Doom VFR Review

I played on: PSVR
I paid: £19.99
Available on: PSVR, Vive
Notes: N/A

As the title would suggest DOOM VFR takes the brutal gameplay from 2016’s DOOM and moves it into VR. I can only really describe the result with the praise; Metal as fuck!

In some regards, I do mean Metal in terms of the music genre that has had a massive impact on the series. The soundtrack is amazing and makes taking on the hoards of Hell even more impressive. Mick Gordon’s music is one of the best parts of this game and with so much great stuff that’s really high praise. Tracks take a lot of inspiration from the original Dos games but with much more punch. When you have your headphones on this soundtrack is the audio equivalent of being in the middle of a mosh pit. Which most of the time you are with the number of enemies you will be taking on at once.

True to the original 1993 Doom most your time will be spent taking on hoards of demonic creatures. The thing that VR does really well is scale and that alone can make a lot of these monsters rather imposing. I’ve been playing the Doom games on and off for my entire life. Even so when I first saw creatures like the Baron or the Hell Knight in VR I was shocked at their massive size. When they’re standing next to you and you have to strain your neck to look up at them you gain a whole new level of respect for these beasts.

Most of these furious creatures are capable of easily killing you so it’s vital you keep moving at all times. This is done one of two ways. You can move in one of the 4 basic directions with the directional pad or use L2 to teleport around the area. Those that suffer from motion sickness might want to avoid using the directional buttons. I personally never had an issue with this myself but VR affects everyone differently. Seeing as DOOM VFR was my first VR game I found the movement a little jarring at first but by the end of the game, it felt as natural as walking in real life. You can also use the motion controllers during gameplay. Both the motion controllers and the standard PS4 controller have their ups and downs. The freedom to be able to fire where you point your gun instead of where your looking makes shooting easier with the motion controllers. On the other hand, the movement is much more manageable with the PS4 controller. I found myself switching between both depending on my mood and the types of enemies I had to take on.

Even after you’ve got the hang of the controls this game is difficult. I found myself dying quite a few times during my playthrough. Never enough to put me off the game as at no point does it feel unfair or unbalanced. If you die then it’s because you did something wrong. The most common mistake will be standing still. You always want to keep moving during this game. Stopping to line up a shoot or catch your breath is never a good idea. There is a wonderful balance between health and ammo pickups that ties in with the combat. If you kill an enemy via normal bullet-riddled means they will drop more ammo. If you stagger them and then teleport into them they will explode dropping more health items. This is known as Telefragging. Juggling your health bar and ammo via shooting and telefragging is the key to mastering this combat system. What DOOM VFR does is take rather simple systems and creates an intense act of carnage that it forces you to master. I very often found myself screaming with the crescendo of the music as the very last demon fell to my onslaught. Although hard when you manage to finish a level you will feel like the biggest badass in all of Hell.

Outside of the main campaign, you can play classic maps from the original games. Being able to explore these areas in virtual reality was a childhood dream come to life. I never imagined that I’d be able to explore the Moonbase from the original game like this. If childhood me could see this technology then I think my little head would explode. These classic maps are certainly more for fans of the old school games than they are fans of the modern ones. Still, if you’ve been playing this series as long as I have then you will really appreciate this bonus content.

All in all DOOM VFR blew my mind and rocked my socks. If you enjoyed id’s revival of the series in 2016 and own a VR headset then you will love this masterpiece!

Recommendation Rating: 8 out of 10.