Doom Warrior definitely talks a big game. Then again so do the liberal democrats, and look where that landed us?
Perhaps itβs a degree of world-weary cynicism this profession naturally instils in those who undertake it (if I were to write a memoir, it would be called βThe Slow Death of Optimismβ) but when a game from humble origins begins boasting features such as character progression with literally no end, allowing your character to become as powerful as you like, provided youβre willing to put the time in. But considering the way Doom Warrior actually plays, thatβs about as exciting a prospect as being the smartest kid on the short bus. 
Thereβs clearly a lot of ambition here, which is always to be respected, but this is absolutely not what it says on the tin. Combat is much like the Infinity Blade games, but the animation and overall graphic appeal is much, much lower. Stationary, direction-based combat is understandable on a mobile platform. Never when you have a keyboard and mouse at your disposal. The βepicβ battles Doom Warrior promises boil down to pressing arrow keys to take cursory swipes at your single opponent, using the WASD keys to block (more on that later) and occasionally lobbing a cheeky fireball at them if youβre feeling adventurous.
Unfortunately, thereβs a limited range of animation at work, making it difficult to actually figure out where your attacker is swinging from, making blocking a needlessly challenging process. I guess thatβs why Creaky Corpse decided to add prompts that actually tell you when to block and which button to press, which is somehow even worse. Admittedly I havenβt fiddled around in the settings much to see if it can be turned off, but the animation is so lacking in nuance between different attack directions that you come to rely on the prompts as a crutch – which can make even the toughest battles a process of prompt-block-jab. As such, Doom Warrior is more a game of time and money as opposed to actual skill and knowledge.
As for the so-called PvP – in the gameβs arenas youβll match your character up against other people also dawdling in the same area. But theyβre not βliveβ fights, as such – youβre simply going up against someone elseβs character controlled by the computer, simply with the benefits of whatever stats, boosts and gear the player has equipped them with. You can and will be attacked with incredible frequency when youβre offline, leading to scores of condescending βYou were killed by βTwatDestroyer94ββ messages in your inbox. Itβs not PvP. Itβs fighting another generic nob prettied up by another player. As I touched upon earlier, thereβs very little skill involved.
Doom Warrior is, I presume, going to be free-to-play, and itβs adopted a mobile gaming freemium format which just fits incredibly awkwardly onto a desktop game. You have energy you have to expend to fight (I managed to clear the first arena and get a few scraps of new gear in about half an hour, depleting my energy reserve entirely) and once youβve run out of that and your basic allowance of premium currency, youβ¦ just kinda have to stop playing, really. Imagine if Guild Wars 2 had some kind of timer on it and it just stopped working after an hour, and you had to wait for a while to get back into it. Probably good for maintaining some semblance of a social life, but the pay-for-play format just doesnβt work on the desktop. Itβs a cumbersome process of logging in, spending all your energy, and then just buggering off for a while and doing other stuff until you have energy back.
That format works on smartphones and tablets. Drop in, drop out, at the end of your shift or after a nightβs sleep. But on a full-fledged PC game it just feels wrong, and stops Doom Warrior from gaining any real momentum. Itβs an aggressive, blue-balling way of trying to make a profit, and what really bites about Doom Warrior is the actual content behind that paywall isnβt really that fun. The idea of spending more than Β£5 on it makes me feel physically ill. I donβt mind paying actual money for cool vanity items or temporary experience boosts, but paying for the privilege of a couple of extra fights? Not my cup of tea, and I doubt itβll wash down well with the majority of sane RPG fans.
For a game called Doom Warrior it sure is timid and underwhelming. Itβs difficult to tell if thereβs any potential lurking beneath its unappealing nature, but for mindless, momentary fun, it might be worth a look. If they made the blocking just a little less procedural and eased up on the freemium side of things, it could definitely be a solid little time waster. Free to play, maybe, but at what cost? βOh, we donβt want your money – weβll just keep chipping away at your soulβ¦β
Checkout Doom Warrior for yourself – http://www.doomwarrior.com/
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