So I beat Doom 4..
Long story short, I LOVED Doom 4. Definite GOTY nominee if not winner. Hell it's arguably one of the best shooters I've played in the past 5 years. Hell, it may just go in my list of favorite shooters of all time. It really is that good, but I guess I should preface that part of the love for it comes from it the time and place it was released, where the classic "one man army" FPS games have been grossly misrepresented ever since Call of Duty and Halo took over the world. Now I'm not about to turn into one of those dummies that claims that CoD is the worst thing to happen to games, BUT I will say that it has led to an overall decline in FPS games in general, especially in the AAA gaming world where imitation and refinery is attempted more than innovation, or in this case, fulfilling unfulfilled market demands.
Doom 4 truly does feel like a natural evolution of the Doom series, where what made Doom "Doom" is kept in tact and other tweaks and changes are made to bring it into modern gaming. Unlimited running, no reloading, no health regeneration and more than 2 weapons are the order of the day and it all leads to fast paced, intense action. It was refreshing to play a game where I'd actually feel almost "winded" after certain action sequences because of all the craziness going on. There's almost no time to relax or take a breath when sh*t is going down. If you stop, you're dead, which is completely counter to the majority of modern games where you need to stop to regenerate your health, which takes you out of the action for at least 5 long seconds. In this game, killing monsters creates health and weapon drops, so your motivation to not just kill but to run to the corpse and get your "loot" is high. Speaking of, the glory kill system, where you damage an enemy enough until they stagger and you basically do a gruesome fatality on them is quite cool. It's a set animation (which can vary depending on where you approach the enemy from) that lasts maybe 2 seconds at most and usually gives you more health/weapons and xp (more on that later.)
The levels in Doom also feel like an evolution, maintaining their openness but not getting too crazy to where you can't figure out where you are. The game also rewards you for exploring with various collectibles and power ups you can use to upgrade your character. It even lets you go back and replay old levels to try and get everything. The best part is that you keep your current stats and powers, so you can go to earlier levels and really tear sh*t up on places that gave you trouble. I will be doing this to collect some more secrets because the game was that damn fun, and that's something I haven't done since Saints Row 4.
Doom 4 does have a story and lore attached to it, but the game deals with this in a positive way by allowing you to either A: Read all the logs and data you pick up to get a better understanding of the world, or B: Do the old school Doom thing and just ignore all info about the plot and just kill everything, which is REALLY what Doom is at the end of the day. Basic plot story is that Doom Guy (he doesn't have an actual name and is often referred to as this) has been sealed away in a coffin or something for the past couple of years from the last time we went into hell and wrecked sh*t up. He's awoken by the head of the Mars base and told that he needs to help stop the invading forces from Hell. BTW, the reason hell is even invading is because a portal was opened between Mars and Hell in order to use hell's powers as an energy source. There's a bit more to it than that but I'll leave that out for now. I will say though that how Doom Guy reacts to all this is very telling about the tone of the game:
Still, as much as I loved Doom 4 it isn't perfect, but luckily my complaints are very minor. None of these were anything close to deal breakers and you will still likely have a lot of fun even with them. First off, as I mentioned earlier there is a sort of XP system in the game, where you can accumulate enough points to get 5 weapon upgrades at the end of each level, which are used to upgrade your guns. The thing is that you won't get all 5 in any level if you just shoot everyone from a distance. You'll have to do a good amount of glory kills. While they are fun to pull off, it meant that often times I wouldn't go all out with my weapons, and would try to hit that sweet spot between stagger and death, because if you're not careful you'll just end up blowing everyone away before you can pull them off. It was slightly annoying at times but didn't diminish the fun. Also, there are platforming sections in the game, because apparently Doom felt that they had to bring THAT mechanic back even though Doom traditionally hasn't really had platforming due to the lack of a jump button. No game has ever pulled off jumping in an FPS very well, and while Doom certainly does try, there were a number of times where I'd jump wrong, or try to do my double jump only to have the game not feel like acknowledging my input, leading to a few unnecessary deaths. Speaking of unnecessary deaths, I don't know if this was exclusive to me but more than a few times I had the game crash on me (on PC), and it always would happen during intense action sequences. This got particularly annoying when I was on my "Play to beat the game run" and in one of the final battles this happened, leading to me being worried and begging for checkpoints out of fear that it would happen again. The last string of battles are not what I would call easy, and getting even halfway through one only to be told to take it from the top due to a crash was not a thought I cherished. Finally, the ending of the game is sh*t. It's very short and abrupt, and really took me out of the moment. You're on such a high when you finally slay the final boss, that to then have an ending sequence that lasts just about 90 seconds feels like quite the letdown. The content of that 90 seconds isn't that good either. Again, without wishing to spoil specifics, imagine you just sunk the final putt and won the Masters. Then right as you're celebrating the head of the PGA runs out, shakes your hand, gives you your trophy, says "Good job." and then immediately leaves along with the entire crowd and television audience.
Hell the original Doom's ending felt more fulfilling than this one's did. At least that one set up a proper sequel. Oh and speaking of the first two Doom games, those had a co-op campaign. This doesn't. Again, not a deal breaker, but the idea of going around with another guy blowing the hell out of everyone and seeing those glory kills from a 3rd person perspective just makes me salivate at the thought. But it would completely change the game and require complete re-balancing of enemies, so I understand why it's not there. Still would have been cool to see.
As I said though these complaints really are nitpicks more than they are fundamental problems. I can't recommend this game enough. If you like FPS games at all, you need to play this. Even if you never touch the multiplayer section your purchase will be worth it. The campaign took me about 15 hours to complete and those 15 hours did not drag at all.
As I've said elsewhere, in the world of PC gaming (and really gaming in general) there really is a world Before Doom and a world After Doom. Doom truly changed everything and it was good to see the King of FPS gaming come back after all these years and show again why he is called that. Now, I don't expect Doom 4 to change the world like Doom 1 did, but I do hope that it shows developers and publishers that there is a definite market for FPS games like this. Ever since Modern Warfare came out nearly 10 years ago the FPS genre has been flooded with 2 weapon regenerative health "realistic military shooters" while the number of one man army games from AAA publishers that have come out that I know of could be counted on 1 hand (there have been a few noteworthy releases by smaller studios, but their impact has been lessened greatly as a result). Hopefully Bethesda can lead the charge for change, with Doom at the helm flanked by the recent Wolfenstein games and the new Quake Champions. Maybe we'll finally move away from the "Realistic Military Shooters" and instead focus on the "Unrealistic Blow the F*ck out of Everything" shooters from the past that were so damn fun. Part of the fun was that you truly felt like the character you were playing. I really felt like Doom Guy, a nearly unstoppable killing machine that the demons of hell feared to the point where lore is strewn throughout hell about him. Ripping demons limbs off and then beating them to death with them may come across a bit like violence pandering, but in a game as brutal and violent as this, it feels more refreshing than anything else. Perhaps
Angry Joe said it best when he said about Doom, "..A game so freakishly intense, it's like punching Satan in the d*ck!"
Thanks to Doom I finally decided to go back and try to beat Wolfenstein: The New Order. I got very close to the end on PS4 but got stuck on a section and rage quit. I picked it up for $10 during the Steam sale. I'll probably also delve into a TellTale game, whether it be GoT or the new Walking Dead. Sadly there aren't any big releases planned this summer other than No Man's Sky and the new Deus Ex, and October is going to be uncomfortably busy to where I'll have to pick and choose what I REALLY want to play during that time.
