Doom’s boss fights are the kind where players have to learn each boss’ attacks, decipher how to evade them, and counter between attacks. This trajectory was thrown completely off when the Cyberdemon shows up halfway through the game for a traditional boss fight, and by ‘traditional’ I mean he has a ridiculously huge life bar, and when I fire rockets into his face they do about as much damage as clipping a fingernail.Īll of a sudden, despite all the momentum Doom’s gunplay had going for it, I was forced to play defensively for the first time. Each one provides slightly more challenge than the last. Arena fights crescendo in difficulty over the campaign, but through powering up weapons and armor, they rarely feel impossible or unfair. Doom is me running my ass off and firing guns in every direction because if I stand still for more than five seconds I’m toast, and I like that dynamic an awful lot. Doom isn’t a tactical, cover-based shooter where I hunker down, think about my options, equip the best one and go. Despite a plethora of weapons and grenades at my disposal, the action in the fights proved so intense that I rarely had time to strategize. I would be thrilled if I never had to fight another traditional, overpowered boss as long as I live.ĭoom is almost entirely comprised of big-scale arena fights with dozens of enemies. Other games have attempted to solve the problem by overlaying quick-time events in lieu of boss fights. Some contemporary games shed the trend, so it’s not uncommon to see the end credits roll without a big finale boss. Play a level, get to a boss, beat boss, continue. For a long time, they were the only way to symbolize concrete progression in a game. However, the blistering pace nearly came to a forced halt a few times during the campaign.īoss fights, love them or hate them, have been around about as long as video games themselves. I found it to be an exhilarating, agile shooter whose pace will most likely leave me seeking more of the same from other shooters in the future. I recently played id Software’s new Doom. This post contains light spoiler information about Doom’s bosses.

How to beat the cyberdemon in doom