Doom Eternal Review | Xbox One

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Intense. That's the first word that springs to mind when you get to grips with Doom Eternal. The pace has ramped up even further from the lauded 2016 reboot and hits you right in the face so hard that, if you happened to be an in-game demon, you'd be inclined to evaporate into a pool of blood.

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​by James
 Michael
 Parry

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@James_Parry

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 Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, Stadia, PC
Players: 1 - 3

The return of the Doom Slayer has been much anticipated, with fuel only being added to the proverbial hellfire following an excruciating four-month delay. Developer id Software seemingly took that extra time to deliver visual polish so detailed you can almost feel juicy enemy giblets jumping out of the screen - at least on Xbox One X.

Elsewhere, environments stretch out way into the distance and hellacious weather effects successfully bring the underworld to the surface. Perhaps the only missing detail that’d really push Doom Eternal’s presentation over the top would be twisting real-world landmarks to fit its purpose, as seen in the likes of Devil May Cry V.

In fact, it’s possible to lose yourself so completely in the stylised setting that you mistake it for taking place on a different planet as you travel between enemy strongholds. Creatures within them are varied and plentiful, quickly forcing you to get to grips with the Slayer's arsenal in order to dispatch them with severe prejudice.

There’s once again a focus on making individual guns go as far as possible, rather than offering an overwhelming slew of options. Each firearm has one or two secondary functions - such as the super shotgun’s grappling hook, or the plasma rifle’s deadly microwave beam - and you'll most likely find your favourites fairly quickly. That being said, you have to be ready to switch weapons on a dime when different enemy types call for you to target weak points, or, perhaps more likely, you run out of ammo.

​While in Doom (2016) supplies weren't plentiful, in Doom Eternal resource management constantly demands that you efficiently balance your time between gathering health, armour and ammo. Glory kills – devastating executions you can perform when an enemy is staggered and close to death – still grant you health and the chainsaw still grants ammunition, but now regenerates one pip of fuel which is a welcome counterbalance.

The game-changer here is the flame belch, which coats your enemies in fire and causes them to drop protective armour upon death. Armor is vital to your survival, even on lower difficulty settings. Those looking for a challenge have plenty of headroom to push themselves in Doom Eternal, while slayer gates (somewhat secret combat challenges) will push those with a real glutton for punishment even further.

Getting around as the Slayer has never felt so rapid, and traversal has taken a more vertical approach in the sequel. A dash ability combines with the familiar double jump to let you traverse huge open spaces, plus there's even wall climbing thrown into the mix, although, regrettably, it contributes frustration and variety in equal measure.

Often you can see where you need to go but getting there requires a level of dexterity that takes some time to grasp. Unhelpfully, at one point, a floating platform didn’t respawn following a failed attempt and stranded us in an area before a quick restart restored it. Fortunately, technical performance elsewhere is as impressive as the game's visual presentation.

Another weaker point was the many facets of the upgrade system, however. There are runes, which modify the game experience, weapon mods, which unlock those alternate fire modes, and suit stat points, which can be spent on another range of skills. It's a lot to absorb, and even if you have an idea of your play style it can be difficult to know which elements you will and won’t use.

You can respec skills in your ship, which hovers in orbit as a hub between levels. It starts off fairly locked down, but collecting sentinel batteries as you mow your way through levels gradually lets you access more sections of the ship. One useful area you can get to straight away is the training room, which does pretty much what it says on the tin.

Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't also mention Mick Gordon’s pounding soundtrack. The world of Doom has never been so metal, and neither has its music, complete here with a growling intergender choir. Its predecessor’s OST was exemplary, yet somehow, Eternal hits the mark even harder by slowly building to indicate trouble before exploding into frantic confrontations.

There's competitive multiplayer to dive into as well, if you fancy a distraction from the campaign. Battlemode takes an asymmetric approach as two demons tackle one fully-equipped Slayer; there’s definitely some fleeting fun to be had, but the main focus of the game is clearly its campaign.

While there are a lot of similarities to the 2016 reboot, this latest Doom outing offers more bang for your buck. Some of the shots that id Software have taken don't hit the mark, but the effort and care put into the game shines no matter where you look. It’s immensely satisfying, if relentless to the point of being dizzying at times, but Doom Eternal knows what it is and wholeheartedly embraces it to great effect.

Pros

• Gameplay builds on Doom 2016 while retaining the fundamentals
• Environments are breathtaking
• Killing has never felt so satisfying

Cons

• Platforming and climbing lose their shine after a while
• Upgrades upon upgrades fail to hang together
• Multiplayer is limited to just one good idea, and so feels incidental

9/10