DOOM Eternal: Standard Edition - PlayStation 4

(Spoiler Free) Keep in mind this review is my opinion. Do your own research about this game before buying. Doom Eternal, as I see it, is one of the best games of 2020. Despite 2020 being a pretty bad year overall it’s nice to sit back and destroy some demons and their masters. Doom Eternal is definitely not for everyone. If you enjoyed Doom 2016 then this is a “must buy” for you. Do keep in mind this game is definitely different from that game but it’s close enough to feel familiar. If you enjoyed the classic Doom games such as Doom 64 then maybe try out Doom 2016 first and see if you end up enjoying that game. If you are a gamer that enjoys very violent games, FPS’s or games about demons and hell then definitely pick this up. For parents reading this, if your child or kid is 15 and under then DO NOT GET THIS FOR THEM. I know the ESRB rating on the box is M for Mature or 17+ but I feel 17 is a bit of a high number for a mature game so I would suggest getting for them if they are 15 and older. Doom Eternal is a first person shooter aka “FPS” that involves the player to shoot and kill demons from hell. There’s also a bit of platforming in the game as well. The character you play as “Doom Guy or Doom Slayer” can traverse the terrain by dashing or climbing onto walls that are specifically color coded so the player can know where to go. Unlike its predecessor, Doom Eternal focuses more on platforming and exploring rather than throwing the player into an area where you must defend yourself. Throughout the game there are many collectibles and even some power-ups that can the player out when stuck on a certain area. These collectibles, for the most part, are hidden in clever yet hard to get to spots. Sometimes backtracking to another area that was once previously visited will be necessary in order to get to a power-up or a collectible. Unfortunately I have not played Doom Eternal’s multiplayer so I will not be reviewing that part of the game. I would suggest reading other reviews if you are curious on whether or not it’s good or bad. Side Note: When I ordered The Amazon Exclusive version of Doom Eternal it came with a skin for the PS4 Controller. The picture included shows off what the skin looks at on the controller. Important Pros: - Ultra Violent - Difficult but fair - Platforming and exploring are well integrated - Pulling off glory kills is just as satisfying as it was in its previous game - Graphics both on Xbox One, PS4 & PC are phenomenal Important Cons: - Gameplay can seem unfair at times to some players - Definitely not for kids 15 and under - The violence might be too much to some who find blood, guts and demons uncomfortable - There are some bugs and glitches in the game but nothing that will ruin the game completely - The collectibles might not seem like anything special, leading to some players not wanting to explore - The platforming might be a big adjustment to players who aren’t use to that kind of gameplay style

The product arrived in perfect condition. Doom Eternal is the much awaited sequal to the 2016 masterpiece Doom (Doom 2016). When Doom released in 2016 it not only redesigned the Doom series but also reinvented the fast passed first person shooter genre. It tested player's reflexes and introduced a new blood pumping and heart racing Progresseive Metal/Djent soundtrack thet fits just right to the insane blood and gore filled action that was filling the screen. It was insane. Somehow Doom Eternal managed to take something that was already cranked to the max and pushed it even further. Doom Etenal makes Doom (Doom 2016) look like a calm standard first person shooter. Doom Eternal is faster with a smater AI who work smarter and harder stop you... well will TRY to stop you. Hell has invaded the earth and the one man army is back to continue on his quest to Rip and Tear anything in his path. The games levels are linear with minor puzzle solving elements and rewards you for your exploration. Just like the first game, Doom Eteranal has collectibles through out each map waiting for you find and pick up. Collectibles like extra lives, little figures of the demons and mosters in the game, music tracks that resemble vynal records of heavy metal bands and much more. These collcetibles can all be found and played with in the Fortress of Doom, a hub space base that the doom slayer vists between levels. Aside from the collectibles in the levels there are secret arena battles called gates that can be absolutly brutal if you go in unprepared. Beat all the gates and you can unlock the games ultimate weapon, The Unmaykr. There are also some extra easter eggs in the fortess like a portrait of the doom slayer with daisy the rabbit and a PC that allows you to play both the orignal Doom and Doom 2. That is two extra full games added in just for fun. And of course the music is just as good, maybe even better, than the first and fits so well with the action. There is a multiplayer, but i did not play it so i cant say anything about it however i have heard great things. Between the beautiful character and environment deisgns, the quick reaction gameplay, and the abundnace of collectibles in each level, Doom Eternal took it to 11 and makes players wonder how is it going to be topped in the next installment. Doom Eternal is an amazing expierence that doesnt let any fans of the doom series down. The mailing process was great and the game is a blast to play.

I'm enjoying this game a lot. The graphics are amazing and production value overall is very high, it's simply gorgeous. The sound is very strong as well, lots of bass for those playing on a home theater system (yesss!). All of the enemies are either new or updated versions of their former selves. The level design is very creative, thank God there is a map feature. Also, there are some new power-up features that I won't get into, so let me simply say that the iD Software developers got very creative with this game and the results are impressive. The heavy use of platforming is a new element in Doom games -- there are some jumping/swinging sequences that can be a bit frustrating, but when I finally got through them, there was a big sense of accomplishment. It just felt great and put a big smile on my face. In fact, I'm only on level 4 and I've already had a few "oh WOW!" moments. Doom Eternal is that good. However, being only on level 4, I find that the degree of difficulty has become exceedingly high. I've adjusted the difficulty down to "I'm too young to die" (easy) and I can't get past the Buff Totem battle on that level. I've tried really hard many times and I keep dying over and over... it's caused me to get discouraged, which is really saying something because, so far, I love this game. So overall I highly recommend this game but be aware that the difficulty really ramps up high and there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it. Fair warning. Long live the Doomslayer.

I'm older than some of my friends who play a lot of games. I had an Atari 2600 when I was a kid and I played my friends Super NES because when I was in high school my Dragon mom forbid me to own video games because I needed to focus on school. I played the original Doom and it's sequels on my cousins PC in the 90s. I really enjoyed Doom 2016 but I am glad the Doom Eternal replaced the Rune trials with the Slayer Gates and Secret Encounters. That being said this game is a lot harder than Doom 1016 especially for a "casual" like me(I play one game a year on average since I work). It challenges you to find the weakness of the Demons and fight the enemies efficiently while managing you're health and ammo in real time so you can't just spam the same attacks. The first 3-4 levels are hard before you get the Rocket launcher or Super Shotgun, but once you get used to the controls it it is a lot of fun. I played on Normal(Hurt Me Plenty) and there were plenty of frustrating moments but I'm glad I finished. There is a lot more lore if you are interested but I didn't take the story too serious and I don't think the creators did either which I think is fine. Hope this is helpful.

Coming into 2016, Doom wasn't even on my radar. I'm old enough to have played Doom back in 1993 and be relatively familiar with the series. However, I don't generally play first-person shooters, I tend to stay away from bloody/gory or ultraviolent games, and there were several other games coming out around its launch window that were more in my wheelhouse. However, I tried it based on overwhelmingly positive reviews from reviewers whose tastes are substantially similar to mine and, to my shock, it became my personal Game of the Year. Consequently, my hype level for 2020's much-anticipated Doom Eternal was very high. Now that I've finished it, I'll say that it MOSTLY delivered, but I definitely did not like it as much as I did the 2016 entry in the franchise. It suffers from a number of decisions that, on paper, sound great. However, in execution, they don't quite live up to their concepts. GAMEPLAY Doom Eternal's gameplay is very reminiscent of Doom (2016) on the surface. Doom is a shooter where you benefit from aggression. Move quickly, kill enemies in glorious (and gory) ways, regain health or armor, and repeat. Additionally, explore the game's levels for all sorts of hidden secrets and upgrades for the Doom Slayer a/k/a Doomguy. The most fundamental elements of the previous game remain unchanged. However, ID Software added a lot of additional elements. Combat encounters remind me a lot of something like Xcom or other tactical games. Every enemy has a particular weakness--whether that's a specific weapon or targeting a particular weak spot--and you have to exploit it. If you fail to exploit it, you risk the enemy becoming a bullet sponge. To that end, every single enemy encounter from basically the beginning of the game to the end require you to approach them with a tactical mindset. Target the turret on the spider-like thing's back, then use a plasma gun to blow up another guy's shield, then chainsaw a fodder enemy to replenish armor, then go after the big guy with a rocket launcher, etc. This is a wonderful concept, and there's a flow to battles that is unique because, unlike traditional tactics games, you're doing all of this in real time and moving around very quickly in the process. The problem is that this emphasis on tactical combat runs afoul of the central conceit of Doom: you're not trapped with the enemies; they're trapped with you. Doom is a power fantasy where you are more a force of nature than anything else. On even the easiest difficulty setting, combat is very tactical. You can get away with more than you can on the higher difficulty settings, and I'm not suggesting that you'll die a lot on the easy settings, but lowering the difficulty should--theoretically--make you that big, bad Doom Guy. By maintaining the tactical combat emphasis in every element of the game, I think it actually loses part of the identity of the game as a part of the Doom series. Put another way, when I play Doom, I want to go in there, be the strongest guy in the room, turn off my brain, and blow stuff up. Doom Eternal tells you not to play that way, which is fine, but it doesn't give you an option to play that way if you want, which is at least a minor annoyance. There are other minor annoyances in this game too. There's a ton of story. It's all skippable, which is good, but there's way more story than you'd expect from this game, and it can get on your nerves after a while if you're not particularly invested. Additionally, I've seen people complaining that the total game length is only about 13-15 hours. I personally feel that's a respectable cumulative time. However, the game's 13 missions are almost all very long, at least on an initial playthrough. I personally would have enjoyed 20 shorter levels more than 13 longer ones. The level length leads to another related issue: secrets and collectibles. I love collecting little secrets in games like this. Doom Eternal adds a fast-travel system, which is great, but it comes with a major, annoying caveat. Fast travel for a level is unlocked right at the end of the level, and it is only available until you finish the mission or quit out of it. Once the mission is over, it's locked again, so unless you want to keep replaying missions, you really need to remember to go back and get every collectible. Finally, in addition to the single player campaign, there is a multiplayer mode. It's a two-on-one battle where two people play as demons and one person plays as the Doomslayer. It's not bad, but it's not great either. I personally found it annoying whether I was winning or losing. Doom Eternal's gameplay is similar to 2016's Doom, but its additions complicate the game to a point that it actually manages to detract from the simple fun of ripping and tearing demons apart. It's still tight, aggressive, and fun, but the immutable tactics elements make the game much more cerebral, whether you want that or not. THE PLATINUM DIFFERENCE The trophies in this game mostly come from finishing the campaign and gathering all the collectibles. You also are tasked with beating the game on a mode where dying equals a complete game over. There are extra lives to collect, and you only lose in that mode if you die without any extra lives. It's not too hard. However, the platinum trophy becomes significantly less fun when you see the multiplayer trophies. They're not that bad, and there are communities online where people will help you "boost" them if you want, but just grinding the multiplayer trophies out in a mode that is already only okay is not a wise choice. Multiplayer trophies for a predominantly single player game should reward just checking out the multiplayer mode rather than requiring that you spend a more substantial amount of time in it. GRAPHICS Playing on a standard PS4, this game is really impressive. It strikes me that the delay from the 11/2019 planned launch to March of 2020 helped boost everything in this game. It moves buttery smooth, and it looks wonderful. There are some filter to mess with if you want to modify your visual experience. A MAJOR complaint I have is the text is way too small. This could be fixed with a patch, but as of the date of this review, a lot of it is tiny, which is a recurring issue with modern games. AUDIO The sound effects are phenomenal, really drawing you into the world. The music is appropriate thrash metal and it works. I can't say there are any tracks that are particularly memorable or hummable like some classic Doom songs, but it feels right in the context of the game. SUMMARY Doom Eternal is a competent successor to Doom (2016). It might be the smartest first person shooter I've ever played due to the tactical combat. The absence of a means by which the player can reduce the need for tactics in the combat is, to me, a shortcoming, as I like my Doom games to be pure power fantasies. That said, I think a lot of gamers will really enjoy the changes made to the system once they wrap their heads around it. I'd recommend Doom pretty strongly to fans of the series, but I'd note that if you want more of a traditional or classic-feeling game, go with the 2016 entry instead.

Doom Eternal is a non-stop, blood soaked joy ride. It's brutal, hyper voilent, and loaded with secrets, Easter eggs and loving references to the series' history. It makes every attempt to be accessible with plenty of difficulty options, generous tutorials every time something new is introduced and optional cheats to help players who are struggling: this game wants you to have fun, and it wants you to feel like an unstoppable god slayer while doing it. It's an extremely "video gamey" video game: some switches require being punched, green lights guide you to where you're supposed to be going or looking, there are power-ups and collectibles and secret areas strewn across the sprawling maps filled with things to be ripped and torn. There are codex and lore entries, a deep story and tons of lore that's all completely optional; if all you want to do is chainsaw a demon in half, you've still come to the right place. Honestly, it feels like the perfect take on the classic Doom formula brought into modern day in triple A, cutting edge glory, and the music will never fail to make your pulse pound. This game is grotesque, not for the faint of heart and absolutely not for children or those who are offended by demonic imagery or themes. Anybody else? Buy it now.

Honestly, I was disappointed at first: the music didn't feel as punchy; the HUD has lots of bright colors; the story is reminiscent of LOTR; there are so... many... buttons you need to memorize. The initial response wasn't good; but.... I slapped on my headphones, and felt the music thump again. The music isn't as iconic, but it still feels like DOOM 2016. The buttons provide an extra challenge, but they also offer more versatility than the original; you have a few different options for how to rip and tear. I typically forget what they do every once in a while and just press it to see. I don't have to perfect a single line for a battle; I can try different combinations. The story... is... meh. It's not bad, but I prefer the approach Doom 2016 took; the story was there, but you had to voluntary read about it; Doomguy wasn't wasting time on it. Here, it's all kind of shoehorned in. The game feels brighter, and less cyberpunk, but it also has a new H.R. Giger feel to it, and I dig that. Replay value is insane. Great game, just don't get stuck on the original (kind of original).

No preorder bonus included and good luck trying to get Amazon to help!! First off, I want to tell you I have played every version of Doom and even have the port of the original Doom on my Texas Instruments Ti-84. When Doom 2016 came out I was thrilled. A return to the run-and-gun FPS where the story is made up and the dialogue doesn't matter. The multiplayer was sub-par but no one really should care about that; its the campaign the tried and true Doom lovers want. Now comes Doom Eternal. A new installment to the Doom series building off the success of Doom 2016, and I have to tell you it missed the mark. Having finished the campaign on Hurt Me Plenty, I am going back through it on Ultra-Violence and feel I can give an apt review. *Havent played any multiplayer yet so cant really comment* The Good: Graphics- Updated a bit from 2016 but essentially the same. New monsters and a few tweaks to the old one as well as fan favorites from the original 90s Doom which is fantastic. The scenery is cool and adds to the ambiance, but there really isn't much time to enjoy it since you're constantly doing triple-double axles to get from one place to another (see Level design below.) Guns looks pretty rad and the Doom Fortress has an appealing "cold" quality to it. Game play- Fun, Fast and Explody. What else do you want? The game definitely keeps you on your toes. You need to be more agile and strategic on your movements as some of the new demons have counters to the run-and-gun game style. The Bad: Level Design- I dont know whose idea it was to put these gymnastic puzzles in the game, but they are awful and frustrating. I've never had a FPS waterboard you like this before. I cant tell you how many times I have died because I double jumped just a little too early and fall to my death or zigged when I should have zagged and i missed the wall climb. And when you die and start over, you lose a little health each time. So there is a chance you fail a puzzle 2-3 times, have almost no health when you reach the end and then die from an enemy only to start it all over again. Ammo Drops- Ammo is very sparse around the maps. No enemy drops any ammo unless you chainsaw them. The total amount of ammo you can carry is extremely low to start and unlike 2016, there is no infinite pistol. Also, unless you have bloodpunch active, melee doesn't kill enemies either even though you have a giant knife on your wrist. You will find yourself dying many a' death because you simply ran out of ammo. Incompleteness- Im referring to noticeable issues with AI and environment. The first level I had a demon get stuck between a piece of concrete and a burned out car making this repeated shriek sound and I actually blew a Revenant through the ceiling. I knew he was there because I could hear him shooting at me. I couldnt kill him either. He might still be there. I also noticed that if you turn quickly in some buildings, some of the walls become transparent for a split second just long enough to confuse you. Some conditioned-triggered doors don't reopen. I was in an elevator and waited in there to survey my environment and the door closed and I couldnt open it back up. On occasion, the alternate firemode of some guns randomly stop working then randomly starts working again. Sound- The music is ok. It doesnt fit sometimes when playing. For instance, a metal song will start playing out of nowhere usually to signify a tough fight coming up.. which turns out to be a couple Imps and maybe a revenant... and then it stops out of the blue. Also some of the environmental sounds are really unrefined. The purple goo stuff you step in sounds like they just recorded a wet mop hitting the floor and some other sounds like the jump pads have this annoying woopwoop sound. Narrative- Im not sure if the "story" was an afterthought or integral from the beginning but it makes absolutely no sense. Im not playing Doom to see this battle between some old washed up Angel and Demons. I just want to run through, get cool guns, blast demons and avenge the bunny. All this other story garbage just gets in the way. Plus you have to read the codex pages to understand the story better... who hears Doom and thinks, yea man I cant wait to read stuff in that game? Player Management- This is related to the upgrade system in the game which to me is a little cumbersome. Its similar to 2016, but doesn't flow very well. You have gun mods, gun masteries, suit upgrades, runes, sentinel batteries, among other things like cosmetics, weekly challenges, mission challenges and demon trials. While 2016 had some of them, they seemed simpler. Get a gun mod, upgrade it. Get argent upgrade your suit. Do a run trial, get a reward. Straight-forward. Not with Doom Eternal. Its kind of a mess to be honest. It took me almost the entire campaign to figure out which sigil and rune and token did what. I give Doom Eternal 3/5 stars. It has potential. it really does and with some patches, they could address some of my concerns with the game. I wish they had a cooperative mode. I feel that could add a whole different aspect to the game, but I can see why they didnt. You're the Doom slayer. Who stands alone... or does he... the story makes things confusing. If you are a fan of Doom, I would say get it but keep your expectations on the lower side.