Doom Reviews

DOOM does more than fill a niche currently unoccupied on Switch. It’s a standout shooter that blurs the line between fps and action game. With a detailed campaign and plenty of additional modes to keep you coming back, DOOM is more than worthy of a place in your catalog.

Don't look back.

It’s strange to be this excited about the singleplayer portion of game from id Software, but here we are. While multiplayer doesn’t scratch the itch the way something like Quake Arena once did, the power of Snap Map puts the power to fix that entirely in the hands of intrepid and creative players. Doom has resurrected not only a series, but an entire flavor of shooters. Welcome back, unapologetic high-speed murder -- we missed you.

We've never been so happy to be back in hell.

In the end, it’d be wrong to let DOOM’s simply adequate multiplayer portion sully what is otherwise an exceptional package. Between its action-packed campaign and the interesting SnapMap level editor, there’s more here to keep first-person shooter fans occupied than any other game in recent memory, and to put it bluntly, DOOM’s campaign is the most outlandish fun I’ve had with a game up to now during this console generation. Whilst its spectacular looks, smooth framerate and killer soundtrack play a large part in that, it’s the actual gameplay that is as exciting as it is tense and rewarding that really seals the deal. With DOOM, id Software has well and truly proven Shigeru Miyamoto’s “a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad” way of thinking. Fast, bold, violent, and enjoyably daft, I’m glad id Software left DOOM baking in hell’s flames for so long before unleashing this masterpiece upon the world.

What a difference 12 years makes. In the sizable gap between Doom games, the first-person shooter genre has evolved in myriad ways. Far Cry embraced the freedom of open worlds. Call of Duty set a new high bar for set-piece-driven linear campaigns and deep multiplayer progression. Games like BioShock doubled down on storytelling, while others like Team Fortress 2 abandoned single-player altogether in favor of dedicated competitive experiences. The further these offerings push boundaries, the less modern shooters resemble the game that put the genre on the map. This diaspora ultimately works in favor of id Software’s latest Doom title, an unrelenting, kinetic, and obscenely bloody return to form for the first mainstream FPS.

DOOM is 2/3 really good and 1/3 really mediocre. The single player campaign is an absolute blast and if you like the shooting action from that you can get all you can eat via Snap Map. DOOM competitive multiplayer is really unfortunate, however.

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