Okay, this review has been on my mind and has been a bane to my existence and has been eating away at me as well as the thought of another game. So in turn, I will try to talk about both of these games due to the fact that they created their own genre in the genre they were inspired by. This is a double review of Dusk and Doom Eternal. Please do note that I am not saying they are the same game. They are completely different and will talk about them separately in sections in each critique category. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my first ever duel review and wish me luck.
Intro
Dusk is inspired by multiple FPS games in the genre: Blood, Quake, Doom, Rise of the Triad, etc.. But because the game is inspired by so much, it’s basically it’s own brew of game. It’s not a clear clone of any other game, no one can really identify the game and everyone labels it differently. I’ve seen people compare the game to Half-Life which is a strange comparison to me and the single dev, David Szymanski has said it was a strange thing anyone can say. It’s a stew that I thought I would never see at all. Now everyone’s trying to be like Dusk, cashing in on the nostalgia look. I mean look at Strafe and Amid Evil, both games with different appeal and critical acclaim. Seriously, Strafe was a massive let-down to me. Anyways, the game is a great dive into atmospheric horror and cheesy action that leaves me craving for more. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played and has so much charm that the game is fucking stunning regardless of the limitations David had.
Now Doom is a game that helped a lot of people when it came out, in the height of the quarantine and all. The game is both an amazing technical marvel and a spin of gameplay that destroyed my expectations of the game. It’s so brutal and challenging that it defies my understanding of the FPS genre as a whole. It made me realize that the genre is so flexible that it could be anything. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that since the Doom community has done that already to the original Doom 1 and 2 games. It almost made me feel like an idiot with how much it opened my eyes. It’s so awesome on how it executes gameplay and it makes previous Id engines look so inferior. My PC with specs from 2017 was able to play with no crashes or slowdowns. There were hiccups, but they were practically minor. If you were to do that with Wolfenstein: New Order with a low-end computer for the time, it would lose assets, destroy triggers and make the game fucking die within seconds. It’s a feat that I respect and love. I appreciate and respect the hell out of this game.
Gameplay
Dusk is this strange brew, like a homemade beer that your uncle made that tastes unique. You can definitely taste the flaws, but it’s good enough to drink to and ask for more when you meet your uncle again. It’s such a great piece of work that you can’t really judge too harshly. It’s a good enough game to play safe, taking the level slow and paced, trying to take out of all the enemies with the least amount ammo wasted. Or just play the game like fucking Arnold “The Man” Schwarzenegger in Commando, blasting bitch cultists and telling abominations’ the let off some steam. The gameplay is so versatile that it can be played by newbies who’ve never played an FPS in their life. It’s so good! All the while making challenging gameplay and beautiful set pieces. The weapon variety helps with the gameplay since they’re so simple in design yet they’re so complex when you use them correctly.
Shotguns are used like every other game, but meshes it with the movement making it a good primary for most battles in the game. Super Shotgun is slow like most in the genre, but has such an impact that it can single out almost everything in a few shots, but comes with a risk of singling out one enemy out of the dozens in display in some levels. Machine gun is good for aerial attacks, trying to maintain grunts at a range without trying to waste too much ammo aiming. Crossbow although can be looked over at first glance, destroys crowds with just a few shots due to the sole fact that it penetrates through everything. And I mean, EVERYTHING. Walls, roofs, floors, rocks, doors, EVERYTHING. It’s so simple in design, yet it feels so useful in so many situations. The only drawback to this weapon is the fact that the ammo is very scarce, almost like the Riveter, but I’ll get to that later.
I think the only weapon I feel is the most useless (to me at least) is the Mortar. I never liked pill launchers in any game, Quake 3’s grenade launcher was the least used in my weapon roster. I am called an idiot for doing that, but I never could get any good use out of them. The Mortar has some tech to them like pressing the alternate fire button detonates the pills early, just I could never get it to land on my end. I’ve seen clips of speedrunners landing their pills spot on while making me feel like an infant compared to them, so I know it’s just me. I think a better alternative is a bounce mechanic would do nicely, but that’s my choice of pill launchers. Maybe have it bounce off walls, but when it touches the ground it immediately detonates. But I can see that being a bit easy. Probably would have to encourage corner shots through game design, which would mean changing a lot of the levels, which I do not want. In short, I ignore the Mortar because I am an idiot who doesn’t know who to use it properly. The Riveter is basically this game’s BFG, a weapon of ultimate power with little ammunition to justify use on grunt. It’s reserved for those who act as a wall in your mission to act on your revenge for the life they stole from you. Merely death upon the sight of this godly weapon, those who challenge it will regret the thought the moment the trigger is pulled. This weapon is the beast you see in every gameplay footage on Youtube that makes you go “Holy shit!” and feel the satisfying gibs this thing leaves. My father walked past my computer as I used it and went “Holy Fuck” as I decimated a Cowgirl. It’s weird to think that this godly beast of a weapon was supposed to be the standard Rocket Launcher like in any other shooter since the Riveter is so good against anything big enough to take three Super Shotgun and live. The weapon is limited to the amount of ammo you receive, so god will shine when he needs to. There was a BFG planned but development time was short and not much time was there to create one, so we have the one thing that is close to a BFG to the dev. This begs the question though: if the Riveter was gonna be a standard Rocket Launcher and seeing how much it destroys everything, what the fuck would a BFG be like? Only Oshry would know.
Now a few things to add: power-ups. It’s a retro FPS, of course it’s got power-ups. There is two useful ones like the Fast Fire Totem and the Serum of Blistering Heat. Fast Fire Totem is as it says, it makes you shoot fast than usual and can stack if you catch more than one totem at once, but that is like some speedrunning shit you got to practice for. You can make your Machine Gun becomes a Gatling Gun to a fucking Vulcan mounted on a Firebird, but seeing it on the first try is hard as hell. The Serum of Blistering Heat is… Well… Civvie said it well, it’s just Super Hot as a power-up. Time only moves when you move, so play the game slow as hell, observe your surroundings since where it’s placed is mostly in hard as hell encounters, so use it well and think long and hard. There is the Climbing thing (it’s actually called that in the Dusk wiki), which allows you to climb any surface, but it’s only seen in like two levels in Episode 2, so use is only limited to getting to and from places. Then there’s the Lava Suit which is, if you played Doom, is just the radiation suit of this game. You can walk over hazardous materials like a certain goatee scientist.
Doom Eternal has something new to it, it gives you nothing that Doom 4 offered since everything you have here makes you think harder than gun go pew. Punching a zombie in Doom 4 allowed you to glory kill them. Punching a zombie in Doom Eternal is like trying to mine granite with your bare hands. You will never kill them with a punch and I believe does no damage if you don’t have a Blood Punch. In Doom 4, you were flushed with ammo and could shoot willy-nilly without a single regret, while in Eternal you regret missing that SSG shot, you regret unloading thirty shots on a wall trying to get an imp. Ammo is precious and makes the game so much of a resource management sim, making you respect your ammo as much as the last shot, having you try and learn the weapons rather than passing it off like every other shooter that gives you spare ammo with every kill. Doom Eternal gives you everything you can to trying and evaluate the odds of what you can and cannot do. Death is only a learning curve as the game punishes you with a single misstep, stopping all momentum for panicking, punishing you for every missed shot. The game is unforgiving that beating it on Hard was a fucking feat. And that’s saying something for me since I beat every game on Hard and always feel either nothing or complete anger. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus made me regret buying it when it’s a decent game on easier difficulties, while Halo 3 made me feel kinda indifferent with the game on Legendary. The game gives you a proper challenge compared to most games nowadays and is a great breath of fresh air.
The weapons are fun as hell, which needs no introduction. Each is a piece in a chess game that allows you to advance in the game. Plasma gun destroys energy shields and decimates grunts like the Zombie Soldiers and Imps, rocket launchers stun Hellnights, and anything higher, the super shotgun is an impact weapon that can be used to fuck over heavier demons like the Pinky or the Mancubus. Chaingun and machine gun can be used to take out a variety of things: pelting bigger enemies with it, having them be slowed by continuous fire, or use the mods to distract or disarm demons. The BFG and the Unmakyr are crowd control weapons, you feel overwhelmed or cornered, use them and you have the space to breathe. Now with the BFG, I have a terrible case of Hold-On-To-It Syndrom where I either feel too cocky to use my trump cards or just feel no need to use it at any point in the game. I’d be having my ass handed to me in several occasions, but never felt the BFG was needed, always felt wrong. Like I was wasting resources and is heavily worrisome since the ammo for the BFG is really fucking scarce. I believe it’s just me in this problem, so I kinda feel like an idiot at times, but feel like the resource management aspect of the game has taught me too well.
All the classic power-ups are there: Rage, Quad-Damage, Speedboost, and the Mega Sphere. And they fucking add to this delicious gameplay, man. Just everything about it makes it ten times better. And is supported by the reflection of Doomguy’s face popping up just to get you hyped and get to killing as much demon ass as you can. It’s so fucking good! To those who don’t know: Rage is a power-up that puts you in big-dick mode, put away all your guns just so you can rip demon ass apart with your bare fucking hands! Blood will be spilt on these walls and floors as we celebrate the carnage we engulf ourselves in! Quad-Damage is kinda self-explanatory, your damage output is multiplied by 4 and your weaker guns can kill anything larger than a bus within seconds compared to before. Speedboost… Well… Do I need to say anything about that? Mega Sphere is nothing too special, but it’s something to look out for since it tops off your health and armor at 200. It’s a good lifesaver, but I suggest you save it when you really, REALLY need it.
I think the only thing that I’d say is bad about the gameplay is the fact it’s not too welcoming to newer players. It’s accessible to anyone who’s never played this game. I don’t know if this is entirely true, but I know my dad won’t be able to play the game without screaming at it or leaving it altogether. Anyone new to the genre won’t enjoy Doom Eternal as their first game. This isn’t really a bad thing about the game since I praise a challenge in a game, it’s just not accessible even in easier difficulties. I could be wrong since I know there is a certain VTuber that played the game like a fucking champ.
Story
Alright, everyone knows that retro FPS games have as much of a good story as a Star Wars Prequel, but I enjoy the story of Dusk, despite its cheesy shit. Dusk keeps its story a mystery while telling it, you know nothing about Dusk Dude than the fact he’s getting revenge for the death of his family. All you know that he’s on this awesome journey to kill the leader of this mysterious cult of mystic power and aetherial understanding. The pain can only be cured through the blood of the followers of this cult, and you are the tool for this painful hatred you carry. Kill all who stand in your way and tear through anything they throw at you. Go through hell and back, and be ready for a second trip. There isn’t much there than that!
Doom Eternal is… Longer… Doom 1, 2, 3, RPG 1 and 2, and Doom 64 are all cannon in the Doom universe. Which makes Wolfenstein and Commander Keen in the timeline making Keen himself related to BJ and Doomguy himself and that makes Flynn Taggart his true name, or is it the one in the comics? Or the other books? What about the books on Doom 3 confirming the name of the Doomguy in there? It’s a mess! The story is basically something along the lines of Doomguy trying to stop Hell’s reign on Earth, stopping the Hell Priests who are summoning the demons there in the first places and kill the leader of these Priests, the Khan Makyr. Carrying a visage of an angel, she brings nothing but evil to your realm, and yadda yadda yadda, rip and tear until it is done.
Atmosphere
Dusk is surprisingly full of horrific atmosphere that leave you on edge, making you forget those moments with each playthrough. The time you lose your flashlight in dark tunnels of meat and gore, hearing nothing but the machines sloshing the shredded meat around the rooms as you try to think of the reason why all these things are for and what this meat is. It’s not anything you can understand, and you definitely know it isn’t human. Dusk is a game that bleeds atmosphere in so many places that I fucking love. I put off on talking about the enemies since they help so much to the atmosphere. The Cowgirls which have a squeaking wheel sound as they moan almost sexually, feeling discomfort to their own alert sound. It’s so good and I hate how good it is. I hate hearing those damn Cowgirls, they make my skin crawl. And we can’t forget about the most important enemy in the game: the Wendigo! They’re invisible when they chase you and the only thing showing you their presence is the heavy, loud breathing they emit and the blood prints they leave behind, it’s magic on how they surprise me every time despite me beating this game 6 times over. We can’t forget the superb enemy placement, putting them behind crates and barrels just so you know what you’re dealing with, it all being pushed as you hear that loud breathing deep in your ear. Your only reaction is to shoot the moment this happens and it always gets me. Such a magical moment that I fucking love.
There are levels in the game that have this unnerving feeling to them that make you instantly forget this is an action FPS. There are two moments in the game that I really hated because of the sharp atmosphere this game has, and that’s the second and third time you break your flashlight. Both exploring the dark and meeting nothing along the way to a new flashlight. Nothing for two straight minutes that feels like hours. I have a fear of the dark and that got me on edge every time. I adore this game’s atmosphere so much and it shows that David Szymanski has made other horrific titles like Fingerbones or The Moon Silver. Seriously, Dave, you’re an awesome horror artist.
Doom Eternal is more cartoony in its approach of its demonic killing, which some may hear as a bad thing, but it adds to the character of the game. You have very colorful levels that’s an upgrade to Doom 4’s red color palette. It’s no longer a boring industrial feel, it’s a cartoony science-fiction that compliments the design in so many ways. The cities are probably my favorite since they have so much popping out of them while temples and demon constructions have a more limited color palette. I know I make it out that the game might seem very round in its design, but it still makes for awesome looking places, having the color palette for my favorite level, Cultist Base, being in a blue hue while most of the colors are white, grey and a bright blue. It feels so awesome, industrial but so mystical. It’s a bright feeling that makes me feel calm, despite the fact that soon the blood of demons will be splattered all over them. They even complement it with the design of the Zombies, having them being in a grey/white and blue outfit. And the more you go deeper in the base, the colors kinda dampen itself to a red and yellow color, having it feel like it’s becoming more corrupt the closer you get to the Priest. They even make it better with Zombies wearing a red suit rather than the standard grey and blue suit. I love it so much!
Another thing I love about the atmosphere is the fact that any screenshot of the levels can make for an awesome metal album cover. Just so fucking awesome, skulls that you’d see on an Iron Maiden album, metal structures that would fit so well in a Metalica album, just so much shit that a metalhead would orgasm to, man!
Music
Dusk’s music was handled by an awesome guy named Andrew Hulshults who made some of the best music in the fucking world. He’s worked on the music in Doom Eternal’s DLC, Ancient Gods, so he ain’t no small fry. He’s made some metal shit in Dusk as well as some of the most atmospheric tracks I’ve ever heard. He’s got me to feel disgusted and my skin to crawl while playing the parts where I was forced to walk my way through the dark to find another flashlight. His track “Ashes to Ashes, Dusk to Dusk” is so wonderful, you just wonder what the hell you’re in for as you wonder the map, hoping you won’t run into anything new. But continues to blow my mind with “Mind Control” with something that pumps you up in the battle, man! It’s honestly something that I’d see in something like Quake or Doom, which he made music for both. Check out Corrupted Keep if you want to feel like a Strafe Hopping legend. It’s so good and I wish there was a vinyl of this soundtrack wink wink and enjoy it how I love my music wink wink. Giving you some ideas, Oshry.
Doom Eternal had it’s music composed by the legendary Mick Gordon, which made the soundtrack for Doom 4. I love his work in Killer Instinct and his work in Doom 4, but his legacy is truly put into Doom Eternal. You can tell his heart and soul was put into the music, his blood and sweat put into the instruments he played to create the work in this awesome game. I mean, without it, I don’t think Doom would be as great. I remember playing the game recently with the music off and it felt weird without it. The feeling this music gives you, the hype you are given encourages you to only continue the carnage. I mean, Cultist Base is the best track second to Meathook and They Fear Only You, making for some awesome moments to pump you up in the action and continues to be in my jams playlist to this day to listen to at this moment of writing this, headbanging to the beat of this track only to get lost in it! God, I fucking love Mick Gordon and his awesome work.
I think the only that really feels wrong about this OST is the fact that Mick Gordon was shafted during the making of the retail release of the OST, meaning he kinda made nothing out of making this soundtrack. He left with a frown and it makes me kinda mad Bethesda shafted the man. He made an awesome soundtrack that I genuinely love, especially since he kinda poured his soul into it. He deserved better.
Multiplayer
Dusk’s Multiplayer is kinda different than how it is nowadays. Now you click a button and await a match to be found, which can take a while, but Dusk kinda does it old school. Back in the days before I was born, you had to find the right time to actually play the game online. Depending on where you were, it was different, and playing with a certain amount of people, sometimes ranging from 5 players in a 20 player serve to like queueing for a full server. Dusk operates like that and I kinda enjoy it. Makes me appreciate how it is now rather than hate new things because they scare me. Every Saturday is (or used to be, been a while since I played Dusk World) is Frag Day, servers would be full and awaiting anyone who wants to play the game. Occasionally, you’ll play with the Devs of the game or studio or just with complete randos loving how classic this game is.
Now that the basics are out of the way, the gameplay is pretty fucking fast paced compared to the singleplayer experience. You are swooping by as everyone hups around with shotguns and pistols trying to kill each other. I kinda reminded me of Titanfall 2 a little bit, how spastic the gameplay is and how the average encounter is usually around 3 to 4 seconds long. It’s a unique experience that I enjoy and hope is still alive. I miss these games so much.
Doom Eternal added this new mode after everyone complained about Doom 4’s multiplayer not being anything like the campaign. Which wasn’t all of it’s problems, but was one of the thoughts I had about it. So came Battle Mode, a new mode where two demon players go against one Slayer. It’s a two on one, a completely fair fight in my book and makes the gameplay feel so tight and tests your knowledge on the campaign’s gameplay. You have three lives and you need to win three rounds against the demons hellbent on killing your ass. The slayer is decked out with all of his weapons and upgrades, allowing for you have a completely fair fight with the demons. Now the demons have a few choices: Marauder, Revenant, Pain Elemental, Mancubus, and the Archvile. You choose your style of gameplay against the slayer, having each demon carry traits that can help you. There are combos for you to aid your partner like the Marauder and Revenant combo helps out a lot. You got a deadly close-ranged demon zoning you and a ranged demon making sure you don’t move too much. Mancubus and Pain Elemental is good as well, having a tank that can take the most hits with attacks that help put the Slayer in a good position for the Pain Elemental to keep his eyes on him. Archvile is ver versatile but I can never get used to him. His teleport never feels right too me and too easily telegraphed making it no longer and escape but rather a prolonged death.
My only problem with the multiplayer is probably the fact that this is it. There isn’t much to it than kill the Slayer. It’s good, but it can get old quick. And somehow people have turned a 180 and want the arena back in Doom just like how Doom 4 had it. It feels weird that people went back on their word, but I guess that’s normal on the internet. Can’t please anyone. Despite that, I still like and suggest it. It’s enjoyable and better with a friend. Trust me, cooperating with your pal is much better than hoping you’re on the same wave length.
Outro
I’d have to say both games are the best of their genre. Dusk was an amazing throwback, reinventing the wheel while creating a new subgenre in the process called Dusk-Like. It’s influential and will be the leading charge of many games by the same studio behind Dusk such as Ultrakill or Amid Evil.New Blood’s start to a golden age. I highly suggest this game due to its amazing gameplay, its horrific atmosphere, and direction to retro FPS I’ve never seen before. I know that the game is on the Switch and has an exclusive level that is basically Mario 64’s Peach’s Castle, but I don’t have a switch. I hear it’s good. So, play it if you haven’t already. Doom Eternal is a great game and is one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever had in a game for a long while. It creates amazing gameplay tactics that challenge your use of everything and knowledge on the enemies. The music in both games is phenomenal and deserves the praise it gets. I adore the game so much and I hope more learn from it and Dusk. Just amazing games. Seriously, get Doom Eternal and Dusk if you haven’t already.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my double review on two of the greatest games of the year they came out and I hope I said something new on these games due to how late this review is to both games. I am sorry about that. I’ve been writing this review since my 20th birthday last year and Doom Eternal only made it harder when March rolled around. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and the wait was worth it, and…
Play More Games!
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