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Live and let die

“Fans should buy it, everyone else can try it out.” There is probably no game that I have reviewed here or anywhere else where this conclusion is more apt than with the DOOM-series - at least with the newest releases. In the same way that people can be entertained by watching cars driving in circles too fast on TV, id Software's 2016 shooter DOOM also manages to be fun with mindless demon-slaying. So anyone who enjoyed the first installment of the reboot will not be disappointed by DOOM Eternal . For everyone else, the question will arise as to whether the killer game debate was perhaps justified after all.

Since I count myself in the first category and don't want to end this review after one paragraph, I'll tell you a bit more about the merry demon hunt. I don't want to go into why I liked the game. You can only really get a feel for it if you've tried it yourself, which only a small percentage of my readership will do. That's why I'm not going to get into a fundamental debate about media consumption and answer the question of whether this orgy of violence is necessary or not. For me, it is a game that is meant to entertain. It does that without turning the people who play it into violent monsters. Instead, I'll list a few sober facts that determined my gaming experience and try to keep it as brief as possible.

Story

I read through the story again on Wikipedia to research this review, as I thought I might not have fully grasped the in-depth, biblical background tale due to the many unread codex entries. Turns out it was actually just “kill three minions, their boss and the final boss” - who would have thought? The battle between heaven and hell has already been told several times in an exciting way and with a certain depth. DOOM is not about a gripping story. We are the good guy, everyone else is meat. There is no real how, who or why. Keeping it simple. In a world of overflowing open-worlds and playable epics, a welcome change ... if you prefer.

Difficulty

During my playthrough, I played on the second-highest difficulty level, which was specified for advanced players. For me, it had the perfect mix of turning off the game in frustration and running through the level laughing maniacally with a chainsaw. Every time I got stuck in a place, I was able to master it by trying again, the fight for survival with a shred of life energy was nerve-wracking, but never unfair. On the other hand, I can't rate the other difficulty levels. I assume that 'Normal' should not pose any major challenges for experienced gamers. However, I wouldn't want to give the 'Eternal' difficulty to someone new to the game - more on this in the 'complexity' section.

Enemies

One of the reasons for the exciting firefights were the enemies. Eternal offers a pleasantly large selection of enemies with different strengths, weaknesses and, above all, hit points. While the typical zombie can barely withstand more than one shot and therefore usually serves as a source of ammunition or healing, the larger demons in particular can quickly drain your health points. Some can fly, others can shoot and most of them charge towards us to let us know their religious affiliation with claw-like hand signals. I generally liked the enemy design, even if you knew the attack patterns after a certain point. But that didn't make it boring, as you get new enemies for most of the game.

Weapons

And here comes the point where a shooter becomes a good shooter. While in some games you inevitably reach the point where you have locked yourself in with a certain gun and only play with it, in Eternal you are forced into a constant roulette of weapons due to the changing situations and impending shortage of ammunition. However, this is perfectly fine, as each gun has its own particular strengths and weaknesses: The electric pulse rifle blasts shields, the precision rifle makes heads explode and shotguns make boo-boos at close range. A bunch of guns, on the other hand, are simply there to mow everything down with continuous fire. And even the ordinary machine gun is fun thanks to the powerful hit feedback and sound design.

What's more, almost every weapon has two unlockable secondary fire modes. For example, we can switch between a lock-on mode and a manual detonation mode for the rocket launcher. Or with the shotgun between a fully automatic setting that empties our magazines in seconds and a grenade attachment that does surface damage. Because we can do this fluently during the fight, almost every battle can be resolved in different ways ... just never peacefully.

Level

For the most part, the levels are structured as simple hoses that send us from A to B and are often divided by arenas from which we can only progress once we have sent wave after wave of hellspawn back down to the underground. However, there are also numerous sections within a map to which we return metroidvania-style after finding a key or activating a reactor. This pleasantly loosens up the linearity and makes the worlds of Eternal Eternal seem more alive. However, you can't expect alternative routes or even decisions.

Music

The music was once again composed by Mick Gordon, who also lent his unmistakably powerful electric guitar heavy metal sound to the predecessor. This time, however, Gordon was also assisted by composer Andrew Hulshult, who will probably be allowed to play a bigger role in possible future spin-offs after Gordon and developer id Software had a falling out. It's a shame, because anyone who knows the DOOM-soundtrack and still has some residual eardrums will also get their money's worth with the Eternal-score. It's just incredibly fun to slaughter your way through hordes of the undead to powerful bass and screeching guitar riffs. Or, a little more civilized: essentially the same high level of quality that you're used to - a pleasure to write.

Graphics

The same can also be said about the graphics, which was to be expected for a 2020 title. The levels are beautifully designed and the game shines with its attention to detail, especially in the open areas. Sometimes you stop between massacres and soak up the surroundings, be it a blood-drenched town, a blood-drenched medieval castle ruin or a blood-drenched research laboratory. Maybe I should see a doctor after all. Meanwhile, the weapons and character models of the enemies are also excellent, everything feels seamless and never gave me the impression that anything looked out of place or even pulled me out of immersion ... Blood, blood and guts everywhere ... I digress.

Complexity

This is probably the biggest criticism I could level at Eternal . All the weapon selection, the hectic pace and the forward-paced gameplay make for a (for lack of another term) 'blatant' pull, but are equally exhausting. Maybe it's my advancing age, or maybe Eternal wants to be played in segments and with rest periods. That doesn't change the fact that there were battles (and that's what Eternal primarily consists of) where I was simply overwhelmed. Not because of the complexity per se, but because of the interplay between challenge and game speed. Here is a small excerpt of what you can and, depending on the difficulty level, must do in combat.

• I have a dash with which I can move back and forth quickly and which can even be executed twice and every second with the corresponding perk. SHIFT button, easy, almost like sprinting in other games.
• There's also a double jump that I can combine with the dash. Easy.
• With the F key I can switch between the firing modes of my selected weapon.
• I can optionally select my weapons using the number keys or Q on the quickselect wheel. It gets more difficult.
• I use E to trigger a melee attack, which is an instakill on wounded and glowing enemies and gives me life energy. Phew, it's important to time this right. In addition, a simple melee attack with enough charge becomes a Glory Kill that deals area damage. Which icon is that again?
• I use my grenades with CTRL and they do a lot of damage. I can change the grenade type (standard and ice) with G. What, two types? Was that necessary?
• Clicking C, I use the chainsaw to onehit enemies. I have to do this in battle because only these enemies drop ammunition. But I can't use it on every demon, only simple zombies at first. Dude.
• Right next to it, V allows me to use the Crucible Sword towards the end of the story, which onehits every enemy, but requires charges that I have to find throughout the levels. Seriously, I really...
• And then there's R, which triggers the flamethrower, which is fundamentally important because burning enemies drop armor.

At this point, my brain left the chat and hoped that my body would somehow get through the battles on autopilot. Admittedly, towards the end of the game I had everything mentally together and the learning curve was therefore excellently timed. Nevertheless, even though I had a lot of fun in the battles, I was no less beat up afterwards than the pieces of remaining demon on the level floor. Those who are into this kind of thing will definitely get their money's worth though.

Various

As with its predecessor, numerous collectables are hidden in the levels alongside upgrades for our weapons and armor, such as small figurines, dossiers or music tracks. This time, they are easy to find thanks with the corresponding perk on the clear and freely rotatable map and can even be admired on our flying hub world island. The additional challenges, such as time battles, were a pleasant change from the mere fight for survival and, thanks to the rewards in the form of improvements for the character, were also well worthwhile. As you can also repeat levels freely, collectors like myself can look back on a complete collection at the end - what more could you want?

And that would also be my question to a potential successor: What more could you want? Is Eternal Eternal a solid sequel that continues a great shooter perfectly and perhaps even surpasses it? I can't say, because I feel like I've already put DOOM from 2016 out of my mind. This may be due to the five years in which I have thought very little about bloody demon murder. Or the series isn't something you remember forever - which I think is more likely. The games are fast, intense and fun. Like a wild party night where you only vaguely remember the details later, but remember the feeling all the more. Although, at best, only the games end with the apocalypse.