doom game review 2020

Test: Doom Eternal: At the top of fast-FPS

Four years, that's what we had to wait before plunging back into the hell proposed by id Software in 1993. Expert in FPS for almost 30 years, the studio gives us today a new opus of its saga which aims to do “the same, only better”, but does it succeed? This is what we are going to see, Big Fucking Gun 9000 in hand ...

Multiplayer update:
The test is now complete and is based on the evaluation of solo (PC and consoles) and multiplayer through Battlemode, played on PC on 20/03/2020. You can find the paragraphs dedicated to multiplayer under the titles "A fun and interesting multiplayer but still a little light ..."

ONCE UPON A TIME, THE DOOM SLAYER

If the scriptwriting approach of the Doom of 2016 was particularly “clear cut”, preferring to ignore a constructive scenario in order to prioritize the frenzy of the gameplay, then innovative in many ways, Doom Eternal rebalances its qualities. The game of id Software offers here a simple story but well put together allowing the player to travel through a real crusade against the underworld, which will bring us from Earth to Mars via Phobos, but also by many territories in link with the history of the peoples who oppose it here. Even the least knowledgeable in the lore of Doom (because yes, there is one) will find their account there and will be pleasantly rocked as the story, almost biblical, is interesting to follow and rather well written. On the other hand, it will sometimes be necessary to hang on since the terms and names can rain without having "yet" been explained or presented via Codex. Rest assured, without delving into everything, you will have understood the main part of the scenario from your first exploration.

VALÉRIE DAMIDOOM: MAKING NEW WITH OLD

Doom Eternal: At the top of fast-FPS
These numerous wanderings of the Doom Slayer through Doom Eternal will also make it possible to rinse the eye on artistic creations frankly very in point. We discover demonic titans frozen in their last efforts, cathedrals with well-worked stained glass: throughout the game the world design delights us and turns out to be varied, which clearly changes the very monotonous atmosphere of the 2016 remake Doom has therefore learned to be less conventional on its structure and on its levels. To the panoramas and various sequences of discovery of the area, where we will enjoy stopping for a moment to admire the landscape, there are of course the combat phases, to which we will return later.

Then there are the traps, the “puzzles” (rest assured, nothing too complex) and the many hidden secrets that will give a bit of trouble to the less organized during a first run of the game. possible to go back to the levels already explored, taking advantage of detection liabilities indicating the location of map stations, for example. Finally, for challenge lovers, know that the title includes arena challenges, distributed in levels, but also alternative versions, much more difficult, of the explored passages. These little “extras” will be accessible in particular via the Fortress, a hub that will gradually unlock and allow you to train, unlock different armor or even admire your “testosterone gamer room” with imitation Pop figures, skins, electric guitars, books on demons and workshop to shine its weapons ...

Combine all this with a system of daily challenges and mechanics close to the usual grind of free-to-play, rewarding the scoring with a few cosmetic gains and you get a game that, alone alone, will bring you more than 25 hours of content if you're the type who doesn't want to leave anything out. Players who do not fall into this category will however be able to project themselves over fifteen or even twenty hours depending on their attraction for the story of the episode, which offers a lot of reading and works of art to narrate its framework. .

CARDIAC ABSTAIN ...

But where this Doom Eternal is very strong is on its incredibly swift and nervous gameplay, which sometimes plunges us into a destructive trance. To be completely honest, there are few games where the action had put us under such pressure, while not forgetting to ask us a bit of savvy in order to target the right enemies with the right weapons and to have always keep an eye on our ATH and the environment. As before, the system works on a triple resource: life, ammunition, armor.

Life is obtained through GloryKill, these spectacular killings that are triggered as soon as an enemy vacillates and starts blinking in blue or orange. Once killed, the opponent will drop valuable hit points. Then there is the armor, in green, which is obtained by literally burning your opponents with your back flame thrower. On burning, your enemies will drop the armor plates. Same thing when you cut your opponents, who will then release a quantity of ammunition of several types. Generally, these will be compatible for two different weapon models: it will be up to you to choose which model to prioritize, according to the specializations and alternative shots available.

Small flat that said concerning the chainsaw: you will have to regularly think of crisscrossing the level in search of ammunition and jerry cans of gasoline, without which your chainsaw will not work, or will be usable only once you are short of bullets, which necessarily puts you in a delicate position since the melee is clearly ineffective ...

Many runes and passives will quickly make you superhuman in the world of Doom Eternal. A bullet time during your precision shots will allow you to adjust your shots to destroy the weak points of the “super-demons”, a speed boost will make you super fast after a GloryKill: the recipe quickly takes an acrobatic turn, especially when '' it includes platform, double-jumps, dashs, climbing, grabs, jump platform and other tricks that often transform the gameplay of Doom Eternal into a true ode to the heyday of Quake 3 Arena. It will therefore be necessary to conjugate with the many opponents facing you, from the demon-spider to the behemoth, via the very annoying Marauder, a warrior who is only vulnerable a micro-second before attacking… He is also nice to see that the bosses are well thought out and offer great fights before joining the roster of “common” opponents, enough to make the final battles truly apocalyptic.

In short, it is pure joy to handle which, very often, and especially at the end of the adventure, will put your nerves to the test during long minutes of unrestrained combat. Obviously, Mick Gordon signs here a very good B.O. which comes to energize even more the frenzy of confrontations. It is therefore almost faultless that Doom Eternal achieves there, even if the second third of the title, as so often, sets its pace a little more, confronting us with less novelty than at the beginning and end of the adventure . And if we could have railed on the platform phases during our preview, they never bothered us here, despite the harshness of their animations, denoting with the grace of the GloryKill, always enjoyable, despite the hours that pass by and the few bugs of collision that they sometimes cause…

A MULTI FUN AND INTERESTING BUT STILL A LIGHTWEIGHT ...
Doom Eternal: At the top of fast-FPS
Unlike the multiplayer part of Doom 2016, the multiplayer of Doom Eternal was managed by the studio id Software and therefore meets the envy of the developers, who thought of it as a “faithful” mode to the base of the game. death match, king of the hill point, no, here, the hunt remains at the heart of the experience.

Doom Eternal: At the top of fast-FPS
Battlemode is the name of the first multi pan dedicated to this 2020 version, and it offers asymmetrical confrontation in 2V1. One player will play the role of Doom Slayer here, while two others, who will face him, will embody massive demons, selected from among 5 possibilities. The Arch-Vile and its fiery skills, the Mancubus which will serve as a tank, the very very very violent Marauder, nightmare of solo players, the aerial Doloris, and the Revenant, efficient but fragile.

Doom Eternal: At the top of fast-FPS
Before starting the match, which will be played in 3 winning rounds, each of the two demons selects their approach by choosing a kit, including skills and summons. The Slayer, on the other hand, will have all the mobility we know and can even farm little demons to recover precious life, armor, and ammunition. He therefore has the best mobility, and walks on the map, taking advantage of bumpers and teleportation portals, while his two enemies generate hordes of creatures to attack him and try to put him on the ground.

At first glance, the Slayer will have a difficult life because, if it wants to win, it will have to atomize the two demon-players in a row, in a lapse of fairly short time, of about twenty seconds. If he does not succeed, the slain demon will return to the field until one of the two camps is wiped out. As much on our first games, we were not very convinced by the ability of the Doom Slayer to prevail under these conditions, as much by embodying it, or by being totally destroyed by a good Doom Slayer, we understood where can come from victory. It was ultimately only a question of organization on the demon side, with effective pressing, and good management of ammunition and, obviously, a little talent at aiming, to prevail, side Slayer.

Between each round, the demons and the Slayer can offer themselves an improvement, reinforcing the capacities of the chosen skills. And if the fight drags on a bit, a much stronger skill can be obtained, such as summoning a demon side Baron or obtaining the BFG. Enough to spice up the rhythm of Battlemode a little more, which is quite close to the atmosphere and the pleasure of playing that you feel solo, haloed here with the satisfaction of having beaten another human, or even two if you play the Doom Slayer… However, with two kits per massive demons, and six maps to play, difficult to plan for the long term in Battlemode. This multiplayer variant will be, we imagine, the opportunity to have fun with friends or against strangers after finishing the solo: enough to keep the flame going without really becoming a classic of the genre. But after all, do we ask Doom to have a multiplayer calibrated for the long term? Probably not...

The notes
+ Positive points
Frantic and intoxicating gameplay
A very good combat-platform balance
Hairy artistic direction
Impeccable sound design and OST
Interesting scenario rich in documentation
Very correct lifespan (15 to 20 hours on a first run)
An addictive multiplayer, based on the tracking of players and the asymmetry of gameplay

Negative points
A slightly less innovative second third
Technical excellence but sometimes lacking in artifice
Not the most practical with the controller

Doom Eternal: this is a big "yes", a destructive trance to which we get attached very quickly, which offers us a very interesting revisited biblical story and gameplay of incredible nervousness. A true ode to fast-FPS, immersive, which offers, over a more than honest lifespan, smart, intense battles and a memorable and varied dive into hell. An apnea from which you only come out to rest your eyes, your heart, your mind ... and catch your breath!