Doom

I'm as shocked to say this as you probably are reading it: Doom 2016 is an incredibly good game.

I personally enjoyed Doom 3, but many Doom-fans maligned it when it came out, and rightly so, because if we're being honest, it just wasn't a Doom game, and after the debacle that was Rage -- and to a lesser extent, Quake 4 and Wolfenstein 2009 -- I thought Id Software would probably never be involved in making a worthwhile game ever again, another former titan of industry now blinded by its own previous successes, no longer able to see the video game forest for the trees. The newest Wolfenstein titles they put out on behalf of Machine Games gave me faith that even if Id was no longer able to make good games, there existed other teams which were able to put out quality products using their engine, and proved that a successful blueprint for a modern take on their 'classic shooter' blueprint did, in fact, exist.

So, when word came that they were going to put out another Doom game, and that it wasn't going to be called Doom 4, a sharp intake of breath was heard in the offices of the Myriad Truths Project (the fancy name we've given to the spare room in my mother's bungalow). There was absolutely no reason to think this game would be any good, and multiplayer 'beta' they put out a few months prior to release did absolutely nothing to instill me with confidence. Word that press preview copies wouldn't be sent out ahead of time for the title seemed to telegraph exactly how much confidence Betheseda had in publishing it. After the 50 gigabyte install, I found myself booting up Doom with dread and hesitation gnawing at my heart. Well, I'll be dipped in shit and rolled in breadcrumbs if this game didn't turn out to be exactly what I wanted out of a new Doom game and then some.

The Doom singleplayer campaign wastes absolutely zero time letting you know that it knows exactly what the soul of the Doom franchise is like: kickass and metal as fuck. Doomguy awakes on a metal slab, his tomb apparently recovered by the shadowy Union Aerospace Corporation after the events of Doom 2. After hulking out, breaking free of his restraints, and subdueing a number of demonic entities, Doomguy stumbles into the next room to recover his iconic armor and notices a nearby computer terminal displaying 'DEMONIC INVASION IN PROGRESS' and really, that's all you need to know in order to get to work. A heavy guitar riff begins to play as you descend an elevator and ready your weapon, and as the doors open and reveal the harsh Mars landscape and the musical interlude concludes, Doomguy cocks the shotgun in his hands in perfect percussive timing and everything just feels perfect.

To it's absolute credit, Doom prioritizes it's 'push forward' gameplay above all elsewhich means you won't be lamely hiding behind chest-high walls, recovering health as impotent enemies fire at your cover until they have to reload and leave themselves exposed for a counter attack, and if you stand still for any length of time you're liable to be incinerated by an Imp's projectile before you can reload your weapon. Doom's gameplay loop is centered around the Glory Kill mechanic, which is a graphic, brutal, instant takedown you can perform on 'staggered' enemies, which besides looking badass as shit, causes the enemy to explode into a cornucopia of ammo and health pickups, which are the lifeblood that keeps the Doom train chugging. Enemies flash with a visually attractive, psychologically irresistible colored outline when they are vulnerable to Glory Kills, imploring you to dive into the thick of the action and keeping you from hovering around the edges of the arena in order to 'stay safe'. Glory Kills are unique animations specific to the type of enemy and your angle of approach which means they are always exciting to participate in, never boring to witness, and are brief enough that they don't feel like they interrupt the natural flow of combat, which is absolutely critical to maintaining the adrenaline high, deadly ballet feeling of each combat encounter. When the guitar riff signalling that you've eliminated the final enemy in each area plays, I often found myself feeling sad that it was over, but ultimately that same feeling propelled me through the game, forever in search of the next action sequence to sate my appetite for destruction.

There's a good number of delightful 'fan service' moments in the campaign, which all but wink at the audience, such as when you obtain the BFG for the first time and then fall into a long, narrow hallway populated by the weakest class of enemies, slowly shambling towards you as if to say 'you know what to do'. But somehow, moments like that don't feel contrived or patronizing, they feel exhilarating.

Doom has a story, which despite being pretty light and secondary, isn't forgettable or 'throwaway' because it's lampshaded so expertly, both by the in-game actions of the Doom Marine, who couldn't give less of a shit about the 'mission objectives' assigned to him by the various characters who attempt to use his bloodlust for their own ends, but also by the flavor text accompanying the 'beastiary' codex unlocks after take out a new baddie for the first time which paints a silly, yet somehow believable picture of a corporate Office Space-style cult conspiring to harness demonic 'argent energy' for a 'better tomorrow'.

The secondary characters of the Union Aerospace Corporation are effective tools at drawing parallels between the worst aspects of humanity and the demonic abominations you fight, but they don't get 'in the way' by hogging the spotlight for very long in the narrative, and keep everything focused on you and your ever increasing capacity for murder, which is the real narrative arc that unfolds through out the game, as you collect more weapon upgrades and runes and perk points to increase your death-dealing potential and go toe-to-toe with every more dangerous baddies. All the monsters you love to fight are here to play; from the noble imp to the terrifying cacodemon, all of whom are rendered in glistening organic detail and begging to be shot in the face with a fucking shotgun.

Creating a multimedia experience that revels in hyperviolence and gore is a tricky enterprise, these days. It's very hard to toe the line between shockingly gratifying and puerile. Doom manages to channel the players id (see what I did there?) and act as a creative conduit for us to participate in a cathartic, frenetic bloodbath spectacle that lives up to it's namesake's pedigree in absolutely every aspect. As Hugo Martin, Id Software's Creative Director so succinctly put in the recent NoClip documentary on the making of Doom, "There is a monster in Doom, and it's you." And that's fucking brilliant.