Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part Two (2021) - Horror Video Game DLC Review (Playstation 5)

Continuing my playthrough of the previous games on the path to Doom: The Dark Ages, I have played and beaten the second of the two story DLCs (also available as a standalone mini-game) for Doom Eternal, funnily enough, this one is called The Ancient Gods - Part Two. I didn't have high hopes due to the first DLC being neat in terms of lore, but exhausting in terms of incessant combat. Thankfully, the developers seem to have realised their error with a much easier, and albeit, shorter second set of levels that were much better designed and more fun to play. Unavoidable spoilers for both Doom Eternal and The Ancient Gods - Part One to follow.

With the Dark Lord of Hell resurrected by the Doom Slayer, all he has to do is kill him. It doesn't turn out to be that easy as the Dark Lord teleports away to the prime city of Hell, challenging Doom Slayer to meet him there if he wishes to battle. Part Two is therefore the journey of the protagonist to this city.

This again is made up of three levels, kind of anyway. There is actually a fourth level, but that is just a boss fight. My issue first time around was how combat heavy and dull the levels were. This time around the levels feel like they are in the same style as the base game levels, rather than being endurance runs. The challenge was much lower, I again played on easy (now in my forties my reactions aren't as great as they once were), but this time it did feel a little easy. There was a strange Halo vibe to this second DLC, with the levels feeling like they wouldn't be out of place in that game. Like before, the three levels all take place in different realms. Starting off out in the rocky countryside of Argent D'Nur, which includes a dragon ride and plenty of platforming, things then move to a post apocalyptic Earth city, before finally heading to the principle city of Hell. These all looked great, but there has been a steady shift from supernatural to science fiction. No longer does it feel like you are battling demons, but more like an ultra advanced futuristic society! The last level in particular had this feel, but it was countered by having it take place during a massive war raging in the background.

The new enemy types from Part One reappear here, and plenty of new enemy variants are introduced. You have stone version of imps, armoured versions of Hell beasts, zombies with indestructible shields, and a rarely used enemy that can curse you, the only cure being to hunt down the teleporting idiot and punch him. A new weapon appears here, a giant hammer that when used stuns all enemies around you. This weapon was ridiculously useful, meaning that there wasn't much fear when surrounded by hordes of enemies. A new platforming element is also revealed, there are now grapple points floating in the sky that you can hook onto using the super shotgun. Some of these platforming sections were a bit intense, thankfully you no longer lose health when falling to your doom (Doom?), making them perfectly fine despite not really having a place in the universe.
The story was basic, but again, the lore you can collect was excellent. I especially liked how the lore of the second level is then shown to be lies by the lore of the third level. Doom Slayer also finally gets to speak, something that was a lovely surprise!

I was prepared for another faintly boring collection of combat challenges, instead Part Two delighted by feeling much more like the base game. I'm glad I played through these, though I probably won't ever return to them. Enjoyable, and a fine farewell to Doom Eternal. At around two and a half hours long this is a shorter part, but it goes to show, sometimes less is more as this is superior to Part One.

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Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One (2020) - Horror Video Game DLC Review (Playstation 5)

With Doom: The Dark Ages releasing recently, I saw fit to make my way back through Doom, and finally get around to finishing Doom Eternal, a game I had initially bounced off of due to the hard difficulty. The Ancient Gods - Part One is the first of two story DLCs released for the game. It promised an even harder challenge than the base game, while giving loads and loads more lore about origins of the Doom universe to the plater. Spoilers for the base game to unavoidably follow.

Having defeated the Icon of Sin and stopped Hell's invasion of Earth, Doom Slayer doesn't get a moments break. With the Heavenly forces of Urdak defeated, Hell have invaded their dimension, allowing them to reignite their assault on Earth in the process. Working with Samuel Hayden and his team, Doom Slayer is tasked with travelling to a secret UAC base and reawakening an ancient being known as the Seraphim, someone who will be able to help the Slayer to resurrect The Father and end the madness.

I had heard that this DLC was even more chaotic and full of action than the later half of the base game. When the difficulty select screen mentioned that even on easy mode the challenge would be a lot harder I can't say that filled me with excitement. Boy, is this DLC full of combat. Part One is made up of three different levels, but with each one roughly taking an hour to get through, there was a decent amount of game to be found here. Things didn't start off that well. The first level set on a series of giant oil rigs out in the middle of the ocean looked impressive, yet being under a constant barrage of enemies for the entire level soon had me becoming bored. This felt like a continuation of the end of the base game, where the combat got so intense that there wasn't any room to breath.
Thankfully the second level calms things down slightly, given a map that had more of a puzzle element design to it. Taking place in a large swamp in Hell, this second level introduced a new enemy type in the form of ghosts who can possess enemies, and have to be killed while their spirit form is exposed.
The final level takes place in Urdak and while combat heavy, this had a lot of interesting lore that really delved deeply into the key players. This level featured a tough boss (even on easy), and another new enemy type; a flying one whose only moment of weakness being when they fire their energy beams at you.

I liked the introduction of new enemy types, and I also thought the the settings used all looked fantastic. Combat was never the highlight of the game for me, and there was far more than I would have liked. It was worth it for the story however, as it really changed up my thoughts of previous story beats. It might have been nice to have a new weapon or two, but I did appreciate the DLC acts as if you had gotten all the upgrades in the base game. With Doom: The Ancient Gods - Part One being quite tough I am a bit concerned about how even more difficult the second and final DLC pack will be. I guess I will soon find out! Also; this is available to purchase as a standalone game should you not want it as Doom Eternal DLC.

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Resident Evil Village (2021) - Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 5)

I really loved Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. I loved the shift to first person, I loved the return to a more survival horror focussed game, I loved the change up in the type of horror game it was, and I especially loved that it was playable in VR. That last part was something that stopped me immediately buying the follow up, Resident Evil Village as this one doesn't exist in a VR format. Having finally managed to get a hold of a Playstation 5, and seeing this on sale I decided to bite the bullet.

It is three years after the events of Biohazard and Ethan Winters and his wife Mia have, with Chris Redfield's help, moved to Europe in order to start a new life. In that time they have had a baby girl named Rose and things are almost perfect. One dark snowy night their peaceful existence is shattered when a group of soldiers, led by Redfield burst into the family home. They gun down Mia in cold blood and then kidnap both Ethan and Rose for reasons unknown. After being knocked out Ethan awakens to find himself in the middle of nowhere, a burning truck and corpses of soldiers nearby. He heads through a blizzard to a nearby village where he hopes he will be able to find help. Instead he discovers the place in ruins, the surviving villagers holed up in a barricaded building, with what appears to be werewolves prowling around outside. It isn't long before Ethan has been captured, this time by a woman known as 'Mother Maria' who the locals worship as a living God. Her, and her four 'children' are revealed to have Rose in their possession, so Ethan, escaping his captors, heads out in search of his missing child.

Resident Evil Village looks fantastic, that was my first impression of the game. It must be the power of the new generation of consoles as the lighting in particular was darn impressive. Heading from the bright and snowy outdoors to darkened interiors was a joy, due to the gradual change from light to dark. Character models and enemies also looked good, but then that was also true of the previous game. I feared I would lose a lot by not being in VR but that wasn't the case. Village has a lot more combat than the core game in Biohazard, too much so in fact by the games finale. For three quarters of the game however the balance between combat and exploration is spot on, is just a shame it devolves into a very linear action packed final act that did eat away at my overall enjoyment.