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Each level in Eternal and its DLCs showcase the remaining collectibles on the automap by type. You can also use Fast Travel once you're at the end of a level and Mission Select once you've beaten a given level to jump around quickly to where you need to go. They made it very easy to collect things in Eternal, and personally I enjoy the 100% campaign playthrough much more than in 2016. Many of the collectibles have a "end goal" to them at the Fortress of Doom hub - the demon collectibles sit on a shelf and unlock viewable demon models, music track collectibles are displayed as posters to play music from, the Sentinel Batteries unlock various compartments, and the Slayer Gates grant keys to unlock the Unmaykr weapon. If you unlock all cheat code collectibles, you also unlock Ultimate Doom on the Slayer's PC in the Fortress. All these collectibles in a given level represent the standard 100% campaign playthrough. If you want an optimized visual guide, here's a 100% playthrough by ZeroMaster: Some "unmarked" secrets include a password on the Slayer's PC to unlock Doom II, and a secret way to randomly spawn two Tyrants in the Super Gore Nest level. The above up to and including the video is what I would consider a 100% playthrough of Eternal. The next part are things you can 100% outside of a singular playthrough if you value achievements and cosmetics: --- There are in-game and external achievements if you want to go for those in your 100%. Here's a Steam achievement guide for the external ones: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2031543270 The in-game achievements are more numerous and trickier - but generally you can unlock cosmetics for beating the game, its DLCs, Master Levels, and Horde Mode all on Nightmare and Ultra-Nightmare. The Master Levels also have Classic Modes with their own unlockable cosmetics each. There are also multiplayer achievements with unlockable cosmetics but that's up to you if multiplayer is worth it, especially since mostly the most dedicated pros are just playing it these days (if even). Depends on if you value the cosmetics as part of your 100%. If you do value cosmetics in your 100%, there are also rotating seasonal events with unlockable cosmetics. You unlock the cosmetics by completing weekly missions or spamming levels. The seasons rotate once every three months if I recall correctly. You can also purchase some of them for real money, but I wouldn't recommend that. There are a few once-Twitch Prime ones that are sold now as well, like the Doomicorn cosmetic. You can also unlock cosmetics if you link your bethesda.net account to Doom I, II, 64, and 3 (although 3 had to be from the bethesda.net store version, which isn't available anymore). There are a few other unobtainable cosmetics - like the Slayer's Club ones or the Friday Night Fight multiplayer one. That's everything I believe.

There is? Anyways, I would recommend watching Horde Mode gameplay by players who achieved Slayer rankings and try to learn from their playstyle to see the difference between what you're doing and what they are. Here's a few videos from searching: Also, I would recommend beating the main campaign, DLCs, and Master Levels on Ultra-Nightmare if you haven't already - Horde Mode is tough and one of the last things they added to the game, so it's recommended you master the gameplay loop before trying to hit top 100. And of course, do a lot of play and practice of Horde Mode itself - you'll eventually improve with time by slowly memorizing what works and what doesn't. For example, knowing when to pick up multipliers and how to score perfectly on the time trial sections. Good luck with it.

Pretty interesting interview. Missed hearing Hugo geek about random shit. Didn't expect them to put Marty in any interviews after the Mick situation. A few key points: - They mentioned "more than double the AI". 2016 had 12-16 and Eternal had 20-24 iirc - if they actually have "more than double", that would be a lot of enemies to have on screen. Would be very cool to see what kind of combat encounters they can have now. - They mentioned slower projectile speeds and opting out of multi-tiered arenas (in the style of Eternal), and that the weaving between projectiles will be the "jungle gym" for the player to navigate through. I'm starting to suspect they indeed took out jumping from the game - which honestly sounds very exciting because of how committed they seem to be about the grounded approach. - They mentioned having locations that you can return to and have "open up", also mentioning sandboxes. He did mention there will still be traditional linear sections but it seems they're going for a more open space design. Sandboxes would imply non-linearity but we'll have to wait and see.

The Bethesda article talking about Dark Ages' inspiration by Classic Doom in terms of gameplay and Hugo Martin's vague response to the Glory Kill question definitely makes me suspect they won't be in the game and instead the gameplay loop will revolve around the Shield Saw and melee strikes to recover resources. Maybe the Shield Saw recovers ammo, while melee recovers health? That way the player can stay in the fight without having to go through animation finishers. Also it was something he suggested in the Eternal developer livestreams, but Hugo does mention that there will be less put into the Codex and more into the story itself. I really do hope they take a more restrained approach to the lore. Speaking of, I realized that there's a good chance the ending of Dark Ages, or within a DLC if those get confirmed, will cover the Slayer's crusade within Hell after Argent D'Nur falls - "In the First Age" material. Would be interesting to see. Likely also see the return of the Icon of Sin since it was key to Argent D'Nur's fall, and possibly fight it again so that it could get later resurrected in Eternal? There was also a line in 2016's Slayer Testaments that does mention the Slayer's battles across time - "And in his terrible rancor between worlds and through time" - so maybe it could give an excuse to later visit other environments? The environment where he punches the Titan looks so much like Mars with its structures' architecture, there's even a structure in the background with a massive energy beam - not unlike the Argent Tower. Also looking back at the Slayer Testaments, the line "with sword and shield of adamantine strength" is a bit funny now that he has an actual shield. Also, David Levy confirmed on Twitter that he isn't involved in Dark Ages. So possibly just Andrew Hulshult or maybe bringing in another composer?

Looking pretty neat. I thought we'd just get a cinematic teaser with later gameplay at QuakeCon like they handled 2016 and Eternal, but I'm not complaining. The visuals feel a lot closer to Eternal than expected, but I do like how much more "metal" they're going with the art direction and design. Still find "The Dark Ages" a very weird subtitle, and I still wish it was a sequel - but I guess we'll see how they handle things. Story-wise they had some loose ends from the end of Eternal like the Crucible's or Samur's fate. Gonna be a little weird seeing the Hell Priests, Samur, and Khan Maykr again since we dealt with them in Eternal. It's also an opportunity to flesh out Valen, King Novik, and maybe even the "wretched who shall not be named". --- I wonder what the flying city in the clouds is at 0:24. Initial thoughts was something Maykr-adjacent but it's not the cybernetic look Urdak had. It could be inspired by the Empyrian map from Doom 2016 multiplayer - which was also a flying city in the clouds with Night Sentinel imagery. The fur cloak looks kinda goofy in a cheesy way but I like it as a redesign element. The automatic weapon with the skull ammo that spread-fires looks like it might be the Heavy Cannon stand-in. Not sure what the demon at 1:08 is - looks like it's mounted. The mount seems too small to be a Pinky, but it's possible since Eternal lore mentioned Pinkies having demon masters that we never get to see. The demon on top has multi-directional flame attacks which remind me of the Blood Maykrs' attacks - although one of the flame waves turn green randomly. Not sure what that might mean. Interestingly, the weapon the Slayer is holding appears to be based on the Plasma Rifle. The Shield is quite interesting too - he can toss it for a return Captain America style, use it slam into a group of enemies, block enemy fire, perform a charging bash, and even stun a Hell Knight at 1:23 with a timed "parry" (you can notice the Shield flashes green when the Slayer uses it at the "last second" unlike earlier when he was blocking the projectiles). With its versatility and place in the Slayer's left hand, I assume it's going to be the new mechanical feature - like the Equipment Launcher or Blood Punches were for in Eternal. The demon at 1:27 reminds me of a Gladiator initially with its body structure and its own shield - but its head and yellow chest orb reminds me of the Doom Hunter. It's possible this is supposed to be the original Agaddon Hunters mentioned in Eternal's lore. The Slayer follows up with some melee strikes with a flail and a kick - could be a new mechanic or could just be fancying up melee combat. Someone did mention the lack of Glory Kills - perhaps they're planning on redefining the gameplay loop? Eternal was already quite advanced so it'd be strange if the follow-up was slower or even faster - but if they can adjust the loop for a different approach, I think that might be interesting. Perhaps it will revolve around the shield and melee strikes. I know the mech suit moment is going to be a crowd-pleaser since a lot of people wanted it since Eternal had an unused mech in the Fortress of Doom, and I do hope it's executed well, but I'm a bit cautious about a "vehicle" section - especially since the Revenant section in Eternal always felt bad to play through. Hopefully they handle the gameplay aspect of that well so it doesn't feel restrictive. Interestingly the environment where he's punching a Titan at 1:34 looks a lot like Mars with its sci-fi facilities, but I imagine it could be a Sentinel outpost at best (since they do mention the Sentinels did live on Mars at one point in Eternal) or alternatively it could be a spot in Hell. Hard to say for sure. The Titan does have a sword interestingly, and I do appreciate we'll actually fight Titans since we just sort of ignored/freed most of them in Eternal. The dragon looks a bit different than the Wintherins from Eternal's DLCs - but I like it. Much more bulkier and imposing. Not sure how I feel about a third-person sequence but I guess it makes sense for piloting a flying mount if we need the spatial awareness. Hopefully we get to fight a demonic dragon after all. The Slayer also has a nail gun at 1:21 that he uses to pierce an Arch-Vile, sticking it to a wall. It could take the slot of the Ballista / Gauss Cannon maybe. Some other things: the environment at 1:00 looks a lot more industrial than expected with its pipes, chains, and metal gratings. Could be a reimagining of what Sentinel technology is capable of (we do see a mech suit in the back rising up) - or something Hell or Maykr adjacent. Also while the Soldiers appear to be Sentinel-themed this time around (and all the other demons getting a redesign), the Possessed appear to be based on the Unwilling / Hell Zombies from before. Also a bit hard to tell, but the Hell Knight appears to have an exposed brain - which is a pretty interesting redesign. --- Anyways, looks cool and I'm curious to know more about it mechanically. Hopefully Master Levels come back, the post-launch ones were very good from Eternal. I'm morbidly curious how they'll handle the multiplayer for the third time - I do hope they add co-op support but I'm not holding my breath for it. Eternal did have a push for a few "modern" features like the event pass (essentially replaced by store packs), following players (removed), or invasions in singleplayer (canceled) - will we get more of that kind of thing? The skins seemed fairly popular at the least. The originally named "Doom: Year Zero" had very, very high projected earnings in that leaked Bethesda finances report - they're putting a lot of faith in this title even from a while ago. I wonder what that IDKFA trademark was for from earlier in the year. Maybe something Classic-related? IDKFA is a "Give All"-type cheat code so my guess was maybe another remaster or collection, but that seems unlikely to me. I also wonder if something will come out of that datamined suggested mod support updates for Doom Eternal. They did mention wanting to make modding easier in the future, so maybe Dark Ages will be the start of that? The absence of SnapMap, as flawed as it was in 2016, was very much missed in Eternal. Will the codex/comic set between 2016/Eternal ever come to light? Hugo Martin is pretty open so I imagine someone eventually is going to ask him about it. Finally, the music seems pretty neat - I imagine Andrew Hulshult and David Levy would be back? I did find it interesting that The Ancient God OSTs didn't have much in the way of Classic references (Mick Gordon did a lot of those), so I hope they get to lean more into that in Dark Ages. Anyways, time to hibernate until QuakeCon I guess... --- TL;DR - Looks cool. PS: The Steam page's summary description for the game is a bit funny since it's in all-caps

Spoilers/Thoughts: I recorded long-form non-commentary gameplay of Phobos Episode 3 for those interested in seeing someone's approach to the encounters and levels. I played the previous episodes (but never recorded them) on Ultra-Violence years ago, but decided to do Hurt Me Plenty for this one to make sure I could finish the campaign without embarassing myself while recording - but LOL, I wasn't expecting nearly 7 hours, most of which felt like I got lost and confused trying to figure out the puzzle solutions (or dying a lot more near the end). I did feel quite proud that I didn't look up the solutions to any puzzles (unlike episode 2 iirc), but I do admit I started feeling frustrated after a while. Could be because I got exhausted playing continuously, but it did sometimes feel like I was fighting for 10 minutes to follow with 30 minutes of head-scratching back-and-forths. I had a similar impression with the Darksiders franchise - I enjoyed the combat but would get annoyed by the puzzles since I could never intuit most of them on the first go. That being said, it was satisfying to solve them all eventually with time. It could be like a Doom 64 thing where I didn't like the leaning into puzzles but when I replayed it later, I ended up enjoying it a lot more since I knew the general solution pattern to look for. The recording is interesting from that perspective of seeing where I miss things and what it takes for me to figure out the solution for that unspoken eureka moment. I really quite enjoyed almost all of the combat encounters, it's been a while since I played the earlier two episodes so I couldn't remember if they were in there too - but the modified enemies are really refreshing as someone who plays/played a lot of Doom 3. The enemies being faster, less predictable, and having new abilities just makes the gameplay a lot more engaging. Plus even on Hurt Me Plenty, it's tough. I was doing well enough early on in the video but could feel the pressure building near the end. Some of the fights are maybe a bit too claustrophobic. You generally need a good understanding of the enemies to dispatch them as quickly as possible, but because of Doom 3's extreme headshaking-on-being-damaged quirk, getting hit once by something like a Pinky or even a Wraith/Maggot here is generally going to get you killed most of the time, especially with the added enemy aggression and greater quantities in Phobos. I kinda wish the Rocket Launcher didn't do splash damage, or there was a new type of heavy weapon (think Gauss Cannon from 2016), that can give me a "fuck off hellspawn" option for close-range - because the best ones currently are Chaingun and Plasma Gun but both are automatic weapons and are risky to depend on in a close encounter if caught off-guard. Maybe I could've used the SSG more often (fits the definition at least) but I always felt low on Shell ammo, that I felt compelled to conserve for the regular Shotgun in case the Machine Gun ran out (which it rarely did tbh). That being said, I actually liked the ammo economy in Phobos - it's very, very easy for Doom 3 ammunition to spiral out of control but I actually felt that Phobos was a perfect balance between "just enough" and "not enough". It encouraged me to look around but I didn't feel like I was starving either. Good stuff. The only thing I disliked about the combat really was probably that Arch-Vile boss battle - I didn't get it and began worrying I'd soft-lock myself into running out of ammo. I couldn't get a good hit on the spiraling Souls at first, but managed to figure it out relatively quick - and it's a decent gimmick for a boss. Then when the six of them appear, I had no idea what to look for. They were seemingly invulnerable so I thought maybe it was a timed thing. Nope, apparently one of them are glowing at a time and I have to shoot that one. I couldn't really tell I was damaging it though, or if it was meaningful, because it spawned Zombies - and it took me a (long) moment to realize the "glowing" effect had shifted to another Arch-Vile and I was supposed to damage that one, but the glowing effects are kind of difficult to notice, or any feedback by damaging them. And during one such attempt, they ended up dying and to be honest, I don't really know what I did differently other than live/shoot for a bit longer. As an aside, their flame explosion attacks feel a bit too wide - it's reliable to jump away but that gets tricky with the spawns and pillars, getting kinda claustrophobic quickly for a fiery demise. I could feel my heart sink when two Hell Knights (I don't know what these new variants are called) spawn in right after that - and I had basically only Rocket ammo left. Or my heart sinking even further when one seemingly respawned shortly after dying - I thought it was another puzzle I had to figure out. But thank god the bastards finally died. Granted, this was the final encounter of the episode so it makes sense for it to be difficult - but holy heck, I'm on Hurt Me Plenty lol The actual level and world design continues to be impressively immersive across all three episodes. There's so much detail packed into the world and I appreciate how some of the levels loop back into themselves, or make clever use of their geometry - like that sequence where you use the tram/lift/thing to access a floor, then ascend the floor out a vent shaft to crawl across the top of the tram/lift/thing to get to the other side of the facility and into another vent shaft. Very satisfying. Some of the looping about can definitely make it confusing where I'm supposed to go, especially if I'm on a puzzle sequence and I can't tell if I'm going the right way or not. For example I discovered that vent/lift/crawling moment before it was supposed to be important for your progression - so I spent a long time on the other side wondering what I missed. That's compounded by having some "stuck" solutions often involving interacting with a small maintenance shaft's GUI tucked in a corner, or a well-hidden set of ladders in a corner the eye would pass by generally - these mandatory solutions would just encourage me try to inspect every nook and cranny for way longer than I probably should be at any given moment I felt unsure. Which likely contributed to my feeling of "fighting 10 mins, then looking around for 30 mins" feeling I had. Story (some spoilers + Firewatch?) Overall though, I enjoyed Episode 3 and look forward to seeing whatever's made next. I had some issues with pacing and story but the combat sequences, level, and world design held their own well enough. I did play 7 hours of it non-stop after all. I do think some of my opinion is probably influenced by playing for that long in a single sitting lol. Hope the gameplay is interesting to comb through and that my thoughts/feedback were enjoyable to read. P.S. - There's a bug at 48:00 in the video where you can fall into the slime pool without taking damage and walk around. Also the interact and biohelm keys were unbound for me at the start, which led to confusion pre-recording when I couldn't figure out what to press at the start of the game.

I'll have to wait and see a trailer. To be honest, as much as I love and prefer Doom - I was really hoping for a Quake 1 reboot. There could be one by MachineGames, but I really wanted id to be the ones to do it. I'll still get hyped over anything Doom though - even if "The Dark Ages" is a very weird title for a Doom game to have. Also, as irrational as it is because it's likely a continuation from the "Year Zero" leak from a while ago, I do hope this is not a prequel set during the Slayer's time in Argent D'Nur. I do want to see what happens next after TAG2, a long-awaited follow-up being a prequel kinda bugs me - like how I felt about Serious Sam 3 being a prequel to Serious Sam 1, then somehow Serious Sam 4 being a prequel to Serious Sam 3. Alternatively though, perhaps "Dark Ages" is referring to the time of the Slayer being imprisoned - I don't really see why the Slayer's time during Argent D'Nur would be considered the "dark ages". There were some rumblings of Doom's ties to Quake, like with the Maykrs supposedly transforming into eldritch beings post-Transfiguration or Hugo wanting to go "monster truck" rather than Ferrari for their next title, and with the reported "medieval" setting of Dark Ages, that's something else Quake-adjacent. Maybe they'll combine that with the speculation of a female protagonist a while ago, Crash, to tie Doom and Quake together and it's about her during the "dark ages" of the Slayer's imprisonment. I'm just coping here though, safe bet is a Argent D'Nur-set prequel. Anyways, only two weeks left to go until we find out. I wonder if they'll ever address that (likely canceled) comic/codex that was supposedly close to completion ages ago and was meant to tie 2016 and Eternal together...

Mighty Doom being sunset sucks but it's not entirely unexpected. It's had a rocky and unclear development cycle. Heck, I only covered it on here and subsequently would upload gameplay clips because I figured it would get shutdown someday. It's a shame too because while the game had its issues with repetition and monetization, I actually began to enjoy it in small doses after the run-and-shoot/events update. The developers did listen to most feedback from what I could tell, since many of their beta updates addressed issues like room variety and enemy placements, and even a request on Reddit to add a randomized skins option was added the very next update. However, Mighty Doom's issues were with its core gameplay loop, monetization, and more apparently post-launch, a lack of long-term gameplay. While I did come to enjoy playing the daily events, I still couldn't shake the boredom that would come from playing the actual campaign for long periods of time. While they certainly improved from the beta days, the room-to-room gameplay still felt overall repetitive especially for something like 40 rooms to go through in a single level. The monetization was what one would expect from a modern mobile game, although the placement of ads as ways to resurrect or collect crystals (premium currency) was rather unsavory. It also didn't give much value even if you did spend on lootboxes, there would be posts on r/mightydoom about people being disappointed about their 10-pulls. That's not really going to be a successful model to convince people to continue spending if that's the kind of game they want to make. Perhaps the most interesting issue was the post-launch lack of endgame/updates. This was evident halfway through the beta period actually, when they stopped updating the game for months (or was it a year? I can't remember) only to randomly announce its release date out of nowhere. While they managed to release a few new levels and features (i.e. difficulty variants), there actually wasn't all that much to do in the endgame. This will probably be a strange criticism for someone who plays regular Doom games, but these kinds of mobile games are generally "infinite" in the sense that players won't ever reach their goal because there's just too much to grind for and the pace of updates means there's always something new to look out. Mighty Doom was awkward in the sense that you could actually "finish" the game after a few months of grinding - way too long for a regular Doomer but way too short for a mobile gamer. You could even make it through free-to-play because the endgame wasn't all too difficult either. I would like to say I do like that I can "beat" the game without issue compared to other mobile games but if they want to make the kind of mobile game that Mighty Doom is aiming to be, this approach isn't really a recipe for longevity. As the final nail in the coffin, the writing was on the wall for the past few months due to a lack of new levels and the 2-3 most recent events lacked event-exclusive enemies (the Fallout event levels are effectively a reskin of the Winter event earlier). That being said, I would rate my time with Mighty Doom as being more positive than negative really and I wish they'd keep the game running. It sucks whenever an always-online game (didn't even have multiplayer either to pretend to justify that) gets shutdown. Some games do get a second-life with community support preserving the game, so I hope Mighty Doom goes into that camp at some point. We already have too much lost media from the mobile Doom titles. And ever since I found out about the existence of Megaman X Dive Offline, I wish more studios would invest in an offline versions of their sunset games, but that's probably just idealistic daydreaming. As an aside, I've had bad luck with some of these games lol - Darkspore, Onimusha Soul, Yu-Gi-Oh Cross Duel, and now Mighty Doom are all games that got shutdown. It is kind of intriguing though that they had an in-game survey for Mighty Doom asking about extra gameplay modes (including a level editor?) some months ago, but it seems nothing will come of that. Or the fact that the CG cinematic features a Cyberdemon, which has not (and likely will not) appear in the game either. Wish I extracted the audio from the events, some of them were actually pretty nice. Most of the uploads on YouTube are just from the launch and don't include them it seems. The Mars Core track is probably my favorite. And it's neat that they had a lot of homages to Classic tracks. The Quake event with new weapon models was sweet as well. The event-specific boss skins were amusing too, like the Hotdogcubus skin (Mancubus variant) from Doom Eternal being an actual boss in the summer event. Plus experimenting with gameplay modes in events was cool, like the larger "scrolling" rooms, survival gameplay, time-attack, boss rush, etc. Amusingly yet another Doom game with Doomguy skins but none for the Doom 3 marine (I'm still salty from Doom Eternal). Anyways, here's hoping people find a way to continue playing past the shutdown in August. Now into id's next game, whatever it might be...

I killed it. It's a demon in a Doom game and Revenants are supposedly in constant pain and agony according to the 2016 Codex anyways.

DLC 2 still has mixed reviews on Steam: 62% overall and 63% recently - so basically reception to it has remained the same since it came out. I wouldn't say it "ruined Doom" though, it was just a weak pay-off to Eternal due to a variety of gameplay and story reasons. I'm willing to move past criticisms on its (lack of) ambition since the covid excuse is reasonable for its development cycle. Although the gameplay philosophies and story directions of DLC 2 were eyebrow-raising, so I hope they take lessons to heart and course-correct on their next entry. I think I was too harsh initially towards Hulshult/Levy's tracks - they're actually great. I still prefer Mick's interpretation of Doom - but the new composers did a great enough job. Blood Swamps, World Spear, and DLC 2 Credits music live rent-free in my head.

I was hoping for the next title to be a reboot based on Quake 1, but it's not entirely surprising that they would continue Doom with its proven success - plus with the continued cross-promotions and recently released Mighty Doom, so it was clear they wanted the franchise to remain relevant. "Year Zero" is an interesting title, possibly a working one as Fallout 76 was referred to as Fallout Worlds in that same document. My immediate thought goes to a 2016 prequel set during the Slayer's time on Argent D'Nur - as that was certainly year zero for the Sentinels. However, it wouldn't exactly be a "year zero" for our hero - maybe as his start as the Slayer, but his story began on Phobos. Plus, I recall Hugo Martin expressing hesitancy about the idea for a DLC set between 2016 and Eternal because it would be awkward in terms of power level or explaining why he loses his weapons again - I feel like that would be applicable here. Not like either of these considerations strongly contradict the initial thought of a Year Zero set during Argent D'Nur. A more out-there alternative interpretation of the title, aligned with the current year being Doom's 30th anniversary, makes me wonder if they could possibly do a modern remake of Classic Doom to make it aligned with 2016/Eternal. It's a shaky thought though, I don't think id Software would be interested in "redoing" something as classic (or abstract) as Doom, and it might come off as quite similar to Doom 2016. Another interpretation, if we view 2016 as a redo of Ultimate Doom and Eternal as a redo of Hell on Earth - is if Year Zero could perhaps be a "redo" of Doom 3 set in the past, featuring a different protagonist and another try at action-horror. Not sure how that would work realistically though, or if they would be willing to part ways with the Slayer in the next "big" Doom game. Perhaps I'm just hesitant to accept a "Year Zero" because I would honestly prefer a Doom Eternal sequel over a prequel, and that's if they absolutely had to pick Doom over Quake. Granted, the document doesn't contain any information about the then-unreleased Quake remasters - I'm not quite certain if they would appear there or not based on how developmental timelines go, but perhaps it's a sign that things could change. So maybe there's still hope for Quake. That said, I'm not complaining about more Doom either - it's my preferred franchise. I wonder if we'll see an announcement later close to December because of this year's significance - but that also seems unlikely to me because I feel as if QuakeCon would've been an opportunity to announce something for a new game. Although if Starfield got delayed by about two years according to the document, maybe we can apply the same delay to Year Zero - and if so along with past release timings, that would suggest a cinematic/gameplay reveal for Year Zero this year (2023), followed by a release in 2025. I'm 50/50 on that timeline, mostly hesitant because they skipped the opportunity at QuakeCon - so the only other opportunity would be announcing the title at The Game Awards, which is just three days before Doom's anniversary - so perhaps that could be aligned well enough for them.

When Doom 2016 opened up with the Slayer awakening from a sarcophagus, we could view that as a metaphor for the franchise itself. With The Ancient Gods DLCs having the Slayer put back into the sarcophagus (and dealing with the Dark Lord, the overarching antagonist of the newer Doom titles), I perceive it as id Software putting Doom back to rest, for now. They could have spin-offs like Mighty Doom, but I don't think they'd go as far as to change the protagonist since the Doom Slayer has been quite successful. With that said, I think a new Quake reboot would not only be rewarding for long-time Quake fans, but also give id Software an opportunity to work on something other than Doom since the past 15 years or so. Doom Eternal had already dialed the push-forward combat design of Doom 2016 up to 11, and it's difficult to see how they can push things further past Eternal's already hyper-active and complex resource-management of a gameplay loop. They could dial it back, but I don't know if that makes sense for them to do right now. A new Quake reboot would give them an opportunity to be flexible with the game design since they can afford to make changes without worrying about disappointing fans who preferred Eternal's combat loop. Not only that, but they can explore new design spaces in trying to resurrect Quake. If anything, I could envision something between the purity of Doom 2016 and combat management of Doom Eternal for a Quake reboot - a simpler heavier approach but still involving active gameplay choices, since I think if Hugo Martin is still game director, he would go for that at some level. A Quake reboot based on Quake 1 would also make a lot of sense, since that's the only Quake without any real dedicated follow-up. They also released the Quake 1 remaster a short while ago, which could be an appetizer similar to how Doom 3 BFG was an appetizer before Doom 2016. The real consideration is whether making a Quake reboot makes "sense" from a financial point of view compared to just making another Doom game, since Quake has certainly struggled in its last few entries. And despite Doom Eternal coming to an end, they've still been cross-promoting the brand with Doom Slayer appearing in Fortnite or developing the Mighty Doom spin-off. There was that job posting for id Software from a while back about working on an established FPS brand with "sci-fi" and "fantasy" elements, which could either mean Doom or Quake. I think a new Quake game would be great, but I wouldn't complain about more Doom - as I'm more into Doom than Quake anyways. I just think Quake deserves a modern re-imagining and there are a few signs that would have it make sense, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out their next game is indeed another Doom sequel. I don't think it's likely at all, but these recent sci-fi horror titles and remakes have me low-key wishing for a Doom 3 remake as well. With their modern tech and gameplay design sensibilities (relative to their mid-2000 era), I think another go at Doom 3 as a proper action-horror would be incredible and an opportunity to do the original concept justice.

As some may know, Mighty Doom is getting released next month (funnily enough about a year since after this post was made). I don't know why it took this long to release, I was beginning to suspect the game was quietly canceled. This year will be Doom's 30th anniversary, so maybe it has something to do with that. As a recent update was added to the game, I figured I should record some updated high-level gameplay footage too. I go through the menu systems, daily events gameplay, and the final mission (Hell on Earth Pt. II). Some notable additions in this update include: a battle pass, weapon skins, destructible walls, shootable barrels, the addition of the Burst Rifle (from 2016's MP!), some new weapon powers in-run, and maybe the Mars Core maps randomly back in the daily Events levels. Here's the gameplay: Admittedly, I've been enjoying Mighty Doom recently more than before in bite-sized bits. Its major criticisms are still there like general repetition dragging longer gameplay and its sour-taste mobile-standard monetization set-up that drives its progression system. I can really only tolerate 15 minutes in a day, and that's just to complete the daily event levels. And not to mention that mobile game preservation in general is terrible, and this game being always-online doesn't help in that regard either. There's a decent chance this game might go the way of Doom Resurrection in how many years. On the upside, they do bother to add a few new ideas, like the fight-able Hell Priest bosses, enemy (boss) variants with extra/modified attacks like the ice Imps, and elemental damage and effects for each enemy and weapon. The developers have been trying to vary up the moment-to-moment gameplay with updated room layouts and enemy compositions, so I'll give them credit for effort there. Besides adding the battle pass and weapon skins, they've also added more environmental interactions this most recent update - you can destroy walls with enough damage, there are explosive barrels for you to shoot at, and there seems to be more hazards in rooms. Not to mention, drastically overhauling the gameplay with the added ability to move and shoot in an earlier version also helps it set itself apart from other Achero clones while also leaning more into the expected Doom gameplay. While it's easy to be pessimistic about its longevity (in both playtime and lifetime), I think the developers have shown signs of at least listening and trying, and I think that's commendable. Definitely worth a try if you're interested in having something on the side, but probably not enough on its own to be enjoyed at a deeper level, let alone be considered the main attraction for Doom's 30th anniversary.

If I recall correctly, the relevant namedrop was specifically at The Game Awards 2016.

Glad we finally get Mick's perspective on the subject. It's a long read but definitely worth it. It's a really damning statement, especially with the proofs provided. The fact he wasn't paid for months (and even still for "rejected" work that was used anyways), had to crunch for days/weeks, had delayed / absent follow-ups for communications, and was manipulated along the way several times only to be blamed solely in the end anyways is really shitty and puts id Software in a bad light. Marty in particular comes off as an ass. The way they mistreated and manipulated Mick so blatantly, as if they didn't want to work with him, comes off as bizarre. The timing of Mick's statement is also notable, since id Software is expected to reveal their newest game within the next year or so. This will definitely cast a looming shadow over that project (especially since the soundtrack in the newer Doom games have been an oft-discussed highlight), and hopefully Mick's statement catches on long enough for there to be some sort of amicable resolution. The fact that Marty's out-of-the-blue Reddit post is one sticking point they refused to relent on is absurd. Regardless, I still doubt we'll see a resolution where Mick and id work out their differences to re-release the Eternal OST proper unfortunately. I also wonder how this will reflect on Hugo, since he did comment a few times in Marty's Reddit post to quote its contents. Mick's statement also highlights another under-the-radar issue, specifically with id Software / Bethesda now in control of the r/Doom subreddit and Doom Discord. According to Mick, he reached out to an r/Doom moderator to take Marty's Reddit post down due to real-world harassment, which was obliged - but soon after re-instated, with the moderator blocking Mick. Marty's lawyers soon contacted Mick to tell him that taking down the post "greatly offended" Marty. With id Software / Bethesda in control of both typically fan-run message boards, they now have the ability to directly control what users can see posted about the companies on those boards. I don't see this changing anytime soon either but it is certainly concerning and something to keep in mind. Finally, I hope Mick's statement catches on and he is able to recover his professional reputation and stave off at least some off the harassment. It sounds like an incredibly frustrating and shitty situation all-around. I don't understand why id Software mismanaged and mistreated Mick so poorly, it comes off so absurd and ridiculous. I do wonder if they'll release a counter-statement or if they'll just hope this all blows over by the time they promote their next game. In any case, I wish Mick all the best. He deserves a lot better.

Seems that Mighty Doom has been quietly released worldwide now as well, not sure when that happened (if anyone here could verify, that would be appreciated). Will be interesting to see what other people's thoughts are on the game. For myself, it's been a decent-ish game to play on the side with standard mobile-style monetization and practices that suffers from general repetitiveness. The most recent app update (October 3) just had some campaign re-balancing and general polishing. Notably, they still haven't brought back the Mars Core stages, missing the last two Talent upgrades (Suit Boost and Timed Rewards), and promotional images still feature the Arachnotron and Dread Knight despite not appearing in the game. In regards to issues brought up during early testing, they addressed some of them. They have added the ability to shoot and move at the same time, attempted to increase the variety of room layouts and enemy compositions, and have reduced the number of floors per stage from 50 to 40. Issues with monetization (i.e. $100+ currency purchases and cash-only outfits with unique effects), mobile practices (i.e. watching ads to revive), and nerfed reward gains have (unsurprisingly) remained unaddressed. They have even added additional sales bundles since last time, so that's something to keep in mind. I made an updated review post a while back on the Console Doom subforum, so you can read that if you're interested in learning more. Otherwise, you can try out the game yourself now.

"Corrax Entry 7:17" (and the quote itself) is from Doom 2016, specifically the opening text of the game. They re-used it in Doom Eternal's DLC because it's meant to callback to the beginning of that game (i.e. the Slayer being sealed away). The theory falls apart for that reason alone. I do think id Software's next title is probably in 2024, but I think it's more likely to be Quake than Doom. Doom Eternal's DLC ending was fairly conclusive, they recently released the Quake remaster, and I imagine id Software wants to work on something other than Doom (as they have been working on that for almost 15 years now).

I think so as well. The Doom Slayer's conquest against Hell began in the First Age (i.e. Doomguy in Ultimate Doom), an epic battle took place during the Third Age involving a Baalgar/Cyberdemon (i.e. final boss in Doom 3), and both the Spider Mastermind was prophecized to return in the Fourth Age and the Barons of Hell are noted to be the the "current royal guard of the unknown Dark Lord of the Fourth Age" (i.e Doom 2016).

E3M9 - Warrens I realized I hadn't tried any of the secret maps outside of E1M9, so I was using the console commands in GZDoom to skip to each of them to try them out. When I got to E3M9, I thought I had made a mistake or something and quickly checked if I inputted the right info or not. Probably one of my favorite secret maps now.

I wasn't planning on covering any more updates for Mighty Doom, but interestingly a recent patch has a few large-scale undocumented changes - including the ability to finally move and shoot at the same time. That's a significant game-changer (if rather hilarious to read for any Doom fan) as Mighty Doom's early access build since its availability last year always had the perplexing "move or shoot" mechanic. This change makes the game significantly easier and more fun to play, although the issues with general repetition still plague the overall gameplay. At the very least, it does suggest the developers are willing to make changes to the game to improve overall feel and flow - so that's commendable. Another significant change is the addition of Events, at long last. The Events Page had been locked since the game's early access launch over a year ago and it wasn't clear either what it was supposed to be exactly. Currently, they seem to be 2-3 daily challenges with added gameplay modifiers. From a gameplay perspective, they're a bit more incentivizing to login for compared to something like the daily login rewards or quests. However, their delivery is a little lackluster. Currently the challenges are just 20 stages with one "positive" modifier and one "negative" modifier, both of which are quite insignificant. For example, a debuff modifier might be extra damage and speed for Cacodemons or that melee-only enemies will spawn. These modifiers don't really mean much in the moment-to-moment gameplay and it fails to create a more varied experience which I presume is the reason for these to exist in the first place. Video Gameplay of Events + Moving and Shooting (about one minute in for gameplay) Three more minor changes that I may as well mention is the inclusion of elemental damage types, changes to bosses, and a UI update. Elemental damage is pretty interesting as different weapons / enemies will have different effects depending on the elemental type. For example, the previous "blue imps" that tossed multiple fireballs now toss "iceballs" that slow the player down. Or you can unlock a "Lead Poisoning" upgrade in a run that causes your Heavy Cannon's bullets to inflict a damage-over-time effect on enemies. An interesting change that adds a bit of flavor. Most bosses are now somewhat more tougher with more aggressive or unique attacks. For example, the Whiplash boss variant now tosses multiple zig-zagging projectiles that are surprisingly tough to avoid. Some of the bosses can continue to be exploited, like the Tentacle boss that still is out-of-range of the player or the Doom Hunter boss that doesn't turn to face you in the first phase (so you can just run past him to avoid his auto-shots). Finally, there's a UI update to add a lot more color to the game menus. Nothing much to say regarding this, besides that it just makes the game shinier to look at. Interestingly, they also added Daisy to Doomguy's shoulder on the loading screen. I do wonder if a UI update like this suggests the game may be planned to be released sometime in the near-ish future. Perhaps possible news at QuakeCon? Anyways, to highlight the UI changes and to remind everyone what kind of game Mighty Doom is, here's a screenshot from the in-game store: I also included screenshots featuring the UI update at various points in the original post, although just as links.

The Doom Slayer does have brown hair, it's just really dark for whatever reason. The opening cutscene makes it look much darker than it's supposed to be. Here are two images to highlight his hair color: Doom Slayer's face in-game Doom Slayer's face concept art Besides which, the purpose of the Sentinel Prime cutscene was to show that the Doom Slayer is Doomguy, hence why he's wearing the Classic armor. The ARC broadcasts also refer to the Doom Slayer as Doomguy - a nickname usually associated to the Classic protagonist. That's reinforced in Quake Champions when the Slayer's Classic skin is referred to as "Doomguy", while the Doom 3 skin is referred to as "Doom Marine". I don't see how this explains that the Doom Slayer isn't Doomguy. The Doom 3 marine is a different character who saw a tablet carving of Doomguy during his own adventure. Following the games chronologically and with some headcanon, we can assume Doomguy became Doom Slayer after Doom 64 - and the tablet in Doom 3 (released between Doom 64 and Doom 2016) is a brief glimpse into that fate, where Doomguy had become a legend among an alien civilization for his battle against the demons.

After the negative reception to Doom 2016's multiplayer for "not being Doom / being too generic" (among other issues), especially in the context of the much more favorably received campaign - id Software decided to aim for Doom Eternal's multiplayer to be "more Doom" and "more unique". So they took the gameplay loop of the campaign (Slayer vs demons with a gameplay focus on resource management and fast-paced combat) and made that the basis for the multiplayer - so the result is the 2v1 Battlemode and the absence of traditional Deathmatch. When asked why there was no Deathmatch pre-launch, id Software said in interviews that they wanted to make something different in the multiplayer market. They also said that Doom Eternal wasn't designed or balanced with Deathmatch in mind, particularly they believed that the fast-paced nature of the game would mean the player with better reaction skills would always dominate. Another point to consider is that Doom 2016's Multiplayer (and SnapMap) were made in partnerships with other studios. With Doom Eternal however, they decided to tackle the multiplayer in-house - so it's likely why Battlemode is much smaller-scaled than Doom 2016's multiplayer was and why they simply couldn't add additional gameplay modes. And based on game director's Hugo Martin design philosophy, it seems they wanted to stick with their guns and commit to what they developed with Battlemode, rather than trying to pivot partway through due to demand. It'll be interesting to see what id Software does for their next game in regards to multiplayer. Personally, I'm exhausted of the controversies and issues associated with newer Doom games' multiplayer modes - especially how they seemingly commit to multiplayer but not other modes (dropping SnapMap for Doom Eternal or focusing most of 2016's post-launch support on multiplayer updates rather than fan-demand for singleplayer DLCs). Although I imagine if id Software does make a new Quake game, they could advertise it with "true traditional Deathmatch" since that's what Quake has been associated with and they've already tried two different multiplayer spins with Doom - so it might be a chance to go for something more classic inspired. TL;DR - (1) Doom 2016 multiplayer was criticized for being too generic, (2) Doom Eternal wasn't balanced with multiplayer in mind, (3) Doom Eternal's multiplayer was developed in-house, and (4) they wanted to commit to making Battlemode succeed rather than trying to pivot with traditional Deathmatch

--- INTRODUCTION Hey everyone, Mighty Doom is a new mobile Doom spin-off based on Doom Eternal that's been in early access testing in Canada and New Zealand for almost over a year at this point. There was a previous thread on the Doom Eternal subforum where I wrote a few posts commenting on its development. Due to some ridiculous changes regarding monetization and hitting a wall in terms of difficulty, I took an extended break from the game. However with my new phone, I'm actually able to record video gameplay of Mighty Doom without any crashes - previously, I just took screenshots. So I have recorded over an hour of no-commentary gameplay going over all the stages and taking a brief look at different menu features. Since it's been a long time since I covered this game and considering this is a mobile Doom game, I decided to create a new thread here on the Console Doom subforum. Since this is an always-online mobile game, the game's long-term longevity is questionable - so I wanted to document as much as I could, as well as offer my thoughts on the game. Screenshots: Loading Screen Main Page MONETIZATION First, I wouldn't recommend the game just on the basis of its blatant monetization on an unreleased early access game. It's typical mobile-style monetization - able to spend upwards to $100 on in-game currency, various resource bundles, and skins with different gameplay effects. You can watch advertisements daily to earn additional currency or boost the auto-resource generator - and can even watch an advertisement to revive once during gameplay. The auto-resource generator was updated to be time-limited to encourage you to login more often - which is also the role of the daily login rewards. There's also a VIP pass you can purchase (no option to buy with in-game currency) to earn additional rewards from completing stages. One of the updates increased the cost of unlocking upgrades while also reducing stage completion rewards to make the game even more grindy. That's the kind of mobile game that Mighty Doom is. Unlike the previous mobile-exclusive Doom games, this isn't aimed at being a creative spin like the Doom RPGs or a standalone demake like Doom Resurrection. It's a modern mobile title that's cashing in on Doom Eternal's success and it's an always-online game that likely won't be preserved in the long-term. It's really unfortunate that this is the case, and is a strong reason not to engage with the game. Bundles and Deals Lootboxes for Crystals or Keys Crystals for Cash Coins for Crystals GAMEPLAY Mighty Doom is a top-down shooter where you advance through stages - fighting demons, dodging attacks, and unlocking upgrades. Most notably, you cannot attack and move at the same time, meaning you need to strategize when to reposition and when to stand and attack. Besides that, the actual moment-to-moment gameplay is mostly faithful to the spirit of Doom. In the later stages, you often fight a diverse group of demons each with different attacks and behaviors, which can be quite fun if not a bit overwhelming in some arenas with tight spaces. I actually like the gameplay, but it does suffer from being repetitive for three reasons: (1) enemy compositions usually aren't diverse enough from room-to-room, (2) you primarily rely on just one weapon, and (3) the rooms are bland in layout. One of the hallmarks to any Doom game is the level design - exploring the environment for secrets or using it to your advantage in combat. Mighty Doom lacks that - each room is a small rectangle with some boxes randomly littered about. It makes every fight feel same-y, and there isn't any interesting ways to approach combat. It would be like if Classic Doom was just a series of rooms with some blocks around and all you had was a Chaingun. It might be fun for a little bit, but it'd wear out really fast. There are a few damaging surfaces like spikes or interactive moment tiles like teleporters, which are nice opportunities for change but are too few and far between. You can also see the patterns of enemy spawns repeating themselves really quick as well, while there are fights later on that are diverse - many of them unfortunately are not. And finally, you use just one weapon with two alternates - a secondary weapon and a melee weapon. However, both of those alternate weapons are a one-time use with a cooldown, meaning you're just using the default weapon for the majority of gameplay. All of these issues contribute to an overall sense of repetitiveness. Gameplay Screenshot Settings Page DIFFICULTY Mighty Doom is divided into five primary stages, each with 50 rooms (with one exception). The health and damage output of the enemies increases per room advanced, meaning eventually everything turns into a bullet sponge that kills in a few hits. Initially, I liked that the game seemed mostly skill-based since you could just avoid all the projectiles and play smart with spacing in the environment. But my enjoyment got reduced when I slowly found out about the stat increases with each room completion. When you hit a difficulty wall from that, it's really demoralizing and was one of the primary reasons I stopped playing for a long time. The solution is supposed to be grinding earlier stages to unlock more permanent upgrades, but the issue is that the upgrade acquisition rate seems to be incredibly slow. There's a gearing system, but I've barely made any significant interactions with it in ages - it feels like upgrading and unlocking gear is really slow. There's also a talents system with passive upgrades that can be purchased with coins. Of course, this is one of the systems that became more grindy in one of the upgrades. Overall, the difficulty feels quite artificial and it's really slow to try to use the "solution", which is likely on purpose to encourage players to spend on currency. MECHANICS Enemies have a chance to become staggered when near-killed, allowing you to melee them for a Glory Kill that restores health. Other than that, there's no way to recover health in combat. One of the purposes of Glory Kills in Doom 2016 / Eternal is that they are a strategic way to recovering health from enemies. If there's no way to reliably stagger enemies, then healing in combat is basically random. There's no medikits to pick up either, so your health recovery is effectively dependent on random chance, which isn't fun when you're low on health. If you do die, you have 5 seconds to revive yourself once per game - either by watching an advertisement or by spending the crystal currency. This mechanic is even worse once you realize that when Mighty Doom initially was available for testing, the revival effect was free because "the Slayer's rage lets him keep fighting". Which was a flavorful second chance, but the current implementation is desperately pushing you to make a quick decision to watch an ad or spend currency (that you can spend real money on). It overall leaves a sour taste each time you play. Every few room completions usually come with an unlock. First, you earn experience every fight which can unlock the ability to choose one of three random upgrades. They are themed by weapons, glory kills, and other general upgrades. I actually like this mechanic, although most of the builds tend to be linear. Every few rooms completed gives you a small room where you can unlock one of two upgrades offered by a friendly Sentinel - either a minor boost or healing. Previously, the healing was a chance to gain armor instead, but currently there's no longer a way to acquire armor in the game. Finally, defeating a boss room either gives a Supply Bot or a Seraphim - the former gives you a random spin for one upgrade while the latter gives you a offer where you get a bonus at the cost of a penalty. Not a fan of the supply bot, I'd rather just be able to choose an upgrade, especially since most of the time it just gives experience. For the Seraphim, I also like this mechanic since it involves more interesting decision-making that could penalize you in future rooms. MONSTERS Here's an overview of all enemies so far. Most of the enemies have alternate versions, some have larger boss variants, and a few are boss-exclusives. Zombie - Very basic enemies that slowly move to melee the player. They're basically fodder and aren't very interesting. Considering you can't strategically trigger staggers like in Doom 2016/Eternal, their role in gameplay is diminished. Mecha Zombie - Fires a projectile in various directions. The lack of aiming means they are pretty much a non-threat, unless you aren't careful with positioning. They also have a close-range flamethrower attack, but it rarely ever occurs. Blaster Soldier - Fires a projectile in a straight line. They're simple but are pretty effective, and can be deceptively dangerous in larger numbers. One of the variants. One of the variants fires multiple projectiles at a time, making them even more dangerous in the bigger fights. Shield Soldier - Has a shield to absorb damage and attacks in melee. Lack of damage output means they don't seem to be really threatening and you can permanently disable the shield with just enough damage, so they're overall very ineffective. Hell Razer - Unleashes a tracking laser beam after a delay. These are easily the most dangerous enemies in the game - the tracking lasts for a long time and having to deal with a delayed attack is really problematic in most chaotic fights. One of the alternate variants fires multiple beams as well, which is even more absurd to deal with when there's so many other enemies to deal with. You can see in the gameplay how many times Hell Razers consistently put me at low health compared to any other enemy, and really I think it's the only enemy that needs to be nerfed. Tentacle - Hidden stationary enemies that melee when in range. They're really not threatening at all and I don't think I even took damage from any of them. The boss variant is hilariously bad though - while it remains revealed throughout the fight, its attack is limited in range - meaning you can kill it from a distance safely and it has no way of actually hitting. Imp - Tosses a fireball in a location after a delay. Because of how little space the fireballs take at a projected location and how long they take to fire, they're considerably less threatening than the similar Blaster Soldiers. One variant is a blue imp that tosses multiple projectiles, which can be surprisingly dangerous if you're not careful. Prowler - Tosses a fireball while also teleporting to avoid attacks. Previously, the Prowler used to shoot multiple projectiles before teleporting. In a recent update, they seem to teleport each time they take damage, which is incredibly annoying to deal with since you spend a long time trying to finish the last Prowler off in a fight after everything else is already dead. Pinky - Charges in a straight line while armored from the front. They're really tanky compared to most other enemies in the game, and because of the lack of mobility options, you can't quickly or reliably get behind to avoid the protective armor. Their attacks have long enough delays between each other, that they're really not a dangerous enemy. Lost Soul - Charges in a straight line. Just a lower tier version of the Pinky functionally. Interestingly, an alternate variant "wanders" around the arena in predetermined paths. That one is more interesting to play against and should probably be the default version. Considering you can't manually aim, sometimes trying to finish off these wandering Lost Souls can be a bit tricky. Cacodemon - Fires a projectile while also flying over unpassable terrain. A straightforward but decent enemy for its flying ability. Also has a bite attack, but that rarely is seen. One of the alternate variants fires projectiles that bounce off of surfaces, which is also interesting to avoid. Not much to say, but I like the Cacodemon overall. Whiplash - Fires a barrage of projectiles. This one is a bit weird since an earlier update had them attack with their whip at medium range like their Doom Eternal counterpart. Not sure why they changed it. One of the characteristics of the Whiplash is that it's supposed to be difficult to hit, but the one in Mighty Doom is a relatively easier to hit, so it loses that bit of its personality. Revenant - Shoots tracking missiles and flies around periodically. The missile is more Doom 3 than Classic Doom, so it's easy to avoid if you keep a good distance. In any case, the enemy isn't particularly threatening. Cyber-Mancubus - A boss-only enemy that fires frontal gases and tosses projectiles occasionally. Not really a threatening enemy and I defeated him without taking any damage. Seems to need to increase its speed and reactivity since it sat around and did nothing for a while for the boss fight. Not sure why there's no regular Mancubus. Hell Knight - Leaps at the player and performs melee attacks. Another simple enemy but fairly decent since it's more unpredictable compared to Lost Souls or Pinkies. Relatedly, there also used to be a Baron of Hell boss, which didn't seem to spawn during my playthrough. Not sure if it's a rare chance thing or if it got cut. Hell Priest - A Mighty Doom-exclusive boss enemy (based on the Hell Priests from Doom Eternal). Mostly just unleashes meteors on the arena, which isn't too difficult to avoid. I noted previously there was an close-range area attack, but that didn't get used in my recent playthrough. I think having a non-boss version that spawns meteors in regular fights would actually be interesting to have around. Doom Hunter - A boss-only enemy with two phases. It fires tracking missiles in the first phase, almost exactly like the Revenant since they're also really easy to avoid. The second phase occurs after taking some damage, where the Doom Hunter now charges in straight lines. Also pretty easy to avoid, so it's overall another boss that's pretty easy to deal with. Boss Variants - Many of the lower tier enemies have alternate boss versions, where you just fight one of them at a larger size. Sometimes, they have smaller versions to aid them or call down meteors during the arena. It's pretty amusing to see something like a Zombie boss or a Lost Soul boss. Also, there's an Arachnotron and a Dread Knight in the promotional wallpaper for the game, but I haven't encountered them at all. Maybe they're not implemented yet, I don't know. --- LOCATIONS Each of the five stages are based on different environments - Earth, Exultia, Nekravol, Doom Hunter Base, and Hell on Earth. Most of the stages play similar to each other, but of course the later stages are tougher and have more damaging surfaces present in the arenas. Interestingly, Nekravol is the only 20-floor stage - where you fight waves of enemies after passing a certain part of each room. Conversely, the other stages are 50 rooms where you just fight a single wave of enemies that spawn immediately. Not sure why it's different, but I think it's a good idea to help make different stages more unique from each other considering most of the rooms are going to feel same-y after a while anyways. There also used to be a Mars Core stage, but that got removed in one of the updates. Not sure why or if their plan is to rotate stages. --- MENU FEATURES Sentinel Batteries - To enter a stage, you need to spend 5 Sentinel Batteries of 20 that recharge over time. This is the typical "limited playtime" mechanic present in most modern mobile games. What makes it worse is that the earlier versions of Mighty Doom didn't have this mechanic present. And of course, you can spend crystals to refill Sentinel Batteries instantly, which can also be earned by spending real money. Coins and Crystals - These are the two currencies of the game. The coins are passively earned from defeating demons and are spent on upgrading gear or unlocking talents. You can unlock more coins by spending crystals. Crystals are Mighty Doom's "premium" currency that is also present in most modern mobile games, and of course can be purchased with real money. You can earn Crystals without spending money, but at a significantly slower rate. VEGA Mining - An auto-resource generator that gives coins and experience. Previously, there was no capacity on VEGA Mining, meaning if you left the game for a month, you'd have a month's worth of resources to pick up next time. In an update though, they placed a capacity on it that fills by the end of the day. The funny thing is that the previous implementation of VEGA Mining did actually convince me to check in once every few weeks, but the current implementation just soured the game enough for me to turn away for months instead. VEGA Mining Page Mail and Events - Both of these are unimplemented currently. Mail was a newer addition and it's pretty clear that it's supposed to be an intended way of delivering messages to the player. Events are interesting because the menu for them has been in the game since it initially released for early testing, but over a year later now, still no events have been put into the game. Events Page Mail Page Chapter and Daily Rewards - Completing stage milestones for the first time unlocks chapter rewards as a bonus. There's also a VIP Pass present in the Chapters Reward menu that unlocks additional bonuses from the milestones that can only be purchased with real money. The Daily Rewards are pretty straightforward, and in a recent update, are now cumulatively given (which is why I'm already on the sixth day of the reward despite not playing recently) rather than having the player actually log in each day to avoid resetting the daily reward count. Daily Missions Page Daily Rewards Page Inventory - The inventory menu allows you to equip and upgrade gear to increase your power. This seems to be a poorly implemented system though. I haven't had any significant interactions with gearing in ages, most of my gear has been upgraded from the earlier levels, and there isn't enough gear resources to actually upgrade the newer pieces, so they tend to be worse anyways. I also still have some slots unfilled despite being finished with all the stages. There's also a surprising lack of weapons, their drop rates are extremely low. I was excited to get the Combat Shotgun, but it seemingly shares the primary weapon slot with the Heavy Cannon - and that's too good to replace. You can also fuse three duplicate items of the same rarity to upgrade them as well, but that's also really rare and slow. This gearing system just feels too slow and as a result, I've basically hardly interacted with it at all. Inventory Page Equipment Page Talents - A menu of passive bonuses that can be spent with coins. For whatever reason, the bonuses are randomly given - so you can't actually choose which upgrades to pick. In the earlier versions of the game, it was actually relatively easy to progress in the Talents page. After one of the updates, they significantly increased the cost to Talent upgrades, to the point that I'm actually concerned the new player experience is probably going to be much more difficult. From the previous thread, I estimated the coin costs was increased by 10x, which is absurd. I doubt I would've gotten this far in the game if I had to overcome all that grinding in the earlier stages. Talents Page --- CONCLUSION Mighty Doom is a disappointment, featuring more negatives than positives unfortunately. On the one hand, I actually like the moment-to-moment gameplay of attacking enemies, dodging projectiles, using the environment to your advantage, and periodically unlocking upgrades within a run. I also think the cute aesthetic based on the collectibles from Doom Eternal fits the nature of being a mobile experience really well. The music is also pretty cool too and I like the renditions of pre-existing new Doom tracks (I think I heard a cover of Harbinger...). I think the game has potential if it was pivoted as a rogue-like Doom game featuring randomly generated maze levels, short but fast runs, and randomized unlocks and upgrades to keep gameplay fresh. But the gameplay is too repetitive and bland. Most of the rooms feel the same. Most of the fights feel the same. There's no exploration and most of the challenge comes from absurdly tuned damage and health scaling in the later stages. Progression relies too much on grinding earlier stages at a glacial pace. The upgrade system is poorly implemented and hardly worth interacting with. I don't feel compelled to keep playing, playing for an hour shows you everything the game has to offer. Doom games retain their longevity from having excellently crafted campaigns for you to explore and engage in - this game lacks that. It's just room after room after of the same 2-3 enemies at a time. Combat is simplistic, there isn't any choosing the right weapon for the right job, carefully triggering in-fighting to lay off pressure, or shooting at barrels to your advantage - every fight is approached with the same tactics. Not to mention the hilariously bad monetization present in the game - that is still in early testing over a year later. You can spend hundreds of dollars on in-game currencies. You're pushed to watch advertisements to gain other bonuses. Updates have made the game grindier and slower to encourage more spending for faster rewards. You can spend money on gameplay-altering skins or the VIP pass for bonus rewards - that you can't unlock through normal play. The game is so clearly interesting in cash-grabbing on Doom Eternal's popularity, that the whole package comes off as souring and off-putting. It's been almost a year after early testing has been enabled, and it's not really clear they can pivot this game to be something worth playing even after several updates. As it is right now, it remains a curiosity to try out but there's no compelling reason to stick with it in the long-term. --- Previous thread on the Doom Eternal subforum:

I'm not sure what ZeroMaster does specifically in the video, but one technique is to: (1) Lock-On onto the Marauder, (2) aim for the sky when firing, (3) shoot the exposed Marauder with the Ballista (the Marauder will be busy trying to block the Lock-On), (4) the now-faltered Marauder will take all three hits from the Lock-On earlier. This technique is fairly consistent once you nail the timing down and is practically guaranteed damage if you can set it up, although it doesn't instantly kill the Marauder. Another technique involving the Lock-On, which does kill the Marauder in one cycle, is a bit more difficult and requires a bit of set-up, goes like this: (1) Arbalest the Marauder when his eyes flash green, (2) toss two Frag Grenades in sequence, (3) while tossing Frag Grenades, shoot two Lock-On Bursts in sequence. This technique is enough damage to kill the Marauder in one cycle, although the timing is a lot more strict and the execution is a bit more complicated.

From what I understand, the Heavy Cannon has a significantly faster quick-swap rate compared to other weapons (for whatever reason). Using PB in quick-swapping is then the fastest way to swap between weapons, making it the highest source of damage per second. PB quick-swapping is also much more ammo efficient than Ballista quick-swapping - and you can use SSG and Ballista and Rocket ammo at their appropriate ranges while using PB: SSG+PB (close-range), Ballista+PB (long-range), and Rocket+PB (mid-range). If you use SSG+Ballista for example, you're potentially reducing a source of long-range damage (the Ballista) for later. So it's mostly a combination of faster quick-swapping speed and ammo efficiency.