In anticipation of DOOM Eternal releasing soon, I decided to visit the most recent entry in the DOOM series to prepare myself for the impending DOOM, (no puns there) of demons invading the planet.

Today I’ll be reviewing DOOM 2016 for PC.

Gameplay

“Rip and Tear” is the theme when it comes to DOOM, (Yes I’ll be typing that in caps every time) and for the many variations of completely bisecting your enemies it’s satisfying at any point in the game. Whether it be from using a power-up or one of the many weapons that have the essential function of blasting demons to fine cuts of meat.

While the nature of the game is to slay every living demon in sight, at times this can feel repetitive. There are things like rune trials that involve completing specific challenges to unlock passive abilities, but some of these challenges are just killing demons and most of the trials are easy to complete.

For those wanting a challenge, the Nightmare/Ultra Violence difficulties do give pretty challenging fights and there’s even a Nightmare perma-death mode that allows you to see how far you get on one life.

There are a fair amount of collectibles to find however, and finding them all can be a bit tricky. You can even find upgrades to add new features to weapons and upgrade your armor! My favorite ones are the classic doom levels.

Story/Presentation

At a glance, the game’s plot seems pretty simple: Stop the demons from Hell from invading Mars, but after a bit of research…. it goes a little deeper than that.

Some people say DOOM 2016 was a reboot of the original game, and in some ways it did feel that way. However, (spoilers ahead) the game begins with the DOOM slayer waking up from a table surrounded by demons, which wasn’t the case in the original DOOM. This reboot is also considered to be a sequel from DOOM and proceeds DOOM 64 as the DOOM slayer had actually stayed in Hell in DOOM 64 and was tricked by demons and lured into a sarcophagus where he would be found by researchers on Mars to be awoken in DOOM 2016… there is a fair amount of other character backstory that also adds to the events that lead to DOOM 2016, but I’ll leave that to the reader to discover at their discretion.

To talk about DOOM 2016, DOOM slayer wakes up from the sarcophagus that he had been trapped in for who knows how long and is told by a scientist named Samuel Hayden, previously a human and now fully robotic, that the facility on Mars has been overrun by demons and he needs the DOOM slayer’s help in taking back the facility.

Throughout the game, you’ll find the facility is run by a company called UAC and quickly shows the deviant side of the corporation that implies that all employees are freely disposable and it’s just a cover-up for a cult that wishes to exploit the powers of demons and Hell.

The main antagonist Olivia Pierce, the head researcher of the UAC colony, attempts to open up portals to Hell wanting to harness the power of demons and use it for her own gain. You spend the majority of the game chasing her down until finally you meet her in Hell for an epic final battle. I won’t spoil her final form for those wishing to experience it first hand.

DOOM 2016 essentially sets the scene for the upcoming sequel DOOM Eternal where demons somehow made it to Earth… but we won’t figure out those details just yet unless you revisit older titles that may have already touched on the subject.

Music/Audio

Need that jam (<– click this) that gets the blood pumpin’ when you’re ripping demons limb from limb? Well look no further than the fast and hard hitting metal that invigorates the blood lust and carnage as you inflict divine justice on evil incarnate.

The music is well timed and cues upon combat and even has nice progression right as you are about to begin your slaughter-fest. It’s almost as if you become numb to the world around you as you focus only on killing every single demon. I didn’t have many issues with audio balancing as well and the settings can be fine-tuned to your preference.

It’s almost as if when you’re playing and suddenly -heavy metal music stops- you can’t help but react like:

Graphics

Ever wanted to see what Hell might look like? How about Mars? Then check out DOOM 2016. Even for a game that is almost 4 years old now, at the time this game was absolutely mind blowing for how everything looked. From the gore, to different demons, (some being way more annoying than most… LOOKING AT YOU PINKY) and the world around you just screams “scary satanic outer space planet”.

Even indoor areas feel creepy and have you on edge, but don’t worry you have your trusty shotgun to blow some heads off at any given moment 🙂

PINKY

If you have the PC for it, try maxing out the graphic settings and have your mind blown at how far games have come graphically. In terms of how a reboot should look, DOOM 2016 exceeds expectations for looking the modern part.

Final Thoughts

DOOM 2016 is a fast paced action intensive FPS that is a must play for any avid fans of the genre as well as the DOOM franchise. The combat did feel dull at moments but for the majority of the game I was given challenging fights and learning the mechanics made for some rewarding gameplay when tearing demons in half in successive combos of unrelenting death and agony for those poor wittle demons.

I unfortunately was late to the multiplayer scene for this game, but hopefully when DOOM Eternal arrives I will have a chance to experience it and talk about it as it emerges, but until March 20th:

As always,

Brother Ghesh out~