Doom Eternal (2020)
Doom Eternal is a 2020 shooter video game made by id Software and Bethesda Softworks.
Doom Eternal drops the Doom Slayer into a burning Earth and turns combat into a strict resource puzzle. Health comes from Glory Kills, armor from the Flame Belch, and ammo from the chainsaw. Ignore any one of those systems and the fight collapses in seconds. id Software built the sequel around that pressure, layering in aerial dashes, pole swings, and destructible demon armor plates that demand specific weapons for specific limbs. It is more demanding than its predecessor and less forgiving, built for players willing to study its logic.
Quick answers
What is Doom Eternal about?
Doom Eternal drops the Doom Slayer into a burning Earth and turns combat into a strict resource puzzle. Health comes from Glory Kills, armor from the Flame Belch, and ammo from the chainsaw. Ignore any one of those systems and the fight collapses in seconds. id Software built the sequel around that pressure, layering in aerial dashes, pole swings, and destructible demon armor plates that demand specific weapons for specific limbs. It is more demanding than its predecessor and less forgiving, built for players willing to study its logic.
When was Doom Eternal released?
Doom Eternal was released on 19 March 2020.
Who made Doom Eternal?
Doom Eternal was made by id Software and Bethesda Softworks.
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Doom Eternal in our writing
- Companion guide: Demons & the Infernal
- Companion guide: First-Person Shooters: The Complete Guide to Gaming Down the Barrel
- Companion guide: id Software: Doom, Quake and the Birth of the Shooter
- Companion guide: Military Sci-Fi
A few thoughts on Doom Eternal
The DOOM: Original Game Soundtrack underpins both this game and its predecessor. Mick Gordon's industrial score was partly reused and partly reconstructed here, and the soundtrack functions as its own experience even away from the screen.
One fighter, an endless wave of monsters, and nowhere to retreat
Doom Eternal turns the Doom Slayer into a one-person army who has to out-fight an entire invasion just to keep breathing, with health, ammo and armor all won through violence rather than found lying around. God of War pits its own near-unkillable warrior against monsters on a mythic scale, Half-Life 2 answers an alien occupation with escalating firepower, and Supernatural hunts demons with nothing but grit and improvised gear.
Music as relentless and aggressive as the combat itself
Doom Eternal runs on a soundtrack built from distorted riffs and industrial percussion that never lets the pace drop, matching a combat loop that punishes hesitation. Painkiller's title track alone set a benchmark for pure velocity in metal, Leprosy leans into Death's early death-metal aggression, IX Equilibrium pushes extremity into something almost symphonic, and The Fat of the Land brings that same confrontational energy through electronic production instead of guitars.