DOOM Eternal has ironically made DOOM franchise no longer eternal

[gaiameck]

What's so eternal about the newest instalment of the DOOM franchise exactly? The fact that it has completely changed from the style of the other games? You know, foolishly I thought a series like DOOM would be indestructible and timeless.. impervious to any modern influence of nowadays games. However, I was unfortunately dead wrong.

First of all, DOOM Eternal isn't a bad game on its own but as for myself and some other fans, it simply isn't a DOOM game. Everything that made the previous game true to the nature of the classic 90's shooters and the rest of the series has been thrown out the window in favour of a modern and adapted approach; with many elements taken from newer FPS games put in to try and change the formula of the series and get as many people on board as possible, something which simply doesn't need to happen.

If DOOM were to be eternal like the new game's title suggests, the basic fundamental aspects of the previous games would be untouched like it has been throughout the whole series until now, and naturally some people are going to be upset about this. Yes you can argue DOOM 3 and even 2016 were a lot different from the classics, but both games still retained that classic feel.

This is why I think DOOM Eternal is by far the worst addition to the series at best, and not even a true addition at worst.

Story/Perspective

One of the the most valuable parts of the DOOM franchise was the fact that DOOM guy wasn't a fleshed out, story driven character such as the likes of Master Chief from the Halo series. This allowed the player to project themselves onto the character, establishing a personal connection with the protagonist, putting themselves in their shoes. Afterall, this was intentional as the DOOM guy was mean't to be the player. This also mean't that whatever the player did or didn't do inside the games write the character as well in a way. This was an absolutely fantastic and incredibly fitting way to handle DOOM's protagonist; not only does this fit very well with DOOM's fast paced and unforgiving gameplay, but also complemented the players playing the character, making them feel as if they were the ones progressing through the campaign.

In contrast, Eternal's way of story telling is fixed and unchanging, meaning whatever you do in the game isn't represented in the cutscenes, as no matter how you choose to play the game or how good or bad you are as a player, DOOM guy is still presented as this superhero like character for free, making your efforts in-game seem rather pointless and unnecessary compared to the other games; not as rewarding as its just lore now. As well as this, the player is now detached from the character for the same reason, as cutscenes take the control away from the player and puts you into third person, no longer telling the story from the character's/player's perspective but of that of an outsider's. This is all well and good for a lot of games with developed, three dimensional characters but doesn't suit DOOM at all; however, now I guess it does because the story and perspective has been adapted so that it does fit for Eternal.

Additionally, the story is VERY in your face, something which is also new for a DOOM game. Before the story was far more simplistic, especially at how it was portrayed to the player whereby it was seemless with the flow of the combat in the game, whereas now there are elements that stop this momentum and ruin it.

Gameplay

Admittedly, I only spent two and a half hours on the game where upon I got fed up and refunded. A signifcant amount of the time I spent was trying to fix fps issues and find ways to disable ugly ui elements and that. I also looked up gameplay to get a better feel of the game. Before anyone says "aaaa u have only played 2 hours blah blah", you do not need a full play-through to come to terms with the fact that DOOM Eternal is not 2016, which was what I was expecting and sorely disappointed with.

Bearing that in mind, I noticed how the combat was changed and replaced with this kind of rock, paper, scissors sort of gun-play, where the difficulty of your enemy greatly depends on what weapon and mods you are using for the job. This isn't outright a bad thing and had seen limited use in the previous instalment, however most of the time this seems to be the case and looks like it slows down game-play and restricts freedom to the player as opposed to when nearly all the weapons were just as effective for most part. I also hated the way there were these really in your face hints that stops and pauses the game and even worse, these tutorial rooms you get teleported to when just to teach you a mechanic, both taking you away and breaking fluidity of the game (I also do not care that you can disable this, as I feel it shouldn't be in the game period).

Additionally, the fact that you can punch enemies just for them to completely shrug it off is a joke and I shouldn't have to explain why, as well as the fact you are forced to use the chainsaw at least for early levels as opposed to it being a helpful and optional tool to get more ammo in the previous game; it's also much more limited and a straight up downgrade from the other games.

Inconsistencies in style

Simply put, many of the game's new design choices just do not pair well with the tone of the franchise. Bright, candy looking item pickups, some glory-kills resembling looney tune-esque slapstick violence, almost cartoonish environment at places and that horrible hud and ui, even if there is an option to disable or lessen some of these things, the fact its in the game at all is a disservice and spoils the mood for me. DOOM 2016 had well established tone and knew what it was, something I cannot say is the case for this game. I have also seen those over the top secrets like the giant dopefish and those guitars that are just dumb and fan service seems to have gone way too far to the point where its cringe.

Furthermore, the fact they revealed the voice and face of DOOM guy was also a big no no for me, as like I previously stated this means the character is no longer a shell you put yourself in, but now a developing character, something I will never agree with for this series in particular. Despite this however, the voice and voice lines for the character themselves actually made me physically cringe and was the last straw for me, just felt SO wrong and corny. PS I am aware his face is shown in DOOM 3 and classics, however I don't feel like its as much of an issue because it was limited use in both cases. Main gripe here is absolutely the voice reveal.

Conclusion

Please remember im not completely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on the game, i'm merely pointing out aspects of which i'm sure a signifcant amount of others at least partly agree with. I do not think DOOM Eternal is a bad game in itself nor do I think that anyone who has a different opinion from me are any less right or wrong than I am.
However, I do feel Eternal is a very poor representation of a franchise that used to take pride in being a classic styled shooter that stuck to its routes despite the ever-changing aspects of new games; at least this is what I feel when I hear the word "eternal".

[PrismPowered]

Many of the pickup style are exactly as they were in the originals, and they are designed to be easy to find and pick up in a battlefield of chaos. Plus, you're complaining about a face reveal, really? We have ALWAYS KNOWN HIS FACE from the original game, and having a voice for all of two lines where he spouts classic doom lines is far from sacrilege.

There is nothing wrong with completely skippable cutscenes. That point is even worth addressing.

The only real point you have is in gameplay. Yes, the first few hours of the game are not very good. But pretty much in the middle of the third mission you get weapons that allow you to largely bypass the early game design and make the game much more fun. Why they chose to do this, I don't know.

If you power through to the third mission the gameplay will improve significantly though.

[Swamp Fox]

Doom 1 and 2 and their communities are Eternal.

Doom 2016/Eternal aren't DOOM.

[gaiameck]

Originally posted by Jammer:

Many of the pickup style are exactly as they were in the originals, and they are designed to be easy to find and pick up in a battlefield of chaos. Plus, you're complaining about a face reveal, really? We have ALWAYS KNOWN HIS FACE from the original game, and having a voice for all of two lines where he spouts classic doom lines is far from sacrilege.

There is nothing wrong with completely skippable cutscenes. That point is even worth addressing.

The only real point you have is in gameplay. Yes, the first few hours of the game are not very good. But pretty much in the middle of the third mission you get weapons that allow you to largely bypass the early game design and make the game much more fun. Why they chose to do this, I don't know.

If you power through to the third mission the gameplay will improve significantly though.

I actually forgot about the whole classic face thing I won't lie to you lol I will actually edit that in, but i'm sure you get what i'm trying to say. With the pickups, I actually feel they are for fan service and look out of place, giving the game an arcade style look; some people are ok with it, but I much preferred how DOOM 2016 handled it where most pickups where a part of the environment per se, with the power-ups being an acceptable exception. This is also a great example of what DOOM 2016 changed from the classic games and definitely a positive one. Don't get me wrong I love the classics but i'm aware 2016 is like a reimagining of them with the basic style kinda and it wont be the same and i'm all for this.

[Ale]

Originally posted by Patrick Swayze's Ghost:

Doom 1 and 2 and their communities are Eternal.

Doom 2016/Eternal aren't DOOM.

This.

Also Doom 2016/Eternal still are good games ( especially Eternal )

[toxicologist]

so judging by this post DOOM 3 isn't a DOOM game either

[King Dickus]

yet another dragged out opinion stated as a fact

[gaiameck]

Originally posted by Ale:

Originally posted by Patrick Swayze's Ghost:

Doom 1 and 2 and their communities are Eternal.

Doom 2016/Eternal aren't DOOM.

This.

Also Doom 2016/Eternal still are good games ( especially Eternal )

I actually agree with both of you on this, however 2016 I feel was still a fantastic and worthy addition to the series. Stuff is bound to change in adaptations I get that, but at least 2016 was faithful in the context of what it was allowed to do kinda thing.

[Ale]

Originally posted by Lord of Buggery:

Originally posted by Ale:

This.

Also Doom 2016/Eternal still are good games ( especially Eternal )

I actually agree with both of you on this, however 2016 I feel was still a fantastic and worthy addition to the series. Stuff is bound to change in adaptations I get that, but at least 2016 was faithful in the context of what it was allowed to do kinda thing.

2016 for me is more Doom 3 style ( Dark and realistic ), while Eternal more like Doom 1 - 2 ( Colours and Arcade ).

[joevonzombie]

I've seen Doom 2016 referred to as Zeitgeist Doom. It's not a reflection of what Doom actually was but more of a reflection of what Doom is the public consciousness.

[Kiirozu]

I get zero doom-feelings about this game, as I wrote in my thread I only get quake feelings with some doom themed monsters..

[gaiameck]

Originally posted by afghan dan:

so judging by this post DOOM 3 isn't a DOOM game either

DOOM 3 is a good example to compare with Eternal for a number of reasons. Yes, it is VASTLY different from any DOOM game before it, however despite its huge difference in tone and pacing, it still upholds many of the things in the classics that made the games great. I forgot to mention this game actually features some cutscenes as well, however they are used few and far between and most dialogue the player still retains control. Can also be argued that the games story could be completely not canon from the rest of the franchise, and sort of treated as a whole different game? That's kinda the vibe I get from a lot of people but i'm unsure of this and think this is still very much up in the air.

[Wicked]

Why do people overthinking the whole situation?
What does make a DOOM game into a DOOM game?
Killing the fu*king demons. That's all.
The gameplay became so much better since 2016. I dare say it's the fastest (SP) shooter ever and so much more enjoyable than DOOM 2016 which was also a masterpiece. Yeah, it's not like the OG one because dah we can aim vertically and stuff. Tbh most folks play OG Doom with mods. Even Civvie said idk which one DLC is boring nowadays. As the 25th-anniversary trailer said: Times Change...but DOOM is Eternal.

[Crimson Ghost]

On the chainsaw: I feel the exact opposite of you. I like that its there as it is. The ammo is kept tight intentionally just based on how they start you out. Its to train you to stop relying on a singular weapon and instead keep cycling through on the tougher enemies while viewing the regular ones more as health, ammo, or armor that just so happen to be capable of damaging you. This has forced me to change up my gameplay style of finding one gun I like and sticking with it like I did with Doom 2016. I learned the value of each weapon and in what context each mod is useful in. I do think that using your arsenal is the entire point of the game and this allows you to keep cycling through each of the weapons without fear of having to scramble for ammo at every turn because you know you have that chainsaw waiting to slice open a fleshy bag of your favorite rounds and it doesn't break the flow of combat since you aren't looking for gas cans unless you're looking to get that three tier attack on a larger demon.

Each enemy does have a type it is particularly weak to, but as long as you keep pouring out the lead you're going to be just fine on the normal and hard difficulty, though the hardest one you're going to want to optimize.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but offering a different perspective on the situation with the chainsaw.

[Kain]

I don't know, I loved the game and the ratings point otherwise. I play it in a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ gaming notebook, and its not even high end and can play the game with stable frames, they only bug I found were regarding some weekly challenges.

Regarding the story, sure, its serviçable, I wish they were able to implement some of the logs better in the gameplay, but story is hardly the more essential aspect to a doom game, regarding the gameplay, for me, its pure perfection, I love each aspect of the new mechanics. No, I see the franchise going forward with this entry.

[gaiameck]

Originally posted by ConseQuence:

Why do people overthinking the whole situation?
What does make a DOOM game into a DOOM game?
Killing the fu*king demons. That's all.
The gameplay became so much better since 2016. I dare say it's the fastest (SP) shooter ever and so much more enjoyable than DOOM 2016 which was also a masterpiece. Yeah, it's not like the OG one because dah we can aim vertically and stuff. Tbh most folks play OG Doom with mods. Even Civvie said idk which one DLC is boring nowadays. As the 25th-anniversary trailer said: Times Change...but DOOM is Eternal.

but it doesn't have to be a carbon copy of the original to stay true to them. DOOM 3 and 2016 were greatly different from the classics, yet still succeeded in keeping a lot of the aspects that made the originals great, of which I stated above. I completely understand this isn't a big deal for a lot of people but it is a deal breaker for some.