Doom Eternal - Rip and Tear,Until its Done

Doom Eternal is the sequel to the amazing Doom(2016) and while the core gameplay loop is still intact Eternal adds a host of new mechanics for better or worse.

Presentation-

Doom Eternal picks up some time after the events of Doom(2016) with the Doomslayer now having his own castle aka The Fortress of Doom. Surprisingly there is a focus on plot this time with proper cutscenes,new characters and a bunch of lore documents.The problem is that Doom still doesn't have much of a plot-its still about one guy who is too angry too die.Most of the story is still in the lore documents much like Doom(2016).Its just that Doom Slayer isn't a guy with whom you can write complex stories-he just like to kill stuff,so alot of the story feels pointless.

The visual design on the other hand has seen a major improvement.Instead of the one facility on Mars you travel to many different locations in Doom Eternal like Old Castles,Hell consumed Earth and well Mars again.The game also has redesigned pickups and weapons so they resemble the classic look of the original Doom.Even most of the enemies are redesigned which I really like because now they all can emote and show more than one facial expression when you cut them in half with your chainsaw.

Gameplay -

Doom Eternal continues the tradition of fast paced arena shootouts from Doom(2016) and adds more mechanics and systems to it.For starters you have increased mobility in the form of a dash move and grapple hook,you can also swing on monkey bars to give you a well needed breathing room.Other new mechanics include a flamethrower to get obtain armor,ice and frag grenades and Blood Punch-a melee shockwave.The Chainsaw for ammo and Glory Kill for health also return,but unlike Doom(2016) they don't feel tacked on.Eternal is more difficult than its predecessor and makes you use all these mechanics in order to survive.The game even puts in Fodder enemies instead of your normal pickups for you to replenish your resources.Another new feature is the ability to shoot enemy weakpoints to disable their abilities-this makes you experiment with different weapons to find the one that's most effective towards the enemy and thus familiarizes you with your entire arsenal.There are alot of weapon mods to find as well although I find alot of them useless except a select few,same about the rune upgrades and the suit upgrades they are a little more useful but still feel just as tacked on as  they did in Doom(2016).There is also much bigger emphasis on exploration this time with your increased mobility.You have the above stated upgrades,toys of enemies,songs from previous id games which you can listen to in the Fortress,optional combat encounters and even cheats which you can use on replays.These provide enough incentive to explore and the level design is laid out well enough that finding them feels rewarding.

Verdict-

  For all the extra layers of bloat Doom Eternal still preserves and improves upon the classic run n gun arena style shootouts.Story might be unnecessary and the more strategic gunplay(though just a little) might turn a few people off but for me it still provided the solid gameplay loop and catharsis that made the the original so good.I recommend Doom Eternal to all who are in the market for a fast paced shooter and would like to blow away demons of hell with a shotgun blast.