DOOM: Eternal is the sequel to the 2016 reboot game DOOM.
Taking place after the events of the previous game, Earth has been overrun by demonic forces, wiping out most of the population on the planet and causing survivors to evacuate.
The Khan Mayker and her servants the Hell Priests intend to wipe out the entire human race for the sake of Argent Energy, an energy source from Hell introduced in the previous game.
Armed with deadly weapons, a shoulder mounted projectile launcher and burning with rage, the Doom Slayer (also known as Doomguy by fans) must “rip and tear” through demons and stop the Khan Mayker and her servants before it is too late.
Some weapons in the game have been given new unique mods and abilities to enhance their performance such as a hook chain for the super shotgun and a deployable shield for the chain gun.
Demons from the previous title return along with a few newcomers, some who have been in the classic DOOM games such as the Cyberdemon and Archvile while demons like the Marauder make their debut in this game.
Glory kills also return and are as gruesome as they were in the previous title and the Slayer’s wrist mounted “Doomblade” offers cool and unique animations.
Just like in the previous game, performing a glory kill on a demon will drop health for the player while doing so with the chainsaw will drop ammunition.
New gameplay features have been added to the game such as blood punch, dash and flame belch.
Blood punch is an ability where the player delivers a shock wave when they melee attack, causing massive damage towards enemies in front of them.
Performing glory kills fills the blood punch meter.
Dash allows players to move quickly across large gaps and to dodge oncoming attacks.
Finally, the flame belch ignites enemies and will drop pieces of shield for the player when attacked.
Another handy feature added to the game are weaknesses for enemies.
These weaknesses involve using specific weapon abilities to damage them in specific weak spots to make them stagger.
For example, when a grenade is thrown into the mouth of the Cacodemon, it will swallow it and explode in its mouth, leaving it staggered for a glory kill.
Each demon has a unique and specific weakness.
Runes also return in the game allowing the player to have advanced abilities such as slowing down time when near death, glory kills being performed faster and glory killing from a distance.
These new features, along with constant fast paced gameplay, allow a wide variety of gameplay elements and having to make the player resort to these abilities as often as possible to survive.
Eternal also has a hub area called “The Fortress of Doom,” which includes a variety of unlockable items such as alternate costumes, upgrades and a demon prison for players to test their skills.
These unlockables can be obtained when the player uses sentinel batteries, which can be found in each mission by either finding them or completing challenges for each mission.
Eternal also continues the tradition of the series with each level having secret areas to find collectibles, sentinel batteries or upgrades.
Two other new features of the game include secret encounters and slayer gates.
Secret encounters will have players try to kill demons in a limited amount of time while slayer gates will have players kill hordes of demons without dying.
Beating slayer gates will award keys, where six can be used to unlock a secret weapon.
Doing all of these challenges throughout the game will award the player with various goodies.
Battlemode is an exciting and unique new multiplayer experience for the sequel where one player plays as the Doom Slayer and two others play as demons of their choice.
Eternal also offers weekly challenges where players can earn bonus XP, which can be used to unlock skins, icons and other items when reached at certain levels.
Bonuses can also be awarded when achieving certain milestones while playing.
For a series that has been around for 25 years, DOOM continues to be one of the most iconic series in gaming history.
Eternal also provides lore about the world and backstory of the Slayer and where he came from.
Mick Gordon also returns to compose the soundtrack for the game and it is one of the best soundtracks for any first person shooter.
With its music, story and gameplay, DOOM: Eternal could possibly earn an award for 2020.
