- Joined
- Sep 30, 2021
I've heard literally nothing about this game online in my usual circles, I've been asking people who told me they loved eternal a few years ago telling me they couldn't finish it because it's too arcadey and platforming focus (but that's what I said years ago and I was mocked for it) and they aren't really interested in more of that if it's gonna cost $80. Is the Doom hype dying out?
I'm actually interested in knowing if Dark Ages is any good or how it plays because I loved 2016 and hated Eternal and I was kinda hoping it was a return to 2016's gameplay, but nobody I know is playing it or talking about it and that's shocking to me.
For me, it falls under the dreaded "it's just okay" tier. The gameplay is enjoyable if not tedious with the melee and parry focus around larger monsters. The mech, turret, and dragon sections all felt like half-baked filler and feel out of place in a modern game. They doubled down on story, so get ready for cutscenes before and after ever mission of an incomprehensible story and characters you aren't going to give a shit about. It felt very Quake 2/4 to me, with the emphasis on high-tech futuristic warfare themes and characters. The weapons overall work as intended, but a lot of the weapons feel redundant or outright get outclassed by the weapon that shares their ammo type. Even the revered Super Shotgun, the Doom workhorse, is almost a downgrade to an upgraded shotgun. A fully upgraded SSG puts out a load of damage, but doesn't offer any utility. Whereas the shotgun when fully upgraded can fire 3 rounds at a time and ignite enemies to replenish armor. Only one or two weapons are useful when fighting large enemies like Cyberdemons because most of the combat loop is going to involve you repeatedly parrying melee attacks and returning with your own. You would think you would be able to fight them from a distance, but both the Cyberdemon and Arachnotron have rapid fire hitscan weapons that require you to fight them close range, since your shield will break if you try to soak the shots and fight at a distance.
I don't hate it, but considering I got it from Gamepass, I wouldn't feel satisfied paying full price for it. It's not bad, it's okay as an FPS, but it's nowhere near the revolutions that Doom 2016 and Eternal were. It almost feels like a case of Quake 2, Doom 3, and Rage where the game was built to showcase a shiney new piece of engine technology while the gameplay elements were lackluster or half baked. Story and presentation wise, it reminds me of the original E3 trailer for Doom 2016 back when it was planned to be a grey modern military shooter. The assets that Croteam made for that project eventually got folded into Serious Sam 3: BFE.
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