Doom - Xbox One Gaming Review

Posted on: 2016-05-19

Our rating:

Doom is a superb game and has brought back the high difficulty and fast gameplay of 90?s shooters. If you?re looking for a meaty challenge that will test your reflexes then this is the game for you.


 

In 1992 id Software released a game called Wolfenstein 3D which was a new and fresh idea simply known as the first person shooter. This set the foundation for their next project which defined the genre for over two decades and that game is Doom. 23 years later after Doom’s first release we get a reboot simply titled Doom. Does it revive the old school shooter for a new age? Absolutely!

Doom’s story is almost non-existent as you would expect from the series, the main character a mute space marine is strapped to a demonic altar as a zombie is shambling towards him. He then brakes out of his bindings and proceeds to slam the zombie’s head into a table, picks up a gun and gets to work. Yeah the story isn’t anything special, but if you’re a veteran of the series you don’t play Doom for the story you play it for the fast paced and gory action and this game certainly delivers in that department.

Doom - Gaming Review

At first you’re given an energy pistol that has unlimited ammo, but it will overheat if you get too trigger happy with it, this is not the best weapon as it’s about as effective as harsh language. However it’s not long before the game lets you get your hands on the shotgun, you’ll more than likely be using this as the default crowd clearer and can I just say the sound of the shotgun is glorious it shakes the screen every time you pull the trigger.

Most people would see this game as mindless violence with its gory action and that is a fair assumption, but there is a layer of depth and strategy with the combat as you have to be on your toes. The game encourages you to keep moving because this is not a modern shooter where you hide behind cover like a coward while you wait for your health to come back because if you stay still in Doom it will punish you by throwing everything it has at you.

You can also execute a move called a “Glory Kill”. What this does is that it will kill an enemy in a savagely brutal way which will gain you a bonus health pickup or extra ammo. The animations are very graphic from tearing a demon’s arm off and beating them death with it to ripping them in half from the head downwards; they will make you wince if you’re not use to this stuff.

Doom - Gaming Review for 365 Bristol

You have upgrades that you can find scattered throughout the game such as weapons, power suit and personal upgrades like health, armour and ammo. This is great because it gives you an incentive to replay levels after you’ve finished the game to try different play styles or on a higher difficulty. This game has a high replay value so you are getting a lot for your money.

You have one use items that you can use to give you a big cache of ammo or health, the reason why I say one use it’s because the ammo for them are rare to find. You have the chainsaw which cut enemies in half etc. which will give you lots of ammo if you’re running low, but you only have a certain amount of chainsaw fuel to take down different demons which makes you think before you waste it on a weak enemy. You have the BFG 9000 which will kill everything in one hit if they are unfortunate enough to be standing in front of you which give lots of health as a reward.

This game is quick you really need to concentrate as it requires quick reflexes this is not a modern first person shooter where the game will hinder your movement as it spouts meaningless exposition. This game has a fast pace and never slows down and keeps throwing challenges at you with difficulty increasing each time and in the later stages of the game are unforgiving with the challenges and will test your reflexes.

Doom - Gaming Review for 365 Bristol by Sam Coles

The presentation is fantastic the new id Tech 6 engine really shines as it runs at a smooth 60 frames per second. The locales take cues from Doom 3 with the dark and atmospheric hallways as demons jump out of the shadows trying to kill you to the depths of hell itself with gothic architecture and demonic symbols. The detail is high with the violence, which by the way if you’re squeamish at all you will not like this game because Doom is very gory and violent made me wince a bit and I play gory games all the time.

The only problem I have with this game are the loading times, this game takes a while to load levels and this is on the Xbox One I couldn’t tell what the loading times are like on PS4 or PC. It’s annoying but it doesn’t sour my experience maybe it can be fixed in an update later down the road.

Doom is a superb game and has brought back the high difficulty and fast gameplay of 90’s shooters. If you’re looking for a meaty challenge that will test your reflexes then this is the game for you. It might be a bold statement but this is the best first person shooter of 2016.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Sam Coles - The Bristolian Gamer - For 365Bristol.com - the biggest events and entertainment website in the city.

Gaming Review - Doom



Article by:

Sam Coles - a.k.a. The Bristolian Gamer

Sam has lived in Bristol all his life. A keen cyclist he speeds around the city but video games are his bread and butter. Whether the old Nes and Snes games or the XBox One and Playstation releases he loves them all. Sam runs his own gaming blog called Bristolian Gamer where he had been reviewing indie games, doing retro reviews and venting his anger at the industry when it does wrong since 2010. Sam joined the 365Bristol team in December 2014.