Introduction
The Ancient Gods: Part 2 is the thrilling conclusion to the added story content of Doom Eternal. It was released in March 2021 as paid DLC.
Review
The Dark Lord has been resurrected. He’s gathering his army for the final battle against the Doom Slayer. If he wins, he shall take over all the world’s with his forces. But if he shall fall, his army will die, and what’s left will be confined to hell forever. The ending to this story is a gripping thrill ride, that takes place over a handful of levels, that are shorter, add a new kind of traversal mechanic, and more!
The lore you get this time around, kept pulling me in deeper and deeper. Learning more about The Father and the creation of The Dark Lord, and how he made the Maykr race, only to be betrayed in the long run, and how he became what he is now. Unfortunately if you read the lore as you gather it in the game, the big twist about everything is ruined because of it. Though I will admit it was confusing to read, but at this point, what part of the lore isn’t confusing about this game. There’s so much, and it’s so deep that it’s sometimes hard to get it all straight, or even remember for that matter.
The gameplay itself was balanced quite a bit. I kept on trucking with Normal difficulty against my better judgment, only to find that I didn’t have to worry as much as I was. The enemies felt like they weren’t as bullet spongey, the fights weren’t massive slogs anymore. They felt shorter, and better balanced. Slowly ramping up to the worst enemy of the arena. It even started off with simpler battles, as opposed to god awful encounters immediately, like the previous DLC. The levels were even shorter, though broken up into multiple sections that all had their own beautiful design to it. I couldn’t stop taking screenshots. I even got a funny video of a glitch! Plus the new traversal system was fun. You use the grapple hook on the super shotgun to hook onto certain objects and fling yourself around! It never truly worked that way the game intended it too, but it was a fun new addition. Plus the gorgeous locales were fun to explore, and weren’t just barren bloody landscapes. My favourite was the world shard, which is a shard of space rock that pierced through a planet. But it was mystifying and gorgeous. Especially the closer you got!
This time around, a new weapon was actually added. Though it’s not a gun, but instead a giant hammer! This was used so much through the couple levels, because it was so useful. So I’d use my flamethrower to set enemies on fire, then freeze them, then slam the ground with the hammers and shatter them all, which rewarded me with a ton of health, armour, and even ammo! As you go through the levels, you can find optional encounters, like in the base game. If you manage to beat these, you get an upgrade to the hammer. Though these encounters feel closer to Slayer Gates. If you manage to do it twice though, you end up getting cosmetics, but it makes the encounter harder.
The slew of new enemies added was a nice addition too. Instead of just one new enemy. But it still had its fair share of terrible enemies. You get the new Stone Imps, who are just imps, but can only be killed with a shotgun mod. Or a Screecher Zombie, who buffs the enemies for a period of time when they die. This was a pain in some fights, and made things harder in a few spots. Or you have the Armored Baron, which can only be hurt for a period of time once you shoot it’s mace at a certain point of its attack animation. The DLC did a good job at not overloading you with all these enemies though. So when you actually see them, it’s a fun challenge and you’re not yelling into the air when you’re fighting the 20th Armored Baron. It was all perfectly balanced.
Rating
Pros:
- Fantastic Story Conclusion
- New Weapon Is Fun
- Fights Are Nicely Balanced
Cons:
- Grapple Hook Traversal Doesn’t Work Great
- A Few Annoying Enemy Additions
Summary
The second DLC to Doom Eternal ended on a great note, and brought much needed balancing to the encounters. With a fun new tool, and a slew of new enemies to fight, I had a ton of fun with this expansion and would absolutely recommend it.
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Game & Developer Information
Developer Website: id Software
Developer Socials: Twitter
Publisher Website: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher Socials: Twitter
PSN Store Links: £54.99/€69.99 Europe / $59.99 North America
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