It had been many years since I visited the demonic world of Doom, and like most reunions, my anticipation equaled my dread before awakening on the Union Aerospace Corporation research facility on Mars.
My hazy recollection of id Software’s first-person shooter from 1993 slowly prepared me for a brutal assault of enormous demons, being locked in small corridors, and running for my life (or to my death) with an underpowered handgun and a pulsating industrial soundtrack echoing in my eardrums like a bloodthirsty banshee ready for apocalyptic war.
As you progress in this visually stunning and adrenaline-inducing new chapter in the Doom saga, your weapons get bigger and badder, but don't you dare stop running. You stop and you're dead, plain and simple. For better or worse, the narrative in the new campaign might be even more silly and convoluted as the original adventure, as your unnamed space marine plays cleanup after a failed attempt by delusional scientists and bureaucrats to harness energy from Hell. But honestly, Doom has never really been about the story—instead, it's all about the atmosphere, the energy, and big blazing guns. In other words, just go with it and you'll be having so much fun chainsawing monsters in half and blowing off faces with your super shotgun that you'll forget your mission objectives until the human-possessed robot reminds you every now and then for a good laugh.
The main motivations when blasting through Doom's single-player campaign are weapon upgrades, which encouraged me to explore every nook and cranny for secret areas and bonus challenges to beef up my arsenal as much as humanly possible. The more badass my weapons became, the more fun I had dishing out carnage to Pinkies, Mancubi, and the red-horned pain in my ass that I gladly saved most of my BFG ("Big Fragging Gun") shots for.
Despite some enemy repetitiveness and a couple of game freezing bugs I encountered, my time in Doom had been an absolute blast, but then came the boss fights. I'm always up for a good challenge, but during the second part of my fight with the Cyberdemon, I had one angel on my shoulder encouraging me to power through the frustrating puzzle-like mechanics of offense and defense, while the other angel hissed for me to rage quit after unsuccessfully finding the weak spots. After a couple rounds of patience and cursing, I managed to overcome these obstacles with a sense of pride, but I'm in no hurry to test my luck with the "Ultra-Nightmare" difficulty level, especially since it involves permadeath.
The Spider Mastermind pushed my buttons in a whole different matter, but once again, victory became much sweeter after enduring such tribulations. I briefly jumped into the multiplayer campaign, which had a bit of an identity crisis, attempting to blend the classic Doom tropes with modern shooters, so there's definitely room for improvement where that is concerned.
Overall, my experience with Doom was rewarding and offered some big, dumb fun for a casual visitor to the series like myself. The game should certainly please you sadistic Doom veterans that like dishing out punishment as much as receiving it. I encourage anyone who's on the fence about playing this game to give it a try, and I bet you'll have a hell of a time (dumb pun intended).
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