.
- Pinkies are practically Zelda enemies now--stubby demon boars with thick frontal armor that charge you in a straight line. The obvious solution is to dodge the charge and attack their unarmored back side, but you can also deal decent frontal damage using either Gauss Cannon piercing or explosive splash damage.
Again, I expect and even appreciate a certain level of friction when playing a game in a suboptimal way, or in a way that wasn't ideally desired by the designers. I just personally feel that the level of friction that DOOM 2016 pushes you back with sometimes can take some of the fun out of what could otherwise be some pretty frenetic and freeform action. I'll compare this to classic Doom where enemies and designed encounters will usually have an intended solution, but those solutions feel more broad and less strict. Chaingunners behind metal bars are probably best addressed by some form of impact weapon but you can still easily dispatch them with others--and at times that might be the preferred method if you want splash damage for AOE kills. Archvile in a narrow room might mean the Super Shotgun could be a good way to fit more DPS in during peekaboo while avoiding the flame attack, but you could still fight using the Plasma Gun or Chaingun no problem. Pain Elementals have multiple strategies depending on the distance of the engagement and what other enemies you have around. You could rely on a rapid-fire weapon to take advantage of stun, use a (Super) Shotgun at close range, or risk the Rocket Launcher for that delicious splash damage.
In my opinion, playing by DOOM 2016's rules is a must if you want your first run of the game to feel manageable. It's a fair ask for the game to have, and the benefit of going with the game's desired flow is some very satisfying combat. However, stray too far from the stream and waters get choppy, and that's a shame when the armory and movement options you're given make me eager to experiment and self-express through the combat. DOOM 2016 is a game where if it feels overly difficult, you're probably playing it wrong. And I can't help but feel a twinge of regret at making that conclusion.
Still, the positive reviews are right
I have my complaints, but DOOM 2016 lives up to the heaps of praise it's received. It looks great, sounds amazing, and most importantly plays well. Control is smooth and accessible, and movement and combat will feel like second nature even as upgrades add complexity along with more options. When broken down into a checklist of criteria for a proverbial "video game" as an entertainment product, DOOM 2016 ticks all the boxes. I don't want to come across as a malcontent or overly cynical, because DOOM 2016 is still great, and many of the issues I personally have with the game, I hope to smooth over or adapt to on the second, and hopefully third and fourth playthrough.
I would reasonably guess that many of my challenges from the prior header will be addressed as I replay levels with more upgrades, better stage/enemy knowledge, and an overall better handle on how DOOM 2016 plays, and wants you to play. I want to learn to love DOOM 2016, and what it brings to the table, more. Hoping that the journey there is uphill from hereon out.