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Doom (2016)
PC (Steam)
Fast and Furious Demon Slaying
3.5/5 stars
Doom has been at the forefront of the FPS genre since its early inception, and was rebooted once in Doom 3 back in 2007, and now this new version - with a sequel already on the way. Not much has changed as Doom remains a pinnacle of FPS insanity - buoyed by the fast-paced, frantic gameplay and pulse-pounding soundtrack. Yet for all the updates and additions, Doom remains pretty much the same - both to its credit and detriment.
Presentation: The game looks fantastic - enhanced graphics really make the enemies pop and the level design - although utilitarian for Mars, looks superbly gruesome when you play the levels in Hell. The game doesn't have a lot of color - reds, greys and the like for the most part - but it still pops and the gore effects on enemies are frighteningly effective with viscera and blood spewing everywhere. Provided you like heavy metal - the soundtrack is also a winner, with a lot of head-banging, heart-thumping tracks that accentuate the incredibly fast-paced gameplay. Voice work is find - no big names here, but plenty of voice-over veterans. No bugs to speak of - the few times I thought I was stuck, I managed to get out eventually. The game is rather short (14 hours on record - and that includes going back for some random achievements because I am that guy), though if you enjoy multiplayer I'm sure you could put a lot more into it.
Story: Doom takes place on Mars - in a facility where one Dr. Samuel Hayden runs the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC), which has tapped into Hell in order to harness energy the Earth so readily needs. Too bad one of his chief researchers, Olivia Pierce, has made a pact with demons and opens the portal to hell wide open - wiping out pretty much all human life (or transforming them into mindless entities) on the facility. Dr. Hayden, however, has an ace up his sleeve - on one of the many expeditions into the Hell dimension, a Doom Slayer sarcophagus was brought back and, with no other option, he opens it - and the Doom Slayer does what he does best - kill everything in sight. Of course, our hero isn't exactly on the save page as Dr. Hayden, who still wants the ability to harness Hell's Argent energy - whereas our Doom Slayer wants to shut down Hell for good.
Gameplay: As I said, Doom hasn't changed all that much from its inception. You're still the Space Marine / Doom Slayer here - you play in first person with a variety of weapons to choose from and unload said weapons into whatever enemy happens to be in your way. The variety of weapons is pretty good - standard pistol, two shotguns (standard and super), assault rifle, plasma gun, rocket launcher, Gauss cannon (the sniper rifle of the game), chaingun (aka the gatling gun) plus the chainsaw and of course BFG - both of which use specific ammo and are limited use. You also have the requisite grenades - frag, siphon or a hologram you can use as a decoy. Each main weapon has two Weapon Mods you can get by finding requisite weapon mod robots scattered across levels - as well as a mastery challenge to unlock even greater potential.
The biggest change from the previous Doom games, however, is the pace. This version of Doom moves FAST - you jump, run, shoot with reckless abandon - and the enemies are varied from your fodder of imps and possessed humans to the devil-like Baron of Hell and the giant eye Cacodemon. At certain times you must close rifts to hell, which unleashes a torrent of enemies - often these areas have powerups to give you a short-term edge - Berserk let's you melee enemies with gleeful abandon for a short time, while Haste makes you even faster and Quad Damage - well, gives you A LOT of damage to dole out. Often saving these for the big guys is recommended. The game is relatively linear, however, with a few levels having you track down color-coded keys to move on. The fast pace also means the game goes by very quickly - almost too quickly for my taste.
Doom also has plenty to explore - you can find upgrades to your Praetor suit, Argent Energy to boost core stats (Health, Shields Ammo), Doom figurines, hidden Classic Levels and, most importantly Rune Trials that unlock some game-changing abilities - with the ability to master these as well - though you can only up a maximum of three at a time. Each level also has a set of challenges you can complete, if you are so inclined.
Replayability: DOOM has a lot of options for those who really want them: each level has specific missions to accomplish, hidden things to discover and each gun has its own set of unlocks to accomplish, there are rune powers to unlock and, of course, multiple difficulties (including the permadeath erase-your-save mode for the ultra-hardcore) and multiplayer. Yet, despite all this, I found little reason to go back for much and didn't even attempt the multiplayer.
Overall: I mean, it's DOOM - if you've enjoyed it in the past, you will probably enjoy it again - but I would recommend getting it on the cheap as the experience is over quickly.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replayability: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
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