Doom 2016 vs Doom Eternal

[Baron Pampa]

I assume that the first wave of players is close to finishing the game or have already finished it. The inevitable question: Which Doom out of those two is better and why? The games differ significantly in a few areas. I'll start with my own preferences and perceptions.

 

Fight requires even more movement than the one in previous game, and it pushes you more towards the "prefered way of playing". It's really tough unless you really use all the systems presented to you - grenades, flamethrower, chainsaw, most of the weapons and their mods. Doom 2016 combat, while also very good and similar, was more static, with less movement options, and more forgiving - it was easier to just stick to your prefered weapons, or avoid glory killing if you didn't like it. I really enjoyed the evolved combat system and I find it better than the 2016 one.

 

Second change is in the map layout and traversal. There's a lot of platforming in Doom Eternal, which frankly I've found annoying, boring and distracting. The upside is that the maps aren't as arena-focused as in the previous game, and there's more action in the in between sections. Many Eternal's maps had gorgeous visuals, which brought Quake to my mind. All those castles and cathedrals filled with horrible, clawy monsters...that's the good thing. Unfortunately, here comes the point which makes me prefer Doom 2016. The atmosphere.

Atmosphere is obviously subjective and can't be narrowed to a single factor. However, several of them made me feel disconnected from the new game:
- Plot&lore in Eternal are needlessly complicated for the sake of being complicated. All that codex entries and historical events don't bring much to the table except for a narcisstic focus on Doom Slayer as the cause of all the motion in the universe. At the same time 2016 had a very simple lore and a cute story of a guy who happened to be in the right place and time for his favourite hobby - smashing everything Hell related.

- Aesthetics in Doom Eternal are arcade and gamey. 2016 also had this aspect, but it wasn't so over the top. As a result I prefer looking at 2016.

- Maps. While the Quakey cathedrals are awesome, I find 2016 maps to be much more memorable. Places served a purpose. You feel the sense of progression as you move from areas of little importance to core elements of the UAC institution, like the Argent Tower and VEGA core. There was to little Hell, but Hell was awesome. Eternal's maps feel disjointed, chaotic and having no meaning outside of the combat.

 

Both games annoyed me with the in-your-face exploration, secrets and character development based on how good you are at finding stuff. In old games this stuff didn't stay with you for the whole game, so I could ignore it more easily.

On the other hand I've found both games to be excellent shooters with nice visuals. There's a bonus for 2016 atmosphere, and Eternal's landscapes.

 

I think I'll finish here for the sake of brevity, with my vote going to 2016.  I'm curious about opinions and feelings of other forum members.

[Martin-CAI]

My vote is for D2016 because I have almost no criticism in it and, on top of that, the risk of failure was bigger than Eternal. They kept so many aspects from classic Doom, and they innovated with other ones, which were great and fit perfectly, imo. In my view, Eternal has more criticizable aspects, because it feels that they overloaded the game with new things, and some of them just don't feel necessarily right on it. Eternal has great things, though: battles feel more Doom than D2016, to me; really hard and imposing bosses; awesome landscapes. But D2016 is a more even game, I like it entirely, and that's why I think it's slightly more enjoyable, in general terms.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Martin-CAI

[Deleted_Account]

I really like both games a ton, but I’m going to have to go with Doom Eternal! 

[NoXion]

They're both great, but Doom Eternal has extra mechanics to master. I'll confess that I found them a bit overwhelming at first, but 23 hours of play later and I'm more used to it now. I'd probably take some adjustment getting used to D16 again.

D16 has its own unique atmosphere by virtue of being the first game, and that's something I think no sequel can ever recapture. More of the same would have sold well, but this is DOOM. I think it's basically obligatory to push the boat out on this one. nuDoom went from depicting a remote scientific/military outpost with about 61,000 people getting overrun with a demon invasion, all the way to depicting Hell on Earth with casualties in the billions.

 

I also think it's appropriate given that 80s films like Terminator and Robocop have been name-dropped by the creators as influences. Aliens was a bigger, bolder, more action-oriented sequel to the 1979 film, but asking me to pick my favourite out of the two is like forcing me to choose between beer and pizza; why can't I have both?

[AtimZarr1]

Eternal has a more engaging and intense gameplay loop while I also have a soft spot for 2016's SnapMap mode. I like both about equally.

[Mattatsu]

I prefer Eternal in nearly every way.

 

@Baron Pampa explained the combat changes well in his OP, and I agree with everything he said. The combat is evolved to be much more intense, and a lot more fun for me (once you get used to it and embrace it).

 

I do prefer the map layout of Eternal. 2016 had some memorable locations and a lot of the map design was well done, but levels near the end started getting real repetitive, and I didn’t realize it too well until Eternal, but that effected my desire to play more campaigns. Eternal’s maps so far (on my 3rd play through) don’t feel that repetitive, and the last map (Final Sin) is perhaps my favourite moment of the game, which keeps pushing me to play another campaign to come back to it. There were a few points where the platforming was a bit over-used/annoying (swimming in Taras Nabad, or getting boosted by those orange rings in Urdak), but I do think they did a good job of giving the levels their own feel and breaking up the combat in a good way. If the maps were wave after wave of arenas, I think the maps would get tedious over time. Plus the maps and details in them are incredible in Eternal. Each city area feels completely different, and feels like a real city that Hell invaded. Hell, felt like Hell, and it never looked better. I loved how each map fit its own theme, and was gorgeous in every aspect.

 

Eternal is a bit more arcadey in some areas (floating key cards, green question marks, etc), but I don’t mind. I’m just going into a room to pick up a gun anyway. I don’t need some elaborate platform to house it, or a cutscene of ripping it out of some dead soldier’s hands. Personally, I think Eternal scarified realism for better pacing, and I’m onboard with that.

 

I prefer the slayer gates to the Rune arenas, and I like how the secrets in Eternal don’t veer you off track so much. They’re a little more obvious I think, but that’s fine. It will only help remind me of them (which is handy for eventual UN runs) and being close to the main path won’t cause me to run around too much.

 

The flaming meathook is down-right awesome, and I think I prefer the praetor upgrades and Rune abilities in Eternal, and while most runes carried over, I don’t remember the Chrono Strike rune in 2016 and that’s fun as hell.

 

The only things I prefer in 2016 was how it handled the lore/cannon. Eternal gives you way too much Fan Service at the cost of making the timeline garbled (did Hell on Earth happen twice? Etc), but I also really don’t care. I realize it’s fan service run amock and I like the nods. I’m not really about analyzing the piss out of a background in a Doom game. I just say it’s a different dimension and appreciate seeing the Hell Priest’s pickup Doomguy’s helmet, and the portraits of Daisy. It wouldn’t upset me if it was a little cleaner though.

 

Also, I really don’t have much interest in this Battle Mode. I just want to play Slayer vs Slayer. I thought playing as the Revenant in the Campaign was fun, but that’s it. I am really excited for the coming Invasion mode though. I am concerned with which demons we can select. Again, I’d rather pick the Slayer and hop around like a madman, but if I can come in as the Marauder and be a bit more offensive (dashing, double-jumping, etc, at the sacrifice of getting nerfed defensively), I’m all for it. 

[CasualScrub]

Personally, I had more fun playing 2016 since it wasn't as overwhelming for me in it's mechanics, it didn't completely beat my ass so much, not as reliant on platforming, and the story is far less convoluted.

 

Oh, and no Marauder. Fuck the Marauder.

[Taurus Daggerknight]

Eternal. The combat just flows so much better. Every single gun has a use, the enemies react to things more visibly,  the music is even more epic, environments are more visually stunning, movement is better.... literally the only things I have issues with are some of the platforming, and the Marauder's feeling a bit odd. Yeah, I like my more grounded settings in some ways, and sometimes the over-the-top arcade nature is a bit much, but it's just so much FUN at the end that I don't care about those nitpicks. 

[Urthar]

I played some of 2016's DOOM while waiting for Eternal to unlock, and played it some more after my first complete run of Eternal.

 

I'd say DOOM is smarter, in it's story telling and level design. Purer in it's combat loop of dodge, shoot and grab pick-ups. And more impressive for being the first game of the two. But I find myself enjoying playing Eternal more, now I've acclimatised to it's pace and rhythms.

[D88M3R]

Huh though choice, both games have basically the same virtues and flaws, but Eternal has both of them boosted. I dont know what to think if i have to make a choice.

[Tony_Danza_the_boss]

2016 by a country mile. I agree with you on most aspects.

 

The story is overly loaded with needless lore that really does add nothing to the game outside of padding to read codexes. 2016 kept it fresh, simple and true to the formula that makes for a good doom game: Doomguy/Slayer, the UAC, demons, hell and lots of killing. Eternal loses sight of this and portal warps you to a different dimension/planet every level and it's so jarring whereas 2016 had a nice continuous flow to it.

 

Combat-wise 2016 nails it as well. Eternal holds everything back from you for far too long and then pretty much forces you to play a very specific way to hit the combat loop by severely limiting your ammo. I never thought a Doom game of all things would limit me on my preferred combat options and how I want to rip and tear the demons. Extremely disappointing.

 

And then there's the platforming. Wtf was Id thinking. And I still fail to comprehend the people who actually enjoy it. It belongs in Mario, not a Doom game. 

 

Also to touch on multiplayer not that it matters much, but battlemode in Eternal just downright sucks. How is there not a horde mode where you can rip and tear with a friend? Big missed opportunity.

 

2016 really comes as close to a perfect Doom game I think as Id could make for the modern day. I fear Eternal's mechanics and over-convoluted lore will be carried over to future iterations as it seems the majority consensus all love it.

[Kaos]

I'm playing eternal very slowly. Quarantined in the house with a 5 year old and wife both attention seekers don't help much when you're looking for a bit of immersion.

So far, I'm enjoying it far more than doom 2016. Doom 2016 was enjoyable but it would reach a point where it will become repetitive. Doom eternal still has to be repetitive to me (even if I'm still at the beginning) and once you master everything it throws at you a curve ball that you need to master again. Would that a new weapon, a new kind of enemy or a new upgrade.

Combat is way more technical and can be handled in more than one way. The game initially do force using different weapons for different demons, but once the arsenal get wide enough and fast switching/animation cancel is mastered, that become trivial as well. After I saw the tutorial on this forum, I was able to dive in hordes of heavy demons and kill them quickly enough to not have to worry about weak points and so on. And yes, the game do try to kick you add as much as possible. But muscling trough slayer gates or difficult arenas give that dark soulish exultation that is difficult to find in games where the progression is much easier. Even better when you manage to do it with a spit of health left. If the general feeling was more doom 2016 maybe it was going to be better for immersion and atmosphere, but mostly I care about gameplay, and this is present in spades in eternal. I just found myself not reading the codexes at all, while I was reading them all in 2016, just because I don't want to break the incredible pace of the game. I just wait to be back in the base to read them, look at Easter eggs and chill a bit.

When inside the levels the only thought is to get the hands on top of these damn hell priests and tear their head off.

Most Christian game of all time.

[Foebane72]

Are people still making the complaint about there not being enough ammo? I haven't had that problem in ages, I just chainsaw a zombie or two if I'm running low and BAM! I'm fully stocked again. Maybe it's harder beyond of ITYTD?

 

[NoXion]

19 minutes ago, Foebane72 said:

Are people still making the complaint about there not being enough ammo? I haven't had that problem in ages, I just chainsaw a zombie or two if I'm running low and BAM! I'm fully stocked again. Maybe it's harder beyond of ITYTD?

 

As I understand it, on harder difficulties demons use their heavier attacks more often and react faster. I'm not sure what else changes with difficulty - I'm pretty sure the number of demons remains the same, as I remember that being mentioned. No idea if the difficulty changes how many hits they can take.

[Sitting on a cornflake]

Doom Eternal.

 

Doom 2016 has its advantages over Doom Eternal, to be sure:

• The story is leaner and told more effectively. 
• The "personality" of the game is a bit more in keeping with the self-aware, slightly tongue-in-cheek character of the originals.  In short, Doom 2016 doesn't seem to take itself quite as seriously as Doom Eternal.
• The levels feel more like actual places, particularly the Mars-based levels.  To that end, the platforming in Doom 2016 feels a little more "organic" than in Doom Eternal.  The best example is Argent Tower, which is essentially 2 distinct halves that are equally platform-heavy (the first half is horizontal platforming and the second half is vertical platforming).  The platforming in Doom Eternal, while more interesting, creative, and challenging, sort of breaks the fourth wall with how clearly video game-y it is.      
• The levels are a bit less linear, generally.  At literally no point in Doom Eternal did I ever have to stop and check the map to see where to go next or ponder whether I was missing a key or needed to hit a switch.  For virtually all of the levels in Doom Eternal, the map looks more or less like a straight line with 4-5 boxes (arenas) arranged like points on a line.  There are several levels in Doom 2016 (again, generally the Mars-based levels) where the game makes you at least think a little bit about where you need to go next.
• The ending is more interesting from a narrative perspective.  
• The menus and various upgrades are a bit easier to follow and digest.  Conversely, the screen in Doom Eternal where you use Sentinel crystals is simply baffling; it's not at all clear that you're actually making two decisions each time you use one of those. 

But all that said, Doom Eternal is simply the better product:

• The game play is simply better.  It is more complex, nuanced, and multifaceted, and therefore more rewarding once the player gets comfortable with the game mechanics.  Enemies are more diverse from one another in terms of strengths and weaknesses and the game does an incredible job of making you actually learn and capitalize on those various strengths and weaknesses as you progress through the game.  
• The graphics are superior.  The level of detail is much higher and the environments are far more colorful and diverse than in Doom 2016.
• The balance between the various weapons is superior.   
• The sound is superior.  There is a more diverse palette of sound effects and a handful of sound effects that are truly creative (e.g., the "clank" when you shoot off a revenant's cannon or the cacodemon's "gulp" when it swallows a grenade).
• The music is probably superior (though this is debatable).
• The boss fights are superior, most notably the Icon of Sin which really encapsulates all of the tools and skills the game has taught you along the way.
• The game has more "wow" moments to keep the player's attention as you progress through the game.  I'm thinking particularly of Mars Core, where the player literally blasts a hole in Mars and essentially transforms the second half of the level, the various creative moments in Nekravol (e.g., riding in that little cart to the sorting monster, battling the sorting monster in what almost felt like a souped-up version of Frogger, etc.), and how the Icon of Sin sort of follows you throughout the last level.  There are really creative moments early on, too--that you begin the game in basically a mini Noah's Ark on the back of a huge monster, the reveal of the huge (frozen) Sentinel and Titan in Exultia after you open the series of doors, the Hell priest taunting you throughout the Doom Hunter Base, etc.    

All in all, Doom 2016 is great; Doom Eternal is better.  Can't wait to see what id comes up with for the sequel (knocking on wood).  

[Deimos]

I like both equally, i like Doom Eternal's expanded universe and its environments quite a bit but it shot itself in the foot with the hub system(other doom games have better environmental progression), the "challenged" joke that get less and less funny the more it gets used(2016's humor felt subtler and smarter) and platforming that really felt out of place. One of the maps almost felt like out of mario...
The "Super Gore Nest" and "Nekravol" are two of my favorite doom maps however.

[Eyud]

Both are great but I definitely prefer Eternal. I really enjoy the changes they made to combat and I love the environments and level design.

 

Its only been out two weeks and I’m already at double the total hours I put into 2016 (100 vs 50).

 

8 hours ago, Deimos said:

The "Super Gore Nest" and "Nekravol" are two of my favorite doom maps however.

 

Same here!

[Enforcer]

On 4/3/2020 at 12:29 AM, CasualScrub said:

Personally, I had more fun playing 2016 since it wasn't as overwhelming for me in it's mechanics, it didn't completely beat my ass so much, not as reliant on platforming, and the story is far less convoluted.

 

Oh, and no Marauder. Fuck the Marauder.

Marauders are so easy though. Just wait, shoot him with the SSG then quick switch to Ballista and hit him again. Repeat. Or you can even quick switch to the BFG and kill him in one hit super quickly.

[Chezza]

I'm equal.

 

Eternal is more mechanically superior, much faster loading times, more weapons and monster varieties. Also I would say the story was better.

 

Doom 2016 has Snapmap, multiplayer (Eternal online doesn't work whatsoever for me) and better learning curve. The Bosses were more interesting to fight.

[KoolAids5689]

Personally I like Doom Eternal more because of the movement options and combat mechanics. I really like the platforming while D16 felt stale with the platforming. I liked switching out weapons for different demons.

[Robo_Cola]

Doom Eternal for me, the most important element of a Doom game is the combat and Eternal simply crushes 2016 in that regard.  Weapons look, sound, and feel far superior to 2016's and the movement feels much less "stiff" compared to 2016's which I felt was too slow and I died way too much because of the lack thereof.  Dying in 2016 because I couldn't dash away from a Baron's insane ground-pound spread always felt cheap in retrospect.

 

However, I do felt you could do a little more with 2016 in regards to secrets and exploration.  Like many have stated, it did feel a 'tad' less linear and the classic levels they incorporated were a nice touch (even though at the time it came out I didn't like them).  The story was much less hokey in 2016  and it felt a bit more isolated in comparison Eternal (with the lack of human interaction and such, which gives Doom a lot of it's feel).  Never really used snapmap and didn't like it's multiplayer, so no opinion there.

 

Both have their strengths to me, but Eternal wins out where it truly matters.