I'm not really feeling it...

[Nidstang]

I know I'm in the minority and will probably catch flak for it, but I don't really feel hyped like I should for a new Doom game. There's a lot here that just doesn't vibe for me. It's very much the anti-Doom Eternal, and I dont know if I like that.

The semi-open world, melee/parrying and blocking focus to the combat, lack of verticality, much, MUCH slower pace, less systems/technicality to the gameplay... I especially am not big on the custom difficulty thing. I'm a fan of developer crafted difficulties that force players to learn mechanics and engage with a game's systems. They make for stronger games, and offer a shared initial play experience amongst all players.

Having custom difficulty settings out the gate just kills that. Everyone will have their own gameplay experience. No universal balance. No real reason to engage with mechanics and systems if you can just tweak them all on a whim.

To me Doom is a fast paced, chaotic, action focused game. The classic games were only limited by 90s technology of the time. But even still, Doom II was a bigger, faster, more intense, more chaotic Doom I. Doom 2016 was classic Doom without the 90s limitations, and overall bigger, faster, more intense, and more chaotic. Eternal was a bigger, faster, more intense, more chaotic Doom 2016. I was hoping and expecting for Dark Ages to be a bigger, faster, more intense, more chaotic Eternal...

But it's the opposite. Slower, lumbering, with parry focused mechanics, less technicality, and player controlled challenge instead of developer intended challenge.

I'm still going to play it, of course. But I'm not feeling how I usually feel for new Doom. Hopefully I'm proven completely wrong once the game releases, and it's great. I don't think the game looks bad by any means, just not what I wanted as a follow up to Eternal.

EDIT: Since I've made this post, I have become more hyped... I simply can't not be hyped for Doom, it's my favorite game franchise.

I still have my skepticisms (still looks slow/simplified, I still hate parrying in games and never will like it), and there's a chance that I wont like it as much as Doom Eternal, or even 2016 or classic Doom... but I'm willing to see what Id is cooking up here. Id has proven to have a great track record, and Hugo Martin has proven to be a fantastic director, so this could very well be a case of "I dont even know that I wanted this" when it comes to the new direction.

I'm going to come in with open arms and an open mind. And hopefully I at least *like* it even if I don't *love* it. Or maybe I will love it anyways, even if it is different.

Skeptical but hyped.

[Illasera]

Originally posted by Nidstang:

I am not really feeling it...

That's what your mum said last night...

Originally posted by Nidstang:

I'm still going to play it, of course.

Lmfao, lol even.

[Thomastronaut]

There are tons of other games releasing this year. Instead of being disappointed about this one, maybe look around and see if there's something else you'd be more interested in?

[DamarusRex]

Hi
I respect your feeling about the game.
Just to add my stone : I felt the same with Eternal which didn't appeal to me at all, and am very excited for Dark Ages.
I preferred 2016 because Eternal cranked things up a little too far for my taste. It felt like the Dark Souls of FPS.
So I agree Dark Ages seems to root back for 2016 pace. But at least we can appreciate the new tools to make it more mobile, yet still varied and approachable.
I understand risking something more complexe and demanding than Eternal would perhaps stop a large quantity of players from enjoy it.

As for the difficulty slider, it's probably there to give journalists a better experience and grab some positive reviews in the process. That being said, if this was in Eternal, maybe I'd have had a better time playing it. So yeah, don't know what to think about it. As long as the default settings prove to be good enough, I guess we can just ignore it.

Maybe unlike you I just want to pewpew and break some bones before bedtime; not puzzle jump my way through maps, manage my blood sugar, and think rock/paper/scissors on each enemy I encounter. I understand the appeal of such systems though. But I was just raised with Serious Sam, Painkiller and Brutal Doom. I like good sound and music, stupid ragdolls and kickass feedbacks. They were simpler games, yet formidably efficient and fun, even today.

My hope with Dark Ages, is that it brings both of us agreeing on a perfectly balanced experience : one that remains complexe enough for you if you want to abuse the mechanisms and powerlay through it; and one accessible enough for me if I just want to chill and see corpses fly.

[Mixed Herbs]

I have my reservations but I am choosing to have faith, Hugo Martin has shown to be a good game director.

[hatta]

my first thought was:
HOW is this a BETHESDA game???!
Compare that to Starfield or Fallout4.

To me "DOOM: The Dark Ages" looks like a mix of "Kingmakers 2025" and "Fallout 3 2008" and "God of War 2016"
in Unreal Engine 5 ?
I will play that.

[Mixed Herbs]

Originally posted by totto:

my first thought was:
HOW is this a BETHESDA game???!
Compare that to Starfield or Fallout4.

To me "DOOM: The Dark Ages" looks like a mix of "Kingmakers 2025" and "Fallout 3 2008" and "God of War 2016"
in Unreal Engine 5 ?
I will play that.

it uses IDTech 7, not UE5. A far better engine at least so far.

[₦₣Đ]

Originally posted by Nidstang:

I know I'm in the minority and will probably catch flak for it, but I don't really feel hyped like I should for a new Doom game. There's a lot here that just doesn't vibe for me. It's very much the anti-Doom Eternal, and I dont know if I like that.

For a 35-year-old franchise to succeed, you have to make changes here and there sometimes. Otherwise, things get stale. I respect your views but I have to disagree with you. I love everything about the footage I saw. Especially the glory kill system, ( which desperately needed an overall imo ). I always felt that the old system just slowed things down too much. That was my only gripe about Doom16 and Eternal. I don't care about Mick Gordan either as I never listen to his music outside of the games. As long as the music fits the game, that is all that matters to me.

[Bazzy]

Originally posted by Nidstang:

I especially am not big on the custom difficulty thing. I'm a fan of developer crafted difficulties that force players to learn mechanics and engage with a game's systems. They make for stronger games, and offer a shared initial play experience amongst all players.

You sound exactly like Underthemayo, your alt account is using a sonic pfp, my dude? lol

Don't really in the mood for a new Doom game either, but that argument is narrowing the scope so drastically it alone should tell you why they made the change in the opposite direction. Simply put Doom Eternal did everything they could with that approach and now we are finally getting a shooter again and not whatever experiment Doom Eternal was. If that is not enough for you guess you can continue playing Eternal mods, maybe?

Edit: Funny how that comparison ignored Doom 3 in all of this, I wonder why... seriously you sound like a New Doom fan, not a doom fan.

[Nidstang]

Originally posted by Bazzy:

Originally posted by Nidstang:

I especially am not big on the custom difficulty thing. I'm a fan of developer crafted difficulties that force players to learn mechanics and engage with a game's systems. They make for stronger games, and offer a shared initial play experience amongst all players.

You sound exactly like Underthemayo, your alt account is using a sonic pfp, my dude? lol

I'm not Mayo, but I did make videos on Under The Bun. I talked a little with Mayo about the custom difficulty on Twitter, he's a big fan of it.

Originally posted by Bazzy:

Edit: Funny how that comparison ignored Doom 3 in all of this, I wonder why... seriously you sound like a New Doom fan, not a doom fan.

I purposely didn't include Doom 3. It doesn't feel, nor play like a Doom game. I find it slow, tedious, and boring. It's an outlier that doesn't follow the bigger, faster, more intense, more chaotic model. I love Doom 1+2, Final Doom, Doom 64, Doom 2016, and Eternal though.

[Mixed Herbs]

Originally posted by Bazzy:

Originally posted by Nidstang:

I especially am not big on the custom difficulty thing. I'm a fan of developer crafted difficulties that force players to learn mechanics and engage with a game's systems. They make for stronger games, and offer a shared initial play experience amongst all players.

You sound exactly like Underthemayo, your alt account is using a sonic pfp, my dude? lol

Don't really in the mood for a new Doom game either, but that argument is narrowing the scope so drastically it alone should tell you why they made the change in the opposite direction. Simply put Doom Eternal did everything they could with that approach and now we are finally getting a shooter again and not whatever experiment Doom Eternal was. If that is not enough for you guess you can continue playing Eternal mods, maybe?

Edit: Funny how that comparison ignored Doom 3 in all of this, I wonder why... seriously you sound like a New Doom fan, not a doom fan.

Bad comparison when UnderTheMayo has stated he likes the new difficulty slider.
Personally speaking I prefer having one universal difficulty like the Soulsborne series as it helps the devs give a singular focused experience and a shared one between ALL players but I don't think that means having different difficulty options is any less valid and in many cases can add replayability and unique challenges to the game like the DMC series does. Both methods are extremely valid and can be done well. Doom Eternal is most certainly best played at Nightmare and is clearly the intended experience imo. My concerns with Dark Ages comes from the gameplay decisions rather than the difficulty decisions.

[ArkonBlade]

I liked the last two DOOM games but I'll wait till its on sale for $20

[JoeCow]

I personally don't think the melee looks very good like it feels like your character and the enemies aren't really touching one another when a melee happens or their is some kind of barrier between them.. site enemies die and explode and stuff but it's like someone throwing a punch near someone's face and then falling back.. so e games do melee animations better than others I guess.. the original dead island comes to mind in how enemies reacted to being hit (,with analog fighting turned on) haven't played the other so that's why I said that one.. few other games but I'm having a brain fart but I generally know when melee looks convincing to me and it's not imo very convincing from the bit of gameplay I seen today

[DamarusRex]

Originally posted by JoeCow:

I personally don't think the melee looks very good like it feels like your character and the enemies aren't really touching one another when a melee happens or their is some kind of barrier between them.

I don't know what they scrapped that. Maybe for rythm fluidity sake ? But I feel the same, melee attacks here looks like throwing a flail rather than using actual limbs.
Condemned, Zeno Clash, Vermintide and Dead Island come to mind as my favorite examples when it comes to FPS melee standard. In previous Doom games, the animated melee kills helped a lot for feeling the strength of doomguy, there was that proximity. And honestly it was fairly quick, so it didn't slow the action all that much. Perhaps it lacked a little variety, but as soon as you saw the enemies blink, you couldn't help but crashing that finisher key !

Now, hands-on experience will maybe tell us otherwise. It doesn't chew my enthusiam since I played lot of game without melee finishers anyway.

[Zapmaster]

DA will have pre-set developer made game difficulties exactly like Eternal. You can see this when they show the difficulty options in the video, the guy was on "Hurt Me Plenty". It's just that you can also tweak things now as well. So you could play Nightmare with super slow demons, etc. But the classic Doom default difficulties are still there, that doesn't invalidate them. This also potentially opens up custom difficulties past Nightmare. Maybe we will be able to make things even faster and harder then nightmare? A lot of Doom streamers would love that option. Think all difficulty sliders to the right challenge runs!

Hugo also said in an interview that they are going for easy to learn game that is hard to master, and that it will still be very hard on higher difficulties. I am a huge Doom Eternal fan, and while it's a bit disappointing that they've obviously simplified the game that doesn't mean it won't be fun. Without the doubt the skill ceiling will be lower, but that was inevitable. They just took Doom Eternal too far for casual players to enjoy, most of the playerbase couldn't even get through TAG 1. On Nightmare this should play more like your average shmup, few combat options but still requiring a high degree of skill with what's there (shield parry system mostly looks like).

[caxshen]

this game is putting me off when more gameplay that i've seen. the parry is straigt garbage cheat code for casual. so easy to exploit , insane AOE blast , insane hitbox , pathetic long wind up green hue from enemy at long range. miniboss stupidly throwing out green attack continuously lol. ID is so desperate to draw new player in by putting out middle finger to hardcore gamer.