Washed Millennial Gamer Presents: Doom (2016)

DOOM (2016)

Always wanted to find my niche in something suitable for my skill set. While I wouldn’t call myself an avid gamer, it was always there for me, when I needed something to do or mindlessly spend my time away from the doldrums of reality.

I’ve owned the soft reboot of Id Software’s Doom since November 2019, which I bought off a holiday deal from Xbox. To be completely honest, other than the deal, I didn’t even want to play a Doom game. It’s not that I despise Doom, I don’t love it like I do Ratchet & Clank, Metal Gear Solid or Mario. I didn’t even play the very first Doom until a Game Boy Advance version was released in 2002, which is how I got into the game proper. A good version of the game, I might add, if not hampered by the small screen & hand numbness all handheld devices are known for. Thought, it truly wasn’t DOOM in the way its known for.

Started playing this latest edition, quite frankly, by accident, as I was going through my older gaming systems, primarily the PlayStation 2, this past January. Playing the first level got me hooked in a way none of the prior entries did. The Mars environment evokes something from Paul Verhoven’s Total Recall, just in a First Person hue, with a Schwarzenegger-less protagonist, of course, & the rest plays out in area laden rooms which Doom Slayer has to take out before going into the next location to do the same. And as “back to basics” as it is (it’s a soft reboot), it definitely works.

Maybe next time, if I decide to do an overview on DOOM: Eternal & go into its story, because, yes, DOOM ’16 has a story about stopping a cultish woman from reopening the gates of hell, but overall, it’s still a DOOM game & investing in this particular story isn’t really that worthwhile, especially when the whole objective is to shotgun blast a Cacodemon into oblivion. It does only have three bosses, which does hurt the journey a bit. Definitely helps that they’re challenging, if not occasionally cheap.

Just completed the game on Normal difficulty & do plan on getting all of the upgrades, points & even try out its Arcade Mode.

Onto the next!