Doom 2016 is a contradiction in the modern gaming paradigm. It is a game that wholly and unabashedly harkens back to the FPS glory days of the mid 1990s and, in so doing, flies in the face of all modern shooter tropes. As a remake of Doom 1 and 2, Doom 2016 is a blazing success that captures the inimical feel of the original Doom shooting experience. Created by iD, which many PC gamers had assumed to have fallen out of favor, Doom 2016 is a howl of relevance that informs that future traditional shooters are both still important and fun. I own Doom 1-3, as well as most of the expansions, and most of the Quake series. After a technically impressive but spiritually clouded Doom 3, Doom 2016 returns to gaming relevance and shows the best that this small Texas-based developer can accomplish.

Graphically, the practically-wet iDTech 6 engine is unparalleled, producing nigh-photorealistic graphics that when coupled with extremely stylish direction/design promote a very visceral and powerful atmosphere. Doom has always relied on atmosphere and in such a way, Doom 2016 does not disappoint. Creature and SP character animations are astonishingly fluid, shaders/environmental effects impress to no small degree and lighting is spot-on pitch perfect, moving as realistically as any game on the market. In fact, the large, horror-inducing maps showcase the powerful lighting effects, producing a wonderful sense of simultaneous curiosity and dread. The maps are varied and distinct, detailing unique flavors to the game's current plot.

Incredibly, despite such amazing graphics output, the game is remarkably well-constructed with budget gaming graphics equipment performing marvelously. My 780m (comparable to a 760 GT) was able to play the game with the following 3 settings:
High settings: 1440p 30fps (for singleplayer this works well)
High settings: 1080p 45fps (my best setup for coop games)
High settings: 720p 60fps (best for traditional multiplayer)

These benchmarks, which are supported by almost 200 screenshots, illustrate how impressive a performance this game achieves, when considering that my graphics hardware is not explicitly supported for the game. It's also important to note that the game feels far more fluid at 30fps than most games at similar frames. This feeling can be attributed to both the exceptional gunplay and superior animations. Finally, the game framerate is superlatively tight, with the game framerate never dipping below 20% of the average. This means that the game is always playable and always responsive -- truly an amazing achievement for a game that legitimately feels "future gen".

Many gamers have avoided or held off on picking up Doom 2016 because they believe that the title is simply a reskin and an uninspired shooter but this is far from the truth. As impressive as the graphics for Doom 2016 truly are, it's the gunplay, movement and combat that steal the show. In short, Doom 2016 would be an abject disappointment if the gunplay was nonexistent but could still survive as a great product with inferior graphics. The gunplay control feels perfect, with movement acceleration and handling feeling as good as any other Doom title. Without a jitter, this first person paradigm is the creme of the crop in gaming. Weapons have fantastic punch and meaty sounds, and the frenetic character movement speed underscores the need for constant evasion.

This game isn't about cover systems, or ploddingly-slow indecision, it's about rushing your enemies, using the best weapon for the task at hand, and dealing as much crippling damage as possible. Enemies drop health, ammunition and armor pickups and, consequently, your ability to dodge and move throughout the map, while eliminating enemies will ensure survival and success. Harder difficulties like Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare are impossible without a practiced ballet of evasion, dodging and counterpunching. It is this instinctual movement during combat that becomes so inspiringly fun for gamers, myself included. The glory kills, while initially appearing tacked on, are wonderfullly animated and blessedly short - complementing the break-neck combat perfectly and providing brief invuln frames to avoid damage from heavies.

The music is absolutely fanatastic and, while not my cup of tea, seems utterly Doom. I honestly can still remember guitar riffs and music scores from the game and that underscores how memorable and relevant the music and sound effects really are to this game. The game is very polished with no crashes and minimal issues (I did experience the final boss glitch twice and two problems with unattainable achievements :( ) but as a whole, Doom 2016 is remarkably well put together. The game may only have a sparing plot and a limited bag of tricks but what it does, it does better than any other shooter...any other game on the market, bar none. It's no wonder that so many Internet reviewers like TotalBiscuit, Angry Joe Vargas and Yahtzee are all completely enamored with Doom 2016.

The game has a wide array of multiplayer opportunities but truly the game is really valued in its singleplayer experience. Team Deathmatch appears to mesh a slower Quake 4 multiplayer with class-based shooter mechanics and the results while not poor by any means, are underwhelming. iD didn't develop the multiplayer component and, consequently, I'm not faulting them for a team deathmatch online mode that can provide at least 5-10 hours of enjoyment with friends but that won't set the world on fire. In short, you're not buying this game for the multiplayer deathmatch. There are also plenty of modes available on multiplayer but additional social gameplay can also arise from the use of Snapmap.

Snapmap is an easy, robust map editor that has facilitated gamers in posting literally hundreds of singleplayer, coop, multiplayer and puzzle-based maps/campaigns onto the Doom 2016 community pages. Downloading the maps is no more difficult than installing custom content from Steam and building custom maps/campaigns is further supported by built-in tutorials that are incredibly easy and motivating. While it is true that most custom maps are less than stellar and some are just piss-poor, there are some select gems representing a variety of off-the-wall modes that involve coop or puzzling. It is my sincere hope that Snapmap is included with Quake Champions. With the massive community of map-makers Quake III had (Polygon anyone?), the inclusion of Snapmap within Quake Champions seems like a match made in heaven.

In short, Doom 2016 is a great game. It plays great, looks great and sounds great. You may not get as many hours as other games but the hours you *do* get will be more memorable and better. It is a title that on singleplayer alone deserves its 50-60 dollar pricetag and when coupled with multiplayer, Snapmap/community and endless litany of unlockables, easter eggs and secrets will easily live up to your value-demanding expectations. In short however, Doom 2016 deserves your hard-earned money because it's a great experience and a great game to add to your collection, irrespective of multiplayer hours dedicated to other titles.

I've been waiting to say this for a long time and now I can finally, happily pronounce "iD is back." Bring on Quake Champions.

Highest possible recommendation.

9.5/10.

Doom 2016 is a contradiction in the modern gaming paradigm. It is a game that wholly and unabashedly harkens back to the FPS glory days of the mid 1990s and, in so doing, flies in the face of all modern shooter tropes. As a remake of Doom 1 and 2, Doom 2016 is a blazing success that captures the inimical feel of the original Doom shooting experience. Created by iD, which many PC gamers had assumed to have fallen out of favor, Doom 2016 is a howl of relevance that informs that future traditional shooters are both still important and fun. I own Doom 1-3, as well as most of the expansions, and most of the Quake series. After a technically impressive but spiritually clouded Doom 3, Doom 2016 returns to gaming relevance and shows the best that this small Texas-based developer can accomplish. Graphically, the practically-wet iDTech 6 engine is unparalleled, producing nigh-photorealistic graphics that when coupled with extremely stylish direction/design promote a very visceral and powerful atmosphere. Doom has always relied on atmosphere and in such a way, Doom 2016 does not disappoint. Creature and SP character animations are astonishingly fluid, shaders/environmental effects impress to no small degree and lighting is spot-on pitch perfect, moving as realistically as any game on the market. In fact, the large, horror-inducing maps showcase the powerful lighting effects, producing a wonderful sense of simultaneous curiosity and dread. The maps are varied and distinct, detailing unique flavors to the game's current plot. Incredibly, despite such amazing graphics output, the game is remarkably well-constructed with budget gaming graphics equipment performing marvelously. My 780m (comparable to a 760 GT) was able to play the game with the following 3 settings: High settings: 1440p 30fps (for singleplayer this works well) High settings: 1080p 45fps (my best setup for coop games) High settings: 720p 60fps (best for traditional multiplayer) These benchmarks, which are supported by almost 200 screenshots, illustrate how impressive a performance this game achieves, when considering that my graphics hardware [i]is not explicitly supported[/i] for the game. It's also important to note that the game feels far more fluid at 30fps than most games at similar frames. This feeling can be attributed to both the exceptional gunplay and superior animations. Finally, the game framerate is superlatively tight, with the game framerate never dipping below 20% of the average. This means that the game is always playable and always responsive -- truly an amazing achievement for a game that legitimately feels "future gen". Many gamers have avoided or held off on picking up Doom 2016 because they believe that the title is simply a reskin and an uninspired shooter but this is far from the truth. As impressive as the graphics for Doom 2016 truly are, it's the [b]gunplay, movement and combat[/b] that steal the show. In short, Doom 2016 would be an abject disappointment if the gunplay was nonexistent but could still survive as a great product with inferior graphics. The gunplay control feels perfect, with movement acceleration and handling feeling as good as any other Doom title. Without a jitter, this first person paradigm is the creme of the crop in gaming. Weapons have fantastic punch and meaty sounds, and the frenetic character movement speed underscores the need for constant evasion. This game isn't about cover systems, or ploddingly-slow indecision, it's about rushing your enemies, using the best weapon for the task at hand, and dealing as much crippling damage as possible. Enemies drop health, ammunition and armor pickups and, consequently, your ability to dodge and move throughout the map, while eliminating enemies will ensure survival and success. Harder difficulties like Nightmare and Ultra Nightmare are impossible without a practiced ballet of evasion, dodging and counterpunching. It is this instinctual movement during combat that becomes so inspiringly fun for gamers, myself included. The glory kills, while initially appearing tacked on, are wonderfullly animated and blessedly short - complementing the break-neck combat perfectly and providing brief invuln frames to avoid damage from heavies. The music is absolutely fanatastic and, while not my cup of tea, seems utterly Doom. I honestly can still remember guitar riffs and music scores from the game and that underscores how memorable and relevant the music and sound effects really are to this game. The game is very polished with no crashes and minimal issues (I did experience the final boss glitch twice and two problems with unattainable achievements :( ) but as a whole, Doom 2016 is remarkably well put together. The game may only have a sparing plot and a limited bag of tricks but what it does, it does better than any other shooter...any other [i][b]game[/b][/i] on the market, bar none. It's no wonder that so many Internet reviewers like TotalBiscuit, Angry Joe Vargas and Yahtzee are all completely enamored with Doom 2016. The game has a wide array of multiplayer opportunities but truly the game is really valued in its singleplayer experience. Team Deathmatch appears to mesh a slower Quake 4 multiplayer with class-based shooter mechanics and the results while not poor by any means, are underwhelming. iD didn't develop the multiplayer component and, consequently, I'm not faulting them for a team deathmatch online mode that can provide at least 5-10 hours of enjoyment with friends but that won't set the world on fire. In short, you're not buying this game for the multiplayer deathmatch. There are also plenty of modes available on multiplayer but additional social gameplay can also arise from the use of Snapmap. Snapmap is an easy, robust map editor that has facilitated gamers in posting literally hundreds of singleplayer, coop, multiplayer and puzzle-based maps/campaigns onto the Doom 2016 community pages. Downloading the maps is no more difficult than installing custom content from Steam and building custom maps/campaigns is further supported by built-in tutorials that are incredibly easy and motivating. While it is true that most custom maps are less than stellar and some are just piss-poor, there are some select gems representing a variety of off-the-wall modes that involve coop or puzzling. It is my sincere hope that Snapmap is included with Quake Champions. With the massive community of map-makers Quake III had (Polygon anyone?), the inclusion of Snapmap within Quake Champions seems like a match made in heaven. In short, Doom 2016 is a great game. It plays great, looks great and sounds great. You may not get as many hours as other games but the hours you *do* get will be more memorable and better. It is a title that on singleplayer alone deserves its 50-60 dollar pricetag and when coupled with multiplayer, Snapmap/community and endless litany of unlockables, easter eggs and secrets will easily live up to your value-demanding expectations. In short however, Doom 2016 deserves your hard-earned money because it's a great experience and a great game to add to your collection, irrespective of multiplayer hours dedicated to other titles. I've been waiting to say this for a long time and now I can finally, happily pronounce "iD is back." Bring on Quake Champions. Highest possible recommendation. 9.5/10.