What is... Doom

Picture taken from wallpapercave.com

Wildly violent and morbidly satisfying, I believe these adjectives should be used best to describe Doom's highlights. Doom is a first-person shooter game and was released in May 2016 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC served as the reboot of the original classic 1993 Doom. Since then, the reboot was praised by critics for its graphics, never-ending action, and for retaining its originality based on the classic game. The game's primary objective is to stop the demon infestation spreading on the now-colonized planet Mars. How do we achieve that objective? That is by ripping and tearing your way through hordes of demons. 

I have never tried playing any Doom series before and this is the first Doom game that I played. I heard how Doom 3 takes a survival horror approach and that this reboot is the opposite of it. Once I finally got my hands on the latter, I immediately got hooked onto it. Something in it really gets me (of course, the pumped-up violent and gory approach of this game, I have such weird taste, I love it). Doom is now redefined with a more realistic and advanced graphics. It is guaranteed worth your every time to play and enjoy the game in terms of its gruesome action gameplay and amazing weapons of choice.

The player assumes the role of Doomguy.

The game puts you in the helmet of an unnamed over-masculine space marine infamously known as the "Doomguy". He possesses superhuman abilities that include strength and endurance. He is surprisingly agile for his bulky size, and he can deliver a massive amount of brute force should he run out of ammunition. Doomguy wears a combat suit which is called the "Praetor Suit". This suit provides protection from incoming damage and it can be upgraded throughout the game for various perks. 

Doomguy's Praetor Suit can be upgraded for efficiency.

 

A showcase of one of the game's iconic weapons, the super shotgun.

Weapons ranging from pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, chain gun, super shotgun, plasma rifle to gauss cannon and rocket launcher. There are alternative weapons that have limited use, which are the chainsaw, and the all-time classic BFG 9000. Every weapon has its own distinct upgrades and modifications, for example, the assault rifle might be modified to have an attached tactical scope or to have micro missiles, while the shotgun can be modded for a burst shot or an explosive shot. 

Weapon mods can be obtained by chasing slippery flying drones.

 

Chainsaw is your best tool when running short on health and ammunition.

 
Combat-wise, Doom encourages players to shoot and keep shooting without reloading the gun. Ammo will be scattered all over the ground when the enemies are killed and automatically picked up as the players approach it, pressing R won’t do anything since the game does not have a reload feature for all weapons, instead it will change your weapon mod. Health will not regenerate on its own and will also be found by killing enemies. The way the developers designed this game is by encouraging players to shoot and to keep pushing forwards through hordes of enemies without worrying to die or to run out of ammunition. Taking covers and thinking tactical strategies are very much not required in Doom. As you run short on ammunition or health you will have to find the weakest enemies for you to kill and replenish both ammo and health. This is how Doom is crafted as a fast pace shooter game.

 

Imp, as redefined in the reboot.

Enemies are basically demons that are unleashed from hell. There are various types of demons present in this series of Doom, they will be your main threat. Most of the time they will come in horde and you will have to eliminate every single one of them before you can proceed to the next area. The demons can be small and can be large in size, the smaller they are the more agile they move but the lesser damage they do and vice versa. Every demon will have their unique way to attack you, they’ll charge on you, explode on you, punch you, hurl projectiles to you. Once you are in the hot zone it will be a brutal mess.

Killed by demons will trigger a death animation which is very interesting.

Glory kill can be performed on almost every enemies.

Doom introduces an innovative feature in terms of its violent combat approach, that is the glory kill. Glory kill is a finishing move performed to a staggered enemy and will drop health and ammo. What is so satisfying about this execution is through its animation. Glory kill can be performed to almost every demon you encounter, the execution will again vary from which position you aim your foe. For example, performing glory kill upfront will differ from performing glory kill sideway.

Different enemies will give unique and satisfying glory kill.

 

My favorite power-up, Berserk.

There is a power-up orb occasionally found in the area that you are in. It will grant you a game-changing superpower depending on what orb you encounter. For instance, the berserk power up is typically in darkened orange color. Once you pick it up it will be those demons' greatest nightmare as they see you. Your weapon will immediately be switched into your fists, and each punch that you make will instantly execute every enemy with a glory kill. Talk about on steroid, this orb is steroid on steroid.

 

The entrance to Kadingir Sanctum aka hell.

Each level has its own unique map design and locations for secrets to discover. But in general, Doom's level approach is linear, it is already fixed in terms of how many levels you have to go through before you beat the game. There are no side quests to be taken since it is not an RPG game. However, the map is big enough for you to freely explore its nooks and crannies for hidden secrets. Secret levels, character and weapons upgraded are typically located in a remote area in each map. They are usually hard to discover and easy to be missed out.

Secret scattered across the map for unlockable contents.

  

All in all, this game is the embodiment of pure violence, a very good choice to release stress, in a violent way. Wait, that sounds wrong. Doom offers fast pace and non-stop action; you will often find yourself entangled in a series of excitement in the combat. Shooting here and there, pushing forward with no means to take cover. Top it up with ingenious ways to execute your enemies, Doom has its own unique way to channel your thirst for thrills. I wish they could have offered more boss battles in the game to keep up with the already pumped-up action theme. Musically, it is excellently composed to suit the battles you are put in. Graphically, it looks so stunning, my favorite part of the game is how they utilize the bokeh effect smoothly. In summary, the reboot is worth the play and will not disappoint old fans. If you feel like punching your boss or your girlfriend’s ex in the face but you can’t because of legal issues, you can always go berserk in this game.

Notice how the background is blurred, producing a beautiful bokeh effect on all lights.