4/5 ★ – fez219's review of Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One.

It's more Doom Eternal, and that's a very good thing. This time around, ID pulls no punches. A few new enemy types — particularly the spirit, which empowers foes and must be sucked up Ghostbusters style or it will make your life a living hell — give the devs even more tools to play with in their combat puzzle extraordinaire. These new enemy types seem controversial, but I at least like them (but that's just from playing on normal). You start out fully powered, and the game wastes no time with easy encounters. Assuming you've played through the main campaign recently, though, you should be fluent enough with its systems to be able to make it through without too much trouble. This campaign has far less of a focus on collectibles than the main game. Nothing really contributes to progression besides some new support runes that don't make a big difference. This might bother some, but I still was compelled to find all the lore and other collectibles, so I didn't really mind (even though I would have enjoyed more progression). Level challenges are also gone, which I honestly appreciate. They had far less emphasis in Eternal than in 2016, and removing them entirely frees you up to approach encounters without worrying about playing for specific (and oftentimes annoying) unlocks. I also like where the story goes. I think the game does a good job of having whacky lore about gods and demons if you pay attention, but also leaves you free to just shut your brain off and kill the demons. That's what the Slayer is doing, after all. Once again, it follows the rule of cool to a T. The ending is sick as hell and I can't wait to see what they do with the "Dark Lord' in part 2. There's only three levels here, though, and that's a problem. $20 feels a bit steep in terms of pricing. The levels themselves at least are mostly great. The first level is in an ocean facility that's unlike anything else in the main game, complete with an underwater section that was up there with the best moments of the main campaign. The second level sees you go through hell's blood swamps. They're visually distinctive from other trips to hell, but rely on some annoying mechanics. Fog and the wolf safe zones are just annoying to deal with and not all that fun. The third level sees you go back to the heaven zone, which is now corrupted due to your actions. I thought this level was very cool as well. All-in-all, this is a great expansion to a masterpiece of a game. I just don't really feel like $20 is fair as an asking price just for 3 levels. I know both Ancient Gods are $30 bundled, and that feels right (assuming part 2 is approximately the same in terms of length and quality). Wait for a sale or buy both Ancient Gods parts!