The Nintendo Switch port of Doom Eternal is my first foray into the world of Doom. I didn’t know what to expect apart from it being an action-packed first-person shooter game—some claiming it to be the “best of all time”. Coming into the game with this knowledge, I had high expectations.
Though before playing the game for the first time, I did my research on Doom (2016), its predecessor. For those who are also new to the Doom franchise, here’s the gist: the Union Aerospace Corporation in Mars accidentally opens a portal to hell, the Doom Slayer is released to help aid in eradicating the demons, but at the end of it all Earth is invaded. The story continues on Earth, where the Doom Slayer is tasked with annihilating three Hell Priests to quell the invasion. To truly appreciate the game in its full glory, I would recommend new players to get familiar with the events of Doom (2016) and the franchise’s lore.
In the very first map, which is meant to be more of an introduction to the game or a tutorial of sorts, I found myself thinking the gameplay was a little bit lackluster. As a newcomer to Doom, I wasn’t all that invested in the story so I focused on the gameplay. Blasting my way through demons? Ripping them to shreds with a chainsaw? Cool, but what else? It just felt a little bit too straightforward. Fortunately, I was sorely mistaken. As I continued to traverse Doom’s hellish environment, the game proved it had so much more to offer.
A few hours into Doom Eternal, I found myself finding each encounter more challenging than the last. It wasn’t as straightforward as I thought. One moment I’m doing perfectly fine, and in the next, I’m getting my ass kicked by a Carcass demon. The game required much more than relentless aggression. You had to learn how to play smart. Small fry demons? Sure, no problem. However, sooner or later you will come across powerful demons that have designated weak points and aren’t as easy to gun down.
Mind you, in the heat of battle you’re not able to just mindlessly shoot your way to the finish line. You have to take into account your health, armor, and ammo—which can be the fine line between life and death. Thankfully, there are ways to replenish your resources. If you deal enough damage to a demon, they’ll be staggered and glow which means you can go in for a Glory Kill to finish it off and replenish health. If you’re low on ammo, you can rip a demon apart with your chainsaw as long as you have enough fuel in your tank. If you need some brand new armor, your flamethrower does the job as long as it’s done cooling down. With all of this in mind, you are challenged to find your rhythm in battle to be able to make quick decisions to defeat hordes of demons all while keeping your resources in check.
When I said the game had so much more to offer, it was more than just in terms of the game’s difficulty. Doom Eternal allows you to customize your weapons, suit, and runes to according to how you want to play. As you progress through Doom Eternal, the game introduces new guns and tools into your arsenal. You’ve got a combat shotgun, heavy cannon, plasma rifle, rocket launcher, super shotgun, ballista, and chaingun—each with their own mod upgrades and mastery skills. You can switch between any of these weapons and their mods in the middle of combat, allowing you to clear out demons however you like. Apart from the guns, you also have the frag grenade and ice bomb at your disposal which are great for crowd control.
When you’re not busy violently blasting away demons, Doom Eternal gives you an opportunity to explore the world’s beautifully grotesque landscape. I appreciated how the game didn’t just straight up throw you into battles to pulverize demons left and right. You are awarded brief, but rewarding moments out of combat wherein you can look for codex entries, materials for Slayer upgrades, and hidden secrets around the map. A welcome breather for a completionist like myself.
Being a Nintendo Switch port, it runs a little less ambitiously compared to its performance on other consoles. You’re locked on 30 FPS, but you’re guaranteed that the game will run smoothly through all the hacking, slashing, and shooting. Personally, I found that this was still an adequate way to play the game especially if the Nintendo Switch is your only option. The only caveat would be that the visuals are not as crisp as you might expect, with some demons in the distance appearing quite blurry. All things considered, it’s pretty impressive for the Nintendo Switch.
All in all, Doom Eternal is a masterfully done first-person shooter action game. While I’m sure many players would be engaged by Doom Eternal’s plot, I admittedly wasn’t as invested as I had hoped. However, that didn’t deter me from enjoying the fast-paced gameplay that the franchise is praised for. It has more depth than meets the eye, with the player requiring to aggressive, but smart at the same time. From the combat to the occasional platforming, the team behind Doom Eternal has made sure to make the game as well-designed as it could be. If you’re up for some demon-slaying, I would highly encourage you to pick up Doom Eternal.
GameRev was provided with a digital download of the game for the purpose of this review.
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