Before we begin, I’m going to put it out there that I too, was one of the doubters of DOOM (Yes, DOOM but we’ll get to the spelling of this reboot later on). It had been stuck in development hell as Doom 4. When id Software announced it as DOOM in 2014, I was just thinking, “Oh here we go again, reboot season.”
I’m glad I was wrong.
Going Solo
DOOM’s crown jewel has to be without a doubt its single-player campaign. They’ve captured the essence of what made the original 1993 Doom so great. The game thrusts you into action almost immediately, there’s no long story exposition for world building in the beginning. Your first kill happens within your first breath and from then on, the ride just keeps getting better. The main plot is simple, the player, referred to as the Doom Marine or popularly known as Doomguy, finds himself in the middle of a demonic invasion on Mars. Doomguy has to find the source of the invasion and stop it.
That’s it, really.
However, everything that happens on the way is far from simple. The gunplay is fast-paced and the weapon customisation takes your classic Doom weapons and turns them into DOOM weapons. One-hit kill melees come in the form of Glory Kills and keeps you in the thick of combat without slowing you down. The classic Doom arsenal is back and because each weapon is fairly unique, this allows the player to adjust their play style accordingly.
More Than a Reboot
DOOM’s map design is a breath of fresh Martian air. Exploration is rewarded with secrets and Easter eggs littered throughout the map. There’s a few platform jumping sections which might annoy some but overall, the map design is well spread out and varied.
My only criticism would be the lack of varied locations because in the end, you pretty much get only indoor and outdoor variations of the UAC facility on Mars or Hell. Nevertheless, you can really see that the designers have done their best to keep the areas fresh.
To Multiplayer…or not?
Multiplayer mode was put into open beta a month before its release and is probably the most criticised aspect of the game. Personally, I’m not a fan of the loadout system because it stops the player from changing his play style to suit the situation. Loadouts are locked to the player and you can’t pick up weapons from the ground. That’s the part I dislike the most about multiplayer. Everything else however, is great fun.
Over the course of the review, I found myself torn between completing the single player campaign or just jumping online and fragging for an hour. Character and weapon customisation within the game can be a bit of a time sink but adds a nice personal touch.
DOOM’s multiplayer is another nail in the coffin of FPS games of old. With Overwatch leading the charge and the new Unreal Tournament in free Public Alpha, the future of FPS gaming is very bright indeed.
SnapMap is something that I didn’t think much of until I checked it out. It’s an incredibly easy to use game and map editor. While not a powerful and diverse modding tool, it makes map building and game mode making more accessible to players. SnapMap has a lot of potential as the DOOM player base grows with some fun game modes already up on the servers.
In the very same way that my mind was blown by Wolfenstein: The New Order; DOOM has taken my mind to Hell and I like it. There’s a reason why DOOM is completely uppercase and that’s because it makes one hell of an impression.
Written by Amir Rothman
