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**A Critique of *Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One***
As a long-time fan of the *Doom* series, including *Doom Eternal*, I expected *The Ancient Gods – Part One* DLC to deliver a continuation that expanded on the brutal combat, fluid movement, and gratifying power fantasy of the base game. Unfortunately, what was presented instead felt like a departure from many of the elements that made *Doom Eternal* such a standout experience. Here's why I believe this DLC falls short:
1. **Difficulty Overbalance Without Justification**
One of the most glaring issues is the sheer spike in difficulty. *Doom Eternal* was already a challenging game that required mastery of its mechanics, but *The Ancient Gods – Part One* takes this to an unreasonable level. While difficulty can be a selling point when it feels fair and rewarding, here it comes across as excessive and frustrating. Rather than being a natural progression from the main game, the DLC bombards you with waves of enemies that feel overwhelming, even for experienced players. The fun of managing resources, prioritizing targets, and strategic combat is replaced by trial-and-error encounters that often feel designed to frustrate.
2. **Poorly Balanced Enemy Encounters**
*The Ancient Gods – Part One* introduces several new enemy types, such as the Blood Maykr and the Spirit. These additions were clearly intended to spice up combat encounters, but they instead contribute to an unbalanced experience. The Blood Maykr requires a specific weapon to kill at a specific time, breaking the otherwise fluid combat flow. Meanwhile, the Spirit is capable of possessing other enemies, making them disproportionately strong and turning what could be a tactical challenge into a tedious grind. When the DLC continuously throws these enemies into already chaotic fights, it often feels more like a punishment than a test of skill.
3. **Inadequate Storytelling**
The *Doom* franchise has never been about complex storytelling, but it did offer enough narrative structure to keep players engaged. *The Ancient Gods – Part One* attempts to dive deeper into the lore, but it does so with minimal context or clarity. The story feels disjointed, and much of it comes across as overly cryptic, leaving players more confused than intrigued. The absence of clear motivation or a satisfying narrative arc diminishes the impact of the game’s events and the epic scale it's trying to convey. Rather than adding depth to the Doom Slayer’s journey, the DLC's story feels like a thinly stretched pretext for more combat arenas.
4. **Checkpoint Frustration**
One of the more perplexing design decisions in *The Ancient Gods – Part One* is the placement (or lack thereof) of checkpoints. In a game with such punishing difficulty spikes, the importance of well-placed checkpoints cannot be overstated. However, the DLC often places them inconsistently, leading to frustration when a difficult encounter results in a death and you are forced to replay lengthy, challenging sections. This lack of consideration for pacing exacerbates the already punishing difficulty, leaving players feeling defeated rather than eager to try again.
5. **Repetitive Combat without Meaningful Progression**
While *Doom Eternal* introduced an addictive combat loop of resource management, environmental navigation, and constant weapon cycling, *The Ancient Gods – Part One* strips away much of the variety that kept that loop engaging. The combat encounters in the DLC often feel repetitive, with larger and more numerous enemy spawns, but without the meaningful progression or payoff that would make these battles feel rewarding. Instead of feeling like a powerful, unstoppable force, the Doom Slayer feels more like he’s fighting an uphill battle for survival against unrelenting hordes.
6. **Diminished Sense of Power Fantasy**
One of the core appeals of the *Doom* series is the sense of empowerment it gives players. *The Ancient Gods – Part One* significantly diminishes that power fantasy by leaning too heavily into its punishing mechanics. The result is a DLC that feels less like *Doom Eternal* and more like a grueling endurance test. The balance that made the base game so enjoyable – the ebb and flow of combat, moments of respite between chaos – is largely absent here. It feels as if the developers equated difficulty with satisfaction, but in doing so, they neglected to keep the experience fun.
In conclusion, while *The Ancient Gods – Part One* may appeal to players looking for an extreme challenge, it fails to strike the same balance that made *Doom Eternal* so universally acclaimed. The over-tuned difficulty, frustrating enemy design, weak narrative structure, and lack of pacing ultimately leave this DLC feeling like a misstep for the series. There's a fine line between rewarding difficulty and unfair punishment, and unfortunately, this DLC crosses into the latter territory. As a fan, I wanted to love it, but instead, it left me longing for the cohesive and thrilling experience of the base game.