Yeah I mostly agree with you. Except there was plot and lore in 2016, it was just minimalist as you said, but more importantly it was executed really well. It had the “doom” feel. In addition to awesome gameplay and soundtrack.
Eternal was great for the gameplay, and even an improvement in some ways. The lore and plot was ridiculous though. Way overdone, didn’t feel like doom.
I say go back to 2016 style with the gameplay improvements of eternal.
To me the essence of 2016 is the scene in the beginning where an info screen tries to dump exposition on you and you chuck it into a wall.
There is plot, but you don’t need to pay attention to it. Doomguy is angry and needs to kill demons.
To me a big fumble in Eternal was trying to explain why doomguy is angry and so good at killing. He’s like an inverse Cthulhu, terrifying, unknowable and mysterious. Trying to explain or understand him breaks the basis for the character.
On gameplay, I didn’t mind the changes, but I thought the embellishments were a little on the nose. The technicolor rainbow explosion of ammo when you chainsaw someone, and the increased focus on using abilities to replenish resources scream “This is a video game!” in a over the top way that I felt took away from the immersion and grit that I associate with Doom.
Agreed on all points. I tried getting into Eternal a couple times and still haven’t finished it. It’s more than likely a good game but it doesn’t have the flow of the first.
Yep, agree to agree here. I just thought the gameplay improvements in eternal were fun. But I agree the way you put it, kind of a departure from what doom should be.
I felt like the decision to make jumping and mobility more a factor in Eternal hurt it a lot. Jumping puzzles and jumping mechanics in FPS games don’t really work for a lot of reasons (see: Half-Life) and it made the levels feel much more linear than 2016, the arenas much more smaller and less mobile. id did invent this genre, and even they can’t make it work. What does that tell you?
Also the changing of the ammo metaelements to prioritize chainsawing felt dumb. Having to pinata every so often was the most obvious thing that felt straight up wrong compared to 2016, and that’s a sign of a garbage core loop.
The writing was pretty good, but I have the attention span of a summer ant when I play Doom.
Eternal actually made my hands hurt. Still haven’t gotten very far in it. Having to constantly cycle weapons, jump, dash, and do precision shooting, often all at the same time, was murder on my hands.
Nah.
2016 was brilliant for its minimalism. No plot needed, no introduction, just tight combat and metal.
You don’t improve on that with more mechanics, more plot and more MTX.
Yeah I mostly agree with you. Except there was plot and lore in 2016, it was just minimalist as you said, but more importantly it was executed really well. It had the “doom” feel. In addition to awesome gameplay and soundtrack.
Eternal was great for the gameplay, and even an improvement in some ways. The lore and plot was ridiculous though. Way overdone, didn’t feel like doom.
I say go back to 2016 style with the gameplay improvements of eternal.
No plot needed.
To me the essence of 2016 is the scene in the beginning where an info screen tries to dump exposition on you and you chuck it into a wall.
There is plot, but you don’t need to pay attention to it. Doomguy is angry and needs to kill demons.
To me a big fumble in Eternal was trying to explain why doomguy is angry and so good at killing. He’s like an inverse Cthulhu, terrifying, unknowable and mysterious. Trying to explain or understand him breaks the basis for the character.
On gameplay, I didn’t mind the changes, but I thought the embellishments were a little on the nose. The technicolor rainbow explosion of ammo when you chainsaw someone, and the increased focus on using abilities to replenish resources scream “This is a video game!” in a over the top way that I felt took away from the immersion and grit that I associate with Doom.
Agreed on all points. I tried getting into Eternal a couple times and still haven’t finished it. It’s more than likely a good game but it doesn’t have the flow of the first.
Yep, agree to agree here. I just thought the gameplay improvements in eternal were fun. But I agree the way you put it, kind of a departure from what doom should be.
As opposed to a screen dissolve followed by a wall of text? I thought it was fine.
I didn’t finish the DLC if it started going off the rails there, though.
Nah my comparison is to 2016. I just thought it was overdone in eternal to the point of silliness. Subjective opinion obviously.
It wasn’t all bad though. The introduction to the “evil twin” doomguy was kinda fun. So if no DLC you missed that at least.
No mick gordon (I’m assuming) just hurts my soul
I felt like the decision to make jumping and mobility more a factor in Eternal hurt it a lot. Jumping puzzles and jumping mechanics in FPS games don’t really work for a lot of reasons (see: Half-Life) and it made the levels feel much more linear than 2016, the arenas much more smaller and less mobile. id did invent this genre, and even they can’t make it work. What does that tell you?
Also the changing of the ammo metaelements to prioritize chainsawing felt dumb. Having to pinata every so often was the most obvious thing that felt straight up wrong compared to 2016, and that’s a sign of a garbage core loop.
The writing was pretty good, but I have the attention span of a summer ant when I play Doom.
Eternal actually made my hands hurt. Still haven’t gotten very far in it. Having to constantly cycle weapons, jump, dash, and do precision shooting, often all at the same time, was murder on my hands.