The original Doom was released in 1993 by id Software and sold over a million copies. The game's huge success had developers quickly following up the title with a sequel, Doom II: Hell on Earth, which was bigger and more badass than the original. Not only did Doom define the first-person shooter genre--it was the series that all future games looked up to when trying to recreate the next perfect shooter.
Doom has returned once more, and we can finally find out if it has all of the action-packed chaos that diehard fans have been yearning for.
The combat in Doom is flawless, gruesome and brutally violent. The action is fast-paced and players must defend themselves against hordes of demon spawn hell bent on ripping their insides out.
Today's shooter games have tried to incorporate a great amount of realism into their core gameplay. However, Doom sticks to the original formula and you won't have time to catch your breath while fending off the bloodthirsty army of Hell. One of the greatest aspects of classic games was the ability to continuously run at full force not impeding the action for even a millisecond. Doom takes us back to those moments while providing updated visuals and modern day gameplay enhancements. One of those enhancements is the ability to take down weakened enemies with an almost Mortal Kombat fatality-type move. If you are successful at pulling this off, then you receive bonuses like extra health and items. It's an addition that many fans might not appreciate, but it is a great way to get up close and personal with the evil at hand.
One of the best features of Doom is the ability to create your own snapmaps and to play other maps created by the community. Once you create a Doom ID then you are able to design your own custom maps and puzzles that you can publish online. This one feature alone creates an endless possibility of replay potential that you can't find in many games today. Now to the meat and potatoes of Doom--the game's multiplayer. Before heading into battle, you are able to choose your loadout that consists of a wide variety of futuristic weapons. There are three weapon classes (Assault, Sniper, Ambusher) or a custom loadout of your choosing--once you have unlocked that option. After you have done this then you can go one step further by customizing your character, weapons, taunts and hack modules. When all of that is done then you are ready to find a match and start ripping your enemy limb from limb.
The multiplayer modes available include:
- Team Deathmatch - Kill enemy players to win
- Soul Harvest - Kill enemies and harvest their souls
- Domination - Control the zones to win
- Warpath - Control the moving zone to win
- Freeze Tag - Freeze enemies and thaw teammates
- Clan Arena - Eliminate the enemy team
These multiplayer modes are divided into objective and round based allowing players to easily jump into those game modes they enjoy most. The environments and game maps seem very reminiscent of the early days of Doom, in regards to design elements present in them, but this still manages to work very well for the game as a whole. The multiplayer segment is fun, intense and cleverly designed for the perfect online experience.
In the end, Doom offers a fantastic FPS experience with its nonstop action, varied enemies, and exquisitely designed environments. The game suffers from the occasional hiccup but nothing so severe that it impacts the overall gameplay experience in any way. Doom has managed to create the perfect mix of elements (old-school and modern) making it one of the best FPS games to release so far this year. Would I recommend picking this title up? Hell yeah, I would! To learn more, visit the official Doom website.
Reviewed for Xbox One