It’s nearly been a year since DOOM’s lengthy demo was shown to all at Bethesda’s E3 conference, and nearly two since the game was originally announced at all. Before then there were rumors, leaked footage, and more. All this hullabaloo makes for anticipation, but with a hint of worriness. If the game has undergone so many changes, is there still a chance of it retaining what made DOOM so great in the first place? Not all of this was answered upon playing what little was offered in the DOOM beta, but what was learned is still important from newcomers to diehard fans of the franchise. Let’s take a look.
(The following may be subject to change upon release of the full game)
1. The movement is fluid, but only in certain scenarios
A thing that’s missing in DOOM is how guns carry significant weight. A simple Super Shotgun will give you a similar equivalent of speed as a rail gun, and more. While this isn’t the biggest issue for a FPS as nonsensically violent as DOOM, it does lead to one of the more noticeable flaws I came across. There’s no real flow to the movement, and the two maps that were released support this notion. While it’s great to jump into a portal and shoot who was just chasing you, it only happens so often.
2. Executions are brutal, yet hard to pull off
Unlike some other gory games like Mortal Kombat X in which you can buy or unlock executions for a limited time, DOOM takes no punches. (Quite literally) You’ll be given split seconds to pull off your defying kill, with these being even harder on special characters such as the Revenant. One of the greatest things is how fantastic these feel though. They never really get old, and they are spread evenly enough, regardless of player skill, that it always feels satisfying.
3. Customization is too limited to feel welcome
Customization retains a bigger focus in AAA juggernauts like Call of Duty and Battlefield, but it’s still something that should be taken into consideration. While DOOM accomplishes the first part of these steps, it squanders the rest. Options are there, but there aren’t many to choose from, resulting in a lot of soldiers looking the same. I do like how colorful the armor can be as it adds some prettiness to the grittiness, but it’s not very noticeable in gameplay. This will likely disappoint some and please others.
4. Some guns lack kickback, while others feel too weak
Doom 3 is a contested game among fans, but something I think that game always did best was perfecting the classic feeling of the DOOM shotgun, with a hint of modernization. While the shotgun is still badass in the new DOOM, it doesn’t have the same sensation, and is mostly used by players as a finisher. There also isn’t as much recoil as would have been preferred, giving the great executions a lack of purpose. Some weapons like the rail gun contain traces of this, but it was never that discernible among my playthroughs.
5. We still do not have a clear picture of the campaign
We may have gotten hints of it at E3 and for those who were lucky enough to attend QuakeCon 2014, but there still hasn’t been a full picture for how the campaign will be. Maps in the beta had parts that felt cramped and others that felt expansive, which makes us uneasy at the thought of bad level design in the story. I also hope variety will be applicable, as smashing a Revenant into pieces is fun, but quickly repetitive. But, if this has already been taken care of and Bethesda and iD Software can iron out the kinks of what was previously mentioned, then we should have a good FPS on our hands.
