Doom created the horror shooter genre, Doom 2 perfected it and Doom 3 and Doom 4 made me never want to go to Mars for fear of demon attacks. The sense of true terror those games have inflicted on my psyche still scars me; I can’t even look at pictures the Mars rover sends back. When I heard about the new DOOM I got excited and scared at the same time, like how a dog feels on a car ride, unsure if it’s going to the park or the vet.
The DOOM Beta was last weekend, which featured the game’s multiplayer mode. I’m not a big multiplayer shooter fan: the only FPS games I enjoy usually have a story like Mass Effect (I know it's third-person) or Half-Life/Portal . I have old man aim and can’t shoot at a guy darting around with a jump pack who’s also trying to kill me. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I was just really bad.
DOOM feels a lot like Quake games of yore. All the explosions, jumping around and general mayhem brought me back to the olden days of blowing up my friends in grade seven computer class. The constant yelling of the announcer is the only real noise in the game. For a demon-shooter, it’s pretty quiet.
Multiplayer shooters are a dime a dozen nowadays, with a new AAA title released and forgotten every few months (sorry Evolve). When you are in-game, other than the blood and demons very little makes you feel like you are playing a Doom game besides the “DOOM” blazoned on the loading screen.
There were two modes available, a “capture the zone” mode and a “kill everyone on the other team” mode. The two maps called ”Heatwave” and “Infernal” look similar, though each has unique choke points to take advantage of. Though you won’t be staying in one spot for very long; this game is fast. You constantly have to move, picking up power ups and ammo in every nook and cranny.
The matches last for 10 minutes, or until a team scores the necessary points. When playing, I wouldn’t live for more than 30 seconds. I’d walk out of a spawn point just to get a shotgun and an elbow to the face. After five or so games, this gets incredibly frustrating. If games like Call of Duty aren’t your world, you’re going to have a rough time.
The game starts you off with three different weapon loadouts: Assault, Ambusher and Sniper. There are eight different weapons in the game but the Super Shotgun will quickly turn into your best friend. The game moves so fast that you’ll never have the opportunity to shoot people from afar. Throw a grenade, a Shotgun blast and you got yourself a dead enemy. I played almost every game as an Ambusher, since Shotguns are the easiest gun to aim.
The graphics are superb, every blood drenched wall looks slimy to the touch. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a game that’s been in development for years. The character customization is top-notch. You unlock different armor piece as you progress in the game. You can change the color, light effects and even how dirty you want the armor to be. I guess Miitomo is starting to get to me since I cared more about dressing up my Space Marine than actually playing the game.
The controls are exactly what you’d expect from a modern shooter. Analog sticks to move and aim, and triggers to shoot or throw grenades. When you turn into a Revenant, a big old demon, both triggers become weapons, which becomes useful since you are moving so fast.
If you like multiplayer shooters this game's for you. The fast-paced action intensive gore fest that is DOOM will keep you entertained for hours. I’ll be picking up the game when it’s released next month for the single player. As for me, I’m going to go back to Summoner’s Rift. My old people hands are still quick enough for League of Legends.
