Absolutely
legless.
Doom Eternal
PREVIEW
RELEASE
2019DEVELOPER
id SoftwarePUBLISHER
BethesdaLINK
http://www.doometernal.comNEED TO KNOWThis feels like the natural successor to
2016’s Doom, which is to say id Software
has had a think about everything that
made the original one of the best shooters
of the last few years and attempted to
push it even further. The super shotgun’s
meat hook is just one of those ways.
Here’s another. In the previous
Doom, you could stagger demons
after doing a set amount of damage.
Once staggered, you were able to
trigger a ‘Glory Kill’—an instant melee
takedown that would do something
unspeakably violent to the infernal
beastie. Doing this would prompt health
pickups to spurt from their corpse. At the
most fundamental level, Doom was about
momentum in combat—staying alive by
pushing forward, getting up close and
personal, and reaping the rewards.
Doom Eternal formalizes this
philosophy. Once again, you can Glory Kill
for health. Once again, you can use your
chainsaw to cut ammo from an enemy.
Now, though, you can also use a
shoulder-mounted flamethrower to set
enemies on fire. Kill a burning enemy and
they’ll burst into a shower of armor
pickups. How does this work? It’s Doom.Don’t ask questions. The key to the
system is in how it uses scarcity and
resource management. Staggering
enemies will run down your ammo. Your
chainsaw fuel is limited and must be
scavenged from the map. Your
flamethrower has a cooldown timer.
The idea is that the use of each method
should feel meaningful. Combat is a test
of knowing what you need and when,
and making the most of every tool that
you have at your disposal.
It’s hard to say for sure based on the
short section I played, but Doom Eternal
feels harder than its predecessor. Gunplay
is as loud and brash and gory as ever, but
I get the sense that id wants combat to
feel like a puzzle.
I play a selection of encounters from
the Mars Core level, which starts when the
Doom Slayer enters the UAC Orbital Base
on Phobos. Fighting his way to the BFG
10,000—a massive orbital cannon—the
Slayer climbs inside of the thing and fires
himself towards Mars and its core—a
portal leading to the depths of Hell.KILLING FOREVER
As I collect additional mods for my
other weapons, I’m forced to
consider how best to utilize each to
overcome the various demons
thrown my way. A late-mission
favorite is the plasma rifle’s microwave
beam, which stuns enemies while it slowly
cooks them. I use it on a Baron of Hell,
and—while it takes a while to fully
charge—once it does, he explodes, taking
nearby enemies with him. More enemies
spawn in, and so I switch to the Ballista. Its
mod, arbalest, does enhanced damage to
flying enemies, making it perfect for the
Pain Elemental who’s just shown up.
I’m low on ammo now, but I have
enough to switch to my assault rifle for
some long range shots against an
Arachnotron. Thanks to Eternal’s monster
deformation, its tail-mounted plasma
cannon is vulnerable to my rifle’s precision
bolt. I duck, chainsaw a Possessed to refill
my ammo, and I’m back in the fight.
It’s fast, fun, silly, and cerebral, all in
equal measure. id Software clearly knows
what it’s doing. Doom Eternal feels
laser-focused on what made the previous
game feel so good.
Phil SavageM
y super shotgun has a meat hook
attachment. Let’s all stop and appreciate
that for a second. The shotgun was
already super—it’s right there in the
name. But now it’s also got an attachment that
grapples onto demonic meatflesh and pulls me
towards it. Welcome to Doom Eternal.id’s FPS sequel gets the
combat just rightDOOM ETERNAL
KILL A BURNING ENEMY, AND
THEY’LL BURST INTO A
SHOWER OF ARMOR PICKUPSPLAYED
IT