Doom 2016 vs Doom Eternal vs Doom: The Dark Ages

Which of the modern Doom trilogy is your favorite?

  • Doom 2016

    Votes: 188 63.7%

  • Doom Eternal

    Votes: 80 27.1%

  • Doom: The Dark Ages

    Votes: 27 9.2%
  • Total voters
    295
The fact that all 3 doom games are so good is enough said, doom was the typical shooter and they brought it back as an important franchise. I think Dark Ages had work done on the story, there's a complete story here, the cinematics, the cutscenes are great and I'm very impressed by the graphics, the beasts you slay, the environments are good.
hq720.jpg

Doom Eternal was released during COVID and it's focus was on the guns and treated the story differently. Doom 2016 and discovering hell for the first time was memorable, plus it had multiplayer.
 
Boomer console players who cant aim for shit stating doom 2016 is better than eternal are objectively wrong, these people are the reason ID dumbed down and slowed down dooms gameplay in dark ages
 
snapdragon said:
Boomer console players who cant aim for shit stating doom 2016 is better than eternal are objectively wrong, these people are the reason ID dumbed down and slowed down dooms gameplay in dark ages
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Dude, theres a game speed slider in the dark ages, use it.
 
The Cockatrice said:
Gaf hates Eternal because its a skill game, however it is one of the best shooters of all time not just the best Doom.
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Because Doom isn't a skill game. It's a blast demons in the face with a fucking shotgun game, and Eternal took that away by forcing you to juggle weapons, ammo and its other bullshit. No thanks.

Also Doom 2016 OST is a GOAT soundtrack
 
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Doom 2

But, so that Im not just being a party pooper
2016 >> Eternal = The Dark Ages

It was the stupid lore they decided to add which did me in. I even would have been fine with the mario aspects of Eternal if it didnt reek of distilled reddit
 
Eternal > TDA > 2016

I played through both 2016 and Eternal before starting TDA so it's possible that I don't fully appreciate it yet. But Eternal was already my all-time favorite FPS so it's a bit too early to call.

I still love Doom 2016 but my replay was after finishing Eternal. I definitely found it a step back.
 
DooM feels very lost to me as a franchise. 2016 was sheer perfection for a modern take on an old classic. iD keeps trying to reinvent the wheel with every new iteration. When in fact, this is the rare exception where a new entry should amount to little more than firing up a level editor from 2016 and making a new campaign, populating it with some new weapons and enemies here and there. That's literally all that is needed to make the sequels a success.

Instead, iD is obsessed with making every game "bigger and better". Eternal was a major culprit of this--being very limiting in its arenas and constantly locking you into tight areas that limit your ability to run and gun effectively, turning the game into just an enemy wave generator. When you weren't doing that, it loved its complicated 3D platforming that was excruciatingly unfun and throwing tons of lore at you instead of just dumping you into a playground and letting you kill demons. There were so many little rules added on designed to "make them game fresh and challenging" but in actuality just got in the way of the fun.

Then we get to The Dark Ages and DooM seems to finally lose its identity entirely, becoming some weird kind of first person Dark Souls. More lore, more terrible ideas no one asked for in a DooM title. TDA might actually have fared better as something original. But wearing the DooM name, it sets itself up for terrible comparisons and cannot live up to its legacy.

The franchise keeps moving further and further in the wrong direction and I can't see iD announcing anything to make me want to come back to the series. It's been killed by bloat and a betrayal of its own identity.
 
Eternal and TDA were somehow dead serious in their attempt to tell a story. 2016 was self-aware, sarcastic and played with the perception of the Doom legacy as well as corporate culture.
And it made you feel like a total badass, who does not adhere to any rules ever. This is where Eternal failed due to its forced gameplay.
TDA wasted potential, as I felt just like another errand boy for that He-Man girl trying to summon Cthulhu or whatever.

 
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I'm in the middle of playing DA now and having a lot of fun.

Eternal took a long time to click for me - the almost mandated weapon switching felt a little forced. Conversely I'm loving the movement speed of shield charge in DA.

All really good fun games - there's no bad installment in this series. For me it's 2016 > DA=Eternal
 
SILKYSMOOTH30FPS said:
Is it the mode they put all the most difficult mobs from the beginning, and on launch there was only 1 level?
Click to expand...

Nope, I guess you are talking about Master Levels, that are also great stuff

Extra Life is a way to replay the game with a spicy twist (if you lose all the lives you've collected the game ends).
 
teokrazia said:
Nope, I guess you are talking about Master Levels, that are also great stuff

Extra Life is a way to replay the game with a spicy twist (if you lose all the lives you've collected the game ends).
Click to expand...
Ah never tried those, but i really enjoyed the Master Levels, and wish there was at least 10 on launch. I do remember trying them at the beginning, and they felt literally impossible, but after beating the main game and pre nerfed first dlc on nightmare, they felt just right and chaotic af.
 
I thought Doom 2016 was great, but I feel like Eternal was ruined by the forced platforming and ammo scarcity (In a Doom game, people shouldn't worry about ammo). As for Dark Ages, I just bought that game and will test it tonight. I wonder how much the gameplay and graphics have changed. The assets in Eternal are dated, so I expect to see a significant improvement in that area. My RTX4080S 60TF OC (5080 59TF stock level of performance) will probably not be sufficient to run this game with PT at 4K, even with DLSS performance. I might however try lower resolutions, such as 1800p or 1440p. I wonder how muchbt
 
NGL, Eternal is growing on me. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the main missions. I like how immersive 2016 was, but the combat encounters in Eternal are kind of exhilarating. You have to move and shoot for five minutes straight, making micro-decisions all the while. It's next level compared to 2016 where I basically circle-strafed with shotgun grenades for most of it.

Great games. I haven't played Dark Ages yet, but I plan to after I finish Eternal.
 
Grildon Tundy said:
I haven't played Dark Ages yet, but I plan to after I finish Eternal.
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Just kidding. I hit a save game bug in the penultimate level of Eternal that is not letting me progress. The checkpoint I'm at is AFTER hitting a skull that opens a gate, but the gate is closed.

Restarting the mission, I get a "Game unable to save mission" at each checkpoint. And if I "Load Checkpoint", it takes me to the bugged checkpoint from before.

Bethesda has this to say this on their support site:

"In general save games can become corrupted due to the following reasons:
  • Taking advantage of any glitches or cheats.
  • Installing any kind of mods or third party software for DOOM Eternal.
  • Editing or manipulating the savegame file."
The AUDACITY to blame it on me. I did none of those things.

Bethesda Support

help.bethesda.net help.bethesda.net
 
I've played all 3.

Eternal >> Doom 16 > Dark Ages (in progress)

Dark Ages didn't feel like Doom, at all. For me it was a good game overall but a disappointment as a Doom game. If my opinion changes when I beat Dark Ages, I will honestly reply to this thread and update.
 
SILKYSMOOTH30FPS said:
Ah never tried those, but i really enjoyed the Master Levels, and wish there was at least 10 on launch. I do remember trying them at the beginning, and they felt literally impossible, but after beating the main game and pre nerfed first dlc on nightmare, they felt just right and chaotic af.
Click to expand...

Arc Complex, the one that was there at lauch, was already good, but Super-Gore Nest and Mars Core are ace, definitely my fav.

Speaking about The Ancient Gods - Part 1, in my opinion Blood Swamps Pre-Nerf is DOOM Eternal's peak and among the 20 best FPS levels of all time:


Tight challenge, alot of great ideas, both for combat and puzzle/exploration, and a terrific OST.
For Dark Ages id Software should have call back Hulshult and Levy, the authors of the music of DLCs, instead of whatever guy made that generic bland shit we found in the game.
 
\m/etalStorm said:
Eternal and TDA were somehow dead serious in their attempt to tell a story. 2016 was self-aware, sarcastic and played with the perception of the Doom legacy as well as corporate culture.
And it made you feel like a total badass, who does not adhere to any rules ever. This is where Eternal failed due to its forced gameplay.
TDA wasted potential, as I felt just like another errand boy for that He-Man girl trying to summon Cthulhu or whatever.

Click to expand...

Hugo himself was as vulnerable as anyone else when it comes to sniffing your own farts to the point that you think millions of people want you to tell them a story.
 
My current adventure with the modern Doom trilogy may be done for now.

Hit a game-halting save bug in Doom Eternal on the penultimate level.

Booted up TDA and played through the first level last night. But going from crystal-clear 4k 120fps Doom Eternal to blurry 4k 60fps w/DLSS in TDA felt like a step back, and it's super distracting.

I will say, I didn't realize just how different each of these games are from each other. Commendable that they reinvent the wheel each time, but with risks don't always come rewards.
 
Grildon Tundy said:
Booted up TDA and played through the first level last night. But going from crystal-clear 4k 120fps Doom Eternal to blurry 4k 60fps w/DLSS in TDA felt like a step back, and it's super distracting.

I will say, I didn't realize just how different each of these games are from each other. Commendable that they reinvent the wheel each time, but with risks don't always come rewards.
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On first level, they dont introduce everything in TDA. It gets going by about 6th chapter. Then, couple of chapters for player to adjust and get used to the gameplay.

I say, TDA hits almost as hard as Eternal when in full swing.

Too bad you got that save bug.
 
vaibhavpisal said:
On first level, they dont introduce everything in TDA. It gets going by about 6th chapter. Then, couple of chapters for player to adjust and get used to the gameplay.

I say, TDA hits almost as hard as Eternal when in full swing.

Too bad you got that save bug.
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Fair, and maybe I'll give it another go--I'm not saying that id failed in changing things up. More that my understanding TDA wasn't the massive success that 2016 was.
 
2016 is amazing, I get why people like Eternal over it but it wan't for me and they started taking the story far, far too seriously.

Dark Ages has it has it's moments but has some staggeringly bizarre design decisions like getting rid of the glory kills barring the one (or two) they forgot to take out.
 
Having beaten Doom Eternal, I've got to say, it's FANTASTIC.

I care for its story as much as I care for the ones in Saturday morning cartoons, which is to say not at all. And I struggled with ammo scarcity for a bit. But once I realized armor and ammo are meant to be beaten out of enemies instead of picked up off the ground, it clicked. And it seemed like I had just little enough ammo to add just the right amount of tension to combat (playing on Hurt Me Plenty difficulty--I wasn't looking to beat my head against a wall with Nightmare).

I still prefer Doom (2016) for its "simplicity", immersion, elevation of the Doom (1993) formula, and the way it delivers the story to you as the Doomslayer would perceive it, which is to say, "Get out of my way and let me kill demons". But on their own merits and removed from the context of their release dates, I'd be hard-pressed to say Eternal doesn't take the crown.

I'm playing The Dark Ages now. Hasn't quite clicked yet, but I'll likely report back here in my diary with updates.
 
Dark Ages > Doom16 > Doom2 >> Doom64 > Doom1 >>> Wolfenstein 3d >>>Doom Eternal
I'll give eternal another chance eventually.
I wasn't into the Doom Raider like gameplay.
Or forced ways to take out enemies.
Gimped ammo etc.
 
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Dear diary:

Got to the first open-ended level in Doom: The Dark Ages and seems like most of the game's new mechanics have been introduced.

So now this is 3 times in the past two weeks that I've been impressed by how unique and polished each of the modern Doom games are.

I really didn't expect Eternal or TDA to be so much fun. I knew they were different from 2016, and 2016 was amazing, so they couldn't be amazing, too, right?

Wrong! I see the vision id had with these, and I'm glad they changed up the formula each time.

Still need to complete TDA, but my final verdict may very well be 2016 = Eternal = TDA.
 
Techincally Eternal is mechanics-wise the best out of the three, but 2016 is my favorite. Dark Ages was fun too.

Doom 64 is the best Doom overall though.
 
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Eternal >>> 2016 > TDA. All are great mind you, but for me Eternal reigns as king, it's just so damn good. Eternal ties the OG Doom as my favorite of the series.
 
I voted but I don't really have the grounds to. I didn't play 2016, I beat Eternal, barely played Dark Ages. So yea Eternal wins?
 
I didn't vote because I haven't played Dark Ages yet, but I'm toward the end of my first playthrough of Eternal and I fucking love it. Soooo good. The music is phenomenal and the gameplay is pure fun.
 
I have beat DOOM 2016 on nightmare, Eternal on normal lol and played Dark Ages halfway ( my Gamepass sub expired ).

DOOM 2016 is my favorite because it's the foundation that the other two use. id software reinvented DOOM, tailor made a new version of idTech. Extremely pretty, buttery smooth.
DOOM 2016 is what saved this franchise and reignited my love of fast FPS games. The soundtrack is very fitting as well. It just feels great to play, pump this shit right into my veins energy all game.

DOOM Eternal is a smart, complex and an impeccably designed FPS. Level design, weapons and bosses (apart from the ~cartoon artstyle) are hallmarks till date. It's a game design lesson, its a test and a testament that the new id soft is as good as the old, OG crew. It's glorious but the question is, did I have fun all game? No.

It's stressful, requires careful micromanaging your limited ammo, resources. It requires quick reflexes and platforming, it requires you to study each enemy, each level, each upgrade and adapt quickly. DOOM Eternal is not for newcomers, it requires you to learn, to be skilled. I couldn't play more than an hour or two for how stressful it was but when I finally completed it, all DLC included, I felt liberated. This was a hard lesson, a lesson that has made me skilled in this genre. I like this game a lot, love? no. Would I recommend it to my friend? Yes. To my enemy? Never.

DOOM Dark Ages (1/2 done), Incredible art direction and visuals, an achievement as the last two already had a lot of detail and atmosphere. This elevated it even further. The classic guns return but skinned and changed for the theme. The gunplay? the movement? Unparalleled. the shield? super fun.

It's easier than Eternal, mind you though, it's still hard and you can tune your difficulty, which will let many try it out. There are micro refinements in every mechanic, animations evenly smoothed out and you get a really well made first person shooter. It's less stressful, it's more fun. I love the atmosphere and hope I will keep loving it after I finish the whole game some day.

We are lucky to experience high quality games and especially lucky that they have to be DOOM, as I keep slaying demons and zombies and imps and hell priests, as I keep destroying their crusade to turn Earth, to my irony, a hellhole and as I keep being an absolute, overpowered killing machine, a smirk, a laugh and a jubilant warcry escapes reminding me of the excitement gamers had 30 years ago when the original had launched in 1995.
 
Rocinante618 said:
I have beat DOOM 2016 on nightmare, Eternal on normal lol and played Dark Ages halfway ( my Gamepass sub expired ).

DOOM 2016 is my favorite because it's the foundation that the other two use. id software reinvented DOOM, tailor made a new version of idTech. Extremely pretty, buttery smooth.
DOOM 2016 is what saved this franchise and reignited my love of fast FPS games. The soundtrack is very fitting as well. It just feels great to play, pump this shit right into my veins energy all game.

DOOM Eternal is a smart, complex and an impeccably designed FPS. Level design, weapons and bosses (apart from the ~cartoon artstyle) are hallmarks till date. It's a game design lesson, its a test and a testament that the new id soft is as good as the old, OG crew. It's glorious but the question is, did I have fun all game? No.

It's stressful, requires careful micromanaging your limited ammo, resources. It requires quick reflexes and platforming, it requires you to study each enemy, each level, each upgrade and adapt quickly. DOOM Eternal is not for newcomers, it requires you to learn, to be skilled. I couldn't play more than an hour or two for how stressful it was but when I finally completed it, all DLC included, I felt liberated. This was a hard lesson, a lesson that has made me skilled in this genre. I like this game a lot, love? no. Would I recommend it to my friend? Yes. To my enemy? Never.

DOOM Dark Ages (1/2 done), Incredible art direction and visuals, an achievement as the last two already had a lot of detail and atmosphere. This elevated it even further. The classic guns return but skinned and changed for the theme. The gunplay? the movement? Unparalleled. the shield? super fun.

It's easier than Eternal, mind you though, it's still hard and you can tune your difficulty, which will let many try it out. There are micro refinements in every mechanic, animations evenly smoothed out and you get a really well made first person shooter. It's less stressful, it's more fun. I love the atmosphere and hope I will keep loving it after I finish the whole game some day.

We are lucky to experience high quality games and especially lucky that they have to be DOOM, as I keep slaying demons and zombies and imps and hell priests, as I keep destroying their crusade to turn Earth, to my irony, a hellhole and as I keep being an absolute, overpowered killing machine, a smirk, a laugh and a jubilant warcry escapes reminding me of the excitement gamers had 30 years ago when the original had launched in 1995.
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Hell yeah. Well said, man.
 
So I've been playing TDA, and so far it's worse than Eternal IMO.
Level design is very weak mostly because they've removed like 2/3 of traversal options Eternal had.
And I absofuckinglutely hate this "souls"-like parry crap in a Doom game.
 
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Doom 2016 >>>>> Doom Eternal >= The Dark Ages

Feels like TDA is just a slower version of Eternal. Don't like either game that much, and hate the chapter setup.

Doom 2016 is great, as it doesn't feel like a mindless shooter.
 
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haven't played the new one, but the only games I recognize as genuinely doom are:
1, 2, 64, 2016

given this nearly exponential progression of numbers, we're going to be waiting a long time now

KiOS5g.jpg

edit: projected it scientifically
 
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