Doom (2016) Review

I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say that the original two Doom games are the source of some of my fondest gaming memories. Revolutionary for the time, Doom 1 and 2 ushered in a whole new genre of video games and created shock-waves through the industry that can still be felt today.

It stands to reason then that when Doom 3 was announced, nearly 10 years after the release of Doom 2, the hype levels were off the charts. While Doom 3 was a technical landmark, and a good game in it’s own right, it failed to satisfy the desires of many Doom fans like myself, who were hoping for an experience that would hearken back to the golden era of first person shooters.

Little did I know, that I would have to wait another 12 long years to get what I personally consider to be the true successor to Doom 1 and 2. Simply called “Doom”, the 2016 reboot of the franchise release promised to deliver what Doom fans had been waiting for since 1994. Does it deliver? Let’s find out

Story

Like Doom 1 and 2, and in stark contrast to Doom 3, Doom 2016 puts little emphasis on the story. This is not to say that a story doesn’t exist, it just doesn’t get in your face. There are a few cut-scenes here and there, but most of the game’s lore is told through an optional menu that you can peruse at your own leisure, or skip entirely.

Do you want to pour over all the details of the game’s backstory? Or would you rather skip it all and shoot demons? The choice is yours.

Gameplay

If I had to sum up the gameplay of Doom 2016 in one phrase, it would be “Fun over Logic”. The developers brilliantly blended the best gameplay elements of the last 20 years, while wisely tossing out the common FPS tropes that just don’t make sense.

Here’s an example, whenever you’re running low on health, instead of scrounging for a med-pack, you can stagger an enemy and perform a “glory kill”. A short and gruesome animation plays out, followed by health pickups spewing out of your victim’s body. Does this make sense from a logic standpoint? No way. Does it make sense from a gameplay standpoint? Absolutely. It keeps the momentum up and encourages the player to fight aggressively.

Here’s another example, when you’re running low on ammo, you can chainsaw an enemy, and they will literally explode into a pile of ammunition. Again, this makes no sense from a realism viewpoint, but it keeps the pacing of the game up, and avoids the tedious searching for ammo that you would encounter in other modern FPSs.

Oh, and did I mention, there’s no weapon reloading, no sprint button (you’re always sprinting), and no regenerative health? Yeah, this is an old school shooter at it’s core, and it’s fantastic.

Graphics/Performance

ID Software said that their goal with Doom 2016 was to make the best looking game running at 1080p/60fps. I would wholeheartedly agree and say that they achieved this goal with flying colors. I played on PS4, and I can safely say that Doom is one of the most gorgeous looking games to date.

The super high quality textures, animation, and post-processing effects rarely caused the game to dip below the coveted 60fps mark. I can only imagine what the game would look like running on a PC at 4k.

Multiplayer

It’s…there, and it seems ok. Honestly, I didn’t play too much, I’m no longer at the age where I find it enjoyable to be killed by a bunch of 15 year old kids 100 times in a row. What I saw was competent, if not inspiring.