Flash Flash Revolution

I consider myself a Doom purist as well in a lot of ways. When I was little, I whored out every level, every secret, obsessed over the soundtracks, made several levels, learned speedruns, etc.

However, I absolutely hated Doom 3. I know it's not necessarily a horrible game in its own right, but to me it's just not a worthy successor to the original two Doom games. I basically pretend it doesn't exist.

Moving onto the new Doom:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hakulyte (Post 4432419)

Tell me it's more than a ctrl+c, ctrl+v of Doom 3 and that we don't spend the entire gameplay breaking things with bare hands to save ammos.

That's what I concluded from online gameplay vids.

I'm afraid the game become predictable and the "fear" from the first playthrough of Doom 3 was just a nightmare dream.

I haven't tried it personally so, I'm definitely looking for second opinions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by korny (Post 4432430)

Doom purist here. Tell me more

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion. You may not necessarily get the same impressions I do.

To me it's definitely not a copy of Doom 3. This new Doom is rebuilt around the core concepts of fast gameplay.

Gameplay:

The "hand-breaking" stuff is part of the "Glory Kill" system, and yes, it is a good way to save ammo. Enemies also drop bits of health when you kill them this way, too. You don't need to use Glory Kills, but it is still quite fun.

The chainsaw is also another weapon built around the same idea. Unlike the original, this chainsaw requires gas powerups -- and when you use it on an enemy, they will always drop ammo.

This is why it feels like a chain/combo system, of sorts: Health and ammo gains are built into the fight mechanics. If you're playing on the harder difficulties, the enemies hit hard. So you'll find yourself low on health if you're not careful, which means you need to either know where the health powerups are and stay close to them, or you'll need to Glory-Kill as to not lose your advantage while you're in the thick of it. So maybe you'll wipe out some monsters with ammo alone, you get hit from the side, so you shoot him until he stumbles so you can rush in and Glory-Kill to regain some health, you shoot some more demons, shit, you're low on ammo, bring out the chainsaw, tear some shit up, refill some ammo, etc.

What gets dropped isn't much, but it helps keep the action going. Otherwise you'll constantly be running away from battles looking for the powerups already sitting on the ground (i.e. like the original Doom games). You can still play this way if you want -- it's just harder.

I was really skeptical about these systems going into it, but the more I played, the more I enjoyed it. In my opinion, it's a really smart mechanic. The developers really focused on speed and intensity in this game. And Berserk Mode... I won't say any more. Just yet another "holy shit" to add to the pile.

It's not like Doom 3 where you have like three or four bad guys jumping out of shadows. This time around, it's more like a dozen Imps crawling all over the fucking place heaving fireballs at you in split-second time, and you have to bust your ass -- or you die. It's great.

Story:

Doomguy simply does not give a fuck. He's pissed, he's angry, and he makes this very obvious. He's here to rip and tear. I won't spoil anything more here because it's hilarious to see it for yourself. There IS a story, but you have to go out of your way to put it together by picking up data logs and looking at screens or whatever. If you don't care about the story, you don't have to. There are a couple parts where you are forced to sit through some exposition, but they are rare. This game makes an effort to deviate from modern-day bullshit where interactive movies are being passed off as games.

Level Design:

They went back to the original Doom on this one: Levels are like huge mazes again. Keycards have made a return. I was really happy about this one because the level design was important to me. And the Hell levels... awesome. They made several callbacks to old Doom levels in subtle ways, and it was always exciting to recognize something.

Graphics:

Really beautiful. On more than one occasion I've stopped to admire something. Unlike Doom 3, this game is not dark and gloomy. There's a lot of color and detail here.

Music:

This is the one area of the game where I was iffy at first. I think the music is great -- don't get me wrong. I just wish it was more memorable -- more front-and-center. Music gets more intense when you get into huge battles, which is fun, and it definitely makes sense... I guess it's just a matter of taste. I wanted it to be like the original Doom games where you have catchy rock music blaring all the way through, but maybe the developers tried both and decided this was better. There are several big battles where the music really amps things up, so I guess this is another design decision where they wanted all the intensity to be focused on actual gameplay (and not just level traversal).

Secrets:

In every level, there is an oldschool Doom level chunk hidden away somewhere, typically by finding a secret lever that opens a door. Go through the door and suddenly you're in the original Doom, albeit with the new monsters, but everything else is left alone. This also unlocks full original classic maps from the main menu.

There are plenty of hidden things tucked away, usually collectible Doomguy dolls, hidden spaces with extra goodies, easter eggs, etc.

You can easily go back and replay old levels to pick up anything you missed.

Difficulty:

I'm Too Young to Die: Demons don't hit very hard and items are worth a lot. This is basically easy mode, and it's way too easy. Don't use this mode, IMO.

Hurt Me Plenty: The game's default difficulty. Probably fine for most gamers, but IMO it's still not challenging enough.

Ultra Violence: Demons hit harder, items are worth less. I wouldn't go any lower than this. It feels like an appropriate difficulty if you want a challenge.

Nightmare: It's very hard. A lot harder than Ultra Violence. You can die from a single mistake. I wouldn't choose this mode for a first playthrough. But to each his own.

Ultra-Nightmare: Like Nightmare, except with Permadeath. You die, and that's it. No restart from checkpoint. A marker is left behind indicating how far you got. You unlock this mode by beating the game first.

A little something for everyone!

Overall:

I'm getting a kick out of this game. There are several things I would change or tweak, but at that point it's just me being nitpicky.

If you enjoyed the originals, give this a try. They got a lot right and I had to go out of my way to find things to complain about, really. It's obviously not just a Doom port with souped up graphics -- certain things are modernized, but it still feels like a proper Doom sequel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraezymann (Post 4432439)

I want to get this game based on what I have read elsewhere so far. A lot of people are saying that the single player campaign is way more fun than anyone expected, loads of secrets and Easter eggs and in your face action just like the good old days.

Yeah, it's definitely better than I expected. I was worried it was going to be another Halo clone or just a brighter Doom 3. Thankfully, it's neither of those!