What single player FPS campaign are you playing?

[Xeogred]

So I just played the new Doom for two hours and all I can say is they did it. Those glorious bastards did it. It's everything my nine-year-old-self imagined Doom was. I could not wipe the maniacal grin off of my face the entire time.

And it's not just the ripping and tearing either. The speed, arcade action and metal soundtrack would have almost been enough but the large explorable areas with well hidden secrets that don't treat the player like a complete moron really surprised me.

I haven't had to throw my pessimism in the trash this hard since Metroid Prime. It is what it promised to be. Even the melee takedowns which I thought were going to completely ruin the flow of the game are seamlessly integrated in a way that only adds to the manic action.

Maybe the thrill will die down after a few more hours but right now I'm shocked by how much fun this game is. It's exactly what I wanted out of all of the previous "retro" inspired FPS games.

I still wish they had called it Doom 4 or Doom: Subtitle though. You can't have everything I guess. If they were trying to make a statement by simply calling it Doom, well, message received I suppose.

That's a funny namedrop, since the platforming and cool double jump / ledge climbing makes me feel like I'm exploring areas in Metroid Prime again haha. Hell, even kind of looks like it sometimes (I feel like Doom 3 had a bit more of a serious look going for it, whereas this is a little more stylish).

IGN and some people seem to note the repetitiveness, but I don't get that at all. I've been playing Doom regularly for 20 some years and never get bored with it. I already feel like this new Doom is going to be a timeless game for the ages and I just can't picture myself ever getting bored of it. Back on IGN I was just laughing how they probably slap 9+'s on all the Halo games, when that's been a dozen games of the same damn enemy types we've seen forever now... and then it just made me realize how freaking impressed I am with the enemies in Doom 4. Yeah, it's the whole cast from the original games, but brought back to life in a modern engine, and it's ridiculous to stop and think how much is going on in the midst of the high chaos moments, with Imp's running around and climbing walls throwing fireballs at you, Hell Knight's hunting you down, Summoner's going nuts... I mean perhaps the AI isn't technically really that great and they're just all set to destroy you and see you through walls, but it's absolutely insane how unique all the enemies are and how much is going on in these battles. It really seems like a feat that they accomplished all this with the enemies and it's so fresh compared to everything out there.

Plus, I was absolutely floored when I eventually noticed that INFIGHTING is still a thing in this game too, I just wanted to put the controller down and applause everything. Watching a Revenant and Mancubus randomly duking it out in a new Doom game in 2016 ... like you said, id has done it.

But seriously yeah, to me the game only continues to get better (only two levels left I think), and the further you get, the more the levels start to feel even more like classic Doom levels.

I rarely defend DLC or the notion of it... but if the only planned DLC so far is multiplayer that sucks. I already want the Doom 2 and Final Doom of this one, just give me more levels and I'll be completely happy.

[Gunstar Green]

My only complaint so far is how they place the upgrades and collectibles on the map and tell you how many there are before the end of the level. I'd be happier my first time through not knowing how much I'm missing because it creates an anxiety that I need to find everything even though I know I don't.

I'm going to try to play through the rest just blasting and exploring when I feel like it and leave the undiscovered stuff for later. This is mostly on me and not the game so it's a really minor complaint.

[noiseredux]

OMG - yeah the first time I saw infighting I just pointed at the screen and said "YES!"

[MrPopo]

Watching you guys enjoy Doom is putting a huge grin on my face. Everything you guys are saying is a mirror of my own experience.

Sure, I do think people have a valid complaint when they talk about how the arena sections are monsters teleporting in instead of the DOS style of large sections of walls dropping down for surprise enemies, but I'm going to chalk that one up to the march of progress in level design. Original Doom levels are abstract enough that the various transformation shenanigans they did to spring a fight on you were easy to accept. Those would be much more bizarre with modern level geometry; who the hell would build a facility like that?

[noiseredux]

plus the walls thing wouldn't work in areas where you're on platforms with acid below you.

[Ack]

That is a shame to see the disappearance of monster closets, but I can understand the reasoning.

[ExedExes]

To see those "closets" go away is kinda sad, really. I understand that these days it would be considered tacky, but even as I play through Doom II it's always interesting to see what comes out after using a switch or taking a weapon or key, it's always some sort of significant set of enemies.

[Exhuminator]

Considering how much of a throwback the new DOOM is, I don't think including monster closets would have been out of place. Even if a rock wall slid open behind you.

[Gunstar Green]

Watching you guys enjoy Doom is putting a huge grin on my face. Everything you guys are saying is a mirror of my own experience.

Sure, I do think people have a valid complaint when they talk about how the arena sections are monsters teleporting in instead of the DOS style of large sections of walls dropping down for surprise enemies, but I'm going to chalk that one up to the march of progress in level design. Original Doom levels are abstract enough that the various transformation shenanigans they did to spring a fight on you were easy to accept. Those would be much more bizarre with modern level geometry; who the hell would build a facility like that?

Yeah, after a while this became pretty apparent. It's not the arenas per-se that are the problem but the fact that you know when they're going to happen.

Either you punch the nest thingy or you're about to reach a major objective that happens to be in a wide open area. There's not a lot of surprise involved.

I want to hear demons growling at the last moment before an avalanche of enemies drops onto my head. I don't want to be ready for the onslaught and then initiate it myself. This is the one aspect of the game that gets repetitive and could have been handled better. But I'm not completely through the campaign so maybe it gets better? They definitely could have done some abstract geometry in hell and the game takes itself so non-seriously in the first place.

There have been some scripted jump-scares, none of them very effective since you're the goddamn Doomguy holding a fist-full of shotgun.

[noiseredux]

add Kotaku to the list of glowing reviews:

id has steeped itself in the Doom games of the past to make this new Doom, drawing out the speed, freedom of movement, and bewildering number of enemies that has always made Doom so intense. But in looking back to the past, the developer has made something that feels thoroughly modern, rather than weighed down by nostalgia. There is no other game I can turn to that will let me leap about a roomful of demons, firing a satisfyingly chunky assault rifle into the throng as beasts disintegrate into a bloody pulp. It sets my heart racing in a way that not even the original Doom managed.