Review: 'Doom' offers smooth, impressive, but shallow experience

(Bethesda Softworks LLC)

The latest version of "Doom," released on May 13 by id software, is a reboot of a long-existing franchise. All of the games in the franchise are based on the same storyline: killing demons in Hell on Mars. The character in the newly-released game finds himself waking up on a surgery table, demons surrounding him, and the only course of action is to kill his way out— and then put an end to the rise of the demons.

Pros

Gameplay: Quite possibly the strongest aspect of this version of "Doom" is the gameplay. I have yet to encounter a single frame-rate drop or glitch while playing it. The game runs smoothly and consistently at a fast pace of play. That, combined with the massive gore and intense levels, makes it impressive in its own way.

Customization: One of my favorite aspects of "Doom" is the ability to customize the weapons. Each weapon has two different skill trees, and offers three-to-four modifications within each tree, adding a personal effect on each type of weapon. Also, with suit upgrades and passive runes, there are many different ways to put your own spin on how you want to play the game.

Music: Heavy metal starts as soon as massive combat begins, and this gives you that extra motivation to go all out in the battle with the demons.

Cons

Repetitive: The ongoing massacre in "Doom" can feel repetitive. I found myself doing much the same thing from the first hours of the game to the last: bringing objects from place to place and killing demons. While playing the game is entertaining, all that really changes is that some demons are bigger, and some guns are different.

No replay ability: The customization helps sell the game, but by the end of your playthrough, you will obtain everything you originally wanted anyway. At first, I was very eager to get all the unlocks and plan how I would approach my second playthrough. Halfway in, I had everything I wanted, plus some.

Story: I wasn’t expecting anything deep when it came to the "Doom" storyline, and sure enough, I thought the combat was more interesting than the story. From the beginning of the game, it is clear who the bad guys are and what is coming. What is really disappointing is the fact that the story doesn’t quite finish. The game relies on downloadable content to help complete what should have been there to begin with. When the credits started rolling, I wasn't surprised that "Doom" did what many games try to do: sneak in more revenue streams.

Verdict: "Doom" is a well-engineered game physically. Everything runs well and it’s fun to play, but ultimately it was a shallow experience.

Score: 7/10