This game is an achievement for the folks at Id. While it’s not hard to make a Doom game in this day and age (Fans do it all the time) trying to translate the Doom experience in the modern day without it feeling off is a tough balance to hit.
I think it says something that, after the development of Doom 4 was canned, they didn’t really return to this franchise until many years later. Instead working on their other IP’s in that time.
Doom 2016 feels like a project the team knew HAD to come out now. When the FPS genre was being oversaturated by the same type of game over and over, and when they already successfully switched it up with their recent Wolfenstein instalments, it felt like the right time.
Doom 2016, from the experience of someone starting with the game, doesn’t feel tied down by its legacy in any way. It’s a new experience that doesn’t require you to know about or have played the older games. At the same time, it’s a great for anyone familiar and especially those who played the original releases, getting to see the enemies, levels, weapons and more translated to current day.
The fanservice is also not super in your face either. The game doesn’t even hint at it, but each level hides a retro style room that’s super well hidden, even unlocking older stages for you to play for finding it!
The gameplay though is where this game shines. They were able to keep the fast pace of the original by making you way faster than any other FPS character at the time. It allows you to run around enemies while climbing, jumping, and making the most of your Arsenal to bring down the hordes of hell. And you have to be moving constantly, cause the enemies are even more aggressive here than ever. They’ll chase you to the ends of the earth if you let them.
I felt myself falling into the grind of constantly switching weapons, running for ammo, switching to the chainsaw to take down annoying enemies when I was low on ammo, and just playing as aggressively as possible. It’s infectious how this game naturally leads you towards this play style, punishing you for doing any less.
The music did help with keeping this feeling going, though I feel like the Switch version’s audio had some minor issues at times so it came out a bit weird on my end. But it wasn’t that bad.
Overall, an amazing way to bring back a game like this, showing the appeal of an FPS that’s made to actually be fun.
I think it says something that, after the development of Doom 4 was canned, they didn’t really return to this franchise until many years later. Instead working on their other IP’s in that time.
Doom 2016 feels like a project the team knew HAD to come out now. When the FPS genre was being oversaturated by the same type of game over and over, and when they already successfully switched it up with their recent Wolfenstein instalments, it felt like the right time.
Doom 2016, from the experience of someone starting with the game, doesn’t feel tied down by its legacy in any way. It’s a new experience that doesn’t require you to know about or have played the older games. At the same time, it’s a great for anyone familiar and especially those who played the original releases, getting to see the enemies, levels, weapons and more translated to current day.
The fanservice is also not super in your face either. The game doesn’t even hint at it, but each level hides a retro style room that’s super well hidden, even unlocking older stages for you to play for finding it!
The gameplay though is where this game shines. They were able to keep the fast pace of the original by making you way faster than any other FPS character at the time. It allows you to run around enemies while climbing, jumping, and making the most of your Arsenal to bring down the hordes of hell. And you have to be moving constantly, cause the enemies are even more aggressive here than ever. They’ll chase you to the ends of the earth if you let them.
I felt myself falling into the grind of constantly switching weapons, running for ammo, switching to the chainsaw to take down annoying enemies when I was low on ammo, and just playing as aggressively as possible. It’s infectious how this game naturally leads you towards this play style, punishing you for doing any less.
The music did help with keeping this feeling going, though I feel like the Switch version’s audio had some minor issues at times so it came out a bit weird on my end. But it wasn’t that bad.
Overall, an amazing way to bring back a game like this, showing the appeal of an FPS that’s made to actually be fun.
Reviewed on Aug 13, 2022