Doom Eternal

Characteristically, I'm late to the party and went in blind. Doom Eternal had sat in my library untouched for about 3 years before this for no particular reason, maybe because I thought Doom 2016 was alright but a little overhyped. I hardly remember that game at all now.
I played on Nightmare difficulty, which took me 30 hours for the base game and DLC, which I will refer to as the "game" as a whole from here on out because you'd do yourself a disservice not to play all of it.
First off, I want to say that the difficulty curve is incredible. Going back and watching someone play the first levels is almost comedic now, but I can also remember when they were genuinely challenging for me at the time as well. Aside from one instance, the difficulty ramp in the game never felt jarring and was always within my means to handle, which given the dramatic difference between the beginning and end is an achievement indeed.
The exception I refer to is the introduction of the Marauder; an inflection point in the game. This is the first time the game expects you to employ rapid weapon swapping to progress, technically you don't have to but it's the intention.
I had not used this mechanic up until this point as the game had only brought it up once and I wasn't yet onboard. I think encouraging the player to try it out a few times prior to the Marauder would have been better as having to both learn the mechanic and fight this new, difficult, enemy was a stretch both on my ability and my enjoyment of the game.
For a while I considered there to be two Doom Eternals, the one before the Marauder and the one after. I was digging the arena based combat and having a lot of fun, then this wall appeared which, when it cropped up, made me instantly dislike a section. Of course eventually I got good and started to enjoy fighting Marauders once I had a greater mastery of the combat loop, but I think separating the two lessons of weapon switching and the Marauder introduction more distinctly would have been an ambrosia to my bitterness. Also, the crucible should probably kill Marauders.
Somewhat related, I was a little resistant to the weapon swapping at first. It almost seemed cheesy. This quickly stopped being the case when I realised how satisfying and, later, essential it was. The immense power granted to you by this mechanic, when properly used, truly made me feel like the Slayer for the first time.
There's something inherently rewarding about feeling like you're breaking a game because you have knowledge of its systems, and that's kind of what the weapon swapping and combat loop feels like the whole time, even though it's intended.
One aspect I deeply appreciated was how the player's time is respected. Almost always when hunting for secrets or having opened a new path, shortcuts will be unlocked either as jump pads, some bars retracting or a door opening up. None of these had to be in the game but I was happy to see them on every occasion they appeared.
A game that respects your time like that is a very quick route to my approval, it signifies developers who really understand what playing the game will be like. The single exception to this is the inability to save and quit during a mastery level, which was disappointing.
The main criticism I have of the game is that Id cannot design boss fights. All of the bosses were low points in the game other than at the end of DLC 2, which was almost good. The first boss, The Gladiator is probably the most mechanically interesting in the base game, but none of the bosses are fun to fight, and I think that's in part because they have to compete with the core arena combat loop in this game which is... well I'll put it this way: Id couldn't improve on it in Dark Ages.
Buff totems are a bit annoying if you're unable to find them, which isn't usually a problem but occasionally can be frustrating. I think a delayed HUD element to show the direction of the totem if you've not found it for a while wouldn't go amiss.
After completing the game, I became aware that the platforming sections are rather maligned by a portion of the playerbase. Though I didn't find them inspired, I thought they fit well into the game for the most part and were both varied and sparse enough to remain interesting.
There are more bugs than I would have expected. You will often clip the camera into walls during a glory kill and falling through floors or into walls will probably happen a few times in a playthrough. The consequences for this are usually mild, but this shouldn't happen, especially in a game with a permadeath mode.
I played on max settings, 1440p, full ray tracing on an RTX 5070 Ti and was usually over 200 FPS. The game looks stunning, even being 5 years old. RT does add a lot and is, amazingly, not hard to run relative to rasterised performance. The Maykr levels in particular are visual feasts, The Holt is my favourite and one of the best looking levels I've ever seen in a game. I didn't stutter a single time. The only repeatable source of performance problems were the particle effects from shooting a large group of frozen enemies, which did noticeably drop the framerate albeit briefly.
While you do need mad skillz to beat the game on Nightmare difficulty, it's not all about actions per minute. You need to understand the rules, timing and overall flow of combat to make split second decisions in a way that makes Eternal surprisingly cognitive.
Doom Eternal is best played on the highest difficulty you can manage.
When you are in the thick of it, against overwhelming odds and under siege by hordes of the mortally challenged, Doom Eternal's core combat is truly outstanding; Id have squeezed everything they could out of it. The tension in the latter stages of a big fight keeps your focus sharp and your heart beating; only this intensity of ripping and tearing could give you the feeling of being the Doom Slayer.
Mick Gordon helps a bit too.

Chief 0

Reviewed 12.2020

So I wanted some hardcore game for my Nintendo Switch, and Doom Eternal is surely one of few AAA games, you can actually get for Switch. I didn't play it on PC or other consoles - so I'm kinda playing with "mobile" graphics, but still it looks decent and plays just awesome.

Challenging, with interesting mechanics in every aspect of the game. Exploration, fights, upgrades - are deep enough to remain enjoyable for quite a long time, adding something new as you progress through the story.

PvP is somewhat new and interesting to play. However there are few issues with balance and matchmaking. It seems Nintendo Switch players are being matched to PC players, which I find somewhat unfair even more than 1vs2 gameplay.
Steam User 210

Reviewed last month

Very interesting and family friendly game, no violence at all, I recomend it for kids
10/10
Steam User 372

Reviewed last year

Shotgun shells are red,
Demons are nocturnal,
Halo may be Infinite,
but DOOM is Eternal...
Steam User 68

Reviewed 3 weeks ago

Characteristically, I'm late to the party and went in blind. Doom Eternal had sat in my library untouched for about 3 years before this for no particular reason, maybe because I thought Doom 2016 was alright but a little overhyped. I hardly remember that game at all now.
I played on Nightmare difficulty, which took me 30 hours for the base game and DLC, which I will refer to as the "game" as a whole from here on out because you'd do yourself a disservice not to play all of it.
First off, I want to say that the difficulty curve is incredible. Going back and watching someone play the first levels is almost comedic now, but I can also remember when they were genuinely challenging for me at the time as well. Aside from one instance, the difficulty ramp in the game never felt jarring and was always within my means to handle, which given the dramatic difference between the beginning and end is an achievement indeed.
The exception I refer to is the introduction of the Marauder; an inflection point in the game. This is the first time the game expects you to employ rapid weapon swapping to progress, technically you don't have to but it's the intention.
I had not used this mechanic up until this point as the game had only brought it up once and I wasn't yet onboard. I think encouraging the player to try it out a few times prior to the Marauder would have been better as having to both learn the mechanic and fight this new, difficult, enemy was a stretch both on my ability and my enjoyment of the game.
For a while I considered there to be two Doom Eternals, the one before the Marauder and the one after. I was digging the arena based combat and having a lot of fun, then this wall appeared which, when it cropped up, made me instantly dislike a section. Of course eventually I got good and started to enjoy fighting Marauders once I had a greater mastery of the combat loop, but I think separating the two lessons of weapon switching and the Marauder introduction more distinctly would have been an ambrosia to my bitterness. Also, the crucible should probably kill Marauders.
Somewhat related, I was a little resistant to the weapon swapping at first. It almost seemed cheesy. This quickly stopped being the case when I realised how satisfying and, later, essential it was. The immense power granted to you by this mechanic, when properly used, truly made me feel like the Slayer for the first time.
There's something inherently rewarding about feeling like you're breaking a game because you have knowledge of its systems, and that's kind of what the weapon swapping and combat loop feels like the whole time, even though it's intended.
One aspect I deeply appreciated was how the player's time is respected. Almost always when hunting for secrets or having opened a new path, shortcuts will be unlocked either as jump pads, some bars retracting or a door opening up. None of these had to be in the game but I was happy to see them on every occasion they appeared.
A game that respects your time like that is a very quick route to my approval, it signifies developers who really understand what playing the game will be like. The single exception to this is the inability to save and quit during a mastery level, which was disappointing.
The main criticism I have of the game is that Id cannot design boss fights. All of the bosses were low points in the game other than at the end of DLC 2, which was almost good. The first boss, The Gladiator is probably the most mechanically interesting in the base game, but none of the bosses are fun to fight, and I think that's in part because they have to compete with the core arena combat loop in this game which is... well I'll put it this way: Id couldn't improve on it in Dark Ages.
Buff totems are a bit annoying if you're unable to find them, which isn't usually a problem but occasionally can be frustrating. I think a delayed HUD element to show the direction of the totem if you've not found it for a while wouldn't go amiss.
After completing the game, I became aware that the platforming sections are rather maligned by a portion of the playerbase. Though I didn't find them inspired, I thought they fit well into the game for the most part and were both varied and sparse enough to remain interesting.
There are more bugs than I would have expected. You will often clip the camera into walls during a glory kill and falling through floors or into walls will probably happen a few times in a playthrough. The consequences for this are usually mild, but this shouldn't happen, especially in a game with a permadeath mode.
I played on max settings, 1440p, full ray tracing on an RTX 5070 Ti and was usually over 200 FPS. The game looks stunning, even being 5 years old. RT does add a lot and is, amazingly, not hard to run relative to rasterised performance. The Maykr levels in particular are visual feasts, The Holt is my favourite and one of the best looking levels I've ever seen in a game. I didn't stutter a single time. The only repeatable source of performance problems were the particle effects from shooting a large group of frozen enemies, which did noticeably drop the framerate albeit briefly.
While you do need mad skillz to beat the game on Nightmare difficulty, it's not all about actions per minute. You need to understand the rules, timing and overall flow of combat to make split second decisions in a way that makes Eternal surprisingly cognitive.
Doom Eternal is best played on the highest difficulty you can manage.
When you are in the thick of it, against overwhelming odds and under siege by hordes of the mortally challenged, Doom Eternal's core combat is truly outstanding; Id have squeezed everything they could out of it. The tension in the latter stages of a big fight keeps your focus sharp and your heart beating; only this intensity of ripping and tearing could give you the feeling of being the Doom Slayer.
Mick Gordon helps a bit too.
Steam User 177

Reviewed last year

One of the best Christian game with much Christian values since Doom (2016). Very ETERNAL.

Just Play DOOM ETERNAL if you got problems in real life.
Steam User 79

Reviewed last year

A great way to cool off after a stressful session of hello kitty island adventure
Steam User 57

Reviewed last year

DOOM Eternal is like injecting pure chaos and adrenaline right into your veins. The action never stops, the combat is ridiculously satisfying, and the soundtrack will have you feeling like a metal god while you obliterate demons. The graphics are stunning, and the gameplay is silky smooth.
Steam User 72

Reviewed last year

Definitely DO NOT look at my hour count nor my steam name :D It's my most played Steam game. This game has literally gotten me through my college years since it's release, and mastery of the game is paramount BUT will give you a HELL of a time (see what I did there?) Having explored most of the modded Master Levels kept me hooked for years, and the modding community is awesome with what they have done. If you're even remotely interested in the upcoming DOOM: The Dark Ages, I highly encourage you to make sure you have played 2016 and Eternal first, because neither one should be left forgotten after this new game comes out. I'm hoping TDA will complete the trifecta of my 3 favorite FPS games of all time. As of 3/14/25 this game is on sale so get it, GET IT!!!

Doom Eternal

Game Discussion

Anonymous

Chief 0

Steam User 210

Steam User 372

Steam User 68

Steam User 177

Steam User 79

Steam User 57

Steam User 72