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To say it straight away:
The decision to give the DLC a thumbs down has nothing to do with the fact that I think the DLC is bad.

On the contrary.

I love it, but I can't recommend it for the price, like Part One, and because it may not be for everyone due to the level of difficulty and the often criticized final boss fight.
Although they listened to the criticism and reduced the level of difficulty somewhat, the DLC is no less difficult and no less demanding.
And while it's playable stand alone, it's simply not recommended for someone who doesn't particularly like Doom's gameplay or hasn't played Doom Eternal and Part One.

With Doom (2016) the entire series was rebooted, it was more brutal than ever before and had many new and fresh ideas like the Glory Kills at the start.
Then Doom Eternal appeared and turned everything upside down again and ammunition, life energy or armor were no longer just lying around in the levels and you had to completely get involved in the flow of the shooter.
The concept more than just proved impressively that even the aging daredevils can still be at the forefront with new ideas.

An outstanding finale with a few (small) weaknesses

With The Ancient Gods – Part Two, id Software ends the story about Doom for the time being and so it goes against the ancient gods and the demons one (for now) last time.

But does the concept still work after all this time?

Yes, for me it actually does that and it is even more visually stunning than the main game and the DLC sparks another action firework in the style of Avengers: Endgame and Doom gets its well-deserved finale.

We remember:

At the end of The Ancient Gods - Part One, the Slayer summons his counterpart, the Dark Lord of Hell named Davoth.
And now he wants to finally destroy evil and fights his way through three brand new levels until he finally faces his infernal opponent.
The finale provides a satisfying conclusion to the Slayer story and, even if they ultimately remain almost unused, still has a few surprising twists in store, which may be a kind of “back door” to keep a possible sequel open.

In terms of content, the second DLC follows on seamlessly from the first expansion and the journey begins on the old world of Argent D'Nur, where the Slayer has to fight his way through a dilapidated guardian city to a crystal artifact, the so-called world spear.
From there you go straight back to earth where you have to fight your way through ruins to a gate that transports the Slayer to the heart of hell. The final battle against the Dark Lord himself begins before the walls of the hellish city of Immora...

It's Hammertime

With the Sentinel Hammer, a new melee weapon fits seamlessly into the arsenal and allows us to stun the enemy hordes or, in combination with the grenade or flamethrower, to gain additional ammunition, armor or life energy.
In addition, the hammer blow increases the duration of the vulnerability of Marauders and the Armored Barons.

The hammer can also be upgraded several times throughout the game. To do this you have to master the so-called Escalation Encounters, which are basically just arena fights in which you have to deal with hordes of opponents.
These replace the well-known Slayer gates, but are nowhere near as tricky as these. Each of these challenges has several stages, of which only the first is “compulsory”. Additional rounds are much trickier, but optional and you “only” get a visual gimmick for the Slayer.
So you can freely decide whether it's worth it or you just want to get involved in the first level in order to give the hammer an upgrade.

New levels with an old feel and sometimes annoying enemies and passages

For me, the new levels are some of the best in Doom Eternal. Exciting arenas and varied environments as well as tricky jumping passages that have been expanded with the new use of the combat shotgun's meat hook. However, just like in the first DLC, these are probably not for everyone as you sometimes have to change your weapon while doing so in order to activate a switch with a shot during a hook swing.

Visually, the new levels are fantastically implemented, at least as far as I'm concerned, and the search for secrets plays a less important role, as in the first DLC, since the Slayer already has all the upgrades and runes. Other than codex entries and extra lives, there isn't much you can collect. This means that The Ancient Gods - Part Two plays a little more linearly.

Of course, the heart of the game is and remains the brutal fights, which feel as good and fluid as ever, but there are no longer so many unnecessary mass fights where it feels as if waves of enemies appear in a row and the fights fall therefore also significantly shorter.

However, the fights against Marauders, which have so often been criticized, stand out a bit unpleasantly, because here too you have to fight against two at the same time.
In addition, this time they are accompanied by the new type of demon, the Screecher. The zombie is actually harmless as long as you leave it alone. However, when hit, it strengthens all other demons, which is pretty much the last thing you need in a fight against the Marauders.
And so the fight may drag on unnecessarily and quickly become a test of patience and stands out somewhat negatively compared to the rest of the DLC.

In addition, more new enemies were added, even if they basically just layered new textures over older models. But from a playful perspective, these bring a bit of a breath of fresh air. Including, for example, the Armored Baron, which is an armored version of the Baron of Hell. There are also Stone Imps, which are an even stronger version of the classic Imps that can crush us with roll attacks. But the most annoying innovation is probably the Cursed Prowler, which can place a curse on the Slayer, so that freedom of movement is severely restricted and you also lose life points. Fortunately, like the Blood Maykr, it only appears very rarely.

But The Ancient Gods – Part Two is not quite the perfect add-on and unfortunately id Software shoots itself in the foot with the big finale

The boss fight, which is rightly or understandably very often criticized, is one of the worst I have ever seen, even if it is staged in a somewhat epic way.

Sure, the boss fight is doable if you understand how it works, as it also represents a fundamental principle of the fight in the DLC, but despite the difficulty, it is simple, far too simple and unimaginative and has absolutely no variety, let alone anything new offers.

The background idea isn't a bad concept as it alludes directly to the Slayer. The fact that the fight lasts five torturous rounds, all of which follow the same pattern, that the “healing effect” is simply far too strong and that the hell boss is immune to normal attacks, is understandably an annoyance.
In my opinion, the enjoyment and joy of the DLC, as well as the end of the whole story, is unfortunately somewhat diminished.

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MY PROS AND CONS:

✔ even more Doom Eternal
✔ varied and new levels
✔ new opponents
✔ new game mechanics
✔ cool new hammer

✘ absolutely miserable and tough boss fight

Review date: January 17, 2024

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PLAYED WITH: ⌨️ 🖱 🎧

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⮩ VISIT ME IN MY LITTLE WORLD

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1098293/

[hr][/hr] [table] [tr] [th][b]MY RATING:[/b][/th] [th][b] ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘ ✘ [/b][/th] [th][b]8 / 10[/b][/th] [/tr] [/table] To say it straight away: The decision to give the DLC a thumbs down has nothing to do with the fact that I think the DLC is bad. [b]On the contrary.[/b] I love it, but I can't recommend it for the price, like Part One, and because it may not be for everyone due to the level of difficulty and the often criticized final boss fight. Although they listened to the criticism and reduced the level of difficulty somewhat, the DLC is no less difficult and no less demanding. And while it's playable stand alone, it's simply not recommended for someone who doesn't particularly like Doom's gameplay or hasn't played Doom Eternal and Part One. With Doom (2016) the entire series was rebooted, it was more brutal than ever before and had many new and fresh ideas like the Glory Kills at the start. Then Doom Eternal appeared and turned everything upside down again and ammunition, life energy or armor were no longer just lying around in the levels and you had to completely get involved in the flow of the shooter. The concept more than just proved impressively that even the aging daredevils can still be at the forefront with new ideas. [b]An outstanding finale with a few (small) weaknesses[/b] With The Ancient Gods – Part Two, id Software ends the story about Doom for the time being and so it goes against the ancient gods and the demons one (for now) last time. [b]But does the concept still work after all this time?[/b] Yes, for me it actually does that and it is even more visually stunning than the main game and the DLC sparks another action firework in the style of Avengers: Endgame and Doom gets its well-deserved finale. [b]We remember:[/b] At the end of The Ancient Gods - Part One, the Slayer summons his counterpart, the Dark Lord of Hell named Davoth. And now he wants to finally destroy evil and fights his way through three brand new levels until he finally faces his infernal opponent. The finale provides a satisfying conclusion to the Slayer story and, even if they ultimately remain almost unused, still has a few surprising twists in store, which may be a kind of “back door” to keep a possible sequel open. In terms of content, the second DLC follows on seamlessly from the first expansion and the journey begins on the old world of Argent D'Nur, where the Slayer has to fight his way through a dilapidated guardian city to a crystal artifact, the so-called world spear. From there you go straight back to earth where you have to fight your way through ruins to a gate that transports the Slayer to the heart of hell. The final battle against the Dark Lord himself begins before the walls of the hellish city of Immora... [b]It's Hammertime[/b] With the Sentinel Hammer, a new melee weapon fits seamlessly into the arsenal and allows us to stun the enemy hordes or, in combination with the grenade or flamethrower, to gain additional ammunition, armor or life energy. In addition, the hammer blow increases the duration of the vulnerability of Marauders and the Armored Barons. The hammer can also be upgraded several times throughout the game. To do this you have to master the so-called Escalation Encounters, which are basically just arena fights in which you have to deal with hordes of opponents. These replace the well-known Slayer gates, but are nowhere near as tricky as these. Each of these challenges has several stages, of which only the first is “compulsory”. Additional rounds are much trickier, but optional and you “only” get a visual gimmick for the Slayer. So you can freely decide whether it's worth it or you just want to get involved in the first level in order to give the hammer an upgrade. [b]New levels with an old feel and sometimes annoying enemies and passages[/b] For me, the new levels are some of the best in Doom Eternal. Exciting arenas and varied environments as well as tricky jumping passages that have been expanded with the new use of the combat shotgun's meat hook. However, just like in the first DLC, these are probably not for everyone as you sometimes have to change your weapon while doing so in order to activate a switch with a shot during a hook swing. Visually, the new levels are fantastically implemented, at least as far as I'm concerned, and the search for secrets plays a less important role, as in the first DLC, since the Slayer already has all the upgrades and runes. Other than codex entries and extra lives, there isn't much you can collect. This means that The Ancient Gods - Part Two plays a little more linearly. Of course, the heart of the game is and remains the brutal fights, which feel as good and fluid as ever, but there are no longer so many unnecessary mass fights where it feels as if waves of enemies appear in a row and the fights fall therefore also significantly shorter. However, the fights against Marauders, which have so often been criticized, stand out a bit unpleasantly, because here too you have to fight against two at the same time. In addition, this time they are accompanied by the new type of demon, the Screecher. The zombie is actually harmless as long as you leave it alone. However, when hit, it strengthens all other demons, which is pretty much the last thing you need in a fight against the Marauders. And so the fight may drag on unnecessarily and quickly become a test of patience and stands out somewhat negatively compared to the rest of the DLC. In addition, more new enemies were added, even if they basically just layered new textures over older models. But from a playful perspective, these bring a bit of a breath of fresh air. Including, for example, the Armored Baron, which is an armored version of the Baron of Hell. There are also Stone Imps, which are an even stronger version of the classic Imps that can crush us with roll attacks. But the most annoying innovation is probably the Cursed Prowler, which can place a curse on the Slayer, so that freedom of movement is severely restricted and you also lose life points. Fortunately, like the Blood Maykr, it only appears very rarely. [b]But The Ancient Gods – Part Two is not quite the perfect add-on and unfortunately id Software shoots itself in the foot with the big finale[/b] The boss fight, which is rightly or understandably very often criticized, is one of the worst I have ever seen, even if it is staged in a somewhat epic way. Sure, the boss fight is doable if you understand how it works, as it also represents a fundamental principle of the fight in the DLC, but despite the difficulty, it is simple, far too simple and unimaginative and has absolutely no variety, let alone anything new offers. The background idea isn't a bad concept as it alludes directly to the Slayer. The fact that the fight lasts five torturous rounds, all of which follow the same pattern, that the “healing effect” is simply far too strong and that the hell boss is immune to normal attacks, is understandably an annoyance. In my opinion, the enjoyment and joy of the DLC, as well as the end of the whole story, is unfortunately somewhat diminished. [hr][/hr] [b]MY PROS AND CONS:[/b] ✔ even more Doom Eternal ✔ varied and new levels ✔ new opponents ✔ new game mechanics ✔ cool new hammer ✘ absolutely miserable and tough boss fight Review date: January 17, 2024 [hr][/hr][b] PLAYED WITH: ⌨️ 🖱 🎧 [/b] [hr][/hr] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42616051/][b] ⮩ VISIT ME IN MY LITTLE WORLD[/b][/url] [hr][/hr] [url]https://store.steampowered.com/app/1098293/[/url]