So I decided to try Doom Eternal for the first time. Having just replayed Doom 2016, I thought I'd give the sequel a go, despite being repeatedly warned about some of its features. After completing the first two missions, I think I should have heeded those warnings.

First, here's some stuff that I liked. Most enemy redesigns are cool, especially the possessed soldiers who now actually resemble the sprites from the classic games. I also appreciate the plasma rifle having its old look once again, instead of the generic toy gun aesthetic from 2016. Similarly, medkits are white boxes with red crosses now, and the health bonuses are blue flasks, just like in the classic games. The music is still very good, though I think I liked some of the 2016 tracks slightly better. Also, this game is very well optimized, and runs fine even on my GTX 970, despite the improved graphics.

Now for some things that I didn't like. Doom Eternal has a lot more platforming than 2016. I already knew that from reading reviews and seeing some gameplay footage, but I wasn't aware of its full extent. On the second level, you literally need to jump past spinning flame bars that were lifted straight from Super Mario Bros 2. And no, that's not a joke. You also get regularly harassed by demons while platforming, which makes the experience even more annoying. It's as if the developers took the least liked element from Doom 2016 and asked "How can we make this worse?" or something.

Additionally, the combat difficulty has been increased. The enemies are a bit tankier, and much more aggressive. This isn't necessarily a bad thing on its own, but when combined with the ridiculous ammo starvation and certain battle arenas being set on platforms, it drags down the gameplay quite a bit. To clarify, in Doom Eternal, you can only carry 16 shotgun shells at the beginning. And from what I gather, even when you fully upgrade the ammo capacity, it maxes out at 24 shells total. So you need to swap weapons repeatedly as you run out of ammo, and then use the chainsaw to replenish it. This kinda ruins the flow of the action for me, but I understand that other people enjoy this type of resource management.

The user interface is also very busy, and has way too many things that you need to keep track of (remaining fuel, dash counter, grenades, blood punch, flame belch etc). Also, some of the icons are too small, including important stuff like armor and health. In short, there are too many things that I need to keep track of, which can sometimes distract me from shooting enemies and dodging attacks. Again, I get that some people like this kind of gameplay, but it's not really my cup of tea. Anyway, those are just my initial thoughts. So far, I liked Doom 2016 more than Eternal. We'll see if that changes later on.

To quote from my mini-review of Eternal:

...However, the arena combat drifted further away from the classic experience. “Forced” is how I frequently heard critics describe it, and as I got further into the game, I understood why. The game does not just gave you additional tools – it forces you to use them the way it was scripted, to stand a good fighting chance. Enemies can have specific weaknesses to certain weapons, and extreme resilience to anything else...
...The ammo capacity has been reduced across the board, which forces frequent weapon swaps, and regular chainsaw use. There is no ‘Armored Offensive’ rune, so demons must be frequently set on fire to replenish armor. To maximize the contribution of the secondary equipment (grenade, ice bomb, flame belch, chainsaw) you have to keep track of their recharge status and use them as frequently as possible. Adding the Blood Punch and the Crucible (the latter only in the final few levels), you now need to keep track of about 10 different action buttons in the heat of battle. It can be overwhelming.

So yeah, I agree with everything you say, except I actually enjoy 3D platforming, so that aspect didn't bother me.

It feels that the target audience was experienced Doom (2016) players, and the devs felt that if they give more of the same, that audience would get bored, so they thought of ways to expand and complicate the gameplay mechanics. You probably would have hated it entirely, without your prior experience with the first game.

One tip I can give - if you haven't mastered the quick weapon switch technique - do so. I only started using it towards the end and never got really good at it, and it makes things so much easier.

One thing that Doom Eternal has going for it is how mesmerizing it is to watch the top speedrunners deal with those crazy arena battles. It's one of these games that might be more satisfying to watch than to play (probably not a good thing).

dr_st wrote on 2025-04-23, 10:17:

So yeah, I agree with everything you say, except I actually enjoy 3D platforming, so that aspect didn't bother me.

I've just read your review for Doom Eternal (and 2016) and it seems we have had similar experiences with both games.

As for the platforming, I generally dislike it in first person titles, unless it's the primary focus of the game and implemented extremely well, like in Mirror's Edge for example. For me, platforming works best in third person games, where I can actually see my character on the screen. I very rarely had issues with it in the Prince of Persia series or the (modern) Tomb Raider games.

One tip I can give - if you haven't mastered the quick weapon switch technique - do so. I only started using it towards the end and never got really good at it, and it makes things so much easier.

Not sure I'm familiar with that. Do you mean the upgrade which lets you switch weapons faster or something else?

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-04-23, 11:58:

One tip I can give - if you haven't mastered the quick weapon switch technique - do so. I only started using it towards the end and never got really good at it, and it makes things so much easier.

Not sure I'm familiar with that. Do you mean the upgrade which lets you switch weapons faster or something else?

I mean the concept that when you swap weapons, the reloading time is reset, and the next weapon if ready to fire immediately. If you switch back and forth (or between multiple weapons) you can basically fire non-stop.
Here's a video that explains and demonstrates it succinctly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfHizfxfNg8

dr_st wrote on 2025-04-23, 12:08:

I mean the concept that when you swap weapons, the reloading time is reset, and the next weapon if ready to fire immediately. If you switch back and forth (or between multiple weapons) you can basically fire non-stop.
Here's a video that explains and demonstrates it succinctly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfHizfxfNg8

Interesting, I had not heard of that before.

Almost seems like an exploit, but given how crazy and hectic Eternal's combat is, I imagine the developers probably expected people to use it. Guess I'll give it a try then.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-04-23, 12:35:

dr_st wrote on 2025-04-23, 12:08:

I mean the concept that when you swap weapons, the reloading time is reset, and the next weapon if ready to fire immediately. If you switch back and forth (or between multiple weapons) you can basically fire non-stop.
Here's a video that explains and demonstrates it succinctly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfHizfxfNg8

Interesting, I had not heard of that before.

Almost seems like an exploit, but given how crazy and hectic Eternal's combat is, I imagine the developers probably expected people to use it. Guess I'll give it a try then.

Honestly I only ever used it for the final boss of the DLC, because it was so obnoxious getting him into a vulnerable state and he healed. Maybe I would have felt like the enemies were less tanky if I was abusing mechanics like that more ruthlessly, but with the intense resource management, I never had the mental overhead available to devote to yet another min-maxing task.

gerry wrote on 2025-04-22, 13:07:

i found a previous save of Need for Speed: Underground (the 2003 pc game) and carried right on! Surely there can be no better racing game! well, ok there are plenty - but still, i do enjoy that one. Maybe i am starting to become nostalgic for some of the styles of cars back then!

.... i went round some more tracks ... I don't know, everyone has such in depth accounts and view i'm just trying to join in 😀

Oh, i tried playing Earth 2150 and while i recognise that there is some quality in the game, I just didn't like the control scheme or the graphics all that much. Maybe it takes time to 'tune in' to the game

I just finished The Last of Us Part 2 on the PC (I refused to purchase & play it on the PS5, and patiently waited for the PC version to arrive).
This one together with the first TLoU, are without a doubt the best story driven games that I’ve ever played.

Some time ago I gave System Shock a try. I got stuck on the first level when cyberspace just refused to be comprehensible to my poor old brain. Apparently conventional wisdom is to play with default difficulty for everything except cyberspace, which you set to the easiest. Oops, didn't feel like restarting.

I'm telling you that, to tell you I recently picked up the System Shock remake which I kickstarted forever ago. I don't remember every twist and turn the development for this took. I feel like at certain points it was up in the air whether they were doing a remaster or a full remake with more departures from the original. And engine changes, always engine changes. Anyways, I'm giving it a solid try, and I'm enjoying it. The mutants look a tad goofy, but all in all it's solid. Cyberspace isn't totally crazy to me either. I don't recall if the original spawned in new enemies, I don't think it did? This one does, akin to System Shock 2. In fact the whole vibe is very System Shock 2-ish, which is fine.

Anyways, they don't seem to have overtly fucked it up in glaring obvious ways. Yay.

bloodem wrote on 2025-04-23, 19:33:

I just finished The Last of Us Part 2 on the PC (I refused to purchase & play it on the PS5, and patiently waited for the PC version to arrive).
This one together with the first TLoU, are without a doubt the best story driven games that I’ve ever played.

I'm in the same boat. Finished part 1 two years ago I think? Now and then I make some time and play part 2 for about 30 minutes. Best game so far this year.

Oblivion Remastered: I’ve been keeping an eye on the rumours around this because Oblivion is a favourite of mine. I wasn’t convinced that it would appear, but it did, and then I suspected that it would suck, but it doesn’t (so far) (I’m only a couple of hours in).

From what I can tell it’s 1:1 with the original from a level design perspective. The mechanics, UI, characters, world objects, etc are so close to the original that I felt right at home. All of the voice acting I’ve heard so far is original too which is much appreciated – I really like Oblivion’s overacted, janky dialog. Combat is improved significantly – this was always the weakest part of the game for me. Stealth + ranged is particularly fun, sword and shield seems OK too – there’s a lot more weight to it and far better animations all round.

The graphics of course are the major difference. There seems to be a general dislike of Unreal Engine 5 out there but I think it looks fantastic. It’s grittier and less cartoonish than the original but that’s fine by me, it was rather too neat and bright. I’ve settled on capping it at 60FPS which is a little low for me these days, but for whatever reason it feels smooth here. I’m playing with most settings on high with a 3060RTX Ti at 1080p.

I know the novelty of uber Oblivion will wear off at some point so I think a good rule of thumb is that if you liked the original, you’ll like this. If not then it really is just Oblivion with a fancy paintjob.

badmojo wrote on 2025-04-23, 23:01:

Oblivion Remastered: I’ve been keeping an eye on the rumours around this because Oblivion is a favourite of mine. I wasn’t convinced that it would appear, but it did, and then I suspected that it would suck, but it doesn’t (so far) (I’m only a couple of hours in).

So it's the same game but with slightly different mechanics in some aspects and new graphics? Seems ok but i liked the original enough, seems like getting the same again. After a while I'd imagine it just feels the same, improved graphics only get you so far - and i actually liked the graphics it had

gerry wrote on 2025-04-24, 07:03:

seems like getting the same again. After a while I'd imagine it just feels the same, improved graphics only get you so far

that's what a remaster is about 😉

gerry wrote on 2025-04-24, 07:03:

So it's the same game but with slightly different mechanics in some aspects and new graphics? Seems ok but i liked the original enough, seems like getting the same again. After a while I'd imagine it just feels the same, improved graphics only get you so far - and i actually liked the graphics it had

The nerds of the world have of course been busy compiling a list of the changes to gameplay, and there are lots: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion_Re … astered_Changes

But yes to me, a long time fan of the game but not obsessed with every aspect of it, it's the same game with lovely modern graphics, proper gamepad support, and better combat.

badmojo wrote on 2025-04-24, 08:27:

The nerds of the world have of course been busy compiling a list of the changes to gameplay, and there are lots: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion_Re … astered_Changes

But yes to me, a long time fan of the game but not obsessed with every aspect of it, it's the same game with lovely modern graphics, proper gamepad support, and better combat.

that list is a good reference, thanks for linking it, i liked reading "bugs introduced" after "bug fixes" 😀 There's some new content too, that and some of the game mechanics actually makes it worth a second look after all!

badmojo wrote on 2025-04-24, 08:27:

gerry wrote on 2025-04-24, 07:03:

So it's the same game but with slightly different mechanics in some aspects and new graphics? Seems ok but i liked the original enough, seems like getting the same again. After a while I'd imagine it just feels the same, improved graphics only get you so far - and i actually liked the graphics it had

The nerds of the world have of course been busy compiling a list of the changes to gameplay, and there are lots: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion_Re … astered_Changes

But yes to me, a long time fan of the game but not obsessed with every aspect of it, it's the same game with lovely modern graphics, proper gamepad support, and better combat.

controller support is the only thing the game really needed and maybe a slight graphical upgrade which could probably be done good enough with mods, for controls on oblivion i map some in game and the rest with xpadder and everything works just like on 360, i only played it start to finish about 10 years ago on the 360 after i'd done everything in skyrim, the graphical downgrade took some getting used to, combat isnt as refined as skyrim but i didnt find it bad, as good as skyrim is i think oblivion is still the better game.

after i finished the games i still wasnt satisfied 😀 so i transfered my saves for both games from xbox360 to pc so i could pick up where i left off, my skyrim saves worked with the remastered version of skyrim so im hoping my oblivion saves will work on the remaster as well, as much as i enjoyed playing through the game i dont want to do it again.🤣

also im hoping since its essentially a new game there will be some new DLC, morrowind based like solstheim, just sucks for the skyblivion devs after all the work they've put in as most people including modders will probably focus on the official release.

I played some Devastation, an FPS game from 2003 using the unreal 2 engine.

Good: Nice engine, great choice of environmental textures and objects - it really does look like a dystopian and dilapidated with crumbling buildings, trash and remnants of better times all over
Not so good: The actual game is just ok, the plot is ok, mechanics are not that good to be honest but its ok. I don't care much for squad, team based shooters and this one has random people join you all the time - but you can just ignore them and they'll just follow you about

I understand that later in the game it introduces cloning and then the gameplay changes, maybe that'll be interesting to try out.

So far though, as i play though i keep thinking there's so much stuff lying around you can't pick up and so many doors you cannot open, stairs you cannot climb and so on, a little dissapointing

Torment: Tides of Numenera
So far, this game is a total mess. It was meant to be a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, even going so far as to have a similar sort of title. Unfortunately, the writing is a very poor pastiche of the writing in P:T, even going so far as to ape "Updated my journal" whenever you learn something about your past (in this game, "Made a note"). It's embarrassing to anyone who has played the game's inspiration, almost like renting Transmorphers thinking it was a sequel to Transformers.

T: ToN starts with a bizarre sequence that makes no sense whatsoever, where you are forced to answer questions you don't understand. Who are you? Why are you being asked these questions? Do they even matter? It's impossible to tell. Once you are done with that, the game shows you your character sheet, and asks if you want to change your choices. Okay? This is one of those games that asks you to choose between a "glaive," "jack," or "nano" without explaining that what it really means is "fighter," "rogue," and "wizard." In other words, it's gonna be one of those games where instead casting a "spell" at a "ghost" you're gonna be using "spales" against "ghozoths" or whatever.

From there, it basically plays like P:T but with turn-based combat and awful writing. Nearly every single line of dialogue in T:ToN is batshit crazy, with random shopkeepers talking like schizophrenics off their meds. What the writers of T:ToN forgot (or never realized) is that not every NPC in P:T talked like a loon; there were plenty of "normal" people just living their lives trying to get by, and so the world didn't feel completely alien.

It's a shame, because there's a lot going on under the hood. You've got all these abilities and skills you can use not only during dialogue but even during combat (which the game pretentiously calls "crises"). You can actually avoid a lot of combat simply by "skilling" your way out of it, and even in combat you can sometimes use skills to interact with the environment to your advantage. In a better game, this would have been awesome.

The game is also very ugly, with flat lighting all over the place, making it difficult to focus on anything. This has really become a lost art in games over the last 20 year or whatever. It's fine to present the player with a big world to explore, but you need to render things in a way that that draws the player's eye past the riffraff and toward the important stuff. When everything looks like garbage (or alternately, everything looks equally important), it's hard to stay interested.

newtmonkey wrote on 2025-04-25, 16:14:

Torment: Tides of Numenera
So far, this game is a total mess.

Yeah, I found the writing crappy too. And to make it even worse the game absolutely drowns you in it. PS:T is like a book too but it has excellent writing that keeps you interested and willing to read on, while Numenera's writing makes you groan in agony.

I don't know did they badly overestimate their skills or did they somehow really think quantity > quality when it comes to writing or what, but I'm rather baffled how nobody amongst the devs noticed this ain't working too great and cut the amount of dialog in order to mitigate the problem.

I also agree that the game has the making of something really good had it been made by people who were up to the challenge. The setting is great, earth something like a million (or was it a billion?) years in the future and filled with artifacts of long gone cultures nobody understands.

--

I'm replaying Doom again, been a few years since my last full playthrough. Doom is just one of those games I know perfectly well how great it is but it still somehow manages to surprise just how damn fun it is each time I go back to it, I'm having a ball!

Kingdom Come Deliverance II

Just a quick note to say I found an Easter Egg (no spoiler). Maybe others have noticed this too. When you use Nvidia Ansel to take a screenshot, the main character Henry says "Beautiful!" as if he took a beautiful picture. Here's a nice view from the rocks above herbwoman Bozhena's hut, looking towards Trosky Castle, which you can see faintly in the distance on the highest hill. Below and to the left of the castle is the village of Zhelejov.