Recent reviews by meek, yet sensual white boy

TLDR
Pros to this game:
-Gunplay is extremely well done and it is satisfying to combo weapons together, yet at the same time Eternal requires using more than rotating through the same 3 weapons (think Super Shotgun Gauss Cannon and Rocket Launcher combo from 2016).
-The weapons are all fun to use and have interesting mechanics to each of them (except microwave lol).
-Aesthetically pleasing between the detailed backgrounds and destructible demons.
-Arenas feel great, extremely high energy and are accompanied by a fitting soundtrack.
-Movement. Dashing and a double jump from the very start of the game coupled with runes that improve upon the fast paced combat of 2016.
-Glory killing is still fun to see even after you start to become numb to it.

Cons:
-Cutscenes. The most common complaint I see from people, and for good reason. Most are unnecessary and ruin the flow of an otherwise excellent arena. They drag the camera away just to show an opening door that could have just as easily been pointed out by a sound/light cue. The longer story building cutscenes are fine, and are even skippable if you have no interest in a DOOM lore explanation.
-Platforming. At some parts it feels fine, but it can become frustrating to stop what you are doing and look around for the one wall which you can crawl up to progress to the next fight. Towards the end of the game it starts to feel like unforgivable filler.
-The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ purple goo

Contains spoilers
I'll preface this by saying I was a huge fan of DOOM 2016. However, this game was largely different. Some people like that, and some it seems just wanted DOOM 2016 but with more demons/different levels. In 2016, you play the game as an unstoppable force, even on the hardest difficulties. In Eternal, you are no longer the all powerful being. If you are playing on Nightmare, you HAVE to run sometimes. With stun locking and the abundance of ammo in 2016, you really never had to use a gun outside of the Ultimate Rotation of the Gauss, SS and launcher. So the devs on Eternal fixed this problem by lowering the ammo cap significantly and forcing the player to use a fuel-regenerating chainsaw to continuously kill fodder demons. Once you make it past the first level or so, running completely out of ammo ceases to be a problem. If you use your equipment right and manage your ammo, you more than likely will never run ENTIRELY out of ammo. Sure, your favorite weapon might not be up all the time, but in terms of gameplay diversity that's for the best.

Speaking of gameplay diversity, the whole 'puzzle combat' system is also a controversial topic that I should address. Its true, there is less freedom in this game when it comes to killing the actual demons. There is certainly a 'right' way to play the game. For instance, cacodemons are incredibly tanky but can be glorykilled after a single greande to the mouth. I think the more interesting aspect is the freedom you have to approach each fight, especially after you have died a couple of times. The choice of what route you run, when to use the equipment, and which demons to focus first feels like an intense chess game at times. I was tired of stun locking Mancubi and Barons of Hell into oblivion in 2016. The longer TTK in this game actually adds to the intensity in my opinion. Long story short, on the harder modes, Eternal is much more difficult and less forgiving than it's predecessor.

The bosses in this game felt mostly similar to 2016, which is why I am always so surprised at the amount of complaints I see about them. The Marauder fight was one of the best boss battles I have ever fought. He was difficult at first, but the adrenaline rush from beating him felt amazing. He is quite janky however. The spacing is hard and unforgiving on high difficulties, and he throws his energy axes a little unpredictably. There are definitely a few times he had outright refused to approach me before I figured out how to bait him, but after I got the spacing down he became an excellent mini-boss. But ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ the Icon of Sin was a letdown. Maybe it was because of the omage the developers thought they had to pay to the original Icon of Sin but the fight is tedious, taking close to half an hour to beat both phases. Really puts strain on ammo system by making you run around looking for ammo just to shoot it brainlessly at a giant boss that isn't even in the arena with you.

As far as the rest of the game goes, this game does force more story on you with the cutscenes. I for one enjoy that as a doom fan but it seems many fans just wanted to be a badass demon crusher and not have to sit through any long drawn out elevator rides as a narrator explains the game to you, which is a valid point. Along with the many cutscenes and unnecessary wall climbing portions (not to mention the shameless battlemode plug with the revenant) it seems to take advantage of the hype generated by 2016.

This game is not a godsend, but it is amazingly fun to play. Considering they could've cut out 3-4 hours of filler content it feels more like a game than the experience that was Doom 2016. However, the skill ceiling is much higher, and I can't wait to get better.
PLEASE ADD ARCADE MODE

Was playing this game on the only active server, and the developer joined, used weapons not even in the game, shot through walls, and changed spawns to be right in front of him. 10/10