An Eternal disappointment
Get it? Because we are going to talk about DOOM: Eternal!.. ok let's move on.
First of all, I want to precise I absolutely loved DOOM (2016, from now on) and I was super eager to play and know more even about the lore, that was never exactly the point on a Doom game. Imagine, non-invasive lore in a game like this? Sign me in.
I was extremely excited and barely could sleep while waiting for the day in which I could've played my most anticipated game but after reaching the first boss level, all my hype happiness and eagerness were lost into a void of disappointment and frustration.
-Graphic Too.damn.colorful. like quake/dukenukem-esque, colorful. Everything has a glow, the demons look like puppets, the damn ammo you get with the chainsaw appear in a rainbow of colors. Where's the dark, the grief that we had in 2016?! WHERE?!
-Story: When we completed 2016 we were left with certain questions. Who are exactly the Night Sentinels? What's the role of the DOOM Guy in their organization? Where the f Hayden is hiding OUR hellish keyblade?
Good news is, the game actually answers and even quite well to the first two questions with the usual method of informing the player who spent some time in looking after the flaming parchment hidden in the levels. Bad news? They add more questions that are going to be answered only in the DLCs. While I knew about this apparently "extra" part of the story, I didn't expect to be thrown in the middle of a hurricane of characters, citations, and hints; for example where, when and why the DOOM Guy had access to the spaceship? Why VEGA is in the ship systems? What the hell is going on?
But I know now. In order to understand all of this, I have to spend even more money for something that should've be in the game since the beginning. 2016 instead explained everything about the current situation.
-Gameplay: I don't even know where to start to explain what's wrong.. oh wait I actually know. PARKOUR.
Parkour is actually something I really like and made me enjoy games that are not my cup of tea. For example, I do enjoy Apex Legends while not being a massive fan of Battle Royales, but thanks to some mechanics like, in fact, parkour I'm able to play a lot of it.
But in DOOM Eternal not only it is a sour note but a very intrusive and forced obstacle to a fluid level exploration and combat experience as well. In fact not only you cannot decide to not to use a pole, but they are quite needed since the developers decided to fill cramped rooms with tons of demons and environmental dangers like traps or flaming wheels that forces the player to constantly jump.
Because of this, Glory Kills and the Chainsaw are now something you have to spam instead of being used when actually need them after an intensive fight or to save ammo, in fact, you are going to finish all your ammo in a constant stream of enemies and lack of proper refill stations. Sometimes the character automatically grapples a surface, sometimes he doesn't and sometimes he punches the wall and makes you fall into the nothingness.
Not to mention (actually, let's do it) how you get new weapons: floating quake-like "ghosts" that replace the cool ways 2016 made you retrieve such delicacies. Just passing by over them cannot be compared to removing them from a corpse holding the weapon tightly or from the wreckage of a containment room.
-Tutorial every time you get something the game pauses. every.f.time.
Got the plasma gun? Pauses and show it is effective against shields.
Boss with a shield? Pauses and remembers you for the 4th time the plasma gun is effective against shields
Extremely annoying and often unhelpful because it repeats the same concept over and over
+Guns This is probably the only thing they got right. The super shotgun is equipped with a nice hook and is the only weapon you get in a cool way, the plasma rifle is a great memento and a welcomed counter against the shield bearers, the ballista mods are neat. The armor mounted weapons are too, a welcomed addition.
-/+Secrets The different dolls are very well done, they do not have the special animations of 2016 ones but I see them of higher quality. Shame, all the parkour needed to reach them feels only like a boring detour and not something you are doing for a specific task.
Going to add here, just to not to make even longer the gameplay section and because some were actual secrets: the runes.
The runes are now mere interactive items and not challenges you have to complete. Maybe spending time in creating more and different challenges for those, instead of boringly long parkour levels would've made the game way better.
if you've reached this point, thank you for handling my rant, my disappointment and sadness. I really, really didn't like writing this. I would've loved to appreciate, play and complete more times DOOM: Eternal but I just can't.
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