“I came here to chew bubblegum and kickass. And I’m all out of gum”. That was a line used in the 1980s classic film They Live, which was eventually used in the classic first person shooter Duke Nukem 3D. Why do I bring this phrase up? There was a time where the main goal of first person shooters was to make the player feel as badass as possible. No quick time events, no heavy amounts of storytelling, and not so many restrictions during gameplay. It was just the player, an array of guns, and hordes of enemies standing between them and their goal. Shooters back there aren’t as complicated or deep as shooters today, but they were really easy to get into. There was Duke Nukem 3D, No One Lives Forever, Blood, Quake, and the legend. That legend being one of the most influential games of all time. The one that would start the first person shooter genre, increase the competition in the video game market, show that violence in video games was acceptable, and stand out as a classic. Developed by Id Software and published on MS-DOS in 1993 was the legendary, ungodly banger that was Doom.
It was a simple game about a man fighting through the forces of the army. The game took place from a first person perspective which was something new for video games. The combat was extremely addicting and the campaign stretched across four episodes which was enough to make Doom a game almost everyone needed to play. Doom was so popular for it’s time that colleges and businesses had to ban the game due to all the workers getting distracted. Bill Gates even wanted to buy the rights to Doom and Id Software, but instead the two companies made a deal to advertise Windows 95 using the highly popularized Doom. Fun fact: Doom sold more copies than the amount of disks used to download Windows 95. The game was ahead of its time and would later get a sequel that offered more of what people loved. It didn’t innovate, but it was more fun for everyone. Years later there was Doom 3 which received a divided audience and after that not much else. No plans for a Doom 4 and Id Software went silent.
During that empty period of time we started to get slower shooters like Half-Life, Halo, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, etc. These games went on to revolutionize the video game industry and how first person shooters worked, but they slowly started to drift away from the energetic design philosophy Doom set up in 1993. No longer were you running around at full speed and putting your skills to test using whatever you had on hand. "How about a two weapon restriction? Regenerating health, slow movement speed, cover based shooting, and much more?? A few games like Half-Life and Halo didn’t go all in with these modern design trends, but around the 2010s the genre went knee deep into this slower pace design philosophy. Every shooter started to feel the same and it wasn’t fun at that point. These games made fat loads of cash, but there wasn’t any heart put into them. The newer design philosophy started to become generic, which is ironic because older FPS titles were considered generic before we move on to this phase. Doom had now become a distant memory and it seemed shooters like it would never return to see the light of day. That was until a massive reveal back in 2014.
Bethesda bought Id Software and released Wolfenstien: The New Order in 2014, which was a reboot of one of their famed shooters. Reception for The New Order was mostly positive, and the success of The New Order showed shooters with the older design philosophy still had their audience. After the success of The New Order, Id Software got to work on Doom 4. However, they were conflicted with how Doom 4 should turn out. Should they go back to the series roots or follow the trends of other shooters? They decided to take the risk and make something more in tone to the original Doom. When they revealed gameplay for the new Doom, reception was kind of mixed. Everyone was so used to the modern trends of shooters that they were confused with what Doom was trying to offer. They even complained the gameplay looked slow and that it needed to be amped up. So Id Software decided to listen to the criticism and made a faster game. Doom 4 which was then renamed to the original was set to be released in 2016. Everyone was expecting this game to flop, but by some miracle it didn’t. The new Doom ended up kicking ass. It kicked ass so hard that it drank the tears of it's rivals.
Could this be it? Could this be the fun shooters have been lacking the past five years? If so then give us more! Doom (2016), which is what a majority of people call it, is one of the most well acclaimed shooters in recent memory. Nominated for a good handful of awards and some critics considered it Game of The Year. It was a masterpiece in FPS design and it wasn’t until a year after release that I sank my teeth into. Doom (2016) is such an amazing game and I’m still playing it to this day for it's awesome combat loop. Doom Eternal got announced last year and is being set to release in a few months. So I finally thought it was time to talk about the king. Today we’ll be talking about why I love Doom (2016) and why it deserves your attention. Rip and tear until it is done.
Story
We wake up in a dark lit room. There is machinery around us and blood soils the floor below. We are chained down to what seems to be a sarcophagus and a zombie heads straight towards us. It’s getting ready to bite our brains out but we break free of our chains, grab it’s head, and slam its face against the sarcophagus crushing it like a watermelon. We pick up a pistol lying on the floor and kill the other undead monsters around us. The lab then powers up and we find a hologram containing the recording of a bunch of scientists. They were researching the sarcophagus and it looks like they knew you were in it. A strange woman was leading these scientists and they were all worshipping you. The lab doors open up and you find a green suit displayed in the next room. It seems to be made for a skilled fighter, and when we touch the chest plate we get flashing images showing us some important hellish items. They are just images we don’t understand and we soon strap on what is to become our durable Praetor Suit.
We then get a call from a mysterious man named Samuel Hayden. He knows who we are and states we are capable of slaying the many demons within the facility. We don’t listen to the rest of his message, but we do pick up a combat shotgun and gun our way through a room of demons. We find an elevator which takes us out of the lab and we are then called again by Hayden. He reveals he is the head scientist at UAC, a group of researchers who are conducting experiments on Mars. Earth is facing an energy crisis and they need to locate a new power source. They discovered ancient portals on Mars that lead to other dimensions, one of which was literally hell, and they found a new power source which they named Argent Energy. Harvested from the deep depths of hell. They know the place is infested with demons, so they have been taking things safely by harvesting the energy in a way so they don’t rip open a huge tear.
Olivia Pierce, one of the scientists who works for Samuel Hayden, is against what he is doing and thinks the forces of hell could be used for her own bidding. Suddenly a tear is opened and demons begin to flood the complex. Some of the UAC members are transformed into demons and those who weren’t were slaughtered by whatever came out the other side. Demons have taken over Mars and it’s up to you to stop them. You are the legendary Doom Slayer, a warrior who has been renowned for saving countless generations by killing any or all demons that stood up against the human race. You rise up onto the surface of Mars and it’s time to get to work. It’s killing time.
Gameplay
Doom (2016) doesn’t play like most average shooters these days. It goes back to the old school design of the originals and offers some of the most fast based combat in recent memory. There are no stealth elements, no weapon reloading, no regenerating health, no limited movement, and no two weapon restriction. It’s just you darting around and killing everything you see. There is no basic walk and run speed, just constant running. You gain a double jump later on and your traversal skills are expanded further. There are a total of eight guns to unlock and a wide selection of demons to stand in your way.
Each demon comes with their own strengths, weaknesses, and fights in their own way. Imps will toss fireballs from afar and run around easily, but are even deadlier up close due to their sharp claws. Hell Knights aren’t long range fights, but they will try to run up to you and unleash hard hitting blows. The Revenants will fly around and fire missiles from afar. The Cacodemon will float around in midair and spit fireballs at you. The big fat Manchubus, exploding Lost Souls, colossal Barons of Hell, etc. If you look at it from a certain view point, Doom (2016) is about prioritization. New enemies will spawn into the battlefield and you have to determine who to kill first. What enemies will bother you the most or cause the most trouble? Do you take down the stronger demons first or focus on the weaker ones who are trying to overwhelm you from multiple directions.
The guns you have are all unique, each with their own tradeoffs. The Combat Shotgun has a decent range and is easy to fire. However, compare it to the Super Shotgun which has a shorter range and consumes twice as much ammo for each shot, but is more powerful capable of one shotting basic demons like Imps up close. The Plasma Rifle fires in quick succession and has a bigger hitbox compared to the Heavy Assault Rifle which is good for long distance and suppressing fire. The Rocket Launcher deals heavy amounts of damage, but is risky to use up close or in tight spaces. The Gauss Cannon uses up a lot of plasma ammo, but can is good at sniping foes from long range if you can land the shot. The Chaingun quickly consumes ammo, but can dish out tons of damage within seconds. Then there’s the BFG 9000, the gun that can kill everything.
The Chainsaw is back too, but it serves a new purpose rather than being a melee weapon. You can cut an enemy in half with it, killing them instantly. Stronger foes will require more chainsaw fuel, so use it wisely. When you saw them in half they pour out mass amounts of ammo, so technically the chainsaw is what you use when you are low on supplies. When enemies are weakened they will enter a stunned state and glow blue for a small window of time. If you are close they will then glow orange meaning they are ready for a glory kill. The glory kill is a fancy animation where you rip demons apart with your bare fists. They drop a small amount of health points which restores your health. If the player is low on health then all you have to do is glory kill a few guys. So you have two risky melee options that can give you the supplies you need to keep fighting, which is a genius design choice. If not, there are also one use health pickups and ammo scattered around arenas. Armor pickups can offer you extra defense before it affects your main health bar. Then there are power ups which give you a special buff. From being able to instantly glory kill enemies rapidly to quadrupling gun damage.
Combat isn’t the only thing Doom (2016) is focused on. There are drones in each level which will give the Slayer mods for his weapons. These mods may either be over a powerful attack or secondary firing mode. The Micro Missile Launcher allows the Heavy Assault Rifle to shoot a small barrage of missiles that attaches to an enemy and blows up immediately. The Rocket Launcher has lock on missiles or remote detonation. Each gun has two mods which you can switch between, but you can only have one equipped at a time. There are Praetor Suit points which upgrade the physical capabilities of your suit, Runes that give the Slayer a special perk, and weapon upgrade points. They don’t increase the efficiency of your guns, but instead increase the efficiency of their mods. You’re just going to end up investing in the one mod you use the most and sometimes these weapon upgrade points are gifted to you for your performance in a stage. That’s all I really have to say. The game is really fun and the core combat loop doesn’t get repetitive. Hopefully you can send the demons back to where they came.
Thoughts
Doom (2016) is an amazing shooter that every gamer needs to play. Now some modern shooter fans may have a getting into Doom (2016), but who cares if it’s different from the ten or so Call of Duty games? It’s different, it is old school, and it reminds us what every video game should be. Fun. Fun is the main factor that should be in every game. Doom (2016) isn’t a story focused game, but that’s what separates Doom (2016) from the crowd. John Carmack one time said this phrase, “Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It’s expected to be there but it isn’t all that important”. It’s great to get a deep compelling story in our games, but sometimes what you occasionally need is to be thrown into the action and start having fun. Combat in Doom (2016) works incredibly well and every element clicks together to make a combat loop addicting. Every gun serves it's use, every enemy and group placement requires a different strategy, and the layout of each arena has their advantages and disadvantages. Doom (2016) never slows itself down and always keeps you moving forward to the next major arena.
The graphics and world of Doom (2016) are pretty detailed, and the art direction is an aspect I like about Doom (2016). The demons have this nice mixture between sci-fi and horror. I would consider Doom (2016) to have light sci-fi horror, and the only other game I can think of that does it as well is Prey (2017). Another game I should talk about some day. There is a fair bit of lore to be found and it's really intriguing. Soundtrack absolutely slaps as Mick Gordon delivers sick rifts that keep you going during combat. The game rewards player mastery and it is satisfying when you start to feel like a badass. While the campaign is roughly seven hours long it is a good run time. There is a fair amount of replay value with all the collectibles dotted around, extra difficulty modes which makes the game more challenging, and even more features like an arcade mode which tests your metal. Doom (2016) also contains a multiplayer mode and reception for it isn't the best. That's probably one of few flaws this game has, but I wouldn't say it's terrible. Reason why I don't dive into it any further is because I'm trying to review mainly the campaign, which is this game's main selling point and reason to go and buy it.
Doom (2016) is an incredibly well made game and I don’t really have much to complain about. Any complaints I do have are minor nitpicks which don't hold the game back too much. Some weapon mods are hit or miss and most likely you’ll stick to the one that deal more damage easily rather than scope in on enemies. In a game where you are bouncing around like a pinball I don’t think you want to stop and nose scope. That’s all I really have to complain about, because it’s hard to deny that Doom (2016) is absolutely f*cking awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fast paced first person shooter that rewards them for skill and mastery, and for those who are fans of older shooters they may have a wonderful trip diving into the newest iteration of Doom. I’m praying that Id Software does a great job with Doom Eternal and that it lives up tothe high expectations set. I am giving Doom (2016) a 9.5/10 for excellence at best.
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