8 / 10

A fantastic addition to the Doom franchise. But not perfect in my opinion. Let me get the cons out of the way first.

===CONS===
- Marauders - These bastards are so poorly designed and overpowered they just aren't fun. I died more fighting one of these things then I did any boss in the game.
- Precision platorming in order to progress - I don't mind the precision platforming, and I don't mind platforming to progress through a level, but it's TOO tight and TOO precise.
- Battlemode - The multiplayer is not what players want and is currently at the time of this writing exploitable, rendering it worthless.
- Plot - I guess?

===PROS===
- Everything else… seriously. The gunplay, the music, the level design, the enemies (save the marauder), the boss fights, the puzzles, the platforming challenges, and most of all the nostalgia… just spot on.


Like, honestly, there were times I stopped running through levels and just looked around. From the nearly heavenlike Urduk to the hellscapes to the ruins of what might be New York City, every bit of level design just seems amazingly crafted. I also noticed the homage to the original Doom games in some of the textures, as if Bethesda saught to give us some of those old textures again, which is amazing. In fact there are several parts of nostalgia, and they don’t really shove it in your face, but just, let it sit there. From Doomguy holding a brown skinned bunnyrabbit to the names of some of the levels. The 40+ year old in me fondly caught a lot of the subtle references and loved it every time.

The combat is great, and while it’s MUCH faster paced and frentic than Doom 2016, it still worked, even for someone like me with arthritis and slow reflexes, though I did have to play on a slightly easier setting then I would have liked. The variety of weapons lets you play with a style you like, and forces you to switch at times. But the refilling fuel on the chainsaw and using it to gain ammo means you’re only one zombie, soldier, or gargoyle away from an ammo refill.

Sadly this leads into my biggest gripe about the game. The new enemy the Marauder is COMPLETELY broken. It can hurl bolts at long range, shotgun or melee you at close range, it summons a ghost cat that attacks you in melee from the sides, it can teleport, and it can bring up a forcefield INSTANTLY every single time you try to shoot at it. The only way to beat it is wait for it to attack you and you get a zero point one second window to shoot it when it’s eyes flash green. If you aren’t aiming directly at it (because you’re killing the ghost cat for example) you’ll miss your chance. The timing on this feels really terrible and very punishing. There were fights I used up 3 of my “extra lives” fighting this, but was able to one shot the final boss of the game without dying. Very broken, very poor design, and by far the biggest blemish in otherwise fantastic combat.

All told, I’ve really enjoyed the game and would recommend the game to anyone who is thinking about it. I just hope they tweak the Marauder and fix battlemode….and for the love of god, give us a heckin death match mode!

8 / 10 A fantastic addition to the Doom franchise. But not perfect in my opinion. Let me get the cons out of the way first. ===CONS=== - Marauders - These bastards are so poorly designed and overpowered they just aren't fun. I died more fighting one of these things then I did any boss in the game. - Precision platorming in order to progress - I don't mind the precision platforming, and I don't mind platforming to progress through a level, but it's TOO tight and TOO precise. - Battlemode - The multiplayer is not what players want and is currently at the time of this writing exploitable, rendering it worthless. - Plot - I guess? ===PROS=== - Everything else… seriously. The gunplay, the music, the level design, the enemies (save the marauder), the boss fights, the puzzles, the platforming challenges, and most of all the nostalgia… just spot on. Like, honestly, there were times I stopped running through levels and just looked around. From the nearly heavenlike Urduk to the hellscapes to the ruins of what might be New York City, every bit of level design just seems amazingly crafted. I also noticed the homage to the original Doom games in some of the textures, as if Bethesda saught to give us some of those old textures again, which is amazing. In fact there are several parts of nostalgia, and they don’t really shove it in your face, but just, let it sit there. From Doomguy holding a brown skinned bunnyrabbit to the names of some of the levels. The 40+ year old in me fondly caught a lot of the subtle references and loved it every time. The combat is great, and while it’s MUCH faster paced and frentic than Doom 2016, it still worked, even for someone like me with arthritis and slow reflexes, though I did have to play on a slightly easier setting then I would have liked. The variety of weapons lets you play with a style you like, and forces you to switch at times. But the refilling fuel on the chainsaw and using it to gain ammo means you’re only one zombie, soldier, or gargoyle away from an ammo refill. Sadly this leads into my biggest gripe about the game. The new enemy the Marauder is COMPLETELY broken. It can hurl bolts at long range, shotgun or melee you at close range, it summons a ghost cat that attacks you in melee from the sides, it can teleport, and it can bring up a forcefield INSTANTLY every single time you try to shoot at it. The only way to beat it is wait for it to attack you and you get a zero point one second window to shoot it when it’s eyes flash green. If you aren’t aiming directly at it (because you’re killing the ghost cat for example) you’ll miss your chance. The timing on this feels really terrible and very punishing. There were fights I used up 3 of my “extra lives” fighting this, but was able to one shot the final boss of the game without dying. Very broken, very poor design, and by far the biggest blemish in otherwise fantastic combat. All told, I’ve really enjoyed the game and would recommend the game to anyone who is thinking about it. I just hope they tweak the Marauder and fix battlemode….and for the love of god, give us a heckin death match mode!