Recent reviews by Carbon

Interesting take on the Doom franchise, leaning back to the early games. Runs very well, a nicely optimized game and looks stunning.

It feels a bit too story-driven at times and some of the game play elements feel a bit ham-fisted, at times it seems to think the player is a bit dim. I can't help but miss the times when the Slayer was just "Doomguy", had no clear story and was just mad as hell and killed demons. The story presented here is a bit juvenile, but serviceable.

The addition of sliders for all manner of aspects of the game to make it more difficult or easy, so it should be a bit less prohibitive to people new to the franchise or just want some variety in their playthroughs. Of which one would likely have a few, again, thanks to the many ways one can alter the experience.

It's not always easy to see the enemies however, as they tend to get lost or be somewhat invisible in the palette and textures, having the player often taking damage from one or two demons blending into a cliff or rock face. There is a good variety of demons, with some old ones returning and some new old ones showing up making a nice variety.

Weapons are interesting and varied, though I can see one relying on a couple of weapons primarily. The melee feels a bit clunky to me, with some of the combos having a wide variety of engagement distances, but it works. The mech level really feels bolted on and while it is fun (and thankfully short), it doesn't seem really necessary.

Game mechanics have been largely simplified from Eternal. There are still ammo/armor management strats, but they aren't so strictly implemented and it feels like we are being allowed more freedom to play the game the way we want, as was more the case with 2016. It's a bit of a blend of minor elements from Eternal blended with 2016 but given enough freshness to feel unique. Big focus on getting close and bashing things, parrying and bashing some more...good fun.

Anyhow, interesting and engaging mechanics, good combat loop and gorgeous visuals. I'm sure others will write more useful and detailed reviews, but for a 'dad gamer', this is a solid addition to the franchise.

Not going to say too much here, but the game is a fine addition to the series and does justice to both past and present. It's hugely ambitious and as such is not without its share of issues, but few have interfered with my time with the title or created problems which cannot be overlooked.

The narrative is somewhat convoluted but coherent (if mildly over-ambitious in its desire to tie things together), the direction and voice acting excellent (play in the native language with English subs) and the pacing is very good for such an expansive world. I find the world itself to be an NPC and where others see vast emptiness, I see the zone as a living entity, both harsh and sensitive. Traversal can see arduous, but the tension of storms and emissions makes the world exciting and unpredictable, bringing a true sense of relief to arrive at safety.

Sound design is very well done, with weapons being punchy and powerful and again, the world featuring centrally with weather, fauna and flora all fulfilling their roles. Gun play is tight, solid movement and the interface is intuitive and clear. The engine shines here and where UE games can tend to look generic, the zone has been crafted singularly with regions and divisions demonstrating much that is unique. This is a testament to the devs using the good aspects of UE but avoiding the tropes and blandness that can come with UE. Lighting is gorgeous - as long as you have the hardware - and textures are crisp and well defined. A beautiful, artful and compelling game.

In a patch or two, it will be perfect.

Overall, great game. Casual gamer here, so I use a mod to tone down the AI a notch so every moment isn't a 3 alarm fire and am enjoying it immensely.

Haven't had any bugs or glitches and the squad AI is pretty good. Yes, they can get caught up on things occasionally, but it's all about learning the menus and becoming fluent and fluid with the menu system. The faster you become with managing, understanding the limitations and capabilities and strengths of the AI, it's great.

I won't go into too much detail here - many people have laid out the pros and cons of the game, but RoN is a great game, well worth the money and time one needs to understand how all of the systems work. I can't stress enough how one really needs to work with the AI and not expect it to just get along on its own. Put in the time to learn your team and the braindead moments are few and far between.

As I said at the start, I use an AI mod to get them down to human levels, making it hard but fun. Mods have full in-game support, so expect this game to be something that keeps on giving for years to come.

Great game, highly recommended.

Just finished a few hours with New Frontiers and I have to say, it really is remarkable. The biomes are excellent with atmosphere and amazing new flora and fauna which really feel dangerous and forbidding. While I thoroughly enjoyed Styx and Olympus, Prometheus is very immersive and compelling.

Sound design is incredible! I set up in the Marshlands when an acid rain storm hit and between the creatures around me and the rain burning on the rooftop with the wind blowing through the canopy above, I didn't want to sleep through it!

Speaking of the Marshlands...the tree house is amazing. I know where I'm going to try to build in my next open world, despite the desolation and lack of certain resources. A very challenging environment, dripping with atmosphere and intrigue. The new take on the Arctic biomes is awesome! Love the ice, new rock and overall geography...very interesting combination of ideas there...makes me think of ancient lava flows now covered in ice. I'm looking forward to exploring the rest of the biomes in upcoming missions.

I'm really digging the update. Performance is on par with the previous maps and on my modest system (10700k, 16GB, 2070 Super @1440p) I went for nearly 3 hours without any issues at all. I run ISLC and if some are having memory crashes, I would recommend that little program as well as manually setting up the paging file.

Great work devs. A very worthwhile DLC and I'm glad I bought the Supporter's Edition. Thanks for your tremendous efforts and I highly recommend giving this your time.

It's Doom. Kill demons. Awesome.

Great game. Some pacing issues aside, pretty much still the perfect contemporary FPS game. Runs like a dream, even with raytracing enabled on my lowly 2070 Super at 1440p.

I have to admit that I pre-purchased the game, DLCs and all, played an hour and just didn't get into it. I loved Doom 2016 and I think I was expecting more of the same. 2016 was slower paced with combat being a bit more...manageable? DE seemed a bit too wily for me with that mindset, so it sat in my inventory for years until recently. I decided to get back into it and just push forward and then yeah, it got me...or rather, I got it. The dance, the chess game..it clicked and here we are, post campaign, heading into The Fallen Gods.

My one complaint was the humanizing the Slayer. At one point (spoiler alert) he actually speaks and sounds like an angry dad...really took away from the enigmatic mystique surrounding him. In Doom 2016 it was all about his actions; they were his words but in DE, they make him too 'normal', even though it's within the context of his becoming the Doom Slayer. I felt it was unnecessary and like I said, kind of 'reduced' the slayer in my eyes. The whole 'power fantasy' aspect was negatively affected.

That aside, yeah..awesome.

I'm really enjoying the game at a meager 186 hours. Visuals are very good, with some pop-in, but that's evident in many Unreal Engine games. Audio design is excellent, with location sound cues being spot on and I do like the ambient sounds (I turn all music off, so I can't comment). Menu sounds are clear and distinct as are the various creature sounds, so all good there.

Controls are crisp and tight, though at times the character does seem a bit 'floaty'? But hey, maybe the gravity on Icarus is a bit different, though that doesn't seem to stop the hard impacts from jumping or falling. :)

The game play loop is great, or perhaps it just fits my style. The grind is real, but show me a game where is isn't! It's a very organic progression through the tech tiers to satisfy the goals of the mission and while some have a problem spending 4 ~ 6 hours building up only to leave it all behind upon mission completion, I actually enjoy it...leave it for the next survivor!

The mission timers seem quite contentious, though I'm not sure why. I'm an older gamer and can't / won't do marathon sessions, but I've never had a situation where I started a mission and couldn't get it done over 6 ~ 8 hours, which spread over a week irl is easy to manage. If I know I can't complete the mission in time, I head to the dropship, back to orbit and I'll come back again later. But, as I said, that has never happened and I play solo exclusively.

Well this is hardly a comprehensive review, but I'm very satisfied with the game and the developers listening and responding to feedback thoughtfully and quickly. I bought the 'supporter's edition' and in no way feel that it was money ill-spent. I'll be playing this for years, so thanks to Dean and all the devs. GGs. :)

The good things:

~ Good movement for all champs, though some require practice to understand and use well. Buying the CP allows you to start custom matches, which can be you alone in a selected map, allowing you to practice moving around. I haven't had any mouse lag issues (G502); I feel the game is very responsive.

~ Weapons. The typical selection for Quake and quite well-balanced overall. Not hard to use, but knowing when to use what is something that needs to be learned. Again, a custom match can get you used to weapon switching and get your keybinds the way you want.

~ Visuals. The maps look good and play well, with no hangup issues. Apparently turning on the gore (this must be enabled through an in-game menu) brings the FPS down, but I haven't noticed anything significant. Champions look good and all have a distinctive silhouette, making them easy to identify from a distance.

~ UI. This one has many people divided: it is a heavily layered UI but I feel that it needs to be in order to convey the vast amount of information to the player. Most of the layering has to do with champion customization and loot boxes (more on those later) however, and one can get into a match with 2 clicks. I think they have struck a reasonable balance between making the things relevant to getting in a game front-and-center and the customization elements that are going to make this game economically viable for Id. The UI does have a lot of depth, but if one isn't interested in what those lower layers offer - if one just wants to play - then things are very simple.

~ Loot Boxes. This is another that has people divided, but I have to say that it seems like people who complain about it are the ones who want more free unlocks faster. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't take into account how Id will be able to make this game worthwhile from a business perspective. They need people to be invested in champion skins, replacement weapons (Q4 railgun, for example) and skins for the default weapons and vanity items for champs. None of this affects game play at all, it is purely cosmetic, so there is still an equal playing field regardless of what the champion looks like or weapon type or skin. I personally like the system, but I have some money to drop on these things and I like to do it. Those who don't have the money to engage in this aspect of the game seem upset about the amount of 'grind' one must do to unlock these things. 'Grinding' (playing) is one way to gain one of three offerings of loot: a backpack (one item, random chance of getting the various tiers of loot), a chest (2 items, better chance of getting higher-tier loot) or reliquaries (3 items, always pretty high-tier loot). I won't go into too much detail about how these are earned, but all can be earned for free and there are a good number of rewards (which include all of the three items above) for various aspects of playing (completing challenges, leveling up, etc.). One can also spend real money on 'platinum' which can be used to buy reliquaries or simply buy things outright from the store. Overall this is a contentious aspect, but I think it works well enough for people who want to earn items and those who want to buy them.

The Ho-Hum:

~ The store needs to be expanded. All items should be avaliable for purchase at all times. As it stands, the store (an in-game menu that links to your Steam account wallet) offers a rotating (every 4 or 5 days) offering of various items, often it seems for the champions I am not invested in. Maybe this is a personal complaint, but I don't see the harm in opening up the store menu items. By limiting it, I suppose they create anticipation and thus one may be more likely to make a purchase when an item comes up for the champion they like, but I think the temptation of having all items available would be equally irresistible.

~ Map themes. Currently the maps have a kind of 'sameness' about them. They feature similar 'gothic' texture sets and there is little in variation between them, aside from layout. This gets old fast and new texture sets need to be introduced to create some visual distinction between the maps. It's very "Quake", but across 10 maps, it gets a bit boring.

~ Wait times. I have no idea how to fix this, but waiting times between matches can stretch on between 1 ~ 8 minutes. I think this has to do with location primarily, but I think something might be done to improve consistency.

~ Matching in public games. This is tough one to sort out and QC does offer ranked play (where you will be pitted against someone of your skill level) but in public team-based matches, there is no system in place to put similarly-leveled players together. This makes the game very daunting for novices and I suspect is going to turn people off quickly. No matter how good-natured an individual is, getting killed over and over by better players has an adverse effect.

~ Bots. If the player count in below the required number (as set by Id: more on that soon) then bots will fill the gaps. I don't mind this personally, as it reduces waiting times (I guess), but many players complain that if your team is you and 3 bots, the opposing team simply needs to 'bot farm' (focus on fighting the lower-skilled bots) in order to win. There is validity in this, bt to most average players, the bots are challenging enough. This is another highly contentious issue though and many will disagree - and perhaps rightly so - with my assessment.

The bad:

~ Server-side hosting only. I understand why this is so, but I hate it. Everything - even private custom matches - is hosted on Bethesda servers, meaning gone are the days of any kind of offline play. If you aren't online, you can't play. At all.

~ Duplicate items. When the opportunity to gain 'loot' presents itself, duplicate items often appear, naturally increasing with the amount of unlocks one already has. Often a duplicate will turn into 'shards' (the last of the 3 in-game currencies discussed so far) which enable one to buy chests and other items as they become avliable, creating a kind of recycling. Duplicates may also result in 'attachments' unlocking, a smaller cosmetic addition (kneepad, for example) to an existing owned item. With the overall huge number of available unlocks (96 for one champion alone!) I think duplicates should be less common, regardless of how much one already has. Also, if one pays real money for 'platinum' and buys reliquaries, duplicates should be omitted. Paying money for loot boxes should be random regarding what you get, but one should not be rewarded with a far less meaningful kneepad as an unlock for receiving a duplicate item as opposed to a larger unique item. There should be some distinction made between those who pay money and those who don't. Yes, I know how that sounds - very elitist - but that's how I feel. Money should assure no duplicates.


I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting, but that's it. I'm enjoying the game and while it still has issues, it seems to be moving in the right direction. Overall it's fun, fast and offers great gameplay.

More than a game, but an experience. Worth far more than the price asked, prepare to lose yourself for a very long time in one of the most well-crafted, haunting yet inspiring journeys ever brought to PC.
There is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said and I write this review only to support the developers. Buy the game, support the team. It's truly worth your time and money.