DOOM: Eternal, the latest demon slaying game and sequel to 2016’s DOOM from Bethesda Studios has just seen its first expansion drop in the form of The Ancient Gods Part One. The Ancient Gods Part One is a story-based expansion that brings 3 chapters of chaos in at around 6 – 8 hours and sees the player jump straight back into the shoes of Doom-Slayer in pursuit of bigger and badder enemies. This expansion brings a tougher, and more intense challenge that has the player feeling the heat throughout its run time. One note is that this expansion can be purchased and played separate to the main campaign, but I do not recommended it. The better option would be to jump into the main campaign first, which can be played for free by Xbox players as part of a current Xbox Game Pass subscription.
The Ancient Gods Part One starts with a short recap of the main campaign and sends the player in with all previous progression from the main game including weapon upgrades, runes and Predator Suit tokens. It’s then straight back into Hell, which begins with a bang. If it has been a while since jumping in, the player will more than likely feel a little uncomfortable but the game will continue to offer tips for those more challenging enemies. For some players, it maybe worth jumping back into a few early levels of the main game just to refresh those demon hunting skills.
The Ancient Gods Part One gameplay brings with it all of the same thrilling action from the main game with a few additions along the way. The player will see the return of the fast paced, not stop, traversal based battles that sees the player move through the world defeating demons until such point in time where they are locked in a multi-tiered battle arena while waves of enemies try to defeat the Doom-Slayer with a few new additions. One difference from the main game is that the difficulty is turned up a few notches, making for tough game even tougher. Other than the increased difficulty the Ancient Gods Part One also brings new worlds to visit, new traversal puzzles and a few new enemies. The new enemies on offer include spirits, the Blood Maykr and eyeball looking turrets. The new turrets are eyeballs that retreat into their tower for protection but are generally easily dealt with. Then there is the Blood Maykr, a shielded enemy that can only be taken down through head shots when it drops its shield after its heavy attack. The last enemy being spirits that will regularly test the player’s skill as they possess and then increase the strength and speed of any enemy it possesses. The player must first defeat the host and then blast the exposed spirit with a secondary ghostbuster style plasma rifle attack prior to them possessing their next host to dispose of them.
Visually the Ancient Gods Part One world looks very impressive and provides a hellish atmosphere across an abandoned research station, a demon-filled swamp and an off-world location known as The Holt. Each level also continues the focus on the horizontal and vertical traversal while bringing with it a soundtrack that fits perfectly with the game and just makes the player want to remind every demon who’s boss.
The one thing I will say is that there is a story there and I feel like it got lost a bit in all that demon slaying. There are cut scenes and codex there to feed the player the story but it just didn’t stick in my mind. If story is the player’s thing then make sure to pay particular attention throughout the game.
[wp-review id=”8631″]
Xbox Gamer Dad for One More Game
8 – Great – this is a standout game where some minor changes would make it amazing. You could easily justify your purchase of this game.
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The Ancient Gods Part One expansion was reviewed on the Xbox One X and is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The expansion comes as part of the Year One Pass or as a stand-alone purchase.
The publisher kindly provided code for the The Ancient Gods Part One expansion. All thoughts on this game are ours and ours alone.