Galhox Reviews a Game: DOOM

Yeah, I've been sperging about this game a ton lately, and I just beat it a second ago so I should give my thoughts on it.


So, what is Doom?
Doom is a reboot of the iconic Doom franchise. The original Doom game came out back in 1992 (before I was born even, lol.)
Monsters, demons, and all residents of Hell arrive on Mars and it's up to you, a lone marine, to send them back.
It's an FPS, and the 2016 remake goes back to the days of when you could carry 16 guns up your ass all at the same time without giving a single shit at all. Where you didn't regenerate health, instead you needed to find a medpack and get that on before you got your ass kicked.
It was a simpler time when games were mostly focused on gameplay rather than story.
So, is it fun?
Oh hell-to-the-fuck-yes it's fun. The game starts out immediately with the Doom Marine waking up chained to a stone tablet, and rips those chains off immediately. He grabs a pistol and starts making do with the surrounding bad guys immediately. I seriously enjoy how this begins because it throws you into the action right away and there's no explanation for a story. It works out really well because it doesn't really need a story to be fun.
Anyways, Doom Marine is extremely angry and finds a set of armor, and throws it on.
The thing I really enjoy about the Doom Marine is that he's just pissed. He's angry and wants to fuck up everything in his path. There's no character development for him aside from "he's fucking angry and he's going on the warpath."
His combat style has no finesse, no planning, or any real technique at all; he just punches demons in the face, rips their heads in half, and smashes their skulls in until there is nothing left to identify.
In fact, Glory Kills are some of the most satisfying things in the game. How it works is you hurt a demon enough to a certain amount of health, they'll start to glow, and then you grab and start wailing.
This system is a ton of fun, and it's fucking brutal. The kills are quick, and you gain health back for doing them, so they're kind of a great incentive to have for when you're getting hit by everything, and are low on health.
And what about the guns?
The guns are great, too. They all have their own purpose and can help you fill out a certain play style. You've got your pistol that you start out with. It's a very "meh" weapon that doesn't do much damage, but it's mostly for the first level purposes.
That is until you get a shotgun not even a few a seconds later. It's a pretty nasty weapon that does damage to anything close by. Grab and go ballistic, baby.
There's also upgrades you can throw on your gun. Want to use your shotgun as a grenade launcher? Sure!
Wanna shoot rockets from that assault rifle? Here you go!
It's pretty great to have.
The Assault Rifle: A good suppressive weapon for the smaller groups, I didn't use it for the most part, aside from the beginning, and all I ever found it good for was the smaller enemies with not too much health.
The Plasma Rifle: An upgrade to the assault rifle with a bit more damage on it. It fires plasma that has travel time (which shouldn't be an issue). It's effective, but just like the assault rifle I really didn't use it much.
Chainsaw: a melee weapon specifically for the purpose of getting you more ammo should you ever run out. It uses fuel, so you have a limited amount of times you can use it before you need to go and look for more. The kills on it are just as brutal as the Glory Kills.
The Super Shotgun: A step up from the regular shotgun, boasting a bit more damage. However, it's a double barrel shotgun, so you only get two shots before needed to reload it. It's the only gun in the game you actually have to reload, and reloading doesn't take long. It's effective, and good for close quarters.
The Rocket Launcher: A thing of beauty. It reminded me of the rocket launcher from Quake, mostly because it had a lot of ammo, and didn't completely insta-kill enemies when it made contact. Which, wasn't bad, it was good as a splash damage tool, especially for larger grouped enemies, and enemies with a lot of health. If I couldn't use my shotgun, usually the rocket launcher would be used to dwindle health.
The Guass Cannon, however, was a different story. Loads of damage, but you needed to make direct hits with it to really do damage. Precision was a necessity, and to do any damage, you'd need to land that shot.
The Gatling Gun: A party time tool, really. Bring it to any party of, say, six or so demons, spin up, and let everyone dance.
Am I missing any other weapon- OH YES
The BFG-9000
A weapon used for the sole purpose of fucking up everything and anything in its path. Most powerful weapon in the game, bar none. Ammo is scarce, but it's beautiful when fired upon a horde. Pull the trigger and watch them become tasty bits of meat.

One of the major things I loved about this game was the score. When on the UAC Mars base, the soundtrack has a very mechanical feel to it. While in Hell, a choir sings over the heavy metal. They're really great tracks to jam out to while murdering demons, and I didn't find them at all boring, or feeling like they were droning on too long.

Speaking of Hell, let's talk about map design.
The maps in Doom take place mostly in a cramped facility of the UAC Mars Research Facility. The areas are, tight, and you can end up being cornered if you're not careful.
Hell is more open and feels like it's a deathmatch arena than anything. Of course, it's Hell, and the design is fucking gorgeous.

The maps also have a ton of secrets and promote you to go and explore it. They reward you with upgrade points to spend on weapons, abilities, and character upgrades. They're all pretty neat and help you find a different play style.

Overall, the design is fucking nice, the game looks great, soundtrack is fucking boss, and I can't wait to give SnapMap a try and start building my own levels.

tl;dr, this game is one of the best FPS games I've picked up in a while, and I recommend it to anyone looking for something to play. It's really, really fucking good.

Edit: If I made any errors in this, lemme know, I'll fix it. I may also add on to it if anything hits me.

 

Nice review.
I was a massive fan of the original Doom, and I played the shit out of Brutal Doom too. I've been watching my housemate play the multiplayer on the reboot and the mechanics look crisp and fun as fuck.
When I finally get around to buying an 8th gen console, I will have to pick this up for sure.

 

Thanks.
I need to give the multiplayer a go before I give my thoughts on that. I DID have fun with the beta though.
Give it a try, though, it is well worth the money.

 

I didn't actually play the multiplayer, just watched, but it greatly reminded me of my salad days spent playing Unreal Tournament.
I particularly liked the fact that there are primary & seconday fire types for all weapons. I loved that feature in games like Painkiller.

 

I think they do lack the visceral satisfaction that you get from ballistic weapons like the shotgun. I have no idea why though!

That said, I did use the plasma rifle quite a lot in the first few Doom games.

 

Well, another factor was probably that the Guass Cannon and the Plasma Rifle both used the same ammo, and I would use the Guass more because I had bigger enemies who needed to be dealt with quicker.
It took most of the ammo so the plasma rifle took a backseat and didn't get used much