Our Judgment
Sometimes Hell jsut feels good.
They have placed a nunerous weapons in my hands. Doom has a shotgun that can one shot a demon, a chainsaw that somehow produces ammunition, and a cannon large enough to make me question why anyone bothered building the smaller guns and I approve fully.
The weapons are where DOOM first earns my attention. The Combat Shotgun can become something quite different with the right modification, the Rocket Launcher can hunt a target, and the Chaingun can turn a demon into a rather unfortunate pile of meat. I am encouraged to switch between them because why choose favorites. Different demons demand different answers, and sometimes the correct answer is simply a very large explosion. Boom.
Then I discovered the game's strangest lesson: when I am nearly dead, DOOM does not want me to run away. It wants me to run toward the demon that nearly killed me. A staggered enemy can be torn apart for health, while the chainsaw can solve an ammunition shortage in considerably more unpleasant fashion. It is an unusual way to keep a warrior alive, but it creates a wonderful rhythm. Shoot. Move. Kill. Recover. Shoot again. Killing is so satisfying.
There is more beneath the violence than I expected. Weapons can be modified and mastered, the Praetor Suit can be improved, and Rune Trials offer small challenges that reward different ways of fighting. Secrets and exploration have meaning because they can make the Slayer stronger. These systems never overwhelm the simple pleasure of shooting demons, which is perhaps their greatest success.
Still, even the Old Sensei must lower his sword when the lesson begins to repeat itself. The campaign eventually leans too heavily on familiar arena battles, and some of the exploration feels like an excuse to keep me wandering when I would rather be fighting. DOOM is at its best when everything comes together the weapons, movement, demons, music, and those wonderfully excessive finishing blows.
I have judged this game carefully.
It is loud. It is violent. It is occasionally ridiculous.
It is also very, very good.