Doom Eternal Review: Brutality, savagery, and other synonyms for violence
By Byron Smith
Doom Eternal brings players right back to the world of 2016’s Doom game and ramps everything up to 20.
Title: Doom Eternal
Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: Xbox One (reviewed on) PlayStation 4, PC, Stadia
Release date: March 20, 2020
Doom (2016) is one of the best, if not the absolute best, first person shooter of all time. A game so good that it all but killed the first person shooter genre, Doom (2016) made players feel invincible and unstoppable, giving them complete control of arguably the baddest hero in all of gaming history, the Doom Slayer/Doomguy.
The slick yet precise controls allowed for fast paced and high octane combat as well as interesting and unique platforming. The weapons were huge and fun to tear demons down with while also serving specific purposes. Despite having nostalgic moments and collectibles, Doom (2016) focused on the future of the franchise in a way that modern media has failed to do. The visuals – stunning, the sound design – near perfect, the story – simple but extremely effective, the character and enemy design – gruesome, unique, outstanding.
Combine all of those elements together and ID Software delivered an action packed game that pumped gamers’ adrenaline and fists and restored prestige to the historic Doom franchise. With the success that Doom had critically and financially, it came as no surprise that a sequel would be coming. At Bethesda’s 2018 E3, that announcement came, revealing Doom Eternal to the world.
Expectations were extremely high for Doom Eternal after the critical and financial success of Doom‘s last outing. Could ID Software really improve on a game that many considered near perfect? Bethesda recent releases have been questionable at best, could they really make a game that lives up to the hype that Doom (2016) created?
Doom Eternal laughs in the face of those questions while firing a shotgun into the air and shotgunning a protein shake.
Doom Eternal takes the award winning formula from it’s predecessor, fixes a few of it’s shortcomings and delivers exponentially more of the parts that fans loved. The fast paced action is faster, the guns are bigger, the demons are more gruesome, and the visuals are some of the best in all of gaming. Everything about this game works together to create an absolutely brutal, yet beautiful, work of art.