Doom Eternal In-Depth Critique

[@rofibhoi9788]

Best combat system out there (I'm saying this after 2000+ hours in character action games). Only Ultrakill can top this when it releases. There are already more than a dozen games out there that take heavy influence from Eternal. Eternal is probably the first Singleplayer FPS to have a proper grappling hook. Eternal has kind of changed how indie FPS games are made in general. From a game-design perspective, DOOM Eternal is the most influential game of this decade so far.

[@game_design_diary]

I agree that it's been an influential game, and I think the influence of Eternal on game design will become more obvious as time passes and more games take inspiration from all the stuff it did right.

[@fullauto86]

New doom eternal review 4 years after release? Yep, run that.

[@douglasmonroe7417]

Just an FYI, Mick Gordon said they didn't use his tracks that he composed. They used someone else's and Mick was livid about that. They still credited him though. But you can read more about this in the interview with Mick Gordon himself.

[@Shezmen88]

Great review dude!

[@PapaP86]

Probably my favorite single player FPS of all time. I've played the hell out of it. I was working up to an Ultra-Nightmare run of the base game at one point, but got too busy to continue. Maybe I'll get to it eventually. I do have some problems with the DLCs... Some of the enemy types added just seems lazy and artificially difficult. The tower/turret enemies are just lazy/not interesting and then the Spirit that possesses other demons. Possessed marauders are just insane. One of the Slayer gates in the DLC before it got nerfed was ridiculous (The Holt). Took me so many attempts (it's on my channel along with tons of other Doom Eternal gameplay). Aside from the Spirit and final boss fight, the DLC was pretty solid, but the Spirit in particular brought the experience down. I think the UAC Atlantica Facility is really the high point of the DLCs, aside from that the base game and Horde mode is pretty much what I go back to.

[@commandershepard9920]

Blood Swamps is my favorite and I actually love the spirits, they're my favorite enemy.

[@game_design_diary]

Doom Eternal is one of my favourite games too. I agree that UAC Atlantica is one of the best levels in the game, it has a lot of great fights without anything frustrating. It's one of the levels that really shows the game at its best

[@fullauto86]

I agree about the enemy reskins, however it was during the pandemic and to be fair most of those enemy’s serve interesting functions, like the screecher and armored baron esspecially I love the armored baron.

[@FlyInTheLotion]

Good critique. I agree with the fact, that the game gives away mechanics so easily and freely. It’s kind of nice to discover those yourself. Such as the pop-ups and the highlighting of weak points.

[@yourfacemeetsmyfist]

As weaknesses are essentially an S tier enemy priority, establishing their importance early on with enemies that incorporate it, combined with a heightened skill floor in comparison to previous entries, its fairly warranted, especially given how interdependent decision making factors gameplay

[@muricaneagle666]

The middle ground solution, would’ve been to ask on a first boot up, whether or not you wanted tutorials on or not because Eternal is a pretty in depth game, but tutorials being on and holding your hand, kinda ruined the first play.

[@yourfacemeetsmyfist]

@@muricaneagle666 I suppose, but the opposite side of the coin is that people would contest critical information being not communicated, despite visual and audio motifs existing for that information

[@Allstin]

@@muricaneagle666found eagle!

[@moonmoon4537]

26:40 Arbalest Shot during Green Eye animation > Grenade > Triple Rocket + Grenade at the same time > Triple Rocket Is the easiest 1-cycle marauder combo

[@game_design_diary]

Thanks for pointing that out, I knew there was at least one way to pull that off that I've seen people do before.

[@WolfTamer]

The easiest and fastest 1-cycle: Precision Bolt (PB) -> Sylar Lock-on Burst(SLOB) -> frag grenade If you're on mouse and keyboard or your DPI is high: Ballista -> PB -> Sticky Bomb -> PB -> Feet Ballista -> repeat Also, 0-cycles are possible as well with the most consistent being LOB distractions to make him turn his shield and exposing his side or back then firing at him with a ballista. Though I imagine those are a lot more difficult on a controller because you either need to mod swap cancel or be in the sky to fire them upwards then immediately face towards his exposed side.

[@moonmoon4537]

There actually isn’t a single section in Doom Eternal where touching the purple goo is a requirement (: it’s designed to teach you to get creative with your movement and extend your time in the air, For example, at 44:10, the section you call ‘the weakest section of the level’ can be bypassed by jumping off the high ledge that takes you into the section, dashing twice, then meathook off of the possessed aracnotron, and into the exit that you normally monkey bar through. Learning this has increased my appreciation for the purple goo immensely (:

[@game_design_diary]

This is a very good point, the purple goo is used as a way to get players to be more creative with their movement especially later in the game. First time players are still going to be wading through it though which isn't that interesting, and I think they added better ways of getting players to be creative with their movement later in the DLCs such as the meathook grapping points in the Ancient Gods 2.

[@cannonbyrd1755]

How in the hell are you supposed to avoid the purple goo in exaltia

[@moonmoon4537]

@@cannonbyrd1755 Jump > Dash under the ribcage > Dash towards the exit ledge, jump again

[@mdd4296]

epic 1v1 is possible with D:E combat. It's all about contextualising the fight really. If they have gone further with the dark lord they might have done it, they already let the dark lord give you resources back if you damage him enough. They could do more like: projectiles you can shoot down for an ammo boost, illusion you can glory kill for health, setting him on fire for armor,...

[@game_design_diary]

I definitely agree that there's potential for them to get this right- I think a few of the ideas you suggested are good ones.

[@trollyfox5421]

I'm kinda saddened with the fact that nobody in reviews ever says about how overpowered gunswitching mostly kills the need to interact with a weak points system. And that actually makes game dumber or for a better words more "solved", less decision requiring. Also with high fps gunswitching becomes even stronnger.

[@moonmoon4537]

35:45 You can achieve the same effect using the Microwave Beam. This will let you save your ice bomb for something else Microwave Beam + Nade at the same time, then go in for the blood punch while he’s stunlocked by the beam.

[@Kingminos09]

Disagree on the upgrade system, Doom Eternal is a thinking mans fast paced game, and upgrades reflect that, as well as the small puzzles to find upgrade currencies, which are usually in sight, and more often than not just straight up given to you. Some mission challenges are bs, but they do heighten the game. And, of course, this is all an opinion.

[@supergaspack]

yeah agreed, theres also no requirement to grab secrets, there are benefits to it but him using it against the pacing was just wrong

[@N0RZC]

9:46 You are obviously not well used to the game, you can skip that part by double dashing and jumping around the edge of that right fleshwall and grab on to the climbing steps. Probably alot more you dont quite get 😆

[@rockleesmile]

Doom Eternal diehards will love this critique because it has nothing substantial to say about the game and superficially glosses over all actual criticism. 👍

[@supergaspack]

keep coping buddy

[@GanonGhidorah]

Well, thanks for saving me the time.

[@cannonbyrd1755]

What?

[@clvr51]

The Icon of Sin line became a meme because in the first few months it was repeated ad nauseam due to a bug.

[@game_design_diary]

Thanks that's a really interesting comment! Obviously when I replayed the game for this video the bug didn't happen because they fixed it, so I couldn't remember why that meme started.

[@clvr51]

@@game_design_diary yeah I guessed it was for that reason, newer players might be confused by the meme status of that line ahahhahah

[@yourfacemeetsmyfist]

It wasn't a bug iirc

[@k.constantine]

>default UE4 forest/grassy field biome >one of the best environments come on now

[@nightfightsday]

your audio is only coming out the right side

[@iantruskowski126]

you should check out Ultrakill if you don't know about it, its very comparable to doom but faster and has higher complexity between a smaller arsenal

[@game_design_diary]

Ultrakill is definitely a game I want to check out at some point, thanks for the recommendation!

[@xx_amongus_xx6987]

Ultrakill seems faster and seems to have higher complexity, but that isn't completely true. Ultrakill only seems faster because of how enclosed most levels are and how small everything is. It only seems to have more complexity, because you have only watched videos about the complexity in that game meanwhile you probably don't know anything about the crazy tech in Doom Eternal. For example, a good amount of these techs can cause the player to fly around levels just as fast if not faster than the player can go in Ultrakill with movement tech. Doom Eternal's tech is more obscure, but just because you don't know much about it, doesn't mean it ceases to exist.

[@Krinov]

Ultrakill and DOOM Eternal seem similar on the surface, but when you pay more attention you realize that they are very different. (Both are great though)

[@Rudi4rius]

If you disagree with my takes I will come to your home

[@supergaspack]

great vid but you are wrong about taking less damage while health is lower. that is not a thing at all in this particular game

[@Allstin]

sort of - there’s the “brink of death” system, in which you survive a hit that would’ve normally killed you say in 2016 (most hits do this, things like cyber manc goo can be bad i believe) hugo and i talked about this system in our interview, it’s a real thing - if that’s what’s meant

[@game_design_diary]

This is what I meant, I don't think I did a very good job of explaining it in the video. Looking back on it there's a few things I would improve about this video and this point about the brink of death system is one of those.

[@bringanotebook28]

Honestly, playing the game, I HATE the resource loop very deeply. It's very repetitive, annoying to manage, and even when it becomes muscle memory it just feels unfun to do. It strips away so much freedom of how to deal with enemies. It's mind numbing at best and frustrating at worst. I don't like playing this way, and it's forced on me!

[@supergaspack]

its really not a big deal i think you are just mis managing shit. you have a chainsaw 90percent of the time theres no excuse

[@xx_amongus_xx6987]

It gives you the freedom to figure out what you want to do and how to do it creatively. If you think killing a cacodemon with a grenade in its mouth is the best way to kill it, you're not trying to understand the game. Doom 2016 on the other hand, while seemingly gave the player "more freedom", it actually just boiled down every encounter to SSG and gauss cannon. That was the best method that worked in EVERY single encounter. So really, what freedom does that game give you? The freedom to choose a broken playstyle, or an objectively inferior playstyle. This does not exist in Doom Eternal as there are many different and equally important ways to kill enemies.

[@supergaspack]

19:30 you dont have to go and collect the collectables. its not required in the slightest so you cant use this against the pacing of the game. its a choice you made

[@vedapraneeth]

This video would be half the length it is rn by removing a lot of sentences and combining several sentences into one, try and improve for the next one

[@Snavels]

The FPS history section could be axed almost entirely as well, anyone watching this critique more than likely already has a more than vague knowledge on the history of fps games, If I didn't know what Doom was, I wouldn't be watching this video (nor do the other shooters hold really any relevance to the topic)

[@isaacalves97]

Not much of a critique, when you have nothing blantonly bad to say about it. Critique fail, much?

[@Allstin]

a critique is defined as “a detailed analysis and assessment of something” you may be thinking of criticism

[@cannonbyrd1755]

​@@Allstinholy shit you're here

[@k.constantine]

Eternal is one step forward, two steps back in terms of basic gameplay.

[@yourfacemeetsmyfist]

Absolutely insane take

[@jdx4174]

More like 1 step back and 5 steps forward. I almost can't play Doom 2016 anymore, because it feels so slow and sluggish in comparison. Doom Eternal just brought FPS gaming to a new level. Maybe not in the first playthrough, but sure as hell in following ones.

[@k.constantine]

@@jdx4174 Yes, dashing is an improvement, but it's that and weakpoints, every other change is a step back.

[@yourfacemeetsmyfist]

@@k.constantine Its absolutely mind blowing how wrong you are.

[@rofibhoi9788]

@@k.constantine Compared to 2016's singleplayer, Eternal is 2 steps forward and then 5 more steps forward.