Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal is a 2020 first-person shooter developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. Released in March 2020 (perfectly coinciding with the beginning of global lockdowns, providing millions of players with a much-needed cathartic outlet), it is the direct, highly anticipated sequel to the universally acclaimed 2016 Doom reboot. Rather than just giving players more of the same, id Software took a massive creative risk, evolving the mindless aggression of the 2016 game into a hyper-fast, incredibly demanding “combat puzzle,” ultimately creating one of the most mechanically complex and rewarding shooters ever made.

Core Story and Lore

While the 2016 game playfully mocked its own narrative, Doom Eternal leaned heavily into massive, comic-book-style world-building.

Set a few years after the previous game, Earth has been consumed by a massive demonic invasion, resulting in the death of billions. The UAC has essentially become a cult worshiping the demons, and the planet is being ruled by three Hell Priests under the command of the Khan Maykr—an angelic, alien being who is harvesting human souls to produce Argent Energy to save her own dying world of Urdak.

The Doom Slayer (now operating out of a massive, orbital gothic spaceship known as the Fortress of Doom) drops down to Earth to hunt down the Hell Priests. The campaign dives deep into the Slayer’s past, revealing his history with the ancient warrior race known as the Night Sentinels and officially confirming that he is, in fact, the exact same “Doomguy” from the original 1993 Doom, having been trapped in Hell for eons before being granted god-like power.

Gameplay and Features

Director Hugo Martin famously described Doom Eternal as the “thinking man’s action game.” It completely abandoned the idea of sticking to one weapon and hiding in corners. If you stop moving, you die.

• The Resource Loop (Combat Chess): This is the defining mechanic of the game. You are given very low maximum ammunition capacity, forcing you to actively harvest resources from the enemies themselves.
  • Need Health? Stagger an enemy and perform a brutal melee Glory Kill.
  • Need Ammo? Cut a demon in half with the Chainsaw.
  • Need Armor? Set a group of enemies on fire with the shoulder-mounted Flame Belch.
• Hyper-Mobility: The Slayer was given an incredibly expanded movement toolkit. With a double-jump, a rapid mid-air Dash, monkey bars to swing from, and climbable walls, the combat arenas felt like hyper-violent jungle gyms. The absolute highlight was the Meat Hook—a grappling hook attached to the Super Shotgun that allowed you to launch yourself directly into the face of a demon across the map.
• Destructible Demons: The game introduced a brilliant gore system where demons dynamically degraded as they took damage, chunks of flesh and armor flying off to give you visual feedback on their health. Furthermore, you had to target specific Weak Points; using a sniper shot to blow the turret off an Arachnotron or tossing a sticky grenade into a Cacodemon’s mouth to instantly stagger it became mandatory tactics.
• The Crucible and Blood Punch: To handle the overwhelming numbers, the Slayer eventually unlocks a massive, glowing red energy sword (the Crucible) capable of instantly bisecting almost any heavy demon in the game, alongside a devastating shockwave melee attack.

The Music and Controversy

You cannot talk about Doom Eternal without mentioning its staggering, adrenaline-pumping heavy metal soundtrack composed by Mick Gordon. The music brilliantly tied into the gameplay, dynamically shifting in tempo and intensity based on the player’s actions, utilizing everything from down-tuned 8-string guitars to a literal “heavy metal choir.”

However, the release of the official soundtrack album led to a highly publicized, incredibly messy, and permanent falling out between Mick Gordon and id Software over mixing credits, unpaid work, and crunch, resulting in Gordon stating he would never work with the studio again.

The Expansions: The Ancient Gods

Instead of traditional multiplayer DLC, id Software released a massive, two-part single-player expansion known as The Ancient Gods (Parts One and Two).

These expansions are infamous for being unbelievably, punishingly difficult. id Software assumed that if you were buying the DLC, you had already mastered the base game, so they immediately threw two Marauders at you in tiny rooms and introduced new enemies (like Spirits that possess and buff other demons) that demanded absolute perfection. Part Two concluded the entire reboot storyline, culminating in a massive, anime-style duel between the Doom Slayer and the creator of the universe, the Dark Lord (who takes the physical form of the Slayer himself).

Quick Note

Doom Eternal took the flawlessly aggressive foundation of the 2016 reboot and cranked the mechanical complexity up to absolute maximum.

In short: It forces you to play at a blistering, exhausting pace, juggling five different cooldowns, four different resource meters, and rapid-fire weapon switching. It is an unapologetic, heavy-metal masterclass in pushing the player out of their comfort zone until they genuinely feel like an unstoppable god of war.