PixlBit

(Due to the photo service I used for photo embed now charges for 3rd party photo sharing, I’ll be unable to share any screenshots of my playtime at the moment. Hope to fix soon)

Last year I fear I didn’t give this game enough credit for what it had to offer for an Octoberween night of fun. It was intended on being played over and over even after I had my fill of it back in the summer of 2017. It what was almost so wrong with Doom in its creation then finding what all became right upon its release, it wasn’t any wonder Doom 2016 wasn’t on anyone’s game list of 2016. I was all set and ready to write about this game and speak of its virtues as to why this game had to be in my Octoberween Games List of 2016. But alas it wasn’t meant to be. Though I did play some of it last year, time and circumstances kept me from fully embracing the awe and majesty that was Doom during Octoberween.

I think it’s time we rectify that shall we?

Yes it might seem to passé to have not only TWO FPS’s on this list, as well as FPS’s that were released by the same company,  I can’t help but include it in this year’s list as well. Moreso given how my Octoberween Game Titles list was a complete failure in ever being materialized. Plus with news of Doom being ported over to the Nintendo Switch next year seemed like a good indication to talk about the bloody good time one would receive if they played this lovely in any of their respective consoles. My version is the Xbox One given how I’ve always seemed to gravitate toward Doom on a Microsoft system, the Original Doom & Doom II on XBLA and Doom 3 on the Original Xbox. So why don’t we continue the trend that was started with the number 5 pick this year by going with my solid 4 choice for Octoberween 2017: Doom (2016) on Xbox One.

 

It’s amazing how far the game had come given its lukewarm response in prior gaming convention reveals and it’s somewhat troubled building of multiplayer. It originally appeared that Doom might miss the mark, especially when word came out that Bethesda issued review embargos until the game released, which gave worrying indications that Doom might suck overall. Yet somehow despite all of that and by nothing short of a miracle, this version of Doom turned out to be something awesome. Gamers weren’t kidding when they spoke of how the game did it’s best to merge the old style of gameplay from prior Doom titles with the new generation of FPS’s we’ve come to expect in frantic run and gun gameplay. But what won me over to this game, especially as an Octoberween game title, was from three factors: the setting, the story and the combat.

The setting once again ups the ante when it comes to the portrayal of what would happen if science meddles in supernatural forces and turns a lone space outpost into hell on earth. We saw how hell tried to overtake earthen constructs in the old Doom titles and we got a first glance in what hell could really look like in Doom 3/Resurrection of Evil, but in Doom 2016 we not only see the affect-effect of the Mars research outpost overrun by demonic hordes, but see what the bowels of hell look like in beautify rendered, high definition 3D. The sound effects, the lighting, the atmosphere, the very look of hell itself gave a perfect mix of the dark and macabre. It didn’t go all out like it could have yet didn’t downplay it enough to make it appear to be just some random corridor you just shot your way through to get to the exit. The areas and stages of hell made it look like it was a part of a living undead landscape, complete with names and locations. Doom adds more to the dimension of hell that prior titles have tried to do with just Satan’s landscaper just moving in to make some alterations.

The Mars base levels are no slouch either as you walk thru bloody corridors, destroy demon spawn points, and do you best to explore every location to find any secret areas to not only gain new items but enhancement chips for your armor. You can clearly tell as the game progresses how human minds were slowly warped to the wicked ways of hell itself by turning UAC workers from dedicated workers to the company into fanatical converts to hell’s legions who are willing to do anything for Dr. Olivia Pierce, one of the researchers into unlocking hell’s energy. Allowing them to be converted into demonized weapons to flashbacks of literal human sacrifices, help to add to the ominous tone set by the game’s setting. You’ll traverse many blood-filled, gore corridors as you make your way through the facility. It’s definitely a step up from what we saw in Doom 3 with its “so dark hallways you wish you could tape a flashlight to your gun at all times.”

Shockingly there is more of a story than you’d expect in a Doom title, and unlike prior attempts to jam key story moments down your throat, the game gives you a choice of either trying to dive deep into the lore of Doom yourself or just go in with guns blazing like in the days of old. This time around instead of the UAC trying to develop inter-dimensional portal technology for space exploration due to a special anomaly found on Mars, head scientists Samuel Hayden (whose brain is in a cybernetic body) and Olivia Pierce (whose head is part of a cybernetic body) try to use the bleed off from the anomaly, which they now call “Argent Energy”, to solve Earth’s energy problems. Of course expeditions thru the anomaly, turning out to be the gateway to hell, turn up many archeological finds about demon society as well as demon specimens for study. Among them is the sarcophagus which houses the main character “Doom Guy” along with this armor. This story element is interesting in of itself given how this doesn’t exactly make the game a remake or a sequel to prior Doom titles, but instead more of a soft-reboot given “Doom Slayer” has traversed hell before and killed many demons in his time to warrant him to be locked away and becoming demon-kinds version of the “Boogie Man”.  Whether this “Doom Slayer” is the Doom Guy from Doom 64 or any other Doom title after it is up for debate. I myself found it interesting how they tried to humanize “Doom Slayer” by his silent yet easy to read responses when put into his situation.  Waking up chained to a stone slab with the unholy hordes soon to come down on him? He simply breaks his chains like a biblical Samson and kills those closet creatures near him with his bare hands! Being fed story exposition via a PC monitor? Doom Slayer just slams the monitor aside and proceeds onward. Told how to delicately disable a argent filter system as to not destroy humanity’s best chance at energy independence?

I think you might guess the answer to that one.

The fact alone that Doom Slayer is more vocal with his action, than just mere words, is one of the reasons why I enjoy this setup with Doom 2016’s story. Right down to the reason why there are demons on Mars instead of being on Mar’s moons. This change alone not only fits into the Octoberween narrative nicely for any game of the season, but it also gives us something new than the usual formula that we’ve seen in prior Doom titles in both FPS corridor shooting and a mute antagonist we’ve only come to know from his facial icon in prior games in the series. It all plays well into the story from beginning to end, make this game a more enjoyable narrative to get if one chooses to. Dive into it or ignore it you don’t lose much in the Octoberween feeling of the story, not giving to or taking way from the overall feel for the holiday. You may play as a space marine but the overall theme is the same: Hell has taken over and it’s time to clean house.

Which leads to the third reason why this game is so good to play for Octoberween: it’s wonderful and bloody combat system. Doom 2016 tries it’s best to be a fluid as possible when it comes to confronting hell’s hordes. The game emphasis on berserk like gameplay with its “glory kill” gameplay mechanic, gives you more of a reason to just shoot an enemy with a weapon until it dies. Instead you can go in for an up close and personal kill which not only rewards you with grotesque takedowns (from any angle!) animations, but also with much needed heath and ammo drops in case there are none close by. Some gamers found these to be over the top and time consuming when trying to play the main game but I personally found them to be the blood icing on this giant hell cake you get to consume. I never tired of trying to glory kill my enemies, something I usually don’t like to do in other FPS due to the fact that I prefer to make my kills with weapons than with the butt end of my gun. I’d find myself charging in on a group of enemies, guns blazing in hopes to set them up to glow blue for a glory kill. I’d even try to go at them from other angles so I could see how many different kinds of glory kills I could get on one type of enemy. And every time I ripped of an arm, a leg, a torso or even tore off a head or body part to shove back into the demon, I never tired in seeing that demon’s split second image of fear in their eyes just moments before I ended their existence.  It was even better when you got to use the almighty chainsaw, no longer regaled to last ditch weapon like other Doom games. Instead it was now a one hit kill machine depending on what demon you faced off with and how much fuel you had in it at the time.  

Combat made you feel like a bad ass. Sure it might not make you feel helpless or scared like other Octoberween game titles that are survival horror in nature, but instead it’s replaced with a different kind of fear/adrenaline rush. The kind of fear when your health/ammo is low and your desperately charging in on demons in the hopes that they’ll drop what you need before you get killed off.  Or the fear that you thought you could take on anything, only to come across something much bigger/badder that makes you hope/pray that you upgraded the right weapons with the right enhancement for this kind of confrontation.

Doom 2016 may not jump scare you like other Octoberween game titles out there or make you feel powerless against powerful enemies, but its setting, story and combat fit the bill if you want a more combative, bloody take on an Octoberween gaming evening. After buying this game for my brother for his Bday, along with watching the Angry Joe review of this game, I had no issues dropped the $20 new to purchase this game. Even at $60 it’s worth every penny and that’s not even touching on the fact it has snap map and multiplayer modes. If you haven’t tried this game yet I highly recommend it, even if you plan on getting it later on the Nintendo Switch. Doom 2016 is worth it as an Octoberween game title or otherwise.

My Top 5 Octoberween Game Titles for 2017

#5: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood – Price $20 used PS4

#4: Doom – Price $20 new Xbox One

P.S. – Did I mention how freaking metal this game’s soundtrack sounds? Especially with some of the remixes out there?

 

Sleep well tonight.

Ta-ta

“N”