Good action, disappointing sequel
I liked Doom 2016 quite a bit, and I was eager to play this one to see the next part of the Slayer adventure. On the whole, I had some good time, but I was kinda disappointed.
Gameplay-wise, the game is much more restrictive - ammunitions are severely limited and you need to CONSTANTLY use movements which replenish them and switch between weapons to not deplete the few rounds available. Many enemies also have very specific weaknesses and are a pain to deal with if you don't use the one move that exploit it.
All enemies are also huge damage sponge - it's a far cry from the original Doom here, and even rockets seem to barely scratch most non-fodder mobs.
The fights are very intense and the gameplay loop of always moving and killing to sustain yourself more quickly than the enemies can deplete your resources is satisfying, but I felt it was overdone and kinda repetitive - it's platform, arena, platform, arena, etc.
All the monsters teleport in huge waves and are very fast, so it's pure adrenalin and nonstop action, but it's really one-note for the entire game.
Design-wise, the levels have more varied sceneries, but are choke-full of platforming which makes them feel very artificial. They really, really pushed the jumping around here. Though the movement controls are tight and permissive, which helps with the frustration.
The general style and ambience are much more arcade and, would I say, somewhat goofy, which kinda hampered the immersion. It's not parodic, but it does give a vague vibe of not taking itself too seriously, which does drop the "horror" aspect several notches.
Story-wise... it's kind of weird. Doom 2016 ended with a cliffhanger and I was really curious to see what would happen. Then Doom Eternal comes and... uh, nothing. You're suddenly 13 years later (without ever learning what happened to you in the meantime) in your personal fortress (without ever learning how you got it) and a demonic invasion has been ongoing on Earth for the past few years.
The main story of the game is of course to beat back the invasion, and to learn a lot of the past of the Slayer, but there is next to no follow-up with the previous game and it feels more like a spin-off than an actual sequel.
So well, yeah, I played the game, finished it, had fun most of the time, was frustrated sometimes (a bit more than would have been ideal), but I didn't really felt I was getting the sequel after playing the previous game, and I was left wanting.
5 gamers found this review helpful