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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