It is cool. I don't think it is the super duper ultimate way to play doom though. It's a cool mod but It's not really creative or special at all. It makes guns punchier, more realistic and multiplies the blood by like x20. It is well done but I think it kind of takes some of the identity of doom out. It also adds reloads which I don't think it's something doom should have. I think that what I like the most about this mod is the changes to the enemy AI. They are much more aggressive and fun to fight, it kind of reminds me a lot at the first quake and I think it's definitely an upgrade to the stale and at times too underpowered enemies the default DOOM had.

Brutal Doom offers a modern overhaul to the classic Doom playstyle with lots of mobility and a metric truckload of new weapons to pick up and blast with. An honestly overwhelming amount since you will almost run out of keybinds for some of them. The excessive gore and genuinely unbearable voicelines can be cringe-enducing at times but I mostly ignore it since the new additions on to the familiar style of Doom leave a fun game to play behind despite how insufferable the man behind it is. I'd recommend this game/mod if you're very into Doom/other boomer shooters.

(Played Brutal Doom Platinum 3.0 on Doom II)
It's pure violent fun, massive respect for the different developers for continuing this project (And all the variants) all these years, from the weapons, the enemies and all the quality of life improvements, there's a lot of passion here, maybe even a little too much, because my main critique is that a few things are too convoluted for its own good, like the alternative modes of the weapons which are a direct improvement from the basic shot (Like double welding) an extremely situational tool (Like the Nuke) or a straight-up downgrade (Like the Dragon Breath super shotgun), this and a few other things keep it from being a blind recommendation, but still, a pretty good experience

Brutal DOOM is preceded by its reputation, but its reputation in turn is preceded by that of its creator, Sergeant Mark IV, a figure so abrasive and - well, the kind term is "politically incorrect," while the unkind (and more truthful) term would be "hateful and belligerent" - that he is banned from two major DOOM forum communities. It's not uncommon to see people pan something but give pity stars for "artistry" or "effort." I reject this practice, out of a refusal to condescend to, coddle, or patronize artists, but also because all the effort in the world would not make Brutal DOOM actually enjoyable to play.

The original DOOM asked "How far can we push personal computers?" Id Software were unsteady explorers, piloting their rickety ship into the choppy and brackish waters of the PC gaming industry of the late 80's. When they finally reached the shores of the 90's, they pitched a tent with Wolfenstein 3D - with DOOM, they founded a settlement, for better and worse, like the pioneers of colonial times. At the risk of overstating Id's importance, it isn't an exaggeration to say that this groundwork shaped much of the games industry as we know it today. Brutal DOOM is the game that asks "What if when you shot a guy his limbs flew off?" Apparently unknowing or uncaring that this is a question that Soldier of Fortune had already answered a decade prior.

It is a shame that of all the creative, intriguing, and fun mods for DOOM over the years, the most popular one is a project as fundamentally uncreative as Brutal DOOM. The tragedy of art is that you will spend days, weeks, months perfecting something, and you'll be lucky if an audience views and remembers it for one hour. In this respect, I find Brutal DOOM the saddest of all, for it's a mod that has been in active development for a decade, yet loses its entire entertainment value in mere minutes. The gameplay loop of DOOM, whether you're exploring the surprisingly still quite atmospheric and easily navigable levels for the first time, or if you're speeding through the game with your eyes closed because you've been playing since '93, is just not materially improved by Brutal DOOM's gore effects, textures, disjointed and poorly balanced gameplay additions, or the button you can push that makes Doomguy say "FUCK yourself!" Sergeant Mark IV's toxicity has rendered him impervious to critique, and so Brutal DOOM, as well as his attempt to monetize his work that he teased at Realm's Deep years ago, is essentially destined for permanent mediocrity, his years of work fated to be nothing more than a curiosity, a footnote in retro FPS history currently being written by more talented, more curious, and more interesting people.

In the end, Sergeant Mark IV's lasting legacy will be the social pariahs who post in DoomWorld forum threads about new mods to ask if they're compatible with Brutal DOOM. I try not to pity him too much, because maybe it's just what he deserves.

Visually looks great with tons of attention to detail (perhaps too much if you're familiar with the mod's development) but just isn't very fun to play. All of the gameplay additions were clearly designed without Doom or Doom 2's level design in mind and feel extremely out of place and every additional difficulty mode added is total bull and hardly balanced towards a challenging but fair experience. I will refrain from shitting on Sgt. Mark IV since that has little to do with the mod's quality itself, but the man clearly does not have an eye for game design. It's sometimes fun to just boot this up with god mode on if you're having a bad day, but it's not fun to actually play as intended.