3 ms·

it was always obvious that DOOM Eternal had a pretty troubled development, what with all the delays, the apparent focus on the novel multiplayer mode that nobod

it was always obvious that DOOM Eternal had a pretty troubled development, what with all the delays, the apparent focus on the novel multiplayer mode that nobody ended up really liking at all, the promised-after-release Dark Souls-style "invasions" system that never ended up materializing, and the general unfocused nature of the final product compared to its predecessor. but getting a peek behind the scenes here is really interesting because even though it's not the focus of this post, it does help paint a picture of a pretty rough dev cycle. it's really too bad because DOOM (2016) was an excellent complete package of a game, and Eternal felt pretty rough by comparison… I wonder what the franchise can do to make a comeback at this point. personally I'd be alright with letting the DOOM brand lie fallow for awhile once again before taking another crack at it. fantastic read, and I hope things go better for Mr. Gordon going forward.

suremarc 4y ago
DOOM 2016 got by on its freshness and its tone. The combat mechanics in DOOM Eternal, while having some divisive elements, really pushed the envelope for the series and for FPS games in general. But that was thanks to Hugo Martin, not Marty Stratton.
- mrtranscendence 4y ago
  Agreed. I’m sad to see all the negative comments about Eternal here, because in my view it’s one of the best gaming experiences of the last few years.
- adamrezich 4y ago
  eh, I definitely saw what DOOM Eternal was going for in terms of gameplay, but I wasn't really a fan of how it turned out in the end. the previous game was definitely a bit barebones as far as innovative gameplay was concerned but that was OK—it was a solid shooter, and a somewhat surprisingly good DOOM game! some people didn't care for the "arena" combat but I loved it, each arena was evocative of a miniature Quake multiplayer encounter! and then when Arcade Mode was added after release, I spent hours perfecting my runs on a few levels. instead of just iterating on the previous game, DOOM Eternal tried a bit too hard to craft a unique "combat puzzle" design ethos, which was alright, but didn't quite click with me. one specific part that stuck out like a sore thumb to me—despite being ultimately a pretty minor thing—was that part where there's goop on the ground that prevents you from jumping. when I got to that part, I was like, oh neat, ok, here's a new gameplay element. now I'm gonna have to consider if there's goop on the ground in combat encounters or something going forward, cool. but no, instead, it was just used in that one sequence so you have to trudge through some goop and avoid a few stationary tentacle monsters, and then it never appears again. this stuck with me because it shows how far they've strayed from the classic DOOM design ethos, of giving level-builders tools to design interesting experiences. instead everything felt very setpiecey, very specifically-designed-for-this-encounter. the lore stuff too felt overwrought as well—I really enjoyed how DOOM (2016) felt in that regard, it felt like you just got plopped into (the cancelled) DOOM 4, but instead of becoming immersed and participatory in the story, Doomguy didn't give a shit about anything except, goddammit, these moron scientists in yet another alternate universe once again did experiments with Hell shit and whoops yet another demonic invasion has arrived as a result—well, you know what to do, time to kick some demon ass regardless, it's what you do best! it was a good twist on the Half-Life 2 worldbuilding formula, sort of leaning on the fourth wall without totally breaking it, recognizing that players don't want a Half-Life-style DOOM 3 again, but rather, they just want to shoot some damn demons. but then DOOM Eternal decided to play it straight and make all this overwrought lore and crap that I just could not for the life of me be arsed to care about at all. and they could've toned down the fanservice in the hub world to about 20% of what they shipped and it would've been nice without being over-the-top.

suremarc 4y ago

DOOM 2016 got by on its freshness and its tone. The combat mechanics in DOOM Eternal, while having some divisive elements, really pushed the envelope for the series and for FPS games in general. But that was thanks to Hugo Martin, not Marty Stratton.

mrtranscendence 4y ago
Agreed. I’m sad to see all the negative comments about Eternal here, because in my view it’s one of the best gaming experiences of the last few years.
adamrezich 4y ago
eh, I definitely saw what DOOM Eternal was going for in terms of gameplay, but I wasn't really a fan of how it turned out in the end. the previous game was definitely a bit barebones as far as innovative gameplay was concerned but that was OK—it was a solid shooter, and a somewhat surprisingly good DOOM game! some people didn't care for the "arena" combat but I loved it, each arena was evocative of a miniature Quake multiplayer encounter! and then when Arcade Mode was added after release, I spent hours perfecting my runs on a few levels. instead of just iterating on the previous game, DOOM Eternal tried a bit too hard to craft a unique "combat puzzle" design ethos, which was alright, but didn't quite click with me. one specific part that stuck out like a sore thumb to me—despite being ultimately a pretty minor thing—was that part where there's goop on the ground that prevents you from jumping. when I got to that part, I was like, oh neat, ok, here's a new gameplay element. now I'm gonna have to consider if there's goop on the ground in combat encounters or something going forward, cool. but no, instead, it was just used in that one sequence so you have to trudge through some goop and avoid a few stationary tentacle monsters, and then it never appears again. this stuck with me because it shows how far they've strayed from the classic DOOM design ethos, of giving level-builders tools to design interesting experiences. instead everything felt very setpiecey, very specifically-designed-for-this-encounter. the lore stuff too felt overwrought as well—I really enjoyed how DOOM (2016) felt in that regard, it felt like you just got plopped into (the cancelled) DOOM 4, but instead of becoming immersed and participatory in the story, Doomguy didn't give a shit about anything except, goddammit, these moron scientists in yet another alternate universe once again did experiments with Hell shit and whoops yet another demonic invasion has arrived as a result—well, you know what to do, time to kick some demon ass regardless, it's what you do best! it was a good twist on the Half-Life 2 worldbuilding formula, sort of leaning on the fourth wall without totally breaking it, recognizing that players don't want a Half-Life-style DOOM 3 again, but rather, they just want to shoot some damn demons. but then DOOM Eternal decided to play it straight and make all this overwrought lore and crap that I just could not for the life of me be arsed to care about at all. and they could've toned down the fanservice in the hub world to about 20% of what they shipped and it would've been nice without being over-the-top.