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"Doom" delivers fast-paced, bloody heavy metal action at its best. 12 reasons why you should play it

Philipp Rüegg
17.5.2016
Translation: machine translated

"Doom" is back and better than ever. The cult shooter makes an unexpected comeback: loud, bloody and extremely fun. A feast for shooter fans.

1. bloody and brutal

2. heavy metal in the bones

The first two "Doom" films were famous for their brilliant soundtrack. The new "Doom" no longer has midi sounds, but it does have fat heavy metal. When you enter a new arena and have to crush a horde of monsters, the music turns up at the same time. And when the last demon has speckled the walls red, the music ends perfectly in time. An awesome feeling.

3. upgrades

Yep, there is now an upgrade system in "Doom". It seems strange at first, but as soon as the "Doom" guy gives the first flying upgrade robot a fist in thanks, you can't help but grin. The upgrades also provide more variety. Most weapons are given two new fire modes for even more destruction. The armour can also be improved. I recommend putting points into the navigation system as early as possible to make it easier to find all the hidden goodies.

4. fast

"Doom" borrows the dizzyingly fast gameplay of "Quake 3", adds a double jump on top and lets you rage. The flow of this game is indescribable. You are constantly on the move. Jump, shoot, execute from the air and move on to the next victim with the speed bonus you've received.

5th Glory Kills

Damaged demons can be executed at the touch of a button. There are several variations of the bloody glory kills for each enemy. Depending on whether you come from the air, whether there is a wall nearby or whether you simply strike directly from the front. The glory kills are not just for fun, however, but also ensure that demons drain health points and ammunition. This is because life energy does not regenerate by itself.

6th story for the A....

This may sound like criticism, but "Doom" deliberately tells a lousy story. The game is absolutely aware of how stupid the story is and savours this with relish. I have to grin every time a computer voice announces that the demonic presence is at an unhealthy level. THAT MEANS THERE IS A HEALTHY LEVEL? Only sometimes there's a bit too much chatter and you can't kill or destroy anything in the meantime. Of course, that's not possible.

7. quiet moments

When the heavy metal guitars fade away after a successful battle, "Doom" can be almost contemplative. Until a fresh horde of demons is waiting around the next corner to be composted.

8. Hidden goodies and challenges

9. fat weapons

As befits a "Doom", you have an arsenal of weapons that would even make Rambo's eyes water. All the familiar weapons such as the Super Shotgun and the BFG are back in the game. New additions include the Gauss Rifle, which is reminiscent of the rail gun from "Quake 3". There are also a few exclusive weapons in multiplayer mode.

10. no reloading

Yep, there's no reloading in "Doom". The motto is: shoot until you run out of ammo.

11. bold graphics

After "Uncharted 4" comes "Doom", another graphics bomb within a week. The game is a feast for the eyes, as the Cacodemon would confirm if I hadn't just expressed my only regret. Only the level design doesn't exactly knock my socks off. Too often the levels remind me of arenas from "Quake 3". That's fine for the multiplayer mode, but I would have hoped for more creativity in the campaign.

12th good length

In games that rely heavily on multiplayer, the single-player mode often suffers. Not so in "Doom". You can feel like the ultimate super warrior for around 13 hours until you are torn apart by 12-year-olds online. Which of course never happens to me.

"Doom" through and through

I hoped so, but didn't dare to believe that "Doom" could be so damn much fun. The campaign is an all-round successful package that absolutely does justice to the first two parts. The only thing I missed a bit was the horror and towards the end the gameplay wears a bit thin. Apart from that, "Doom" offers fast-paced and varied action like you haven't seen for years. And the multiplayer mode isn't bad either.

If you want to hear more from me about "Doom" and "Uncharted 4", you can listen to my podcast.

I tested the PC version of "Doom", which was provided to us by Bethesda.

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As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles. 


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