DOOM Eternal

HALO might be INFINITE but DOOM IS ETERNAL 4.6 hours in, and I'm already convinced this is one of the greatest FPS games ever made. The first DOOM I ever played was one of the classic games on the PlayStation 1. I was just a kid, and despite everything being little more than a collection of angry pixels, I fell in love with the series. When DOOM 2016 launched, I never got the chance to play it. It sat in my digital library for years, collecting virtual dust until I finally gave it a shot recently. What a mistake it was to wait that long. The soundtrack, the gameplay, the weapons, the atmosphere... absolute masterpiece. It was everything I remembered from my childhood, evolved into something bigger, faster, and infinitely more brutal. Then came DOOM Eternal. Holy hell. This game takes everything DOOM 2016 did and cranks it to eleven. The combat is insanely fast, every fight feels like controlled chaos, and the game constantly pushes you to stay aggressive instead of hiding behind cover. Every glory kill, every shotgun blast, every chainsaw execution makes you feel like the demons should be the ones terrified, AND they are! The movement is addictive, the weapons are ridiculously satisfying, the gore is gloriously over-the-top, and the soundtrack by Mick Gordon is an absolute banger. THEY ♥♥♥♥♥ SO HAAAAAAAARD. Every riff hits like a shotgun blast to the face and somehow makes the chaos even more exhilarating. It's one of those rare soundtracks that doesn't just accompany the gameplay, it becomes part of it. I've only played 4.6 hours so far, and I'm already having a hard time putting it down. For me, this isn't just one of the best DOOM games. It's one of the best first-person shooters ever made. Rip and tear... until it is done.

DOOM Eternal is one of very few games that I'd consider borderline perfect, because every single facet of gameplay matters. Ammo is slim, encouraging variety in your choice of weapons. You'll very often be rapidly swapping on the fly to adapt to situations. To gain back this ammo, you can use your chainsaw on a demon to get a large quantity of your ammo back. But, if you spread out your ammo usage evenly, you can save up three gas canisters worth of chainsaw fuel, and use all three to instantly take out a heavy demon. There's also your extra utility, that being the frag grenade, ice bomb, flame belch, and blood punch. The frag grenade can take out groups of fodder demons, but is also very useful for faltering any heavy or super heavy demons that are giving you trouble when you need some time to breathe. The ice bomb instantly freezes enemies it hits, allowing for very easy targeting, and once upgraded, frozen demons will take extra damage and drop health for if you're in a pinch. The flame belch sets enemies and fire and causes them to drop armor, which you'll most definitely be needing. And the blood punch can take out crowds of fodder demons while also doing insane damage to heavy and super heavy demons, and when upgraded it also gives you health drops, just like the ice bomb upgrade. It's refilled by performing glory kills, which also reward health. Enemies are very aggressive, and will melt your health bar when given the chance. If you choose to stand still even for a second, you could very well die. This is why you'll want to be on the move for every second of game, and the double jump, dash, and the super shotguns meathook which will fling you across arenas will help. Every single one of these attributes matter and when combined give you a combat system that is easy to learn, but hard, and incredibly fun to master. You're heavily rewarded for taking advantage of every single item and weapon at your disposal. And it's unlike any game I've ever played. You'll be swapping between every weapon to take out fodder, heavy, and super heavy demons while you refill your blood punch with glory kills and use it to remove fodder demons or whittle down heavy and super heavy demons, ice bombs to regain health and do extra damage, flame belch to regain armor, and the frag grenade on crowds or heavy and super heavy demons, all while flying through the air to avoid damage. It is very tricky to design a game that is better the harder and harder it is, but DOOM Eternal achieves that. The higher difficulties you pick, the more fun the game is, as it'll really test how efficiently you can use all it's systems in tandem with one another. It's a joy to play. And once you master it, you'll feel as unstoppable as the Doom Slayer himself. But notice how I said it's borderline perfect. This game's one weakness is it's weapon mods. Each gun has two, and every single weapon has one weapon mod out of the two that is definitively better. It's a shame, because constantly swapping between weapon mods that suit the situation you're in would've added another level of mastery to the game. But as it is now, this gameplay is still amazing. Other than the main gameplay loop, you have some platforming that I personally don't mind but that has a lot of fans divisive, a myriad of secrets and collectibles to find throughout levels in the spirit of the original DOOMs, OST from the brilliant Mick Gordon that'll have your blood pumping and your head banging, and a buttload of lore. I adore all of the new lore here that expands on lore that 2016 introduced, but in Eternal it can be super messy and flat out inconsistent with lore from 2016. However, to be fair, these games follow the rule of cool, and even if messy, the lore is cool as ♥♥♥♥, so they met that goal. DOOM Eternal is nearly spotless, and hands down one of the best games I've ever played. I can't recommend it enough to anyone who enjoys DOOM, or videogames in general. As a wise Sentinel King once said... Rip and tear... Until it is done... 10/10