amphibious_ReViews

I decided it was time to jump into DOOM II after I had a couple of friends over and we played though the first episode of DOOM in multiplayer. We foolishly thought we were playing through the sequel (due to a misclick in the menu of the DOOM + DOOM II re-release), so I thought I'd just pick back up where we left off. I was immediately confused by the difference in mission structure between the two games, which helped me realize our mistake. I still wanted to play the game though, so I just started fresh. As a disclaimer, I want to warn you that I did play at the lowest difficulty. If I had the time and the attention span, I could have made it harder and just tried to get good. However, as a dad of two littles, my gaming sessions were just too short for that approach to make sense. Regardless, I am more than content with the way I beat the game because I actually got to see every chapter before I felt like I needed to move on. I know that some people live and die by boomer shooters...

From the moment you pick up Doom , you're in the action. Actually, you don't even get any sort of exposition or context until you complete the entire first episode. Normally this kind of disregard for storytelling and world-building would disappoint me, but it feels perfect here. I'm definitely a sucker for a good story and an engrossing world, but Doom taught me that sometimes getting in the zone and wrecking house can be pretty good too. On paper, Doom really isn't my kind of shooter. When playing an FPS, I prefer to play smart and deliberate, making all of my choices cautiously, or based on well-planned strategies. Doom instead requires quick thinking and on-the-fly reactions, punishing you for moving too slow or playing it too safe with your resources, especially later in the game. That's why I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the whole thing. I would occasionally fall back into my habit of planning and risk management, fail, and remember how to play again....