Doom (2016)

Release: 2016
Platform: PC

Developer: id Software

Gameplay Stats: 17 hours, 19/54 achievements
Genre: FPS

Bethesda rebooted Doom from the 90s!It's important to say that I haven't ever played a classic Doom game. This is my introduction to the series, so I can't say if it holds up to its legacy. I don't really know the plot of the other games other than a gate to hell is opened.

Visuals: This game is really pretty! The environments look great and the enemies are grotesque. The particle and smoke effects looked nice on my mid-powered PC. The guns looked a bit flat, but I got the impression that they were throwbacks to the original game. There wasn't really ever any issue knowing where I had to go, and each level was distinct enough to communicate the path. Even in the light platforming sections, there was no confusion about what was okay to get to.

Audio: This game could've used some more Out-of-combat music, but otherwise it was great. While in combat there is some loud, pumping metal music that definitely helped motivate me to destroy. Each level seemingly has its own metal track to accompany the combat. The sound effects are really, really good. I finished the game a week ago, but I'm about certain that I could pick out which enemy matches with a given sound effect. Ditto for the guns. Everything is fitting and distinct!

Plot: I mean... The plot here is a little thin. An energy company opens a portal to hell because it lets them harvest essentially infinite energy. I really thought the pacing was a bit odd however. In the opening scene the main character is being talked to and shown a screen with some info about where you are. He breaks the screen and you run off on your way. Later in the game there are long exposition sections that you have to listen to. It struck me as odd because I saw a lot of praise for the intro section, but no comments on how weird the rest of the plot is.

Gameplay: This is really where Doom shines! This game is fun as hell. It's broken up into two pretty distinct phases. You enter an area and that starts the combat phase. You get to destroy tons of baddies in fast paced, super fun combat. The game feel is incredible and it rewards you for being aggressive. It's so fun. After the combat is the exploration phase where you can hunt Easter eggs and complete some challenges to flesh out the areas. I've heard some people say that these two phases were jarring, but I really enjoyed both of them for what they had on offer. A game of one but out the other would feel empty.

Overall this game is extremely fun. It has some of the best gun play that I've experienced and everything flows really, really well in my opinion. I can't recommend this game enough and I wish more games were handled similarly. It seems like everything was done to emphasize the player having fun and it really shows! The game is fun and fairly simple. It's lean and I think that's a strength. [9/10]