Doom Eternal | PS4 Review

The creators of the first-person shooter itself, id Software, return to follow up their surprise 2016 hit game. Doom Eternal brings the metal and the fury for sure, but it has a lot to live up to. Doom came out of nowhere, and surprised many people (landing several Game of the Year awards in the process). Unfortunately, the sequel doesn’t live up to the several years of hype.

Angel of Death

The story jumps ahead a few years after the cliffhanger presented at the end of Doom. You’re dropped into the game with little context, and while you’ll initially be pretty lost, that’s okay. There’s so many over-the-top story beats to marvel at you’ll find it easy to go along for the ride. Hell has overtaken Earth with an apocalyptic fury, hellbent on harvesting every last human soul they can. But there is one thing the demonic forces fear: The Doom Slayer.

Our boy is back, pissed off and ready to go. The player sees a lot more of Doomguy this time around, with many cutscenes pulling back for a third-person view of our protagonist. It’s initially incredibly strange to see the face of our hero, after Doom went so far out of its way to keep the man behind the mask hidden. However, this added presence and physicality of the character better showcase the force of nature he is to his enemies. He’s the boogeyman of Hell, and you feel it.

Hallowed Be Thy Name

The lore of the first rebooted Doom game was shockingly engrossing, and that remains true in Doom Eternal. There are dozens of codex entries to parse through to learn more intimate details of this universe, and I ate it all up. The unique version of Heaven and Hell presented here is tantalizing, especially with how it intersects with Doomguy’s own origins. Never in my life did I think the story would be my driving force for the Doom franchise, but here we are. It’s dumb, but it embraces that and revels in it. For that, it’s all the more enrapturing.

Symphony of Destruction

The musical accompaniment is just the bleeding sword heavy metal you need for this universe. No matter whether I was having a thrill or reaching peak frustration, the nonstop guitar strings from composer Mick Gordon stuck out to me. When added to the environments, you constantly feel like the main guy on a metal album cover, and that adds so much to the ambience.

The shooting in Doom Eternal has gotten some additions. Too many additions. That impeccable core combat loop of the first game has been disrupted by the unnecessary rev of a chainsaw. The chainsaw is no longer your last-ditch effort for extra ammo, it’s a consistent part of the game. There’s an insanely harsh restriction on the ammunition you can carry at once. While that could lead to interesting scenarios of juggling to weapons you may be less familiar with, it more often feels like a chore. Out of ammo? Find the nearest common enemy type. Only they can provide what you need. Out of zombies to chainsaw? Time to run around flailing until your cooldown abilities recharge. What fun! It may sound minor in text, but in practice it’s anything but. And while combat arenas do provide a little bit of ammo, it’s not nearly enough.

Raining Blood

You’ll routinely need to chainsaw through over a half-dozen enemies per fight. Add that to the glory kills returning as your only real means of health, and that’s a lot of interruptions to your shooting. But that’s not even all, as now a shoulder-mounted Flame Belcher is your only means for armor. That’s three different things, all constantly happening thanks to the increased difficulty of Doom Eternal. For a game about shooting, it sure likes to get in the way of all the shooting.

I can’t deny the game gets better as you progress through the campaign. You’ll become more proficient at the rhythms of combat, but it never reaches the zenith of the rebooted Doom’s combat. There’s simply too much going on. When it does fire on all cylinders, it can still be a hellishly good time, but it’s a shame that doesn’t happen more often. It’s strange to so constantly be waiting on your abilities to cooldown in a fast, frantic, 60 fps shooter.

Wait and Bleed

Platforming and puzzles play a much more significant part here than in the previous entry. I was initially worried that these sections would become yet another thing getting in the way of shooting demons, but I was happily proven wrong. There’s nothing overtly difficult to solve in the puzzles, but they do make you use your brain in a different way than the rest of the game. Platforming in first-person is always a tricky thing to pull off, and yet Doom Eternal does it fairly well. There are lengthy, tricky sections of jumping and wall-climbing that I found an incredibly good time. Maybe less chainsaws and more verticality next time.

I would also like to point out the absolute ludicrous amount of upgrade paths in this game. Your weapons have skill trees, your power suit has one, your Flame Belcher has its own, there are weapon mods to unlock, sentinel batteries to collect, runes to augment your abilities, and even the new melee attack named Blood Punch upgrades throughout the course of the game. If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it absolutely is.

We’re Not Gonna Take It

And almost all of it is pointless. The health, armor, and ammo upgrades are nice because they reduce the amount of time you’ll be doing your chores to maintain those reserves. Aside from that, though? Pointless. In fact, I routinely forgot my weapons and suit had upgrade points at all. When I selected an ability, I never thought “this will be so cool.” I only ever thought, “I guess I have to spend the points somehow.”

There is a really cool hub area in your spaceship named the Fortress of Doom. While yet another thing to keep track of in the game (as it has unlockable sections), at least it provides a nice resting area in between the madness of the standard levels. And it does have a pretty awesome name, of course.

A lack of restraint is Doom Eternal’s crippling issue. The team seemed dead set on the age-old gaming mantra for sequels: bigger, better, and more badass. While I appreciated that mentality when it came to the game’s protagonist and the lore surrounding him, it’s less successful in the actual gameplay. Again, the game really does get better as it goes on, but the opening six or so hours are an absolute slog. Shooting demons at lightning speed can be such a delight; I just wish the game could out of its own way long enough to let you do so.

To hear me talk more about Doom Eternal, be sure to check out Episode 287 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:37:33 time stamp.

This review is based on a purchased copy of Doom Eternal on PS4. It is also available on Xbox One and PC.