Doom (2016) Game Review

When the classic doomer shooter returned, and back to it's former glory (unlike Doom 3's survival horror), me and so many other gamers were over the moon with excitement and anticipation. Doom (2016) released with huge success, reviving the love of former fans, who had missed it's epic gameplay and intense shootouts. The game was everything the original used to be, but with a new coat of HD paint and a few new additional features to stop the game from feeling out dated. Although the game still does have a couple of minor flaws, which I will go over in this review.

The Gameplay:

Doom plays excellently, even on console! The buttons are super responsible, there is next to no delay as the game is very quick paced, movement is fast, yet smooth where every motion must be considered (especially on harder difficulties) when facing the relentless hordes from hell. There is a huge collection of guns, all feeling unique and handling very differently. The guns are almost like tools that you must use when facing the vast amount of enemy types. Weak hordes require machine guns, tougher demons need a shotgun, bosses could do with a rocket blast and the pistols come in handy when running for your life! The BFG obliterates everything in it's path, but the ammo is extremely rare, meaning this is essentially your "Nuclear Option" you should only use sparingly, in the most difficult of situations. Outside of the main story missions, there are plenty of challenge modes available to unlock new items, gear and level up. Plenty of Easter eggs are buried deep within the huge levels too, you can even find a few corridors that look exactly like the 1990's original, with it's simpler graphics intact. Every boss battle feels different and are extremely challenging, yet rewarding and satisfying to finally beat. The game can be so over the top it's like the virtual equivalent of a roller coaster, there is never a dull moment on or offline in this awesome first person shooter! Glory kills allow you to rip and tear demons apart in a glorious display of gore, making you feel like an absolute chad. The level editor is fun as well, letting you create (almost) whatever situation you can imagine, from dark survival horror (akin to Doom 3) or the most intense gun fight you can imagine! Even within it's story mode, Doom gives us a wide variety of locations to wreck havoc in; the surface of Mars, inside space ships and stations, even portals back and to from hell itself. Some levels are dark and creepy, others are bright and colorful, you'll never get bored of the same scenery!

The story:

This is unfortunately where the game falters a little bit, although classic Doom was never known for it's story in the first place, the remake also not really caring fits the theme. I'm glad too many cutscenes don't get in the way of it's insanely epic gameplay. However, it does feel underwhelming when most modern games like to have in-depth characters and plots nowadays, so playing such a modern game with basic objectives does feel a little uncanny. The story can be summed up in a few sentences: Doom slayer awakes from a deep sleep to kill demons. A robot helps him through the levels, explaining how the demonic cursed happened. Doom guy kills a lot of monsters. The robot is actually evil. Kill the robot, stop the curse. Game complete. It's simple, straight to the point and Doom guy himself just punches his way through the cutscenes, like even he just wants to get the story over with and just shoot things! This self awareness is hilarious however and considering how much fun the gameplay is, it doesn't even need a compelling story to drive the game forward. After beating the game I was still very much hungry for more, yet I still wish it had a little more substance other than "kill demons" the whole game. Of course, this doesn't make the game bad, in fact it's lack of story offers a different experience than the typical first person shooter. Yet it's something that I thought I should mention.

Conclusion:

Doom (2016) was an excellent return to formula, after the bumpy release of Doom 3 (which had it's charms, but felt more like Alien or Resident Evil), it was amazing to just let loose on the undead without too much story or "survival horror gameplay" getting in the way of the adrenaline filled action! Despite it's lacking story, Doom is still an epic gaming experience, you'll be slaying demons in your sleep and coming back for more non-stop chaos for many years to come! This delivers a warning to those who seek a meaningful story however, you probably won't enjoy this, if that's your cup of tea. This is game for those who just want to let loose and test their shooting skills, and Doom does an excellent job of doing just that! Therefore, it is still a solid 5 star game.