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[RoadHazard]

So a few years ago (but several years after it was released) I played Doom 2016, and had a great time. Nothing too deep or all that memorable, but it was a very fun, action-filled romp.

Recently I started playing Eternal, and for some reason I'm not having nearly as much fun. I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it's the added "fluff" with the ship and all the stuff to unlock, maybe it's how they've changed the combat to require more careful weapon usage instead of just mindlessly blasting your way through everything, maybe it's that it feels like just arena after arena of enemies to clear (but I think the last game was a lot like that too).

I'm not sure, but about a third through the game (I think) I just thought "nah, I'm not gonna spend more time on this". So I quit and started playing Kena instead, and I'm having 10x more fun with that.

 

[bender]

I liked Eternal less than I liked 2016. It turned everything I hated about 2016 up to 11.

 

[clarky]

Nah im with you on this one. Loved 2016. Whilst I appreciate they tried to evolve the formula somewhat I preferred the more simplistic combat in the 2016 reboot. I didn't get very far in Eternal, although I can also see why some might prefer it.

Shit was near perfect as is.

 

[OverHeat]

Op is not wrong

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Oh god, not another topic where everyone who says they liked Doom Eternal best (like me) comes in to say that Doom Eternal is one of the best shooters of all time, while people who liked Doom 2016 best come in and say they liked that game better and then probably something like "I kept running out of ammo?!"

This is how it goes every time.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Gaf hates Eternal for some reason but gaf is a massive minority so yes you do have a rather unpopular opinion as Eternal is one, if not, the best shooters of all time. Playing and finishing that game on Nightmare is a massive satisfaction in skill just like Sekiro is.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It's not an unpopular opinion, the fanbase was pretty split on changes made to Eternal from 2016

I don't know why they made it into Super Doom Brothers with the dumb platforming and I don't know why they made it so you had to use certain weapons to kill certain demons but it is what it is

 

[The Pleasure]

Doom II is the goat and Eternal is what we get when Romero no longer creates levels.

 

[cormack12]

I'm about halfway through eternal and personally found it much better than the snoozefest that was doom 2016

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

I still liked Eternal a lot, but they leaned too heavily into how finishers/grenades/chainsaws and whatnot change what drops you get to force you to use most weapons evenly. I like the idea, but there were too many times, one boss in particular about halfway through, that the use of the mechanic felt like the game had a very intended run they want you to take and it can be frustrating.

 

[bender]

Oh god, not another topic where everyone who says they liked Doom Eternal best (like me) comes in to say that Doom Eternal is one of the best shooters of all time, while people who liked Doom 2016 best come in and say they liked that game better and then probably something like "I kept running out of ammo?!"

This is how it goes every time.

Dislike them both like your favorite robot.

 

[eNT1TY]

Agreed, Eternal is just a kill room crawl with extra steps and less flexibility instead of just a kill room crawl. Has a predetermined rigid optimal resource management loop that shoehorns you into a singular playstyle that feels more work than fun, like a shitty mandatory puzzle mini game layer slathered on. Some like that more, i do not. Oh and the platforming sucks. Bet you guys the new doom will walk back a lot Eternal's fluff and be closer to 2016 even if it is mechanically much simpler.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Unpopular opinion. I like Doom 3 the most.

 

[cireza]

This is not an unpopular opinion at all. A lot of people, me included, prefer 2016 to Eternal. The issue I have with Eternal is that it doesn't really feel like Doom anymore. Also too much stuff added on top of what was already there, and it made it unpractical with a controller in my opinion.

Doom 3 was much simpler, less buttons and all, no missions nor skills nor upgrade nor whatever. Why all the complex shit ? To make me feel smart while I make choices that aren't choices to begin with ? Stop wanting to make me feel smart, I am dumb. Give me good weapons a ton of enemies and let me have simplistic fun about survival and blasting things.

 

[NightmareFarm]

DOOM 2016 is great but sorry Eternal just one ups it in every way. Eternal is full on crack cocaine. I cant go back to 2016.

 

[Nankatsu]

OP you're not wrong. Loved Doom 3, played Eternal in the hopes it would reach 3's epicness. It didn't.

But it's still a good game.

 

[Muffdraul]

Unpopular maybe, but still 100% CORRECT.

EDIT:

I forgot to repeat what I've said in the last several '2016 vs Eternal' threads...

Doom 2016: "Get in there, have fun, fuck shit up, go nuts!"

Doom Eternal: "First do your chores and finish your homework, then you can have fun."

 

[danklord]

Doom 2016 feels like the classic DOOM fully realized into a badass, modern, generation defining shooter experience.

Doom Eternal is a baffling, incoherent sequel that prioritizes DOOM's trademark platforming (this is a joke, why is there platforming?) into a middle of the pack, forgettable experience.

 

[rofif]

I agree.
Doom 2016 was much better, focused, right amount of serious.

 

[Fake]

I don't even consider Doom Eternal a Doom game to be honest.

Doom 2016 is like galaxies ahead.

 

[SkylineRKR]

No I ultimately found Eternal to be the better game. Bar the boss fights and ammo limits that is. I advise against playing it on Hard on console though, but Normal to me was easier than 2016 in fact. It has a more steep learning curve, but you'll find out the arena battles are much smaller in scope and drag out far less in Eternal. The problem with Eternal is that if you want to stick with one weapon you will need to kill fodder zombies every few seconds over again. And the platforming I first wasn't sold on but it was actually okay to me.

Doom 2016 to me felt like too much arena battles with increasing tiers every wave. In Eternal this is kind of left for the optional slayer gates.

 

[phant0m]

So a few years ago (but several years after it was released) I played Doom 2016, and had a great time. Nothing too deep or all that memorable, but it was a very fun, action-filled romp.

Recently I started playing Eternal, and for some reason I'm not having nearly as much fun. I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it's the added "fluff" with the ship and all the stuff to unlock, maybe it's how they've changed the combat to require more careful weapon usage instead of just mindlessly blasting your way through everything, maybe it's that it feels like just arena after arena of enemies to clear (but I think the last game was a lot like that too).

I'm not sure, but about a third through the game (I think) I just thought "nah, I'm not gonna spend more time on this". So I quit and started playing Kena instead, and I'm having 10x as much fun with that.

This is exactly why I disliked Eternal after loving 2016. Combat became a “puzzle” in which you need to use the right weapon at the right time or the game punished you. I don’t like that.

If I want to spend the entire game blasting every enemy with the shotgun I should be able to. Eternal made that impossible by restricting ammo so much and making each weapon ineffective against some subset of enemies.

Also 2016 did a really good job of respecting the player — fuck your story, I’m here to blast shit. The game acknowledges this in the first 15 minutes. Eternal tried way too hard to have a “story” for….reasons?

 

[DonF]

Loved 2016, hated eternal.

To me its because the game feels less cohesive, the story jumps all around, I was lost from the start.

Gameplay wise, too many cooldowns and weapons and most feel like shooting pellets.

I still don't get why we need a sword, the chainsaw and the BFG... It's too much. I liked the simplicity of 2016.

 

[Fbh]

Loved both.
I do appreciate the more focused and straightforward approach of 2016, but I also enjoyed the ways in which they expanded the scope and gameplay in the sequel (I also liked having some more platforming).

 

[DragoonKain]

I liked 2016 more. I don't remember a ton about either, I just remember feeling 2016 was a more methodical experience with a bit more exploration and more interesting areas and Eternal was just non-stop frantic fighting which I don't enjoy in my shooters. I like when games give me time to breathe.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I loved the overall vibe of 2016 more, but there were subtle things done to combat in Eternal that I really loved. But I think as a whole, I loved 2016 more. ESPECIALLY the multiplayer content. But I did love both in the end, just 2016 a bit more.

 

[Ristifer]

I enjoyed both.

 

[Traxtech]

I felt like I was micro managing in a fps with all the cool downs and what not.

I still have yet to finish it, yet played 2016 non stop until I 100% it

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Oh god, not another topic where everyone who says they liked Doom Eternal best (like me) comes in to say that Doom Eternal is one of the best shooters of all time, while people who liked Doom 2016 best come in and say something like "I kept running out of ammo?!"

Eternal is one, if not, the best shooters of all time.

If I want to spend the entire game blasting every enemy with the shotgun I should be able to. Eternal made that impossible by restricting ammo so much

Spoiler

 

[The Pleasure]

Eternal is full on crack cocaine. I cant go back to 2016.

Well, it does look like it's missing teeth and not from the fighting.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Yeah, the additions like all the platforming didn't add much and just detracted from the pure fun Doom loop. I liked 2016 better but Eternal was still good.

 

[CrustyBritches]

Eternal is the best SP fps ever.

 

[SolidQ]

I like both, but Eternal give to me more fun, because 2016 on Nighmare easier, than Eternal

 

[Sojiro]

I still really love Doom 2016, but man Eternal is fucking phenomenal, I was surprised how much more I liked Eternal over 2016. Not trying to put 2016 down, but I really like all the gameplay additions that Eternal introduced. The only thing about Eternal I wasn't a big fan of were some of the platforming sections, 2016 has a bit of these too, but there are more in Eternal, just get rid of those and I wouldn't have a single complaint about the game.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Eternal fuckin sucked.

 

[DanielG165]

Eternal is the superior game in everything but tone for me. I love both games, and they’re two of the best modern FPS games in existence… But Eternal is the better title over the already masterful 2016.

 

[Saber]

Dunno why you considered unpopular since Doom Eternal was a total downgrade in terms of gameplay, going for the route of making combat cheesy "radical" looking, with unnecessary plataforming. 2016 Doom still pretty faithfull to what Doom is about, just put some extras here and there.

 

[FalconPunch]

The problem with eternal was that it’s too try hard. Playing that game was just unnecessarily stressful in a way that was not enjoyable for me. Meanwhile 2016 was finely balanced. I could never bring myself to finish eternal. Also, I preferred the music in 2016.

 

[amigastar]

Eternal is the superior game in everything but tone for me. I love both games, and they’re two of the best modern FPS games in existence… But Eternal is the better title over the already masterful 2016.

That's what i also think. I really loved Doom 2016 but Eternal was even better. Also i miss the disintegration of enemies in 2016 Doom.
If there is a disintegration mod for Doom 2016 i would gladly play again.

 

[Superbean]

I've tried a few times to play eternal. It just doesn't hook me like 2016 did. I find it obnoxious and tedious to play. Too much platforming and puzzles and not enough shooting and killing demons which is kind of the whole point of Doom. Not a fan of the shoehorn resource Management minigame crap either

 

[STARSBarry]

Remember when Doom Guy was just some random badass that showed up and kicked demon ass?

Yeah eternal decided that was too cool, so instead just turned him into some generic super soldier created by angel technology.

Sometimes less is more, with every cutscene that eternal had explaining doomguys origin the less interested I became.

It turned a kick ass avatar of vengeance into some boring generic space marine

 

[Holammer]

I played Eternal for 18 minutes and I obviously had something more interesting as I haven't returned to it since.
Not a fan of the gameplay loop. Sometimes I just want to shot stuff, not have a complex DPS rotation à la World of Warcraft.

 

[DanielG165]

It turned a kick ass avatar of vengeance into some boring generic space marine

I think you’ve got that one backwards. Doom guy/Doom Slayer went from a generic green space marine, to an avatar of perpetual rage and vengeance. Plus, there were, what, 3 cutscenes that vaguely explained parts of his origin? The rest you needed to research and read yourself if one was so inclined and interested, whether in both 2016 and Eternal’s story logs, or online.

2016 turned the protagonist into an avatar of vengeance, Eternal simply knuckled down on it.

 

[Laptop1991]

I agree, Doom 2016 was a better game all round, atmosphere, story, weapons and gameplay. Doom Eternal was just deathmatch arena's, way too much wall traversal, and an irritating ammo refill mechanic

 

[xBlueStonex]

I've said it before - 2016 feels like a tech demo after playing Eternal. I could never go back.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I've said it before - 2016 feels like a tech demo after playing Eternal. I could never go back.

It's baffling for me to see people preferring 2016, I mean no slight on them when I say this but you're right, 2016 is like "is this it?"

 

[amigastar]

I remember TotalBiscuits video on Doom 2016. He really liked it. I'll bet he would have liked Doom Eternal also.

 

[Sentenza]

I wouldn't know. I owned a copy for three years and I didn't launch the game once.
I keep saying "I'll finish Doom 2016 first" but I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that it may never happen.

 

[Jack Package]

I'm with you on this; they took all the good ideas from 2016 (optional plot, clean monster design) and threw it in the bin.
Too big an emphasis on ammo management and those dumb melee kills, plus all the forced plot that I was NOT there for.

If there's a third nu-DOOM, I hope it's the opposite of Eternal.

Also fuck that DLC cube boss fight, it was NOT balanced for controller use on Ultra Violence and above.

 

[MasterDerico]

100% agree with you OP! Doom 2016 still the goat imo!