Not really a DOOM game [review/opinion]

[DOFR]

But a great game nonetheless [clickbaiting 101]

So before we get to the part were everyone tells me that I've not played the original and don't know what DOOM is about if I think so, let me elaborate first.

New DOOM (SP) plays like an arena fps in its finest. It is punishing, it is fast, it is fun. You roam through the map freely searching for secrets barely encountering any enemies untill you get to a specific location (usually a large open area aka arena) were you are going to face a huge wave of hellish beasts that will crawl out of every hole and spawn right behind you. Keep moving, keep shooting, keep walking over demon corpses to pick up health and ammo - that is the only way you will survive. It is a breath of fresh air, just like the Shadow Warrior was a few years before. And though I love Shadow Warrior, I'm going to say that the way difficulty is done in DOOM feels much better (instead of bullet sponge enemies, you die as fast as a fireball hitting your face). New DOOM, is a great old-school game deserving of a 8/10 rating at very least with the only issue probably being the length and MP (but MP is a topic for another day).

With all that being, originals were nothing like that. And when I'm talking about originals I mean: Ultimate DOOM, DOOM 2, TNT Evilution, Plutonia Experiment and maybe even Heretic. Even whe you use KB+M in dooms of old you only need to switch the Fast Monsters on and it once again plays the same (or at least the feeling is the same). You install Brutal DOOM or Project Brutality? Great, everything changes. Reloads, weapons, enemies, gore... But it is still the same old DOOM. So why is that? The answer is simple - map design.

Many seem to neglect the effect of game design on gameplay and overall experience, but it is not the best way to go about it. Even DOOM 3 with few minor adjustments when played on original DOOM maps or maps done by people who know how to make a doom map (In Hell mode for example) plays like a great doom game. That is due to how map works and how enemies are allocated on the map. Old DOOMs were mazes (aside from few level obviously). They were big mazes filled with hazards and monsters around every corner. They were slowly draining your health and ammo. Secrets weren't just there as an easter eggs or leveling up system, they were the tools for your survival. Each map was its own game that you could play through starting with only a pistol in your hand. New DOOM? Not that at all. Once again, you find secrets without facing much danger, get to the area with monster and proceed to destroy the waves untill all of them are dead. Is it bad? Nope, it is fun and reminds of old school games (Quake, Serious Sam), but the DOOM is not one of these games.

It feels like, that after the critisism of DOOM 3 ID over compensated and went so far back from "horror maze with jump scares and not that much enemies" that it landed as far from dooms of old as DOOM 3, just on the other side. Is it more old-school, hell yeah. But once again not really a DOOM.

With all that being said. If you are a fan of arena SP shooter - go ahead and buy the game, as I did. It will be a blast, it will be fun, it will be hard (if you'll choose it to be). But I'm still going to wait and hope for there to be another game that will scratch that DOOM itch I have... Still there are new maps for Project Brutality being made every day, so I won't be suffering ^_^

Thank you for reading

[Nasher]

It does lack the Doom atmosphere. Old Dooms were horror/action. This is purely action.

Map design is seriously lacking in all modern FPSs IMO. The originals Dooms had interesting maps. Doom 4's are a bit bland and generic, filled with the same stuff you see in all other games these days. Doom was all about the map design, that is what made it.

But we're talking about the old days, when games were made by gamers and people with imagination. Now they are made by salesmen and the finance department.

[DOFR]

Publicado originalmente por Nasher:

It does lack the Doom atmosphere. Old Dooms were horror/action. This is purely action.

I don't think they were horrors, but they indeed had a very tense/horror-like feel to them.

[>Mar-X-maN<]

ITT: not really Doom players

[DOFR]

Publicado originalmente por >Mar-X-maN<:

ITT: not really Doom players

How so?

[Xuhybrid]

Even though you criticise the level design, i think it's still good. While it differs from the originals it still delivers a similar playstyle for the gameplay. And i don't really want to use this as a point but it's so much better than anything else given in the past 10 years.

[TheRat62]

Yeah something doesn't work for me with this game. And am I the only one that thinks the glory kills don't actually look brutal enough?

It looks like he punches the demons the way I'd punch my brother growing up and their heads falls off.

[piet11111]

I really liked Doom 3 because it was a scary game but this new doom game is just "lol awesomebutton roflstomping" its just not scary anymore.

That said i still enjoy this game quite a lot but i dont feel as vulnerable.

[Gotta Ramble]

It is a doom game.

[DOFR]

Publicado originalmente por Xuhybrid:

Even though you criticise the level design, i think it's still good. While it differs from the originals it still delivers a similar playstyle for the gameplay. And i don't really want to use this as a point but it's so much better than anything else given in the past 10 years.

It is good for the kind of game it is, that I agree on. I will disagree on a similar playstyle though, but I wont start an argument over that if you dont mind (everyone can just go and play the old DOOM to check that).

Yeah, it is one of the few good fps games of our days. There were others though, they just didnt have such a big name as DOOM.

[Xuhybrid]

Publicado originalmente por piet11111:

I really liked Doom 3 because it was a scary game but this new doom game is just "lol awesomebutton roflstomping" its just not scary anymore.

That said i still enjoy this game quite a lot but i dont feel as vulnerable.

There are plenty of horror corridor shooters out there if you're that simple of a person.

[Dr Carrot]

Publicado originalmente por piet11111:

I really liked Doom 3 because it was a scary game but this new doom game is just "lol awesomebutton roflstomping" its just not scary anymore.

That said i still enjoy this game quite a lot but i dont feel as vulnerable.

Play on nightmare... I feel vulnerable as hell.

[DOFR]

Publicado originalmente por Gotta Ramble:

It is a doom game.

Depends on your definition of DOOM game. For me its the gameplay of originals (that is why I feel the such games as Heretic/Hexen/Duke/Blood are much closer to the old DOOM than new DOOM). But if for you the DOOM game is monster/weapon types and the title, then it is indeed a DOOM game.

[DOFR]

Publicado originalmente por Xuhybrid:

There are plenty of horror corridor shooters out there if you're that simple of a person.

Did you just call old DOOMs a horror corridor shooter? Because otherwise I dont see how is your response connected to anything that Ive said.

[Xuhybrid]

Publicado originalmente por DOFR:

Publicado originalmente por Xuhybrid:

Even though you criticise the level design, i think it's still good. While it differs from the originals it still delivers a similar playstyle for the gameplay. And i don't really want to use this as a point but it's so much better than anything else given in the past 10 years.

It is good for the kind of game it is, that I agree on. I will disagree on a similar playstyle though, but I wont start an argument over that if you dont mind (everyone can just go and play the old DOOM to check that).

Yeah, it is one of the few good fps games of our days. There were others though, they just didnt have such a big name as DOOM.

Well during the originals there were still parts that had down time while u move between areas, or figure out the puzzle and direction to go. What more of a playstyle is there to the original games that im missing here? Move around an area avoiding demons while shooting them?

[Mr.Joel]

I think it totally fits as a DOOM game. To me it never had a horror aspect because the character was always in the position to kill any enemy he saw(He was never defenseless). There was nothing to fear when you had gigantic weapons that mowed down dozens of demons at a time as you speed across levels.