Since first trying DOOM in 2017, I've made several attempts at seeing it through, and I've finally succeeded on that front. I wouldn't say I share the effusive praise of the game that many espouse, but there is NO DOUBT that this game is nothing short of very good.
That's obvious from the fact that you're smashing a Demon's skull like a watermelon less than two minutes into the campaign. Doomguy speaks with the barrel of his shotgun, silently absorbing narrative exposition that I personally was quietly ignoring. I've been told that the lore is good in this game but I don't really know. I couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
I was instead enmeshed in what is doubtlessly one of the slickest combat loops of all time and this is certainly where my take on the game most closely aligns with the lion's share of commentary on this game. It's just fucking phenomenal. In the greatest firefights, you're tersely cycling through weapons, eking out just enough damage to manage your way from Glory Kill to Glory Kill - this sort of arcade-like chaining sensibility fueling the journey. It's dynamite.
But it's also maybe overplayed - so many combat encounters are perhaps a wave too long, reprieve only coming from dull segments of traversal. I wish DOOM were a four hour-long distillation of just the absolute best combat arenas.
The DOOM we have just feels a bit protracted, a bit long in the tooth, in a way that turns the spectacular cacophony of the gameplay loop into a conceit that starts to wear a bit thin by the end. If Sin & Punishment was this long, the majesty of its action would wane, too.
BUT LET ME BE CLEAR: few games feel this orchestral in their violence or free-form in their encounters. The feel is exceptional, the moment-to-moment gunplay decisions are exceptional. I'm just less motivated by the overall framework.
That's obvious from the fact that you're smashing a Demon's skull like a watermelon less than two minutes into the campaign. Doomguy speaks with the barrel of his shotgun, silently absorbing narrative exposition that I personally was quietly ignoring. I've been told that the lore is good in this game but I don't really know. I couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
I was instead enmeshed in what is doubtlessly one of the slickest combat loops of all time and this is certainly where my take on the game most closely aligns with the lion's share of commentary on this game. It's just fucking phenomenal. In the greatest firefights, you're tersely cycling through weapons, eking out just enough damage to manage your way from Glory Kill to Glory Kill - this sort of arcade-like chaining sensibility fueling the journey. It's dynamite.
But it's also maybe overplayed - so many combat encounters are perhaps a wave too long, reprieve only coming from dull segments of traversal. I wish DOOM were a four hour-long distillation of just the absolute best combat arenas.
The DOOM we have just feels a bit protracted, a bit long in the tooth, in a way that turns the spectacular cacophony of the gameplay loop into a conceit that starts to wear a bit thin by the end. If Sin & Punishment was this long, the majesty of its action would wane, too.
BUT LET ME BE CLEAR: few games feel this orchestral in their violence or free-form in their encounters. The feel is exceptional, the moment-to-moment gunplay decisions are exceptional. I'm just less motivated by the overall framework.
kuromizu780
6 months ago