Doom hasn’t been in a better place than now since its release. 2016’s Doom and its sequel, Doom Eternal, were hugely successful with fans and critics alike. Although we don’t know for sure if id Software is actively working on another game in the series, the truth is that the idea is very attractive.
Therefore, there is a good opportunity to release a prequel for mobile. It’s true that most people who rush home after work to fire up their console or PC don’t really appreciate the chaos that the mobile market has become, but the fact is that now is the right time.
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Do you know what’s wrong? What’s so compromising that it makes you doubt Bethesda’s ability to handle the Doom license? Mighty Doom, the mobile prequel I was talking about, which may provide sporadic entertainment, but it’s so wrapped up in anti-consumer monetization that it’s really hard to forgive.
Mighty Doom is a dual-stick shooter with roguelike elements, which means you start over every time you die. Your weapon is a Doom Slayer that fires automatically. All you have to do is move it to hit the myriad of demons placed in your path, as well as avoid enemy fire.
First, I’ll talk about a few extenuating circumstances. Mighty Doom has a solid soundtrack built around Mick Gordon’s signature tones and soundscapes. Also, the transition to more colorful and “cute” graphics works well, and the new chibi-style designs of already familiar demon types are quite clever.
Well, those are all the good things I have to say. Let’s see, it’s true that the game is free. It’s worth mentioning because it’s an incentive for you to download it and see what you think. The problem is not that the monetization itself is very provocative, but that the way these systems are set up prevents the player from… how to say, from playing.
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First of all, there is a wide variety of currency types: energy, coins, specific keys for each of the 8 types of tools you carry with you, and crystals (some of which can be purchased with real money, by the way). In addition, there are of course also loot boxes that give you faster access to key upgrades. This is all very confusing and designed to encourage the player to buy in bulk, “just in case”.
Not only that, but you also have 20 energy and it costs 5 to start a game, so you can’t always play Mighty Doom whenever you want. This is reminiscent of titles like Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery or Dungeon Keeper Mobile. Of course, you can speed up energy regeneration by using crystals, the same currency you need for loot boxes.
Each tool can be upgraded dozens of times, and it’s really hard to tell the difference when you only bought one upgrade for one tool. So as you progress through the game, you get frustrated because Mighty Doom presents you with what it calls a “difficulty spike”, a high difficulty increase that seems to be inserted on purpose to force you into buying more premium currencies.
I may not be the best player and I’m definitely not used to mobile controls, but I know twin stick shooters and I know that Mighty Doom starts presenting you waves with too many enemies very soon as well only to increase the health of the opponents up to such a point that it seems impossible to complete levels from 4 (after only a few hours of play) without having to buy upgrades with real money.
Some enemies like Revenants shoot grenades at you, Pinkies run towards you or out of sight, and levels can easily start with 30-40 enemies attacking at once, so it’s absolutely impossible to beat them without installing significant upgrades.
I can’t guess how long it would take to complete Mighty Doom or enjoy it continuously without spending real money. I haven’t finished it yet, but I feel like I’ve played enough to say that Mighty Doom is tarnishing the reputation of the franchise. Not only that, but it’s also a reminder that the mobile phone market is still a toxic swamp full of ghosts trying to pretend to be something totally different than they really are.
Bethesda, you should be ashamed.