Doom

The Good

• Highly optimized engine
• Punchy sound effects
• Stellar monster design
• Builds on the Classic Doom formulas in exciting ways
• Superb level design.
• Gauss Cannon is a welcome new addition
• Challenging, skillful, and above all - FUN!
• Stellar animations
• Story doesn't take itself too seriously
• A fun, dark, and chaotic sense of humour adds spice
• Snapmap has some fun applications
• Great boss fights
• Highly customizable interface for those who hate objective markers and glowing objects

The Bad

• Soundtrack isn't really my cup of tea.
• Some un-optimized areas, however rare.
• Glory Kill animations can get repetitive
• I wish it were longer
• Snapmap is too limited and cannot replace true modding.
• Multiplayer is outsourced garbage
• The ending leaves something to be desired and feels cribbed from Half-Life

The Bottom Line
The original Doom is one of my all time most beloved games. To this date I still consider it to be the greatest first person shooter of its era, a skillful game built on a solid design that proves simplicity can go a long way when it is so elegantly built. So I was undeniably skeptical when I heard the new ID Software team was promising to return to the classic formula of yore with this new Reboot. Would it really? Even in an industry that shuns the old and forces it to hide among the indies? I didn't think so. I expected at best this would be another Doom 3 and at worst a generic, drab modern shooter wearing the skin of a classic.

The games overall plot is an odd beast. It is set up as a reboot, but is ultimately revealed to be a sequel to the classic games, treating the ending of Doom 64 as canon . The game goes for the idea of a multiverse where there are many different dimensions all connected to the same hell, and the game deals with the Doomguy (Or as he is now officially dubbed, the "Doomslayer.") waking up in another dimension to find yet another iteration of the UAC meddling with the forces of Hell. This time, the UAC is a deranged space cult that is using energy extracted from hell to solve Earth's energy crisis.

It's actually a fun little idea, and consider myself a little surprised by Doom's surprising amount of self awareness. This game realizes it's all a bit silly, and it has fun with the premise. Most notably, the Doomslayer is surprisingly expressive despite having virtually no character. You absolutely understand how he is feeling, he is angry. He is this raving ball of rage with no interest in anything but slaughtering the forces of Hell, and he's surprisingly funny. His chaotic, destructive attitude is seen throughout and it contrasts humorously with just how seriously the NPCs (All two of them) take the games events. The UAC is practically a parody of the worn out trope of the curious, morally bankrupt scientists that go searching in the wrong place for answers and this is evident as you hear corporate spins about the yearly Soul Harvests and the many shady councils that are always watching. It's surprisingly fun stuff, and it is quite refreshing to see a self aware shooter that is willing to have fun with itself.

But admit it... you aren't here to hear about Doom's story. You are here to get the skinny on the actual gameplay, the heart and soul of any Doom game. So, how does it fare? Well... pretty damned good. Great, even. The game absolutely returns to the classic formula: You have a gun. There are Demons everywhere. You don't like Demons. Do the math. Like the classic Doom games before it, the gameplay is highly skillful and challenging. There is no regenerating health, and if you don't keep moving, you will die time and time again. But while the new Doom does not stray far from the formula of running through a giant maze crawling with Demonic horrors, it does bring some exciting new gameplay conceits to the table.

For one thing, the new Doom is much more vertical than its predecessors. The levels often feel like sprawling jungle gyms that absolutely encourage you to climb, clamber, crawl and sprint up down and around everything and it feels surprisingly good to do so. Even the platforming sequences handle surprisingly well, bucking the trend of first person platforming typically being a laborious and frustrating process. The controls are just too solid, and you do so much jumping and climbing in combat that you get used to the Doomslayers jumping height and distance and it all handles smoothly.

The enemies are also much more dynamic than they used to be. They are relentless now, and anywhere you can go they can go. Even enemies like Mancubi and Pinkies are surprisingly spry and can leap up to any prospective campers to bite their nadges off. You absolutely must NEVER stop moving, because they will reach out and touch you and not in a loving way. The games stellar animations and impressive A.I. pathfinding bring this aspect of the creatures to life, the Imps especially are a joy to watch as they sprint freely and conjure fireballs as they clamber up walls, cling to ceilings and heights, and leap freely and gracefully about.

It was also a smart idea, I feel, to all but omit Hitscanner enemies and to give enemies distinct and unique properties. Every enemy fires projectiles or acts as a melee brute, so you no longer have the issue of having to prioritize the enemies that can shave off health regardless of how far away they are or how exposed you are. You must now dodge everything they throw at you and it plays into the graceful, skillful combat. On top of that, enemies all have unique properties and weaknesses now. Mancubi's armour soaks up damage, but aim at their soft exposed bellies and you can deal double damage. Pinkies are armoured in the front and now charge at you like bulls, but their tail is exposed and soft. Shotgunners now wield shields but have short range fire and can be stunned by plasma fire. So on and so forth. This carries on to the excellent boss fights as well, who actually challenge your skills rather than just require you to shoot at them until they die.

Even design changes I thought I would hate are surprisingly well thought out. While the glory kill animations do have a tendency to get repetitive, glory kills are largely optional but they actually DO serve a purpose in combat. When you are at extremely low health, a glory kill can save you and keep you going and harder difficulties actually make Glory kills a less viable option and it is surprisingly satisfying to be brought to the brink of death only to notice that you have an enemy left vulnerable and staggered, allowing you just enough time to snap their neck and bask as the adrenaline brings you just enough health to overcome your foes. Perhaps on easier difficulties this mechanic makes the combat too easy and exploitable, but for me I had no issue. The chainsaw as well causes enemies to explode in a shower of ammo, but it is something you very rarely get the chance to do, as it is now bound to a limited ammo system and while some may balk at the idea of the Chainsaw being a limited use item now (I certainly balked at it when I first heard of it) I actually feel that it works well and gives the chainsaw some genuine strategic value, rather than it being a simple but fun gimmick weapon like in the past.

The levels are also refreshingly open and large, and exploration is absolutely encouraged. I have never been happier to be lost in a level again, though don't think that they are too confusing. Sensible and believable design keeps you going in the right direction, but the levels sprawling nature can be daunting at times - but this is not truly a complaint. They feel old school in the best way while bucking the abstract layouts caused by the original engines limitations, every area feels like it has purpose - even if I wouldn't call the UAC facility a logically designed base. Keycard puzzles are present, but they are not overused, wiping out one of the original Dooms bigger and more frustrating flaws.

My biggest complaint overall about the single player results in its length. While 12 hours isn't necessarily a bad length, I wish it were longer. Even Doom 3 offered up a more expansive campaign that lasted me around 20, which is a length I would have been much more satisfied with, though I do feel that the game would have to expand its arsenal and rogues gallery to sustain that extra length. Still, there is a certain openness to the ending (Even if I feel it is perhaps a bit unsatisfyingly open, not to mention the fact that it's more or less the ending of Half-Life 1.) that gives me hope that this is not the last we will see of the Doomslayer in the coming years.

Alongside the campaign, you do have two other modes of play, but unlike the single player campaign these modes are of.. well, varying quality. The better of the two extra modes is Snapmap, an editing tool that allows users to create new levels that can be played cooperatively or competetively. This is a neat idea and there are already some very entertaining and charming maps in Snapmap but sadly the level editor is very limited. It is restricted to prefabricated areas that all take place in samey looking UAC corridors, with no option for Mars Surface or hell tilesets. The most impressive part of Snapmap is its extensive and surprisingly friendly visual coding system which can be used to do neat tricks, but when one takes a look back at how many great maps and mods have been made and are still being made by the doom community it leaves a lot to be desired. I drool at the idea of some great mappers like Skillsaw getting the chance to create crazy new Doom maps that take advantage of the new games newfound verticality, but without mod tools, it simply won't happen. One can only help ID and Bethesda will rectify this in the near future. It is the key to this games longevity.

Then there is the multiplayer, which is very poor. It is shocking just how greatly it differs in quality to the single player, at least until you discover the fact that it was outsourced to the developer that has been making the multiplayer of recent Halo and Call of Duty games. Why would ID Software make this decision? The Single Player is a glorious return to the days of old, why would they make the MP a generic, modern military shooter-esque headless chicken? There is no map control strategy despite the maps being well designed, the weapons are limited to two at a time, there are no weapon pick ups, and the multiplayer is dominated by far too many one hit kill weapons that completely unbalance the gameplay. It is full to the brim of gimmicks and the weapons are balanced oddly and feel very little like their punchy, single player counterparts. The plasma gun is one of the biggest departures, turning from a fantastic assault rifle that boils your enemies flesh to a dinky assault rifle that barely does anything. Here is the key to winning a multiplayer match: Stack your inventory with the "Hack Module" that allows you to know when power ups will respawn, and camp the shit out of the Demon Runes and Gauss Cannon. You'll get tons of one hit kills guaranteed. Exciting, huh?

But despite these drawbacks, Doom is absolutely worth getting just for that great single player campaign. It is a return to the glory days, and I can only hope that the talented new ID Software development team is only getting warmed up. Let us hope that whatever they are cooking next, be it a re-imagined Doom II, a new Quake, or a new Ip altogether - let us just hope it is as impactful, skillful, and fun as this excellent revival. The King has returned. Long live the king!