Doom Eternal is a very good game, no doubt about it. The fact that it's a thing at all in the landscape of shitty AAA games, something so focused on delivering a fun, action-packed experience, is an actual miracle. Of course it's not without its flaws, but despite its weirdness it is absolutely worth your time if you enjoy fast-paced first person shooters.

Now that the tl;dr part is out of the way, let's start with the gameplay, shall we? It's fucking phenomenal. the flow of using the chainsaw to get ammo, using the flamethrower to get armor, the glory kill for health, and of course, your weapons to absolutely annihilate the demons in front of you, is such a blast to experience, and it's only enhanced by the Destructible Demons system. Seeing huge chunks of flesh fly off from the demons you damage really does sell you on the power trip of being the Doom Slayer. And the new mobility options are very good too. I've always been a huge fan of dash mechanics, so when I saw its reveal in the E3 gameplay showcase, it made me VERY excited. the Meathook is a very fun traversal option too, and I'm sure there's plenty of other tricks that I can't even hope to pull of. If anything, I wish I was even FASTER lol
My only complaints with the gunplay and mobility is that certain weapons are a little useless, like the Combat Shotgun's Full Auto, the Crucible and the Frag Grenade, for example. It might be just me not experimenting with those options enough, though. The chainsaw detection can also be a bit awkward, with many frustrating moments where it either does not detect the fodder in front of me, or it prioritizes the wrong demon. And also, I feel like the dash only being usable again when both dashes are recharged is kind of dumb.

The levels are mostly pretty nice, too. I love the environments in it, they are a joy to look at and are very nicely varied. Layout-wise, it's decent. Sometimes it gets a little too mazey for my tastes, but it's nothing outrageous. The platforming sections are kind of disappointing, though. This is a MOBILITY shooter, and the best you got is just climbing a bunch of walls and dashing to floating platforms? It's not exactly terrible, but I do think those sections had a lot of missed potential. The wall climbing and swimming are especially a drag, with them being very clunky methods of travel that the game honestly would've been much better without. The arenas are very well designed and dynamic. The one that really stuck in my mind is the big one in the Super Gore Nest level, lot of open spaces and options for you to take, with monkey poles and everything! It's a very fun arena, and so are most of this game's. Although due to the levels' average length, I do wish there was some sort of way to select certain sections of the level to start from, kind of like how the Halo games do it with its also pretty long levels. I don't really feel like playing all of Final Sin JUST to kill John Romero again, y'know?

The enemy roster is solid. There is no insanely annoying enemy to deal with in this game, worst-case scenario an enemy is just kind of boring to fight, but not exactly painful. And the best case scenario? Enemies that are incredibly engaging and fun to fight, that really puts your skills to the test. The weak point is a great concept that is mostly executed very well, adding even more dynamic elements to its gameplay loop, with them being very effective (maybe a little too much for some demons) against the tougher demons you come across. I really like how aggressive the demons are in this game; if you're not careful, you'll get your ass handed to you in a matter of seconds, especially with how fast they catch up to you. Every enemy group is well defined, with the brawlers, ranged guys, fodder, all that. Only complaint I have other than the one I already mentioned is that some enemies are kind of redundant, like they don't really bring anything new to the Doom Dance. And this is just a nitpick, but i found a certain enemy, the Cacodemon, far too easy to kill. It's way, WAY too easy to just make them swallow a grenade and open them up for a quick glory kill, even if it is funny to pull off. And my most nitpicky complaint is that sometimes the enemies' glory kills can become quite repetitive, particularly the chainsaw and berserk animations.

The boss fights are a mixed bag, to be honest. There are some very good ones like the Gladiator and the Doom Hunter, with very fun mechanics and exciting setpieces, but there are also more disappointing bosses, like the far too easy Khan Maykr that I defeated in one try, and the strangely underwhelming Icon of Sin boss fight that didn't really feel like a proper FINAL boss to me. The Icon of Sin especially disappoints me, because it's not only the comeback of one of the most memorable demons in Classic Doom, but also a pay-off to Doom 2016's lore, with the Slayer defeating a Titan all by himself. The boss fight could've been a chance to experience that, but instead it's more a fight with the demons than the Icon, despite him actually doing some attacks every now and then. The music was perfect, something we'll get to later, but other than that the boss fight didn't really sell me on its scale and stakes. A more cinematic and exciting set piece could've helped, like you climbing the titan or destroying it from within, something like that. It's an improvement from the Doom 2 boss fight for sure, but it left me wanting more.

The soundtrack, as expected, is godlike. Mick Gordon really brought his best to these tracks (despite being treated like shit by Marty), with some of the rawest god damn songs I've ever heard in my life. Cultist Base, the DOOM Hunter, The Only Thing They Fear Is You, The Gladiator, songs like these coupled with the already energetic gameplay and you got yourself a god damn adrenaline generator. Although I find the more ambient tracks a somewhat underrated side of the OST, like the slow guitar in the Exultia track, or the angelic chants in Urdak, it's all very nice ambience.

The HUD/UI of this game is surprisingly... Garbage? It's very ugly and unappealing, even when you tweak it with the options the game gives you (Which are very appreciated, by the way. Great job on that front). It's just far too cluttered, with the dash having its icon, the 2 bars around it, the very tiny number on the top right, AND the key it's binded to on top. That is just one example of how unnecessarily cluttered the HUD is overall. And while I'm at it, I should bring up how bad the tutorial pop-ups are. Yes, I'm aware it's kind of beating a dead horse at this point, but Doom Eternal really likes to stop you in your tracks and shove in walls of text about every single enemy in your face the moment you encounter them. I get that the game is trying to be straight forward with you, but there is a difference between "loud and clear" and "loud and obnoxious". A better way of implementing little texts like this can be seen in ULTRAKILL, where the text is significantly shorter and more straight forward with you, doesn't pause the game for you to read it, and doesn't give everything about the enemy away. If you want more details on an enemy or a mechanic, you can read up on it in the game's codex, simple as that.

The narrative and lore of this game is quite terrible, to be honest. It tries to be this epic, deep universe but it falls apart on actually telling an interesting story and, y'know, making sense? The way the game treats its actually fun and interesting characters and mysteries from 2016 is insulting, with Samuel Hayden just being a giant expository machine, which to make matters worse turns out to be the Seraphim that gave the Doom Slayer his powers, the Doomslayer turning out to be the classic Doomguy from the classic Doom games, which harms both the Slayer and Classic Doomguy's characters and only characterizes him as a piece of cardboard that is completely detached from what's actually going on in the story 99% of the time, VEGA being mostly a fine if not boring AI companion that for some reason ends up being the Doom universe's current equivalent to God (WHAT?????), and the already established Crucible only being used as a power source as you look for a new one for some reason? You get the gist. The cutscenes are not only strangely lacking for the story it's trying to tell, but the ones that ARE there rarely try to have actually fun moments or character development in favor of boring expository dialogue and flashbacks, and some of the more funny haha scenes that are there don't always land (the mortally challenged joke is so pathetic and it only gets worse as the holograms constantly spam it). All the interactions with the Slayer boil down to one of the 3: "slayer is so scary", generic bad guy dialogue, or "slayer is so cool i want to suck him off", and it gets very repetitive very fast. It is frankly unacceptable how terrible this game's narrative is, even in action game standards, which aren't even that low. We have gotten so many great stories in action games, like Devil May Cry 3's, Katana Zero's, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's, Halo 2's, and many others. Or at the very least you could make a very ridiculously fun story like Resident Evil 4's. It's truly a shame because a game this good deserves an equally amazing story and lore, but it sadly did not get that at all. Not even close.

Now that the main game's content is out of the way, I would like to talk about some of the extra content the game offers.

The Slayer Gates are really nice! Essentially, they're challenge arenas hidden in certain levels that require a key to access. Now I'll admit, I probably should've played through these before I beat the game, especially the earlier ones. With my full arsenal, they feel really easy since it was probably balanced for the weapons you had in a first playthrough of that mission. Regardless, I did have a good time with them! There's a bunch of exclusive arenas made solely for the Slayer Gates, and they do their job of being harder than the rest of the level quite well. My only complaint is that getting the keys to these can be a little boring, especially with how much backtracking you do with certain ones. But despite that, I think Slayer Gates are great additions to the game! And while I'm at it, I'll talk about the Master Levels here. I don't think there's much to be said since they're remixes of already existing campaign levels, but that doesn't mean I don't like them at all. In fact, I think they're some of the best content this game has to offer! I really like how it spices up a lot of arenas you're familiar with, usually making them WAY harder than before; putting a Tyrant here, a Doom Hunter there, it really changes things in a pretty exciting way! I really do appreciate their inclusion, even if I'm not good enough to beat most of them.

Battlemode is... Unfortunate. I do appreciate that Id tried doing something more experimental, and the idea does sound fun in concept; an asymmetrical gamemode where 2 players are demons and have to take down a Slayer? Interesting concept! But sadly, I don't think it lives up to its potential. A lot of the matches feel very one-sided, either to the Slayer or the Demons. I could never find that one exciting match that feels like both sides stood an equal chance, most I got close to it had one of the Demon players AFK in the middle of it, so... Yeah. I find this gamemode a bit of a shame cause a lot of resources were put into it. Many updates, tweaks, skins, etc that could've gone into a multiplayer gamemode that people actually cared about. We could've had Deathmatch, Co-op, even SnapMap 2.0 (Which would fit Doom Eternal perfectly, hell if it was good enough people could MAKE battlemode in it, along with many other exciting gamemodes). It's not the worst multiplayer I've ever played through, but it's definitely not a part of the game I have any excitement towards.

Horde Mode is the most recently added gamemode out of all these, being a somewhat late update to the game. It's a mode pretty much everyone and their grandma wanted, so there was a lot of high expectations. When it did come out though, reception was pretty split. Some people really liked it, while others hated it, thinking it was a worthless addition. I believe that both sides have valid reasons to feel so positively or negatively towards Horde Mode. There is a lot of great stuff added, but I believe this split was caused by it not being as straight-to-the-point as people expected. Most of your time in this gamemode won't be with your full arsenal, with you instead having to earn each weapon one by one. This is a problem made worse by the fact that you don't obtain your weapons in a set order, with it instead being randomized. So, if you don't obtain a plasma rifle by the time you encounter the Spirits? Tough luck, now you'll have a way harder time due to something completely out of your control. I understand that the intent is to spice things up, force players to try out different playstyles, but I don't think this fits Horde Mode at all. I would personally rather have weapons obtained in a set order, and in a much faster pace. Hell, just give me everything from the get-go. This IS a more arcadey mode, after all. The expectations isn't to slowly build towards your peak, it's to start from it and go even higher! That being said, there is a lot of genuinely great mechanics to appreciate here. I really enjoy how score-based this mode is, even giving a mechanic I don't really care about, that being the Extra Lifes, a whole new purpose here; since dying here has the huge consequence of making you start over (With Horde Mode runs usually lasting over an hour), the Extra Lifes make it so that it's not nearly as frustrating when you do. That being said, the more unspent Extra Lifes you have, the more points you earn by the end of Horde Mode. I think it's a nice balance! It makes the mode less punishing than it'd be otherwise, but doesn't exactly make it easier or more mindless. Although my favorite thing from Horde Mode is a mechanic exclusive to it; The Bounty Demons. The way they change the dynamic immediately is really good, since the sooner you kill these demons, the more powerful is the power-up you get from them, not to mention the point bonus. And these power-ups can be game changers, especially when you use them in the right moment to deal an insane amount of damage. It's honestly such a fun mechanic that part of me wishes it was used outside of Horde Mode! I do think there is a lot to appreciate from this gamemode, it's just that the one major flaw of taking too long to give your arsenal is quite crippling to the enjoyment of it overall. Despite that though, I still think Horde Mode is some nice fun.

Well, that definitely was quite the text wall! This review went through multiple iterations and tweaks, it honestly grew to be way bigger than I expected. Ultimately, my verdict is that despite its massive, sometimes distracting flaws, Doom Eternal is a great game that I'm very glad exists; its combat is very fast-paced and polished, it looks nice, its soundtrack is excellent, its arenas are well designed, etc. This game is a very fun one, and I'm looking forward to Id software's next project, whatever it may end up being!