Doom: The Dark Ages |OT| Mod City

I'm waiting for the Path Tracing patch for my second playthrough.
I hope it comes sooner than later.
I'm just curious if PS5 Pro will receive the Path Tracing patch. It should, right? I'm playing on PC, though.
 
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Just reached the cosmic realm. Its cool at times but enemy encounters are becoming a slog. I only tend to use the combat shotgun and chainball. Both maxed out. So are the shield and auto gun.
 
Its growing on me. The mech level was fun. Controls really well with a ton of weight on everything. I dont mind a parry at all for a FPS. Better than endless strafing. Art style is a bit like Chronicles of Riddick. Its cheesy but fun as a summer blockbuster. Had a few moments where the combat actually feels like it clicks and I'm mixing things up a bit but so far its been pretty easy. I like how you destroy railings, metal bars and boxes by just barely touching it and how enemies die just from landing from up high. Definitely feels tanky.
What difficulty are you playing on? If it feels too easy after chapter 6, make sure to increase it.

Game feels good only when you have to use everything you have.
 
What difficulty are you playing on? If it feels too easy after chapter 6, make sure to increase it.

Game feels good only when you have to use everything you have.
I just started on the standard one. Hurt Me Plenty I think? But yeah, that's good advice. I haven't died yet on Chapter 4. I might go up 1 but I'm not too worried about it. The chapter breaks and collectibles seem perfectly designed for replaying it so I might just go up 2 tiers on another run. We'll see.
 
Really? Thats odd, i have a 4070 and Path Tracing will probably run on it (1080p)
The PS5 Pro is supposed to have the power of a 4070, so why not?

DF made that claim, but most games have shown to be on par with 4060, not 4070. Also it's an AMD GPU, not NVIDIA.

All that aside, pretty sure iD said the path tracing update is PC exclusive.
 
DF made that claim, but most games have shown to be on par with 4060, not 4070. Also it's an AMD GPU, not NVIDIA.

All that aside, pretty sure iD said the path tracing update is PC exclusive.
4060 you say? Thats disappointing honestly. 4060 is about 30% slower than 4070 from what i see.
Now i'm not so sure GTA VI will run 60fps on the PS5 Pro.
 
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Just finished it this afternoon. It is easily the weakest of the three games, but it's still pretty good. Played on PS5 Pro

Positives
  • Great core gameplay loop. That hasn't changed at all.
  • Refocus on melee helps to keep things fresh.
  • Shield stuff is all fun, and I like the parrying mechanics
  • Best arsenal out of all the games.
  • Strong sound design and effects.
  • Boss fights aren't as bad as people say. They were solid.
Negatives
  • Open-zone design is a complete misstep. all of the core levels end up feeling like re-skins of exactly the same thing. Very boring and repetitive feeling levels stem from this problem.
  • Blurry and dark visuals. The decision to force RTX on is completely baffling, when the art-style of the game doesn't benefit from it at all. It's too dark and medieval to gain much from RTX...and now like more than 50% of PC players can't even boot it because you require RTX? What a baffling decision this was.
  • Giant mech levels are a total miss. It's a total gimmick that's fun for exactly one-minute when you first do it. Adds nothing.
  • Dragonflight levels are another total miss. The dragon feels like it flies at like 35MPH. Adds nothing to the game.
  • No hub-world to display all the collectibles you get. This was one of the coolest parts of Eternal and they just decided not to do it again?
  • Zero sense of humor in the way the story is presented - I don't actually think the story is so bad, but the way it's presented in cutscenes feels so "Anti-doom".
  • Pacing feels off. By about 30-40% of the way through the game, you've seen every kind of enemy they're going to throw at you. By the end you've been fighting similar groups of enemies for maybe 10 hours with nothing new? It gets very boring and repetitive, with very few of the new demon designs offering much in the way of the "combat chess" introduced by the previous two games.

Overall it feels incredibly rushed and focus-tested. I wonder if Hugo Martin has been largely absent from the marketing because his hand was forced by the marketing department to dumb his game down. It feels like they were told to make it way less hardcore than Eternal due to them knowing the primary audience would be on GamePass. IDK something just felt off about this one from the get-go.

If I had to score them, I'd say Doom is a 8.5 or 9, Eternal is a 10, and TDA is a 6-7. It wouldn't be so painful if it wasn't a direct follow-up to Eternal, which is one of the best shooters ever made.
 
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Finished it.

Overall 2nd best in new trilogy for me, slightly behind Eternal.

Gameplay loop is tight, no one does it better than id IMO. Its a contender for best action gameplay ever, pretty easily I would say.

I feel its weakness is in the way its structured. Its similar to Eternal as in game is basically consecutive maps with 4-5 major encounters, hidden secrets and mild exploration. But that structure never becomes obvious in Eternal. Here it becomes obvious whenever I came across a big area there has to be a major battle.

Also battles are quite tense, and game is quite large. I did took some breaks to finish it. Xbox clock is showing 33 hrs.

Overall pretty satisfied with it. Especially since I was sceptical of its gameplay coming from tighter areas of Eternal. id went relatively large areas but did not fumble.

Early GOTY contender for me. Looking forward to getting into art book now that I have finished it.
 
Finished it.

Overall 2nd best in new trilogy for me, slightly behind Eternal.

Gameplay loop is tight, no one does it better than id IMO. Its a contender for best action gameplay ever, pretty easily I would say.

I feel its weakness is in the way its structured. Its similar to Eternal as in game is basically consecutive maps with 4-5 major encounters, hidden secrets and mild exploration. But that structure never becomes obvious in Eternal. Here it becomes obvious whenever I came across a big area there has to be a major battle.

Also battles are quite tense, and game is quite large. I did took some breaks to finish it. Xbox clock is showing 33 hrs.

Overall pretty satisfied with it. Especially since I was sceptical of its gameplay coming from tighter areas of Eternal. id went relatively large areas but did not fumble.

Early GOTY contender for me. Looking forward to getting into art book now that I have finished it.
It's on my GOTY list as well, for sure.
 
I don't remember getting games ads on my desktop..

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That's not an ad. That's an order pussy. Become the doom slayer and go crush demon bussy.

Rip and tear until it is done!!!
Wait, it's trying to sell me Game Pass.

ftfyWba.jpeg


I really don't remember getting this ever, even with Indiana Jones for example. Windows keeps getting better, what can i say. :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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Wait, it's trying to sell me Game Pass.

ftfyWba.jpeg


I really don't remember getting this ever, even with Indiana Jones for example. Windows keeps getting better, what can i say. :messenger_tears_of_joy:
The slayer doesn't need you to invest $70, he just needs a small monthly gamepass investment to help fist and flail these abominations where they came from.

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  • Blurry and dark visuals. The decision to force RTX on is completely baffling, when the art-style of the game doesn't benefit from it at all. It's too dark and medieval to gain much from RTX...and now like more than 50% of PC players can't even boot it because you require RTX? What a baffling decision this was.
....someone doesn`t know that RTX is just NVIDIA`s branding, hasn`t understood what RT does and hasn`t looked in the Steam Hardware charts for at least 5 years.......
Sorry but that part is just horrendous nonsense.
 
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....someone doesn`t know that RTX is just NVIDIA`s branding, hasn`t understood what RT does and hasn`t looked in the Steam Hardware charts for at least 5 years.......
RTX is in doom eternal. On the ps5 pro version I played after dark ages it's amazing how they implemented it there.

The largest issue with Ray tracing in this new doom is it doesn't have the kind of art direction or use of lighting that eternal does. There's far less reflective surfaces to see yourself in, far less metallic surfaces, and next to no neon light sources anywhere. It's dark, raining, and the way the enemies do not have glowing pieces prevents the game from looking better.

Even with hdr fixed this game is not just as vibrant or detailed as eternal was to look at. Some called it cartoony and goofy in eternal, but I prefer the use of color. I like having distinct biomes and art direction. It also makes no sense that the sentinel worlds in eternal make great use of the blue flame and blue lights, are well lit, etc and then similar architecture and worlds in dark ages is just too dark.

The lack of consistent glory kills also makes noticing enemy features in full details impossible because this game puts more dudes on screen but turns them into blurry messes.

I prefer quality over quantity.

Edit: One extra note that Hugo Martin is full of shit on. This game has more enemies on screen than any other doom game. That's slightly a lie. For example when an arena has say 10-15 guys holding a shield and are 5 in a group. Those aren't enemies you deal with one at a time. If you have a jump you can wipe out an entire wave of grunts, but shield guys function as one enemy because with the shield throw plus bounce they all die in one hit instantly. They are an armor piñata.

They sacrificed more detailed enemies for waves of blurry shit on screen with big orbs flying at you to parry. Less is more.
 
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RTX is in doom eternal. On the ps5 pro version I played after dark ages it's amazing how they implemented it there.
RTX is NVIDIAs proprietary branding for their RT product lines and sponsorships, it is not synonymous with the technology that is Raytracing.

The largest issue with Ray tracing in this new doom is it doesn't have the kind of art direction or use of lighting that eternal does. There's far less reflective surfaces to see yourself in, far less metallic surfaces, and next to no neon light sources anywhere. It's dark, raining, and the way the enemies do not have glowing pieces prevents the game from looking better.
You just dislike the artstyle.
That has nothing to do with RT at all.
 
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RTX is NVIDIAs proprietary branding for their RT enabled product lines, it is not synonymous with the technology that is Raytracing.


You just dislike the artstyle.
That has nothing to do with RT in general and that is also not the point of RTGI at all.......
Let me rephrase it this way:

If I can't see any immediate benefits of this tech no matter the naming, what it does, etc, and your previous game looks better, then somewhere along the way you fucked up.

I can identify Ray traced reflections easily on and off in games.

RTGI is global illumination so I just assume better lightning. If it isn't a better lit game than eternal then it's shit use of it.
 
Let me rephrase it this way:

If I can't see any immediate benefits of this tech no matter the naming, what it does, etc, and your previous game looks better, then somewhere along the way you fucked up.

I can identify Ray traced reflections easily on and off in games.

RTGI is global illumination so I just assume better lightning. If it isn't a better lit game than eternal then it's shit use of it.
RTGI allows for realistic dynamic lighting. No more glow in the dark objects, no more fucked up ambient occlusion, everything is truly grounded in the world if the RTGI has a high enough resolution and developers can change things in real time instead of spending hours on lightmap baking that break in the game the moment something moves.
It is impossible without RT to have dynamic elements correctly lit unless they are in direct light and with the map sizes we have now light baking has also pretty much become unfeasible due to the necessary heaps of extra data.

But again, the use of RT has nothing to do with your issues with the visuals, that`s all the artstyle.
 
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RTGI allows for realistic dynamic lighting. No more glow in the dark objects, no more fucked up ambient occlusion, everything is truly grounded in the world if the RTGI has a high enough resolution and developers can change things in real time instead of spending hours on lightmap baking that break in the game the moment something moves.
It is impossible without RT to have dynamic elements correctly lit unless they are in direct light and with the map sizes we have now light baking has also pretty much become unfeasible due to the necessary heaps of extra data.

But again, the use of RT has nothing to do with your issues with the visuals, that`s all the artstyle.
Makes the devs job easier ok, but did it benefit the consumer in anyway? "Well you got the game 1-2 years sooner"

I gained nothing from this tech. It doesn't look better in anyway from other doom games or other games who aren't using this tech. This just sounds like it helps devs push out games faster. Cool maybe spend that extra time creating 22 great levels and not 11 good ones. Maybe don't make the game a blurry mess on consoles. Spend some time fixing hdr before release. Maybe launch with as much content as your previous title.

Nah man. This shit did nothing for no one. Especially considering its lack of sales.

Do manual lighting next time and bake a better looking product. The art style is not the issue- i like the theme and settings here. It's just slop design to not illuminate things nicely.
 
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Makes the devs job easier ok, but did it benefit the consumer in anyway? "Well you got the game 1-2 years sooner"

I gained nothing from this tech. It doesn't look better in anyway from other doom games or other games who aren't using this tech. This just sounds like it helps devs push out games faster. Cool maybe spend that extra time creating 22 great levels and not 11 good ones. Maybe don't make the game a blurry mess on consoles. Spend some time fixing hdr before release. Maybe launch with as much content as your previous title.

Nah man. This shit did nothing for no one.
You are harping on basic and necessary tech while simply generally being at odds with the creative vision Id-Software had here. RT has nothing to do with anything in this game that annoys you.
 
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You are harping on basic and necessary tech while being at odds with the creative vision Id had here.
You are very much barking up the wrong tree.
Ok. Then what should I be complaining about? What is the correct tree?

Game:
-Looks worse than other two entries
-Needs higher requirements than most games to even run
-Has less content than prequels
-Sells shittier
-Reviews shittier
-Costs more for the product

I don't need to understand the nuance of RTGI. I barely understand Ray tracing reflections but when I flick it on or off I can immediately as a moron understand and see what the benefit is.

If RTGI here turned on helped the devs finish and make a game faster great, but at what cost? Because it's objectively the worst game of the 3 from a variety of metrics. I also can't point to RTGI when playing to go "see that's why we need this. Look at what it does for ME the player. I want this tech in more games."

If it's leading to more lazy devs and shoving out products faster that are worse games then they can keep it.

This isn't meant to be an argument to you or RT or RTGI. I'm well aware I'm a dumbass when it comes to this stuff, but I don't see any benefit for me that this was forced in the game or that this is a benefit for games in the future. Maybe it's just in the wrong hands with id or they didn't use the tech well enough to save time but in turn benefit the player with the best looking and most jam packed Doom game they could've made.

Cheers I'll stay retarded.
 
Ok. Then what should I be complaining about? What is the correct tree?
Id Software`s Creative Team.
-Looks worse than other two entries
It is and looks far more advanced on a technological level, even though Id really....really lacks in the asset quality department. That you don´t like the artstyle is still a personal taste problem.
-Needs higher requirements than most games to even run
Requiring at least an 8 year old budget card as a 2025 AAA game is not "high" at all.....
-Has less content than prequels
-Sells shittier
-Reviews shittier
-Costs more for the product
so...what exactly does that have to do with RT again?
I don't need to understand the nuance of RTGI. I barely understand Ray tracing reflections but when I flick it on or off I can immediately as a moron understand and see what the benefit is.
If you don`t understand that moving objects in shadows usually don´t glow, objects in the real world throw shadows on themselves etc then I can`t really help you. Proper RTGI turns a 2d picture into 3d. We´ve had so many good examples in the tech threads here and god knows how many hours of side by side videos are on youtube.
If RTGI here turned on helped the devs finish and make a game faster great, but at what cost? Because it's objectively the worst game of the 3 from a variety of metrics. I also can't point to RTGI when playing to go "see that's why we need this. Look at what it does for ME the player. I want this tech in more games."
RT had to be used to accomodate the game design, not the other way around.
If it's leading to more lazy devs and shoving out products faster that are worse games then they can keep it.
Now we`re completely drifting into nonsense. Is a salt shaker responsible when a chef vomits into the soup?
This isn't meant to be an argument to you or RT or RTGI. I'm well aware I'm a dumbass when it comes to this stuff, but I don't see any benefit for me that this was forced in the game or that this is a benefit for games in the future. Maybe it's just in the wrong hands with id or they didn't use the tech well enough to save time but in turn benefit the player with the best looking and most jam packed Doom game they could've made.
It was not forced...it was necessary to do what they wanted to do. It is just a tool. You can`t blame the tires for the design of a car`s grill......



I honestly have no idea why we`re even talking about any specific tech here when your issues with this game clearly lie with its general design decisions.
 
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Id Software`s Creative Team.

It is and looks far more advanced on a technological level, even though Id really....really lacks in the asset quality department. That you don´t like the artstyle is still a personal taste problem.

Requiring at least an 8 year old budget card as a 2025 AAA game is not "high" at all.....

so...what exactly does that have to do with RT again?

If you don`t understand that moving objects in shadows usually don´t glow, objects in the real world throw shadows on themselves etc then I can`t really help you. Proper RTGI turns a 2d picture into 3d. We´ve had so many good examples in the tech threads here and god knows how many hours of side by side videos are on youtube.

RT had to be used to accomodate the game design, not the other way around.

Now we`re completely drifting into nonsense. Is a salt shaker responsible when a chef vomits into the soup?

It was not forced...it was necessary to do what they wanted to do. It is just a tool.



I honestly have no idea why we`re even talking about any specific tech here when your issues with this game clearly lie with its general design decisions.
Fair enough.

You know what would be cool? If they went back to Eternal and gave us the option to turn on RTGI to see it in that game. Since my issue is art direction then implementing it into that game or 2016 would let me see the real benefits.

I'd love to see that and path tracing added to Eternal as well.

Also what tech threads here showcase this in side by sides etc? I'd like to see it so I can understand its benefit from seeing it.
 
You know what would be cool? If they went back to Eternal and gave us the option to turn on RTGI to see it in that game. Since my issue is art direction then implementing it into that game or 2016 would let me see the real benefits.
That´s not exactly an easy thing to do as raster works with loads and loads of fake lights and baking which is not so compatible with real time light simulation. That would require serious development effort.
Partial RT implementations like reflections are a very low hanging fruit in comparison.
I'd love to see that and path tracing added to Eternal as well.
Not sure I´d expect much from the PT in ID-Tech games. Something like assassin`s creed shadows running on Ubisoft`s own Anvil engine looks decidedly better than Indi with PT enabled f.e. despite "just" using RTGI. That this engine also supports virtualized geometry certainly helps too, though.
Also what tech threads here showcase this in side by sides etc? I'd like to see it so I can understand its benefit from seeing it.
The "Graphical Fidelity I Expect This Gen" thread alone has ~700 pages of tech talk with examples. The faster choice would probably be to go on YT though.
sth like this f.e.
And ofc there are the more technologically focused videos explaining the tech in detail but I think that`s something you should probably postpone a bit.
 
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I remember seeing this video when Eternal came out. I mean this guy has over 37 million subs. Maybe they should have visited him again with TDA to push sales
 
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I wanted to mention even with all of its faults I do love this game.

The simple truth is even the worst DOOM game is better than the best other FPS games have to offer.

And the biggest truth is aside from indies there is no SP big FPS anymore. Halo is dead, Quake is dead, half life is dead, etc. It's all MP focused titles.

For better or worse DOOM is our last bastion of bad ass video game protagonists, and an amazing SP fps to play.
 
Finally finished it. This game absolutely rocks, easily my GOTY so far. I loved mangling enemies with the shield then giving them a dose of super shottie at point blank range.

I don't think I've played anything that gives you such a feeling of badassery. The way the character is super fast, yet so weighty that he makes weaker enemies burst if he lands near them. Blasting the flesh off the bigger enemies is satisfying too.

I'm going back through the early levels to mop up the last collectables, and it's pretty cool just tearing through it with all the upgraded weapons.
 
Finally finished it. This game absolutely rocks, easily my GOTY so far. I loved mangling enemies with the shield then giving them a dose of super shottie at point blank range.

I don't think I've played anything that gives you such a feeling of badassery. The way the character is super fast, yet so weighty that he makes weaker enemies burst if he lands near them. Blasting the flesh off the bigger enemies is satisfying too.

I'm going back through the early levels to mop up the last collectables, and it's pretty cool just tearing through it with all the upgraded weapons.
Yeah, i reckon this game will be my GOTY also. I'm waiting for the path tracing update, though, before i make another playthrough but it's hard not to play atm.
 
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The dragon is pretty fun. Surprised how much this feels like a Japanese game at times with the bullet hell, dragons, parries and perfect dodges. Game is a lot of fun. Starfox shit landing on bases then dismounting. Its great
 
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I'm waiting for the Path Tracing patch for my second playthrough.
I hope it comes sooner than later.
I'm just curious if PS5 Pro will receive the Path Tracing patch. It should, right? I'm playing on PC, though.
No. unless you want upscaled 720p.

Ok. Then what should I be complaining about? What is the correct tree?

Game:
-Looks worse than other two entries
-Needs higher requirements than most games to even run
-Has less content than prequels
-Sells shittier
-Reviews shittier
-Costs more for the product

I don't need to understand the nuance of RTGI. I barely understand Ray tracing reflections but when I flick it on or off I can immediately as a moron understand and see what the benefit is.

If RTGI here turned on helped the devs finish and make a game faster great, but at what cost? Because it's objectively the worst game of the 3 from a variety of metrics. I also can't point to RTGI when playing to go "see that's why we need this. Look at what it does for ME the player. I want this tech in more games."

If it's leading to more lazy devs and shoving out products faster that are worse games then they can keep it.

This isn't meant to be an argument to you or RT or RTGI. I'm well aware I'm a dumbass when it comes to this stuff, but I don't see any benefit for me that this was forced in the game or that this is a benefit for games in the future. Maybe it's just in the wrong hands with id or they didn't use the tech well enough to save time but in turn benefit the player with the best looking and most jam packed Doom game they could've made.

Cheers I'll stay retarded.
You said it, not me.

The hyper-criticism is odd. This game plays almost as intensely as any of the previous entries, and is literally the answer to all of the complaints people had about the previous entries. Everyone so badly wanted glory kills removed, and hated the inertia driven gameplay of eternal, so they removed both of those. They then provided a game very similar to the original where you had to dodge the enemies fire power, but did it in a fun way since everyone complained about the elements that were added to the previous entries. They then added dragons and mechs. Personally, I've found each game quite enjoyable and don't really understand any of the hate.
 
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I wanted to mention even with all of its faults I do love this game.

The simple truth is even the worst DOOM game is better than the best other FPS games have to offer.

And the biggest truth is aside from indies there is no SP big FPS anymore. Halo is dead, Quake is dead, half life is dead, etc. It's all MP focused titles.

For better or worse DOOM is our last bastion of bad ass video game protagonists, and an amazing SP fps to play.

That's mostly true except for Doom 3. Half Life 2 was considerably better at the time.
 
..... Everyone so badly wanted glory kills removed, and hated the inertia driven gameplay of eternal, so they removed both of those.
One thing I didn't figure out about that until quite near the end of the game is how the glory kills / finishing moves in Dark Ages only activate if you're in the right position relative to the enemy.

When you get the purple highlight to show an enemy is on its last hit, a melee attack from the ground tends to just give it a quick kick in the face. Leaping in and activating the finishing move from above gets you all sorts of extended animations, like hacking its head off, crushing its skull, or slowly bisecting it with the shield.

So I guess you can choose to have glory kills or not - and you get the same health / ammo drops either way.
 
Well, I've went back for a Doom 2016 playthrough after finishing Dark Ages, and as much as I liked Dark Ages, Doom 2016 is the far superior game.

Dark Ages lost a lot of atmosphere going with so many open levels, the majority of which were quite samey.

2016 > Dark Ages > Eternal for me

But all good games that I really enjoyed.
 
Nearing the end of chapter 5. Shit is really clicking for me. This is like Platinum Games and ID collaborated to make a balls to the wall FPS campaign. I love all the counters and parries. OST is pretty solid. I wish they went a little more Black Metal to set it apart from past games but it still has a few bangers.

[EDIT] Finished chapter 5. Honestly one of my favorite FPS levels ever. Flying around, counter dodging to destroy the cannons, seamlessly landing then infiltrating on foot and taking out a mini boss, then bust out and land mid air on the dragon again to fly around, boost chase other pilots, just a true pure fun action level. Great stuff. Also really appreciate how much the basic shield dash adds to combat. Can be used from far away and instantly closes the distance in a really fun way that pairs perfectly with the shotgun. Gore and muscle wasting on the enemies is great with chunks just falling off. Stacking classes of weapons on the X button as a toggle is also really smart.
 
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Just beat the 1st lvl after finally giving exp 33 a break. So far it feels like they slowed down the game dramatically to make it more accessible. In the previous dooms if you stood still for a sec you are dead. Gameplay is still sublime and so far enjoy the change of pace with the shield and parrying.

Graphics were a huge letdown. I dunno what's with alot of ms games having some clean ass graphics but the environments look simplistic and not detailed at all, I guess that's the trade off to get 60fps.
 
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