The good:

I have to say, the story of Doom(2016) is exactly what it needs to be. Destroying that terminal at the beginning told us everything we need to know about Doom Guy. It's a breath of fresh air compared to so many other games pretentiously trying to be like a Hollywood movie.

The soundtrack: I probably don't even need to say anything, it's one of the best game soundtracks, and perfectly gets you into the mindset of the protagonist. Rip and tear!

Challenges: Especially the runes, but also the other optional objectives are some nice little optional spice. Secret areas are plentiful enough to reward curiosity consistently.

Gameplay: Nothing directly to criticize about this, it keeps you moving to survive, which reduces the potential for repetition. It's polished and razor sharp. However...

The bad:

The biggest problem I encountered, was pacing issues. About a dozen times I found myself thinking "Thank goodness, a checkpoint, I can quit and take a break". I could see some attempts to break up the intensity with platforming, but it wasn't nearly enough. The intensity did help make the game very memorable, at least. The pacing seemed better towards the end (or perhaps I was just getting used to it).

Progression. It seemed like, despite there being two different routes, there was always an obviously "correct" alternate fire option when picking gun upgrades. So why should I switch to something so clearly inferior? Thus, 3/4ths of the way through the game, weapon upgrade points stopped being meaningful. The suit upgrades besides explosion damage reduction seemed mostly pointless from the get-go. The Health/Armor/Ammo upgrades were fine.

Looking forwards to seeing the formula further refined in RAGE 2 and Eternal, where there are more movement options.

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