Re: DOOM: The Dark Ages

On Thu, 15 May 2025 22:46:32 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

I still haven't played 2016 and newer. I stopped with #3. I wonder if I would like these newer DOOM games.

In my opinion they are not at all like DOOM 3, which was mostly an
archetypal 'corridor shooter' with few enemies and tight geometry to
navigate and not very scary jump scares.

The modern DOOM is more open spaces, but more typical of an arena
shooter with the player often funneled into smaller areas (sometimes
shut in - which I hate) with sometimes large groups of demons.

I'm more a fan of the DOOM 3 design, but I don't have a blanket
dislike of arena style shooters providing that the area isn't so small
and the player can find some cover or respite.

Some games are just annoying in that way. 'Roguelike' and 'roguelite'
games that deliberately lock a player in a tiny arena with hordes of
enemies are not at all to my liking. Mainly because perishing means
having to do the whole thing all over again from the last checkpoint.

I have played quite a bit of Gravelord recently
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1823990/Gravelord/ which mostly
gets it right in my opinion. Small maps with lots of enemies that
sometimes locks you in a small area, but allows one spot where you can
retreat for a few seconds to get your bearings.

I have also been playing Mother Hub  which is an homage to Doom 3
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1480990/Mother_Hub/  which was made
by a single developer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMpVYP86m74

I enjoy the game despite not being able to remap key bindings. It
looks nice, it has a creepy atmosphere, and it has genuinely startled
me a few times in a way that DOOM 3 never did.

--
Rob