Doom Eternal is a 2020 first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the sequel to Doom (2016), and the seventh game in the Doom series. The story follows the Doom Slayer once again, on a mission to end Hell's consumption of Earth and foil the alien Maykrs' plans to exterminate humanity. Doom Eternal introduces several new weapons and enemy types, and has a large focus on resource management in which players can gain the Slayer's ammo, armor and health by executing enemies in close range. Along with the single-player campaign, a multiplayer mode, Battlemode, was introduced. In this mode, players can either play as the Doom Slayer or as a demon, and fight until either the Doom Slayer defeats the demons, or vice versa.
Early production of the game began in 2017. A core development goal for Eternal was to address the shortcomings of the 2016 game, introduce more visual diversity and add more gameplay variety. Platforming segments, in particular, were introduced to break up the game's pacing and make the non-combat scenarios more engaging. The team described the game to a "fantasy combat puzzle", as players must choose the best tools to exploit specific enemy weaknesses. Unlike its predecessor, id Software developed the multiplayer component in-house to connect it to the single-player campaign. Mick Gordon composed the soundtracks, however he had a conflict with id Software that led to both parties severing their relationship. Announced during E3 2018, Doom Eternal was released for PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One in March 2020, with a port for Nintendo Switch released in December 2020, and versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S released in June 2021.
Doom Eternal received positive reviews from critics, who praised its campaign, graphics, level design, soundtrack, and combat mechanics, though some disliked the increased focus on storytelling and its platforming sections. It was a commercial success, generating the highest opening weekend sales for the franchise to date. The Ancient Gods, a two-part standalone campaign DLC set after the events of the main game, was released between October 2020 and March 2021. Doom Eternal received five nominations at The Game Awards 2020, including Game of the Year and Best Action Game, as well as a nomination for Action Game of the Year at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. A prequel, Doom: The Dark Ages, was released in 2025.
Gameplay
Doom Eternal is a first-person shooter, in which players control the Doom Slayer, who must battle the demonic forces of Hell. Like its predecessor, combat is fast-paced, requiring players to always stay on the move. The Slayer is equipped with a large variety of weapons, as well as throwables such as grenades and ice bombs. The Super Shotgun is equipped with a grappling hook, that grabs onto enemies and slingshots player towards them. Some weapons in the game have secondary fire modes that alter their functions. As players progress, they will earn points to upgrade their weapons. Each weapon modification has a mastery skill that can be earned through completing a specific gameplay challenge. Additionally, the developers included the option to have a centered weapon view, which was traditional in the first two Doom games and was added as a post-release update to Doom 2016. Players can find pickup items which can give them special buffs, such as granting them extra lives or a "berserker" mode, that will kill every demon in a single hit, with the exception of bosses. If the player dies repeatedly in the same combat encounter, they can select the option to respawn with Sentinel Armor, which significantly reduces incoming damage. The game offers five difficulty levels for players to choose from. At higher difficulty levels, enemies attack player character more aggressively and deal significantly more damage. In "Ultra-Nightmare" and "Extra Lives" modes, the Slayer dies permanently when their lives run out, forcing players to restart the campaign.
Players need to manage the Slayer's health, armor, and the ammo of his weapons. To restore health, players must first stagger an enemy, and then perform a quick and violent "Glory Kill" execution. Igniting enemies using a flamethrower will refill armor, while using a chainsaw against them will cause them to drop various types of ammo, though ammo and charges for the game's most powerful weapons (the BFG and the Crucible Blade) can only be picked up at combat arenas. Accumulating Glory Kills recharge "Blood Punch", a powerful melee attack that destroys enemies' armor. A new system called "Destructible Demons" is featured, in which enemies' bodies progressively deteriorate as they take damage. It also enables players to exploit an enemy's weaknesses, stripping away their primary attack abilities. The Slayer is very agile and is capable of double-jumping, climbing on walls, and utilizing an omnidirectional dash to evade enemies. In combat arenas, he can make use of swing bars, portals, and jump pads to reach distant areas.
Doom Eternal has 13 missions. Progression in each mission is measured by a meter which indicates the number of combat encounters remaining in the stage. In addition to standard enemy encounters and boss fights, some levels may have "secret encounters", which require players to defeat a certain number of enemies in a limited period of time, and "Slayer Gates", which are harder combat challenges. As players explore each level, they will find more upgrades such as Runes, Sentinel Crystals, and Preator Suit points. They modify the Slayer's abilities, provide additional gameplay bonuses, and increase his maximum health, armour and the total ammunition he can carry. Players may also find a large number of collectibles, such as albums, toys, and cheat codes, which provide players with additional perks and gameplay modifiers when they replay missions. The hub area, called "Fortress of Doom" contains rooms with further upgrades and gear which can be unlocked with Sentinel Batteries collected in the game's levels. Players can also access "Master levels", which remix the campaign missions with a different set of enemies.
In addition to the campaign, the game features an asymmetrical multiplayer mode named "Battlemode". In this mode, one player controlling the Doom Slayer must fight against two player-controlled demons. At launch, it features five playable demons. While each playable demon possesses unique skills and abilities, they share common offensive and defensive maneuvers, such as increasing their movement speed and creating hazardous zones for the Slayer. They can also summon two types of AI-controlled allies to assist in combat, though the Slayer can also utilize them to replenish his health and ammo. If a player-controlled demon is defeated, their partner must survive for 20 seconds to trigger a respawn; otherwise, the round ends. Each match has three rounds, and players can pick an upgrade after each round. Doom Eternal also features a horde mode consisting of three types of rounds; in Arena, players must defeat waves of increasingly difficult enemies, starting with only one weapon and unlocking a random one as they progress through each round; in Blitz, players must kill as many enemies as possible within a limited timeframe; and in Traversal, players must complete platforming challenges while collecting as many coins as possible.
Plot
Main campaign In 2163, fourteen years after the events on Mars, Earth has been overrun by demons, wiping out 60% of the planet's population. The Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has been fully corrupted into a demonic cult. What remains of humanity has either fled Earth or joined the Armored Response Coalition (ARC) resistance movement. The Doom Slayer, having previously been betrayed by Dr. Samuel Hayden, returns with a satellite fortress controlled by the AI VEGA to quell the demonic invasion by killing the Hell Priests: Deags Nilox, Ranak, and Grav. The priests serve an angelic being known as the Khan Maykr, who seeks to sacrifice mankind for her own race's survival. The Slayer teleports to Earth and kills Deag Nilox, but the Khan Maykr transports the two remaining priests to unknown locations.
The Slayer retrieves a celestial locator from the Sentinel city of Exultia, and then travels to Hell to acquire a power source from the exiled Sentinel, the Betrayer. The Betrayer also gives him a dagger to stab the heart of his son, whose body was turned into the apocalyptic demon, the Icon of Sin. The Slayer finds and kills Deag Ranak at his citadel in the Arctic. In response, the Khan Maykr moves Deag Grav again and accelerates the invasion of Earth. With no leads on the last Hell Priest, VEGA suggests finding Dr. Hayden, who knows his location. At an ARC compound, the Slayer retrieves Hayden's damaged robot chassis and the demonic Crucible.
Upon uploading Hayden's mind into the fortress, he reveals Deag Grav is hiding on Sentinel Prime; the only way to get there is a portal located in the lost city of Hebeth in Mars' core. The Slayer travels to the Martian moon Phobos, where he uses the BFG 10000 to shoot a hole in the surface of Mars to reach Hebeth. After reaching Sentinel Prime, flashbacks reveal the Slayer to be the original Doomguy. Found badly wounded by Sentinels sometime after Doom 64, Doomguy was brought before the Deags and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena. Impressed by Doomguy's ruthlessness in battle, the Deags inducted him into the Sentinels.
In the present, the Slayer finds and kills Deag Grav in the arena. The Khan Maykr reveals to the Slayer her plan to resurrect the Icon of Sin to consume mankind. The Slayer travels to the Sentinel homeworld of Argent D'Nur for his own Crucible. Further flashbacks reveal that during the battle of Argent D'Nur, a rogue Maykr called the Seraphim imbued Doomguy with superhuman abilities by putting him in the Divinity Machine, transforming him into the Doom Slayer. It is revealed that the Khan Maykr had made a pact with Hell to produce Argent energy, which is created through the mass sacrifice of human souls. In return for providing worlds for Hell to invade, the Maykrs receive a share of the Argent energy produced by Hell, which allows their own dimension, Urdak, to survive.
The Slayer enters Urdak through Hell's citadel, Nekravol, and halts the Icon's awakening ceremony by using the Betrayer's dagger to destroy its heart. Free from Maykr control, the Icon of Sin awakens and teleports to Earth. With the dimensional barrier destroyed, the demons break their alliance with the Maykrs and invade Urdak. The Slayer kills the Khan Maykr before returning to Earth to confront the Icon of Sin, although VEGA is left behind to ensure the portal stays open and in doing so, learns that he is the mind of the Father, the creator of the Maykr race. The Slayer kills the Icon of Sin in battle, ending Hell's invasion of Earth.
The Ancient Gods Part One Despite defeating the Icon of Sin and halting Hell's invasion of Earth, the Doom Slayer's victory did not come without cost. The death of the Khan Maykr and Hell's conquest of Urdak has given the demons a chance to dominate all dimensions and reinitiate their invasion of Earth. To prevent this, the Slayer, Samuel Hayden, and ARC scientists set out to liberate the Seraphim. The Slayer travels to the UAC Atlantica Facility, where the Seraphim's containment pod is. He uploads Hayden's consciousness into the pod, and it is revealed that he and the Seraphim are one and the same.