DOOM Eternal Vs DOOM 2016: Which Is Better?

Back in 2008, the idea for a fourth Doom wasn’t terribly well-received. Mainly, because even though Doom 3 was critically acclaimed when it released in 2004, most would agree that it did not age well. It was overly dark, the action was slow and the scares became very predictable, so the idea of another instalment seemed redundant.

What new territory could Doom 4 possibly explore that others didn’t already exhaust?

Well, revealed in 2014, instead of continuing the story, the decision was made to give the franchise a soft reboot; going back to what made the classics great, but also mixing in the best of the new generation.

This eventually became what we now know as Doom.

Fast-paced and exciting, it successfully brought back the feel of gaming in the ‘90s with new twist. So, when a sequel was announced, the gaming community was excited to see what else iD Software could bring to the table.

From the reviews continuously praising everything, it would appear as though they met those expectations. However, did it surpass what Doom 2016 accomplished, or could this be like another Doom 3, where we’ll start picking up the flaws later on?

Let's compare the two head to head, in a series of categories, scoring a winner for each.

When Doom released back in 2016, it was praised for being faithful update to the original classics.

The enemies looked like they jumped out of the 2D plane and flawlessly entered the third dimension. It also perfectly captured the setting of the gritty, hell-infested Mars Research Facility. It was truly a love letter to fans of the old-school shooter. You wouldn’t think that Eternal could do much to improve on the visuals, but they did.

Eternal hit pretty much the same mark with their graphics, beautifully adding the details where it was necessary and keeping true to the original demon designs.

However, Eternal decided to go one step above by giving the player's weapons more effects. When shooting the enemy, their bodies actually deteriorate with every shot - something that isn't usually seen in video games. There’s also more variety to the environments.

Much like Doom 3, Doom 2016 mostly took place on the Mars Research Facility, while sometimes taking a detour through Hell. Eternal wanted to branch out with some new ideas by going to Earth during a demonic invasion. The team wanted to really try and create a Doom universe by featuring larger, more varied locations.

This allowed the player to explore more city-based locations and even an Arctic-style level in the daytime, which was a nice change of pace from those formerly repetitive dark settings.

All told, Eternal's aesthetics are leaps and bounds above what went before.