Taurus Daggerknight

I just find it dumb because the term Boomer itself is used way too often, and just as often misapplied. See this very case involving games from the 90's being called "boomer shooters".

While I do admit to having some fuzzy nostalgia feelings at first, I do agree with the others about it more leaning towards Ghost Busters than UT, especially with the "Hold in place" function it serves. Of course, that isn't to say that they weren't thinking of UT at all. Heck, there are some areas between Eternal, TAG and TAG 2 that kind of scream 'Unreal' to me as well. EDIT: The first village area and the leadup to it in TAG 2. Tell me no one else was thinking of Na-Pali there...

I don't quite think we're done with this "era" of Doom just yet, but I do suspect any next entry in the series is going to harken back to 2016 a little more. Eternal's story is currently a bit of a mess, and ended up writing itself into a corner. Gameplay was awesome, but I do echo a lot of the sentiments here hoping for a return to the darker elements of 64 and 3. That said; I have a suspicion that it will be a while before we see something new. Part of me wants to bet on the notion that iD's going to try something new next, or if not brand new then outright Heretic/ Hexen. A lot Eternal and TAG 1 and 2 kind of make it clear that they are keen on fantasy at least, so it wouldn't be a huge stretch.

He absolutely was in Doom 3 0_o And yeah, he's in Ancient Gods 2 as well, though... kind of useless in that IMO. I have to say, I think I liked the concepts on Page 1 of this thread way more than what ended up in TAG 2.

Divinity: Original Sin 2- Just didn't land for me. Temple of Elemental Evil- Like the Infinity Engine games, only worse in every single way possible! Unreal 2: The Awakening- Such an amazingly dull shooter.. Ion Fury: I liked the Early Access demo, but the full game feels like it didn't really go the distance. Something about it didn't feel right, and I've certainly seen mods do more with the engine. Serious Same 3- Felt very confused about what kind of FPS it wanted to be. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive- It really lacked the spark that made all the previous CS games work. I couldn't even tell you what exactly is wrong, other than "spark". I never sunk into it the way I did with the older ones. Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem- Okay, this one was REALLY fun for a while, and I LOVED it... but towards the final act, the cracks were really hard to ignore, and a year after release, a lot of those problems remain unaddressed. Honorary Mentions: Titan Quest (recent years, never bought it as a kid) Grim Dawn (played it briefly, wasn't my cup of tea) Diablo 2 (recent years), because it's very hard to play it in that resolution these days.

Favorite; Immora Least liked: Also Immora. ...wait, what? Okay, explanation; I love the scenery in Immora, especially the epic battle. While I 100% agree with everyone who says the entire vibe is more Warhammer 40K than Doom, the bottom line is that it looks cool for what it is. + Immora looks epic, and really sets the stage for a high-energy sci-fi battleground in the most 80's and 90's sense. + The city itself is cool visually. Now, with that said, Immora is also exemplary of everything I feel is -wrong- with Ancient Gods. - Does not feel like Doom. It flips between feeling like Warhammer 40K, and even at some points Marathon 2: Durandal. - If we're counting the fight with the Dark Lord as part of Immora, seriously, FUCK THAT. Let me repeat; FUCK. THAT. - Stone Imp swarm reflects on the bad emphasis on gimmick enemies for the expansions. This may look like I have way more bad things to say about Immora than good, but the thing is, it's the level I think of when someone says "Ancient Gods". I may have enjoyed playing through UAC Atlantica and World Spear more, but neither left quite the impression as Immora's intro. I also remember fewer specific set pieces from either (UAC Atlantica's mass imp ambush and corridor Cyberdmon being the main ones). All in all; conflicted.

...but those have been done fairly well in the past. Also... not a fan of motion controllers myself. But I digress... Dishonored, Dark Messiagh, and to a lesser extent Chivalry all showed that melee can absolutely be done right. Wouldn't mind seeing some of Arkane's influence here...

The "it's a reboot- no it's a sequel- whoopsie I mean reboot" dance is about as coherent as the plot at this point. If takes place "assuming Doom 1, 2 and 64 happened... but what if after-" , it's a sequel by definition. And that being the case, it's a really odd-ball sequel that, as of TAG 1 and 2, has become quite tonally and stylistically confusing. Cool, fun, even in a lot of cases awesome in its own right, absolutely! I'd be lying if I said I didn't think the Immora assault cutscene didn't get me pumped for what it was... but what it isn't is "Industrial hell where blasphemous, evil incarnate attacks mankind in the recognizable future". It's a high-fantasy adventure now. The only thing calling a reboot and a "this is what might happen if the UAC..." does is tell me that they want to leave the door open for yet another reboot at some point down the line. Which I imagine is kind of inevitable, even if that some point is another ten to fifteen years of current-Doom's world. Which... honestly, they could just do that without needing to leave an opening, really. I don't know, I just think that it's a bit confusing as to which way they actually want to take it at this point, and the interview didn't really clear up much, other than the intention to leave behind the "grit" version entirely. Which, as I've said before, is a little odd, given Martin's professed love of 64, which was waaaaay darker in atmosphere than anything except Doom 3. I am absolutely still looking forward to what comes next, as the current lore state and that final boss are really my only problems with Eternal, but I am hoping that someone eventually re-visits the concept of "sci fi marines vs Hell" with a bit more of that classic grit at some point.

I don't think they should have removed every single "gimmick" enemy like the Marauder. I just wish they hadn't gone so damn overboard with them by the end of TAG 2. Stone Imp REQUIRING an auto-shotgun kill was insanely dumb IMO, and didn't add to any real challenge. Cursed Prowler was likewise a bit pointless. Screw that final boss, which is the short version of the ocean of hate I've already expressed for him. Gladiator? Eh, maybe. I guess it wasn't a big deal, but I also didn't think that fight was great. I did not mind the Armored Baron, who seemed to react to being shot at the very least, so you had OPTIONS with how to tackle him. Biggest issue with him was the aesthetic, which isn't the point here. All in all ; I think the "reactionary" enemies needed to be better balanced to not simply REQUIRE you to fight them the one way, so much as have an optimal way.

Hey, just because TAG 2 got my goose something awful, doesn't mean I hate Eternal :D ! Been saying from the start that Eternal's gameplay is stellar. And really; while I have opinions on how "Doom" the whole Night Sentinel/ Fantasy stuff is, taken on its own? It's all really cool and fun stuff. Literally the only reason I've been complaining about it at all is that I miss Doom being about space marines fighting back against Hell. I don't even mind Doomguy becoming a demi-god, long as that context is kept... A list of favorite things in general though; 1) Love most of the monster designs, and I was sooo happy when they made the Tyrant actually look like a Cyberdemon. 2) The guns are all great. 3) The environments are fucking gorgeous across the board. 4) THE MUSIC. Hell with the whole "Mick vs Levy/ Hulshult" comparisons, the entirety of Eternal + Ancient Gods 1 and 2 ROCKS. EDIT: I am also all for the praetor suit having onboard weapon systems and functions like the dash. More of this please... I'm sick of games in which your SPACE MARINE POWER ARMOR does jack shit.

This. A running theme in almost all the Doom titles that deal with demons is the idea that the seals of Hell were broken before. Eternal's end mostly just says the door is locked for now, but it's concievable that another universe's UAC kicks the door open again (by accident or on purpose), or that a cultist tries to do it.

We've had Doom without demons before. ....it didn't go well. Even if Demons aren't the omnipresent enemy in every level, at the least they need to be the shadow in the background for it to be Doom. As I noted in a previous thread, I can possibly see something where you play a Sentinel fighting a rising dark lord in Argent D'nur trying to re-open the gates, but that's about it...

The determination to keep the Marauder in the game on its own would be fine. What I'm starting to object to is the idea that it's such a perfect idea that so absolutely synonymous with Doom that every other new enemy has to emulate it in terms of being a gimmick foe, or worse, in terms of the "He's only vulnerable for a split second, otherwise it sucks to be you". As far as I'm concerned, the Marauder is at best a "curious" monster, not a master stroke in game design.

That's kind of the thing. I feel like between 2016 and Eternal, he and Stratton generally accepted criticism a little bit better, but recently (IE since Eternal's release), he's been a little too gung-ho on certain choices. I wont say that those choices are all the very worst things ever, but the suggestion that people who don't like X feature in the game are "wrong" is a bit eyebrow raising.

...while I don't feel like it's gate-keeping either, that is a bit of an odd statement. I mean, while I don't -hate- the Marauder quite as much as the TAG 2 boss (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH), I don't think he's that particularly brilliant either, and would have preferred an actual deathmatch style opponent.