DOOM (2016)

they did promise twice as many monsters!

Fucking. Yes.

https://youtu.be/39hX27jeN3Q

Cool. I never finished the last one, but I enjoyed playing it. How come this clip, for all its fancy 4k/60fps, makes me kind of motion sick with its jerky movements?

Enemy weak points this time around, so pays to shoot rocket launchers off of the Revenant or arm-guns off of the Mancubus etc., makes a satisfying *clink* sound when it happens and demons adjust attack modes accordingly. AI seems way ruthless, this is supposedly a good bit harder than the last one. Increased mobility with dash and things to swing on. Some platforming which I guess people think sucks in a FPS, but it looks like it’s done well here. Sounds like they took to heart the “repetitive” criticisms of the last one and there’s just a ton more variety here all around. Leaning hard into arcade, game-y mayhem. I want this now.

Xp

Footage is from someone playing on PC and they’re pretty good, so yeah, that’s what it looks like whipping around with a mouse and keyboard.

Oh also you’ve got a shoulder mounted flamethrower now and when you attack guys on fire it shoots out bits of armor. Nice addition to the glory kill = health, chainsaw = ammo, be-aggressive-to-stay-alive loop.

Looks beautiful. Hope that wasn't the "Too Young to Die" setting. Anticipating many deaths due to "jump … land … twitch … fall forward off edge".

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/3/17/21182306/doom-eternal-review-pc-xbox-one-ps4-stadia

HaveHave you ever noticed how cop procedurals will signal that a messy-haired teenager is a real loner type by showing him playing a video game, sitting in a dark bedroom littered with junk food, the walls covered in heavy metal posters?

The game itself (because we always get to see gameplay, even though the show clearly can’t afford good computer animation) appears to be a parody of violent video games, all disembowelment and close-range executions. The teen, played by a 20-something actor, manhandles his poor controller, suggesting the game is either astonishingly complex or the teenager is dumb as a rock.

That’s Doom Eternal. All of it. The Mountain Dew and Cheetos. The Dream Theater albums. The hand-cramping controls. And the overwhelming sense that everybody involved is in on the joke, and having a good time. That lack of shame makes all the difference.

yessss

Yeah, I’m beyond psyched for this. Looks gleefully metal as fuck. Just pre-loaded it and will be firing it up when it releases at midnight.

The last one was, for lack of a better word, hyper realistic. This one looks much more cartoonish and even more ott. I'm curious what people think.

This is totally way more cartoonish. Like that Polygon article mentioned, straight up adolescent metal head’s day dream. Really different feel from the last one, but I dig it. It’s really hard. I played through ‘16 with only a few hiccups on Ultra-Violence, but this one’s kicking my ass on that difficulty only two hours in. Definitely feeling it making me better though. Dark Souls ethos.

If there’s a video game equivalent of ripping a couple of lines of cocaine this is it. After like 30 tries trying to clear an arena and finally doing I’m a shaking ecstatic mess. Intense.

I bought this (2016) back when on Switch, where the gyro aiming was essential to gameplay, imo. I bought it again when it was on deep discount for PS4, and had to set the difficulty level way down to compensate for lack of gyro. I'm sure I'll get used to it, eventually, but it was like playing with two left hands and no thumbs.

It’s kind of insane to me that they’re going to make this work on a Switch. I’m amazed at how good it looks running on this dusty ass PS4.

Apparently this is a little divisive with “gamers” on “the internet”. It’s a different game from 2016 for sure, but I feel like it’s massively deeper, more sophisticated, and more fun all around. The combat has legs. Style wise it’s a matter of taste, Evil Dead vs. Evil Dead 2. I’m an ED2 guy.

A lot more tools this time around. Overwhelming at first, but once it clicks it’s glorious.

definitely more cartoony

the level design seems even more straightforward with pretty good hinting. the only times that it's been tricky to figure out where to go is during the jump puzzles. the swimming puzzles are definitely the weakest point

those slayer gate challenges are absolutely brutal. going to have to go back and complete some of them with better weapons. thought that one of them was nearly done and then it dropped a half dozen hell knights at the same time. soooo much dodging and running, and the timing of when to blast enemies to get more armor is something that takes a while to get a handle on

not sure the multiplayer is for me, but i think if i tried it with a couple friends to better get a feel for it, it might work

Finishing the last levels of 2016's DOOM now. The hell guard / two hell guards section in Level 11 was hard enough on "I'm Too Young..." glad I'm not on Nightmare setting. Also glad there was a checkpoint between the two. Was constantly mistiming shots to stagger them for health / ammo so felt a rush of achievement when over, since I used up the BFG ammo on the single one.

I can't get past the first hell guard - I'm too lame for difficult boss battles so I gave up at that point. People on youtube make it look easy.

The Marauder in Eternal is an absolute motherfucker. I think with practice I'll get the rhythm down, but right now when he shows up it's a total panicked crapshoot. Arch-Vile also crazy dangerous, that's easily a priority #1 demon whenever he spawns.

Like the From Software stuff, I feel like I can only play this game at certain times because it can be incredibly taxing. And adrenaline-y, have trouble sleeping if I play it before bed.

I have dropped the difficulty down from Ultra Violence once or twice in hairy spots. Always ones involving the Marauder iirc. No real penalty for that btw, just a pride hit.

I've attempted a few Slayer Gates but have decided I'm going to make it to the last level or so and then go back for them. Will be a little more manageable with the combat loop more firmly ingrained and a full kit. They are no joke.

I don't know if and when I'd ever play this, but I do appreciate the apparent takeaway of the developers after the first game was "MORE!"

I, too, am still trying to get the Marauder rhythm down. Getting better, and on levels with lots of ammo re-ups you can use the remote detonating rockets to cheat and get him from the side while the shield's up

It took me too long on my first arch-vile encounter to realize the fucker was spawning in limitless enemies and I needed to track him down asap

I've watched a bit of a couple let's plays, and it's almost inconceivable that they can get this running on Switch.

there’s some magical new era tech that I am assuming the console versions use called “dynamic resolution scaling” that I saw in the PC version settings

it’s probably a bit less graphically intense than a lot of other recent games, it’s just got a much more frenetic pace

I want to play this, I'd just rather not spend 100 Canuck bucks on it.

"It took me too long on my first arch-vile encounter to realize the fucker was spawning in limitless enemies and I needed to track him down asap"

trying to FIND these suckers when they spawn in can be another panic. doesn't help that they don't have a particularly distinctive silhouette. i save my crucible charges for these guys exclusively.

https://games.avclub.com/why-does-doom-eternal-play-like-a-mario-game-in-hell-1842497854

https://youtu.be/Oz3IfG38F30

Id’s creative lead talking about inspirations. Endearing.

I really like the direction Eternal took. 2016 was sharp as hell, but it was safe and within AAA aesthetics. Fun to see a big property just going full 80’s adolescent geek. Feel like Bethesda was pretty hands off, just let them run with it. Kind of a rare thing.

The last two levels of this are dope.

Got some Alien/Moebius and Die Hard/Ghostbusters feelings respectively. Game continually pulls from that sorta VHS aisle but doesn’t get too DO YOU SEE with it.

It's more than just aesthetics that have changed, though. I watched a bit of a play through, and not only does it look more (intentionally) cartoonish and dayglo and vibrant, the game play does seem like a totally different animal. More platforming, more actions, more things to keep track of of, plus more ... plot, which seems like a gamble for a game already designed to be exhausting. But one of my least favorite aspects of the first game (which I played a bit of from the start again on PS4 the other day just to remind myself) was just getting around. The frame rate on the Switch, even after it got somewhat patched, really made it hard for me to gauge jumps and stuff, combined with the kind of weightless movement of the doom suit, but jumping on the PS4 still felt weird. Throwing in evading obstacles and swinging on poles and double jumping over chasms and climbing walls, I don't know if I could handle that, in addition to what appears to be an increased emphasis on, well, aiming.

Heh, I just watched that influences video, I was thinking how much tonally different (and perhaps more fun) this new game (again, at least what I've seen of it) would be if instead of another badass Reznoresque score it had a galloping Maiden-like score.

The game is a very different beast. It’s a lot more of everything, in some ways to it’s detriment (do we need all of those upgrade trees?). Significantly more cerebral, you have a ton of tools and you need to use just about all of them to make it through, so you’re constantly juggling and keeping an eye on timers. And it moves even faster than ‘16. Like piloting a fighter jet. Requires a lot more precision too, taking out enemy weak points is pretty much necessary early on. Less so in late game.

I have a feeling this will be a real struggle on Twitch unless they tweak it specifically for that system. Gonna be a tough time running at 30 FPS and using the joy cons.

I guess some people are struggling with the platforming, but it hasn’t been a problem for me. If you fail it just teleports you back to the beginning of the obstacle minus a little bit of health. I appreciate breaking up the arenas, the moments to breathe are welcome. Can be janky sometimes though.

I’m playing through Eternal a second time and it’s like a whole new game. I struggled through a lot of it the first time around because I wasn’t utilizing some tools. Mostly frag grenades (was using freeze ones almost exclusively, need to switch between the two frequently) and the super shotgun mastery with the hook shot that ignites the enemy for instant armor shards. Armor is crucial. And the acrobatics you can pull off with that hook shot is really something I didn’t get to explore the first time around.

Game is WAY complicated and I don’t think most can even get a solid handle on all of it even in one play through, but once you master the arsenal it feels suuuper fucking good.