Apparently this game has some kinda story. Ok. I pretty much tuned out any time they went into a diatribe so I can’t tell you the specifics. What I do know are the important notes: demons are invading the planet after a researcher lets them in and you gotta kill them all. That works for me so let’s move on. The gameplay, ironically enough, reminds me a lot of the new Wolfenstein. I think Doom does it a tad better though. The level design and platform placements serve as great horde-round settings that really allow the player to go hog wild. The design philosophy is unmistakably focused on keeping you going a mile a minute instead of taking it slow and easy, evidenced by the inclusion of gratuitously satisfying melee ‘glory’ kills and by having health and ammo be restored by packs dropped by enemies. Along with how many guns Doom gives you, it almost feels like a safeguard against running out of new ways to brutally terminate the hellspawns. Not to mention the alternate firing modes and attachment upgrades that every weapon comes with.

Suffice it to say it makes for an addictive, messy wish fulfillment. Whether you’re slashing, punching, or shooting, you can’t help but unlock your inner childlike thirst for chaos here. Every tool is a joy to use in one scenario or another, though I have a particular soft spot for the Super Shotgun, glory kills, and the BFG, a large massive damage energy weapon that melts anything you point it at. To take another page out of 2014 Wolfenstein’s book, it even offers callbacks to old-school Doom levels in various secret areas of the map, but takes it a step farther with full-blown level unlocks that you can access from the main menu. Just as it was in 1993, Doom is as straightforward and accessible as a game about hell can be. Doom 2016 is everything it should be and more. A true return to form that’s not afraid to add more of what makes the franchise so special.