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It's great, but don't go in expecting DOOM 2016
**See bottom for TL;DR version and an update after some more play time.
Oh boy, where to begin? Maybe I was a bit too hyped... But I was equally, if not more, hyped for DOOM (2016) and that lived up to, and surpassed, expectations. I am fraggin' obsessed with Doom as a whole. Have been for a long time. As I did with 2016, I pre-ordered multiple copies of Eternal the very day it was an option. Different boxed copies, and one on Steam to play at launch. Excessive? Perhaps, but I love Doom, and I have never played a (official) Doom game I didn't like. I also like Doom 3, it's a good game, it's just different.
And so too, is Eternal. Like Doom 3, it's undoubtedly a worthy addition to the series, but, after beating it in a single marathon-run (don't let that fool you, it's a long game), I have to say, rather painfully, I liked 2016 better. Eternal is great, but also... unique.
Let me be clear, this is a good game. A great game. I won't go into too much detail about what the new mechanics are, since anyone reading this has probably already seen the videos. It's fast, frantic, violent as all hell, very mobile, and ripping and tearing through demon guts certainly got my heart racing. Crushing hellspawn feels just as visceral and satisfying as it ever has.
It's all glorious... it just doesn't feel quite like Doom. And I admit I have difficulty putting my finger on exactly why this is. 2016 felt like Doom. I loved 2016. I have over 500 hours in it for a reason. I've beaten it more times than I can remember on Nightmare. It's just a beautiful game. The circle-strafing and dodging skills that I learned on Ultimate Doom and Doom II felt equally useful in 2016, plus it forced me to learn and master jumping and ledge grappling/mantling in a way that felt very fluid, without slowing down the action at all.
On the other hand, DOOM Eternal is less about classic FPS movement, and more about resource management. Where 2016 gives you a bunch of firepower and let you use it as you see fit, Eternal gives you a bunch of tools and pushes you to use them in a specific way. When they said, "use the right tool for the job" they weren't kidding. You basically have to. Don't try to improvise. Make sure you take out the demons in the right order to keep your resources up, or you're going to die since item placement on the map is few and far between. It's all about chainsawing the right demon at the right time.
Don't get me wrong, this is really fun. It certainly makes you think more than 2016. I can see the idea here is to force the player into learning these mechanics so well that they become automatic and no longer require conscious thought. It's like a gory FPS puzzle, with each encounter trying to guide you into taking out each demon in a certain pattern and with certain weapons. But, the flipside of that, arguably a downside, it feels less classic. I'm not annoyed that there's a dance to master here, but this dance sometimes requires a few too many steps. (EDIT: Please see update at the bottom. After spending more time with this new combat system I've since changed my opinion. It may not be as oldschool, but it gets really addicting.)
To pick an example, I was under the impression that demon weak-points were going to be something you could attempt to exploit in the heat of battle to turn the tide, but no. You pretty much need to hit the weak points to keep the combat under control. This isn't entirely unlike 2016, which had certain weapon mods that were far better suited to certain enemies than others. This is a lot more focused though, and you will have to use all your tools to succeed. No more Plasma Stun + Super Shotgun as a cure-all.
It's a lot harder than 2016, too. I started on Nightmare and gave up about midway through before switching to UV. I have no complaints about the difficulty here. 2016 feels a little too easy after a lot of hours. Ultra Violence in Eternal feels even harder than Nightmare in 2016. Length wise, it took me about 18 hours to marathon the campaign, so it is a linear FPS of epic proportions.
On to presentation, the destructable demons are fantastic. They really fit the game. Watching chunks of meat fly off as you dish out bullets is just plain cool. There is an overwhelming amount of customization and upgrade potential. A lot of options, and having that much customization in a FPS campaign is extraordinarily rare. I would have to say I've NEVER seen an FPS campaign (linear, not open world) with this many options for customizing, both cosmetic and otherwise. And all the cosmetic changes you make are reflected in every single cutscene. None of them are pre-rendered.
Story wise, well, this is where my biggest disappointment is. I won't go into spoilers, but I can sum it up by saying I guess nobody remembers that old quote from John Romero, "there's no name for the Doom Marine because he's supposed to be you". Well, they ditched that idea. The Doom Slayer is now, truly, his own character. (Minor-ish spoiler, at your own risk: He talks. Only briefly, but still. I was really, REALLY hoping that wouldn't happen. We have enough FPS protagonists that talk. I like the idea of the silent demon-slaying demigod, who spoke ONLY through actions. I hope I never hear him say another word. Didn't care for the ending either.) I'd imagine this is a concept they're going to push even more in the DLC. I hope they don't. In Eternal, you'll see his past, and even see him wounded and dragged around by the Sentinels. That really bugged me. I liked it better when no one could touch him. 2016 implied that the Sentinels worshiped him as a leader. Now it seems like he's just their best knight. Sure, this is more believable I guess (as far as Doom goes anyway) than a literally unstoppable demon-slaying death machine, but, meh, I felt more powerful in 2016 when you answered to no one.
I don't want it to sound bad. Far from it, the heaps of positive reviews are not without reason. This game is fantastic. I just kind of wish they'd reserved a lot of these new ideas for Quake and let Doom be a bit more straightforward, as it's always been. I just want my guns and an army of demons to slay, I didn't need the cutscenes and backstory.
I still highly recommend it. It's worth every penny. It just doesn't pull at me quite the way DOOM (2016) did, and still does. I like Eternal in the same way I like Doom 3. It's Doom, it's just a different flavor of Doom. If Ultimate Doom is Coke, then DOOM is adding a shot of rum, and DOOM Eternal is dumping it all out and getting a Sprite. Tasty, but not quite what I expected.
**UPDATE
I want to amend my statements about the combat as I now feel I was too harsh on it. The more I play it, the more I love it. It's still different than the circle-strafing and dodging I'm so accustomed to from past Doom games, but I believe I over-stated how critical the weak-point system is. There's actually many different ways to go about each encounter, and once I learned the system better it feels a lot less restrictive and incredibly fun. It's both demanding, and rewarding. I love it.
Also, I want to address something as I had no idea how this review could be so controversial. This game is excellent. Compared to any shooter that isn't named Doom, it's the best. But ranked among Doom games, I personally wouldn't call it my favorite one of the series. It just doesn't have quite the same vibe 2016 did, and it feels a little more hand-holdy (yes, even with the tutorials and pop-ups turned off). Apparently I'm far from the only person who feels that way. Even with that said, it is absolutely worth buying at full price.
TL;DR version:
Game is good. Different from last game. More story. More cutscenes. Some will love, some will hate. You buy now.