Doom

Doom — the next installment in the famous series, where the player, in the role of a space marine, will traverse long corridors of an abandoned space base on Mars to reach Hell itself and destroy as many demons as possible. Gamers can play not only solo but also online, arranging large-scale battles between humans and demons. There is a special editor that allows anyone to create a map or game mode and share them online.

Doom is a single-player first-person shooter from id Software, repeating the classic formula of the original with a number of carefully added modern mechanics. The game is a reboot of the Doom franchise and the main entry in the series since the time ofDoom 3.

The promotion of the game was aided by the current graphics of the time, with impressive effects, cool animation, and support for 4K textures — all thanks to the idTech 6 engine. The game received excellent optimization and ran stably on all four platforms.

Among the classic gameplay mechanics one can note the speed and dynamism of the gameplay, an extensive bestiary, the dropping of "armor" and "health packs" from enemies (also scattered around the level), multi-level access keys, secret places and passages, and Easter eggs. The protagonist carries a vast amount of weapons and must methodically destroy enemies. There are 4 difficulty levels for players of different skills.

Among the new gameplay mechanics stands out melee combat — any enemies can be weakened to such an extent that you can either shoot them in the head or effectively tear them apart with your hands. Also, jet packs have been added to the suit's soles, allowing you to jump across spaces or jump higher.

Many role-playing mechanics were added: weapon upgrades through modifications, protagonist improvement (health, armor, and ammo limits can be doubled) using argent cells, suit upgrades (terrain scanner, agility, environmental resistance) after searching the bodies of other space marines.

To unlock some upgrades, you need to complete certain tasks, such as making a series of kills with a particular weapon, and the deeper the upgrade, the more difficult the task will be. All game menus are readily accessible, and information about the progress is provided by the map and an extensive codex.

The events of Doom unfold on Mars, in the vast complex of the UAC corporation, which was seeking new types of energy and unexpectedly opened a portal to Hell. However, the apocalypse did not happen immediately. UAC conducted long expeditions to Hell, searching for new technologies, resources, and studying the local fauna.

One of the specimens brought from Hell to Mars was the protagonist, or Doomguy — "The Hell Guy." The company made significant progress in its research, but by that time its employees had fallen under the influence of the inhabitants of the other, hellish dimension.

From this moment, the fate of the colony was sealed — it took very little time for fanatics to destroy the security system, open the portal to Hell, and release hordes of demons that captured the Martian complex.

The studio has rethought the concept of the main character. Now the Doomguy is an ancient warrior and the sole surviving member of the order of knights known as the Night Sentinels. They were tasked with protecting their home and the deities, the Wraiths, from the forces of Hell. He is also known as the Doom Slayer, and demons fear him because he is special — capable of absorbing the souls of those he has killed.

Besides Doomguy, there are only a couple of important characters in the game:

The events of the game unfold some time after the demons' incursion. The station's personnel have been wiped out, and the survivors have succumbed to evil and are now enemies. The only one trying to fix the situation is Samuel Hayden.

He explains to the Doom Slayer that there is a way to seal the portal between Hell and Mars — to go to the facility on the other side of the planet and find an item called the "Crucible," which will close the tunnel between worlds. Periodically, the player encounters Olivia Pierce, who will try to hinder him in every possible way.

Wandering through the spacious UAC complexes, the player can learn a lot of interesting things from codex entries and video inserts; periodically, he is also thrown into Hell, where he is addressed not as Doomguy, but as the Doom Slayer. This is, in a way, a second storyline.

However, although the story in Doom is interesting, it is still somewhat superficial, and even the final twist is not very surprising.

Each level features a main storyline and several secondary quests. Traveling through the locations of Doom is directly related to the extermination of demons — and for this, the player has a huge arsenal of weapons — from fists, a rifle, and a shotgun, to a plasma gun, chainsaw, and BFG 9000.

The player needs to be very attentive while going through each level to find hidden passages, field drones, elite guards — marines, complete regular and rune challenges, and so on. All this will significantly improve his attack and defense stats.

The list of monsters is extensive but incomplete; some appeared in subsequent games in the series, like Doom Eternal. Let's list the main demons of Doom:

In addition to the campaign, the game features an arcade mode where there are no plot scripts, but all game locations and numerous enemies must be killed in series, avoiding bullets. For this, the player earns points and ranks on the leaderboard.

In July 2017, a major update was released that changed the multiplayer and made all the season pass add-ons available to all game owners. The progression system was revamped towards classic network play. Now, Doom's multiplayer mode offers 18 well-designed maps, 18 types of weapons, 7 playable demons, and 7 game modes.

Modes:

Depending on the mode, starting conditions may vary. Let's consider multiplayer based on team deathmatch. Players start with full health and half armor, stock weapons, and then must explore the map for better weapons, additional armor, and health.

During the match, they can use teleporters, jetpacks, and boosters (quad damage, invisibility, regeneration, speed), so they need to think strategically and plan their actions, not just shoot each other.

There is also a demon rune that transforms the player into a demon and allows them to fight as one. Demons include the Revenant, Baron of Hell, Mancubus, Pinky, Cacodemon, Harvester (an alternative to the Summoner), and Prowler (an alternative to the Imp).

For each match, the player earns points that add up to levels. The more active the player was (number of kills, assists, and other actions), the more experience they will gain. Various challenges can also be completed to unlock access to certain features.