āIf it was possible to improve on 2016ās Doom, Doom Eternal does it.ā
Appropriately for a series all about taking everything completely over the top, Doom just keeps on topping itself. The 1993 original didnāt invent the first person shooter genre, but it baptized it in blood, rocketing the genre to a cultural omnipresence that has lasted to this day. The following yearās Doom II took everything that made the original great and added biomechanical brain spiders, and 2004ās Doom 3 was a genuine technical marvel, even if it wasnāt as much of a bona fide phenomenon as its predecessors. The impossibly high upward trajectory of the series somehow continued with 2016ās lean, mean Doom, an experience so brutal and no-bullshit that it didnāt even bother with numerals or subtitles. Now, if Yahtzee Croshaw is to be believed, Doom has done it again. Is there any ceiling on this thing?
āMore traversal options including climbing, pole swinging, dashes and grappling hooks add new depth to both exploration and combat without reducing any of what 2016ās Doom did so well,ā Croshaw crowed, gushing about the game from the E3 2019 show floor. āThe monster design and glory kills are improved with more impact. Huge, crazy outdoor scenery. Iām keen for more.ā Thatās a hell ā cough ā of an impression for a 15 minute demo to impart.
Not all was well at Bethesdaās booth, however. Doom may have codified the first person shooter, but Wolfenstein invented it, and the latest entry in the Nazi-killing adventures of B.J. Blazkowicz didnāt leave Croshaw nearly as satisfied. āWolfenstein: Youngblood I played for about 40 minutes, and I was pretty bored of it by the end.ā
Among Croshawās gripes were overly long cutscenes (who puts cutscenes in an E3 demo?) and the inelegant insertion of a multiplayer mode into what has historically been a story-driven, single-player series. āI canāt say co-op has improved the Wolfenstein: The New Order gameplay any,ā he specified, āas is often the case when co-op is suddenly crowbarred into a solid single-player experience.ā
Reflecting a bit, he came up with another hypothesis: āMaybe Iām just bitter because it meant I could only get 15 minutes with Doom Eternal.ā Rip and tear, Yahtz.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood comes out July 26, and Doom Eternal on November 22. Both titles are coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and Stadia.
Published: Jun 13, 2019 06:22 pm