Yours truly hasn’t had a chance to get his hands on DOOM just yet, and our official review is still in the pipeline, but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying what others have to say about the revival of the great franchise.
Yes, I haven’t picked up my copy of DOOM yet, and a co-worker of mine hasn’t let me hear the last of it. Friday morning at work, I looked at him the second he entered the office. He just smiled back and spent the rest of the day grinning and laughing. “It’s so fast,” he kept saying, rubbing in the fact that he’s going to spend the entire weekend playing. My co-worker isn’t alone in his positive opinion on the game; the general consensus seems to be that the celebrated franchise’s return has been an overwhelming success.
Here are some examples of various impressions I’ve seen online:
Reddit user deathday summarizes his thoughts in picture form.
A collection of gaming dads give it their seal of approval on the DOOM subreddit.
Game Informer’s Andrew Reiner tells us how he really feels:
Hell almighty, I’m loving the new Doom.
— Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) May 14, 2016
Let’s check out some Steam Reviews
“Bethesda & id have done it. They’ve managed to breathe new life into the Doom franchise by keeping true to the series’ roots, while injecting it with a healthy dose of modern design sensibilities. The end result: one of the best shooters on the market, and one of the best shooters of the last 10 years.”
– Ch1ggs
“Before I played:
\\ _
\( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
< ⌒ヽ
/ へ\
/ / \\
レ ノ ヽ_つ
/ /
/ /|
( (ヽ
| |、\
| 丿 \ ⌒)
| | ) /
`ノ ) Lノ
After I played:
/フフ ム`ヽ
/ ノ) ) ヽ
/ | ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ノ⌒(ゝ._,ノ
/ ノ⌒7⌒ヽーく \ /
丶_ ノ 。 ノ、 。|/
`ヽ `ー-‘_人`ーノ
丶  ̄ _人’彡)”
– Dr.Melon
“A perfect celebration and love letter to the originals, while being its own entry in the series.”
– Grid
“This is
10% VIOLENCE,
20% MARINE.
15% concentrated GORE BLOOD AND SPEED,
5% CHAINSAW,
50% KILLS.
And a hundred percent reason to FIGHT.LIKE.HELL.”
– FUQS
“It’s like the DOOM we know. Keycards, Skulls keys, secrets, a lot of cool weapons, what else could we ask for?!?!
I’ve never been this happy that a game in 2016 actually made me feel good while playing it. I didn’t have to force myself to like it.
Good job Bethesda, you don’t seem to dissapoint us at all.”
– Moose1310
Over at Metacritic, here’s your breakdown on user reviews: 91 positive, 10 mixed, 17 negative. All press reviews are currently “under progress” as publisher Bethesda didn’t send out any release copies in advance. Thus far, three previews (from Ars Technica, Polygon, and PC World) all seem positive.
This would make Bethesda two for two in terms of successfully bringing back beloved id franchises; Wolfenstein: The New Order was a critical success a few years ago and it appears that DOOM is on its way to being one as well. Does this mean Quake is next? I, for one, sure hope so.