Great intellectual properties translated effectively to mobile – how many times has this actually happened? Games on iOS e Android It certainly presents itself as a hotbed of ideas and experimentation, but at the same time it is a victim of trends that cyclically end up monopolizing spaces and genres, as well as naturally of an already consolidated and inevitable resort to free-to-play models. that sometimes they are permissive and sensible, sometimes not.
Mighty DOOM, the curious spin-off of the great id Software classic, is ultimately also a victim of trends, since it is part of the trend that has been in fashion for some time now in the App Store and Google Play, that of single stick shooter: Essentially top-down shooters that unfold vertically, a single virtual joystick for character movement, and an automatic shooting system toward the nearest enemy.
Available for a few days and already at the top of the free application lists, has the Mini Slayer adventure reached its goal? We reveal it to you in Powerful review of DOOM.
Gameplay: Run and shoot from above
We often talk about the Run & Gun approach when referring to DOOM, given the extreme dynamism of the game. game that has always characterized the series, with special reference to the last two chapters. Well, to somehow transfer that type of frenetic and visceral experience to mobile, the developers at Alpha Dog Games have opted for dynamics that almost amount to bullet hell in the second half of the campaign, thus forcing us to never stop. while we continue attacking.
This is the biggest difference (the mischievous will say the only one) with the recent Tomb Raider Reloaded, which, like Mighty DOOM, marks the return of an iconic video game character to iOS and Android to catapult him into increasingly insidious arenas full of enemies. to face. Here, while in Lara Croft's cartoonish adventure the automatic fire is activated the moment we stop, giving the experience a precise strategic depth since time and space must be managed well, the Mini Slayer continues shooting even while moving and this allows you to make the levels even more crowded and chaotic.
The other elements that regulate the gameplay are all inspired by DOOM, the real one: the arsenal can be modified at will depending on the weapons unlocked up to that point between rifles, machine guns, shotguns and so on, while in the secondary slot there is a high-powered special tool, for example a rocket launcher, which requires a few seconds to recharge and must be used when we consider it. it is appropriate. However, when scoring kills, a third weapon is also available, which can be a beam or a chainsaw, which for a few moments allows you to deal considerable damage to even the largest and toughest opponents.
the impressive of enemies, which obviously comes from the id Software series and offers a wide variety of patterns and situations, also allows you to run Mighty DOOM. very painful removals which are activated simply by touching the victims and also serve to recover our vital energy, which must be enough to reach the end of the forty levels that make up the campaign chapters, with tasty boss fights interspersing this progression every ten rooms.
Structure: between power-ups and microtransactions
To score the levels of Mighy DOOM we find solutions practically identical to those we described in the review of Tomb Raider Reloaded, with updates to choose from time to time, as we accumulate experience points, and which ones can provide the protagonist with amplified power, increase their maximum health, add double, side or explosive fire, and so on within a roguelike progression, which takes place in the single game and to which characters also contribute who offer us bonuses along the way.
Completing chapters and obtaining points translates into obtaining useful resources and credits to fuel the game. free component from Mighty DOOM, which materializes in the presence of a ticket system (which, however, has never really limited us), as well as boxes that open to receive weapons and components with which to improve or customize the Mini Slayer. All elements that we will have to deal with in particular in the second half of the campaign, when the challenges become different and harder, the damage suffered seems increasingly extensive and the challenge becomes really interesting, but inevitably subject to grinding.
Obviously we can talk about Paywall: microtransactions arrive after quite some time, but they arrive; and at that point, as always in free-to-play, you are faced with the option of investing a little money in buying packs that can speed up progression or replaying already completed chapters, trying your luck at special events that also They abound and change. cyclically, or even wait for the different timed bonuses to obtain the necessary resources for the updates that will allow us to survive.
Well, in the early stages we had the feeling that Mighty DOOM was even too simple, and that reaching the end of the nine levels that make up the campaign could be a feat of a few attempts, but then this happens precisely. increase in difficulty and the situation changes, as expected. Let's be clear, it's possible to experience everything the game has to offer even without having to take out your wallet: you just need to have a little patience. And maybe resort to microtransactions for the right reason, that is, to reward the excellent and not easy work done by Alpha Dog Games with such an important intellectual property.
Technical realization: DOOM cartoons
It was not easy to imagine reduction in cartoon style of the id Software series, given the inevitable presence of abundant blood and violence, but also on this front the developers have managed to find the right compromise. The Mini Slayer, basically a DOOM collectible that comes to life, moves convincingly and at the end of boss fights performs executions that try to represent in a fun and entertaining way the dismemberments that fans of the saga are well accustomed to.
The final result is not always brilliant and perhaps some animations It would have deserved an extra effort, but in general we are faced with a surprising adaptation, of undoubted quality, with a great abundance of opponents (precisely those from DOOM) and arenas that in some way refer to the settings of the original game, despite all the limitations of the view from above.
Le graphic settings They allow you to reward quality or performance, so even on older terminals you should be able to run the game without problems. Likewise, from the options screen it is possible to change the position of the buttons to activate the extra weapons, placing them on the left or right side of the screen depending on whether you are using the left or right thumb to act on the virtual analog. Stick that occupies the lower area of the touch screen.
Finally, the music: an element of great importance in DOOM, and which is also enhanced here by the presence of a quite attractive metal soundtrack, capable of adding rhythm and inspiration to the action sequences that take place on the screen, also adorned with good effects and a Narrator with three testicles who announces the most relevant facts.
Conclusions
Tested version iPhone digital delivery app store, Google Play Price Free Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (15) 7.7 your voteMighty DOOM is certainly not the most original single-control shooter you will see on iOS and Android, but it carries out with style and competence a task that is not at all simple: somehow translating the famous id Software series into a fun mobile phone. game and attractive, full of references to the saga and equipped with a fairly permissive free-to-play setting, characterized by completely optional microtransactions for progression purposes. And then, let's be real: seeing the Mini Slayer tearing apart a boss after defeating it, amidst rivers of blood, is also satisfying in this cartoonish version of the shooter.
PRO
- Immediate but exciting gameplay.
- Campaign with plenty of body and many garnishes.
- Amazing quality cartoon reduction
AGAINST
- In the more advanced stages, the single-lever approach shows its limits.
- The visual potential of the sands clashes with the view from above
- The second half of the campaign requires a bit of effort.
