DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods Pt.1 - Nintendo Switch Hands-On Impressions
Since DOOM: Eternal was released to rave reviews in 2020 (having scored it 89% ourselves), it has seen two expansions: The Ancient Gods Part One and The Ancient Gods Part Two. While Part Two was released on Xbox and PlayStation consoles in March 2021, the Switch is only just seeing Part One now in June. I understand the kids are calling these expansions TAG One and TAG Two, so I may refer to them as this going forwards.
The base game was a really impressive Switch port; it still amazes me how such a large and graphically optimised game was released on the Switch with no real dip in quality from its Xbox and PlayStation counterparts. Yes the game took up about 75% of the Switch’s memory (and adding TAG One basically fills up what little was leftover), but it was well worth it. I have absolutely no idea how and if they’ll fit in TAG Two, but I guess we’ll jump that hurdle when we get to it.
And what of the expansion itself? Well as you’d expect it carries on where DOOM: Eternal left off. The expansion is set after the base game, at the end of which (spoiler alert) our friend the Doom Slayer… slayed the evil Khan Makyr (note for Alex: pronounced like ‘Maker’). However as we have now found out, this has only exacerbated the situation and the hellish demons have now colonized other dimensions.
The gameplay is more of the same – you need to clear consecutive areas of baddies before moving onto the next, but each area is interspersed with some clever jumping puzzles or something similar that hampers your smooth progress. We touched on it in our initial review that the gameplay can feel ever so slightly repetitive but the driving music and adrenaline pumping action keeps you going until the end. However, if you were feeling a bit tired of the formula towards the end of DOOM: Eternal (as indeed I was), it will leave you a bit less motivated to persevere with another episode of what is effectively the same game but with a couple of new enemies.
But, as ever, the DOOM developers know what sells, and they execute it very well. TAG One is no exception, it’s just that it may be more for the fans than any casual observers. TAG One is oozing with action and can feel a bit silly at times but if that’s what you like, then it’s glorious. Enjoy!
Thank you for checking out our DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods Pt.1 Nintendo Switch Hands-On Impressions, thank you to Bethesda Softworks (via Powerup PR) for providing the review code and thank you to our $5 and up Patreon Backers for their ongoing support: