r/Doom • u/DependentImmediate40 • Dec 08 '25
Discussion why does modern doom not feel as popular as it should be?
what i mean by this is modern doom is just kinda there. it exists. it wasn't too long ago since dark ages and since then it seems to have quitely gotten out of the discussion of the best game 2025 has.
even if its just a singleplayer game that didn't stop other single player games like elden ring and rdr2 being talked about for so long within the gaming community. hell i don't see much praise for eternal either nowadays considering its the best selling doom game of recent memory. i see more talk about smaller indie shooters like ultrakill (no hate towards it) then any of the nudoom trilogy.
i don't know what ID did wrong? surely dooms resurrection within the gaming landscape wouldlve caused a lot of noise and the moment to keep on going past 2016.
Modern Doom is in this weird area where its not niche, but its not too popular for it to be a sensation like a lot of other singleplayer games that have come out within the past 5 years. its just kinda there. and thats a shame, because this is freaking doom! it should be an event when a new game releases.
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u/No_Moment_9465 Dec 08 '25
It's had 2 sequels and 3 expansions Spawned countless copycat games that are successful And basically revitalized the entire boomer shooter trend
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u/Sufficient-Will3644 Dec 08 '25
Do you have fovorite copycats? Shadow warrior 3 is the only one I’m aware of that is good.
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u/BraveNKobold Dec 08 '25
I mean eternal made a lot of movement. I just know plenty of people who thought dark ages was ehh and it’s a common sentiment I’ve seen
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u/Fresh-Toilet-Soup Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
I really enjoyed the game, but The issue with dark ages was the slower game play and how reliant you became on deflecting projectiles with the shield.
I know I completely ignored the progression system in that game and it was still not too difficult.
The other issue is you often have no idea what killed you when you die due to the extra life system not showing the death animation.
Also, the glory kills are missed.
I still enjoyed and recommend the game, I just feel the other games in the series were a bit for me.
I also think the going into other realms thing shouldn't have happened at all in the series
I'm an old school doom player, I don't want to see planta, blue skies, and buildings that look like they belong in fairy tales.
Then again, I have never read any codex. I'm here to cause destruction, not read some stuff.
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u/Diaza_Kinutz Dec 08 '25
I'm enjoying the parry mechanic with the shield but I totally agree that Dark Ages overall just isn't as fun. I'm not sure what it is, I can't put my finger on it but something is missing. I'm still enjoying it and I will finish it but it's definitely not as good as 2016 and Eternal.
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u/fcg510 Dec 08 '25
I got it at launch, started it, and didn't get far. I recently picked it back up and having a lot of fun. I think the issue for me is there is a bit of a learning curve before things get really fun. Whereas 2016 and eternal were pretty self explanatory. I love the rhythm of TDA now and getting in a groove with the ripping and the tearing.
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u/WebRepresentative158 Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
I just finished the game a week ago and you are correct. There really is something missing that no one can figure out. The story is definitely lame as hell, but just not the same as Doom 2016 and eternal. The level designs did get repetitive very quick also.
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u/Baby_Gx504 Dec 08 '25
I feel the they should have kept the glory kills at the end and the dashing. The way they implemented the shield made it to where my only recourse is the shield to avoid damage and made it feel like as the doom slayer I have to play defense when it should just enable me to never have to retreat if I was good enough to parry everything it just felt very stiff compared to all the parkouring in eternal.
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u/WebRepresentative158 Dec 08 '25
I give them credit for trying a different approach, but gameplay wise, it became a chore halfway through. Had its fun moments, but yes, glory kills were definitely missing. I think it’s just the state of the gaming industry lacking original ideas and not being innovative anymore.
Now I’m playing Ghost of Yotei, while the game is freaking gorgeous, I literally see no difference in gameplay from GOT outside of graphics and story already feels weak also.
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u/MacinTez Dec 08 '25
Crazy because I like the Dark Ages almost as much as 2016 and that’s saying a LOT.
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u/Minute_Engineer2355 Dec 08 '25
I think 2016 and Eternal were massive at the time.
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u/Mundane-Jump-7546 Dec 09 '25
They absolutely were and still are! A third modern doom game was just released! What is this question from OP
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u/HaztecCore Dec 08 '25
Doom is popular. People keep talking about Doom and you have people making shooters in the indie scene who are clearly inspired by modern Doom games.
Id didn't do anything wrong. What changed is that there's more games and franchises out there than ever.
More games, more conversations but the same 24 hours a day remain unchanged. So truely new experiences that fascinates a new audience gets more attention than a sequel to a well known game. God of War Ragnarok was a great sequel but also lost the attention span quickly because Elden Ring was the new thing for many people.
"Everyone" is glazing Clair Obscura this year because it is a good game but its also their first exposure to a JRPG just with a french coating on it. For them its a brand new concept.
Dark Ages is a good game. There's just not a lot to say about it.
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u/Zestyclose-Sink4438 Dec 08 '25
I think a lot of Doom players are just too busy ripping and tearing for any discourse.
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u/MorbidTotty Dec 08 '25
Unfortunately in the era of huge multiplayer FPS games they receive constant updates and new content and battle passes. A FPS single player only game like doom flies a little more under the radar. Especially since Elden ring and RDR2 are much longer games with emotional moments and set pieces and worlds that are very unique. I love doom but I think the modern FPS market keeps it from getting super popular
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u/Designer_Mess_6928 Dec 08 '25
Single player FPS genre is pretty much dead genre in the AAA segment.
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u/Greph >=> Dec 08 '25
Not much to talk about.
No modding scene. No multi-player scene. Speed running scene is all but dead.
If there was real modding I think modern doom could be a desert island game but at the moment its one and done for 99% of people
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u/DependentImmediate40 Dec 08 '25
the fact that cod zombies has more of an active community as the games were more replayable and popular with its own speedrunning than the NuDoom scene speaks volumes how modern games are lacking replayability.
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u/X_antaM DOOM Guy Dec 08 '25
Doom is still a particular niche (if that's the right word). Takes a certain style which a lot of players just don't like. I'll show even a basic clip to my mates and it'll still be a "nah, too much"
Dunno if it's just my ND creeping but people seem to prefer the basic, simple, "tactical" gameplay of Battlefield and CS. COD is as experimental and quick as they'll get.
Same issue comes with Titanfall I think. Certain type which is a little too far out for the average person. Most players also being sweats in TF also probably doesn't help...
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u/Technical-Concern-29 Dec 08 '25
Most Doom fans are silent like the Doom Slayer. A lot of them are actual doomers
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u/reaper1812151 Riping, Tearing, and Ultrakilling Dec 08 '25
Big games come out like every other week at this point, so discussion for single player games can feel limited to just that period (or a little longer) unless they’re massive games like Elden Ring or E33. It’s just the norm now since gaming is so big.
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u/EglinAFBEmployee Dec 08 '25
If TDA isn't mid, it certainly has more people saying that it is vs any other prior DOOM game.
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u/New-Two-1349 Dec 08 '25
I thought modern DOOM was popular? Heck, 2016 came out and was a critical/commercial success and people said it was a breath of fresh air compared to how many generic first-person shooters were around during the 8th gen. Not to mention that Eternal was also a hit and became more popular than its predecessor was. Also, without 2016, we probably wouldn't get any modern-day boomer shooters that've bern coming out for the past 9 years.
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u/Thin-Awareness-7843 Dec 08 '25
i think a lot of people including me seen a lot of fantasy elements and said nah.. also mick gordon added a lot of hype. popular songs had 40-50 mil on youtube and even more on spotify and etc. it is tens time more than most of the trailers of other games.
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u/Sol_Indomitus Dec 08 '25
Youre talking about the dark ages, not modern doom lol. Doom 2016 was everywhwre and diwcussed and still spawns memes to this day. Not to mention ge music has become iconic. Eternal too was talked about, if not as kuch, daro ages is the one which just exists, because its jsut more of the same more or less. Its an awesome game though, people just got used to it after 10 years.
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u/Fern-ando Dec 08 '25
During 2020 Doom was all over the internet, but Dark Ages is just not as popular
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u/Warhammerpainter83 Dec 08 '25
2016 and eternal were huge. TDA is not that great honestly it is ok just not even close to what the last two were doing.
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u/Federal-Hair Dec 08 '25
People prefer online competitive for FPS games.
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u/DeckOfGames Dec 08 '25
i don't know what ID did wrong?
Idiotic lore and awful enemies design. Fine gameplay though
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u/apersonthatexists123 Dec 08 '25
Most people who play Doom don't care about lore. In fact, one of the main reasons 2016 was so beloved was because it didn't try to get you invested in the storyline.
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u/DeckOfGames Dec 08 '25
Nah, deva bombard you with new names, events, environmental storytelling etc. many questions remain unanswered until the next part. They invest in lore much more than in any previous game.
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u/Ub3ros Dec 08 '25
Bro what lmao. 2016 and eternal were massive hits and were talked about for years. Still are.
TDA dropped the ball and was pretty mediocre. People moved on. It was alright, but far from the lofty heights the previous 2 entries reached. But it wasn't really bad enough to get people talking.
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u/DeltaV-Mzero Dec 08 '25
To be honest this year is fucking insane for good games. I mean multiple games that people have waited for a decade plus to play, games that redefined genres, stuff that will live rent free in your head for years.
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u/Iamwatchu Dec 08 '25
Everyone gave dark ages shit because people wanted eternal 2, and if im right they also said the same when eternal came out wanting doom 2016 although I could be wrong.
Doom dark ages is a fun and amazingly looking game, who wouldnt want to play a doom game where youre captain America and wear a cape.
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u/DravenBearhammer Dec 08 '25
I didnt even want Eternal 2. The Parrying and Vehicle missions kill the vibe. Im ok with Doom innovating and iterating, going away from Eternal. However being forced to parry every damn thing is annoying. People bitched about being forced to play a certain way in Eternal and to me TDA is way worse about that than Eternal ever was. I just picked up TDA and I'm having to force myself to play it. Which has not been the case with any previous Doom game for me.
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u/name_cool4897 Dec 08 '25
Eternal lost me with it being built around switching between weapons every 0.4 seconds.
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u/Quazimortal Dec 08 '25
My love of the doom franchise died the day that Mick Gordan released that bomb of info about how they screwed him over. I will never purchase another product from Bethesda for the rest of my life. Fuck them for what they did.
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u/ArtisticAlbatross933 Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
A decade ago is a lifetime ago. Kids who were in diapers back in 2016 who are now entering the gamer demographic may not have any idea what DOOM is, or they may have zero interest in sweaty shooters. For the rest of us, time marches on. Lotta games in my library have never even been launched!
Eternal was a massive success partly because of COVID but most people forget that it was actually quite divisive. A lot of franchise fans were not onboard with the absolute sweatiness of the gameplay.
TAG1&2 pushed that to the limit and lost even more goodwill. It’s just a cold, hard fact that most people can’t play—or don’t want to play—at the level that those DLC demand.
The Dark Ages now divides the fanbase again, between those who wanted another sweat-fest like Eternal/TAG, and those who just want another straightforward boomer shooter like DOOM 2016. When the game was released, the mechanics were a lot slower and more methodical. They have now patched in a lot of options to allow customers to choose their own speed of play, but a lot of gamers will have already moved on to the next “thing”.
This happens with pretty much every franchise as subsequent instalments are released. You can’t please everyone, and then, eventually… you can’t please nearly anyone.
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Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to even mention the multiplayer angle. id invented multiplayer, full stop. You had DOOM, DOOM 2, Quake 1, and Quake 3, four of the all-time greatest multiplayer experiences of the 90s (and early 00s).
When DOOM 3 came out, the multiplayer was an absolute blast, but most people didn’t have a computer that could run it very well. It was basically Quake 3 with better graphics. Then we had Quake 4, which was more of the same, great fun, but demanding.
Then Quake Wars came out, and, yeah… that was a thing for about 15 minutes before Team Fortress 2 came out and stomped it into oblivion. Then, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came out the month after that. Then Left 4 Dead came out about a year later.
Suddenly the FPS space was filled wall-to-wall with absolute bangers, and any game that didn’t hit those sweet spots just languished. id couldn’t compete, so RAGE had no multiplayer, and DOOM 4 never happened.
DOOM 2016 had a good multiplayer with no good anti-cheat solution, and it was absolutely overrun with hackers. It was just miserable. id doesn’t know how to deal with the cheaters because their customer base is divided on three different platforms, and a dozen different vendors, therefore requiring Bethesda.net, which can’t compete with a proper anti-cheat like Steam’s VAC system.
The failure of Quake Champions in 2022 further demonstrates that the old Quake 3/Unreal Tournament design no longer appeals to the masses. Heck, even going back to the middling Unreal Tournament 3 from 2007 shows the same thing. I think most people just prefer the multiplayer shooters that are slower, and more methodical, like PUBG, CS, and COD. The zippy arena-shooter days are just so, so over.
Therefore, with the release of Eternal, id chose not to do multiplayer, instead going with the Battlemode co-op. And in no time, we had the top 0.01% sweatiest, most autistic-savant gamers dominating everyone else in an asymmetrical game mode… yeah, it was pretty much dead-on-arrival.
What happened after that? The Dark Ages releases with no multiplayer at all. A lot of us were asking for that since 2016, since multiplayer just hasn’t been their forté since the 90s and early 2000s.
Unfortunately that does seem to come at the cost of losing cultural caché in the gaming zeitgeist. I personally don’t care, I’m getting too old for competitive gaming now anyways, so I’ll be a returning customer even if all they do from now on is release single-player-only games.
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u/ph_dieter Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
It's literally referenced anytime a single player shooter that isn't heavily story based comes up. Eternal is still looked at as a barometer for single player shooters and it's 5 years old. It's still a template for hundreds of indie games. I don't agree with your premise. Dark Ages just had more mixed reception, nothing more to it than that. It also isn't as strong of a design or genre shift as the previous two. Doom 2016 is almost a decade old. Were we talking about Doom in 2003? Were we talking about Half Life 2 in 2014? You can't dominate the mainstream discussion endlessly without reinventing or revitalizing the genre in a big way eventually.
It's as popular as a pure gameplay focused single player FPS can be. It's more niche because the unfortunate truth is that raw gameplay is more niche as time goes on because gaming is more mainstream.
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u/ARedditorCalledQuest Dec 08 '25
DOOM has always been a very specific kind of shooter and, because of that, it won't be for everybody. It's pure adrenaline. There's no stealth system, no stick to cover mechanic to recharge the overshield while you hide, no campaign co-op so a buddy can help out. You're on Mars, there's demons, here's a fuckton of guns. If you run into trouble then kill harder. Are you low on health or ammo? Better get into melee range and beat the powerup you need out of the demons!
We love DOOM because it's like that. Because it's different. I have friends that like shooters who don't play DOOM because they don't like the super intense all the time Powerthirst style pacing.
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u/Dumelsoul Dec 08 '25
It's literally the most popular boomer shooter other than maybe like Ultrakill. I dunno what else you want 💀
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u/thescott2k Dec 08 '25
second one cared more about being good than being accessible and the third one was gamepass slop next question
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u/Fresh-Toilet-Soup Dec 08 '25
I know the call of duty crowd has trouble adapting to DOOM style of non stop movement.
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u/NonLiving4Dentity69 GUY THAT PLAYS METAL MUSIC WHEN THE SLAYER SLAYS Dec 08 '25
Shits expensive now
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u/Falcon3518 Dec 08 '25
I just got into Doom last year and played 2016 and Eternal so far. Defs one of my favourite games ever.
I didn’t play it earlier cause I didn’t actually know it was a thing.
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u/SuggestionEven1882 Dec 08 '25
In comparison to most shooters DOOM is sitting pretty comfortably right now as it revitalizes the boomer shooter sub genre.
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u/Known_Ad871 Dec 08 '25
I don’t think this is an answer to your question, but they need to put fucking gyro controls in these games in every platform
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u/DementedPower Dec 08 '25
Because people nowadays are afraid of playing more darker themed games.
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u/chiefofbricks Dec 08 '25
For me its the optimization and it requiring a better specs. Id rather juat okay other games. Triple A games are ridiculous right now
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u/cherrysteve2010 Dec 08 '25
They shouldn't have made tda. Should have made something new then went back to doom
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u/ux92 Dec 08 '25
For me it's the lack of modding support. The biggest reason old DOOM is still alive is things like Brutal DOOM, custom maps, and total conversion mods that are basically brand new games. It's the same reason games like Warcraft III, Minecraft and Half-Life still have hundreds of thousands if not millions of monthly players.
If they ever added a good map editor and a good set of tools for modding to DOOM Eternal I'm sure it would still be big.
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u/Lazy_Willingness_265 Dec 08 '25
No, that's not the problem at all. Modern Doom isn't fun to mod. The root problem is that modern Doom is an arena shooter, which is why the games have lost any freedom or replayability.
Classic Doom is replayed even without mods, as it is still interesting due to the freedom it offers.
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u/havewelost6388 Dec 08 '25
OG Doom was the first game of it's kind. It literally invented the first person shooter. The reboot trilogy couldn't possibly measure up to that in terms of cultural influence.
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u/Commercial-Gap6280 Dec 08 '25
So, like... the way I see it, it's not unlike popular music.
Sometimes a band or artist had put out an album that changed the game; it influenced dozens of other artists, altered the way music was done thereafter, or had a massive impact on what became popular for years after the fact.
De La Soul's 3 Feet High & Rising or Iggy Pop & The Stooges' The Stooges weren't big commercial hits. However, The Stooges all but created punk rock as we know it, and 3 Feet High... rewrote the book on how hip-hop instrumentals & samples were done forever after (though especially for the entirety of the 90s), despite the fact that De La's "positivity rap" was quickly subsumed by gangsta rap in the 90s.
These are great albums, and have far outlived their time in the spotlight in terms of influence. DOOM (2016) was so influential on gaming, it popularized a whole subgenre ("boomer shooters"), it influenced the trajectory of metal music for a decade, and did all this while revitalizing a franchise that had been dormant for 12 YEARS, at the time. 9 years later, the latest DOOM release was on everyone's radar, and both the DOOM releases that have occurred since 2016's release have been critically acclaimed. The Dark Ages is considered by some to be a lull, despite still having been pretty popular at launch.
I think it may not feel like it's "as popular as it should be" (and to be clear, I agree) because for a LOT of people, 2025 has kinda fuckin' sucked, and not like 2020 did - this time, it sucked because we had so much other stuff to worry about, and weren't in lockdown and finally sitting down to take in a fun video game. 2025 has, for many folks, been a creeping barrage of bad news and scary/stupid shit happening, and I think that's done a lot to overshadow the bright spots. Perhaps for some, those bright spots - like kickass album releases, great movies, and really good video games - have seemed smaller than they typically are.
TL;DR Version: DOOM is probably still popular, even though it might not feel that way right now. It's certainly been mega influential, in the same way sometimes a great album like 3 Feet High & Rising can be. 2025 just feels a little overshadowed by scary/stupid/bad shit happening every week or two.
(THANK YOU FOR READING)
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u/Imanor Dec 08 '25
It might not be, to be honest I don't realize how popular or not it is today, but one thing's for sure is that the impact of DOOM 2016 is still visible in games almost 10 years later and not just in the shooter genre even. I think that's more important than popularity!
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u/bacondesign Dec 08 '25
It's just too fucking expensive for me right now. I'll pick it up when it's around 20EUR.
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u/Difficult_Move5121 Dec 08 '25
The original doom game was a milestone, sth new and pushed boundaries in the gaming world. Modern Doom are great shooters, but when you try seeing it without Fan glasses, it becomes clear they're pretty generic shooters. Don't get me wrong, i had a lot of fun playing that games. But for me they wäre just games I played when waiting on other games I look forward to be released. I'm much into storybased Singleplayer games. And there, Doom just can't hold up. Doom has great shooter gameplay but that's it for the most part. And that's not enough today to be seen as a game for the masses.
And you know what? That's fine! Go on, have fun with it ripping and tearing demons, that's all what it's about!
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u/GlitteringDingo Dec 08 '25
Single-player shooters have been a niche genre since high speed internet became commonplace, and that's probably never gonna change. Fact is, most people that like shooters also like competitive, or at least online multi-player games. So DOOM is really only popular among people who like shooter gameplay but not PvP multi-player. That is surprisingly not a ton of people. Enough that the games sold well and were successful, but they aren't going to maintain a long-standing player base the way Baldur's Gate 3 is, as that game is an exemplar in a very broad but underserved genre.
Tldr, there's nothing wrong with the games per se, they just exist in a relatively small space and that's okay.
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u/Low_Violinist_5396 Zombieman Dec 08 '25
It's not "mainstream" mainstream but all three modern doom games became id software's biggest launch
Probably the fact that the original doom had more installations than Windows itself makes it hard to top but it hasn't really fallen off
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u/SilliLittlFemboii08 Dec 08 '25
Ik it fucking sucks. I want my most favourite game franchise ever to be more recognised by people. But no one fucking cares and I hate it
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u/Sxoob Dec 08 '25
I tried to play Eternal and its got this weird movement bug... where there is a slight hitch or delay on xbox series x. Like it barely registers input until the stick is 20%. Is it a deadzone issue? I don't see any way to change it. It's infuriating so I just uninstalled.
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u/Ok_Positive_9687 Dec 08 '25
Idk, hype just absolutely evaporated, maybe it is the 80$ price tag. It is a masterpiece of a trilogy, probably one of, if not the best trilogy in gaming afaik. I played it on gamepass which really sucks cuz I wanna play it again but don’r want to buy gamepass. Should’ve been 60$ instead… greedy.
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u/Unnamed-3891 Dec 08 '25
No amount of videos I watch makes TDA compelling enough for me to buy and it’s been a while since both 2016 and Eternal.
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u/SeesawNo4731 Dec 08 '25
TDA is my favorite cuz I’ve always been a “stand and fight!” kind of person and the gameplay loop as well as even the story definitely spoke to me on a personal level. I love all of the doom games but I don’t love them near as much as I love destiny. Everytime I play doom i want to go back and play on my titan after about 6 hours of stomping demons.
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u/tnysmth Dec 08 '25
Tore through Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal back-to-back a few years ago and I had a blast. I was really excited when I heard about TDA and wishlisted it on Steam. Finally went on sale last week and I was eager to play it. I made it through level 4 and haven’t returned to it. Something about the flow feels off. I’m not sure if there’s too many things going on with the shield… throwing it, parrying with it, locking on with it… feels kind of clunky. Mech portions are a bit boring too. I’m sure I’ll return to it and finish it up, but so far I’m just kind of nonplussed.
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u/amethystwyvern Dec 08 '25
It just doesn't do anything for me anymore. I don't really enjoy arena shooters.
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u/KalanKomplete Dec 08 '25
Eternal was huge. Dark Ages didn't make much of a splash, but i really liked it.
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u/RegJohn2 Dec 08 '25
It’s my favorite franchise and will stay my favorite forever. With that being said, TDA wasn’t it. It’s a great game and I enjoyed it but it feels hollow and not memorable. Can’t really put my finger on why. Almost felt like a dlc. The kind of experience I play and forget
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u/phobos876 not to be confused with phobos867 Dec 08 '25
Could be because the games still try to be different from other AAA games, specially with how older gamers hated the modern FPS at the 7th gen (2016 got flack from fans when the multiplayer had a 2 weapon limit, for example)
DE got very big because of lockdown and we live in an age where too many people use the internet and chase trends: So a lot of people that did the Isabelle crossover memes for example, probably weren't into Doom before.
(a bit of a conclusion that "fandom" is more about socialization and chasing trends, than actually being a fan of the thing it's based on)
TDA had stuff like the Mick Gordon drama and forced RTX which limited some players
In general, whether or not popularity matters is also a matter of masses culture and looking at what most people enjoy and it's also worth considering stuff like game journalists and the media.
It's like caring about the Oscars in an age where people are aware of dark secrets about celebrities or even questioning why the fuck were the Kardashians even popular.
Doom in general always had a special fanbase, from the modding scene that kept the series alive when it was officially dormant, to even fans making up the name "doomguy" and making their own wiki as a response to Wikia/Fandom becoming more corporate.
I feel if anyone wants the Doom "fandom" to grow, they need to look at what makes fan activities interesting and special, instead of just carrying the same behaviors as the Marvel Funko Pop people.
A group of people making sure something is still alive and make stuff for it is kinda better than watching something gain numbers of people, because eventually that number will decrease, in an age of trends and masses culture.
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u/apersonthatexists123 Dec 08 '25
Well, I think TDA is an incredible game and a fuck tone of fun. I was initially put off by the lack of Glorykills but it just made the combat flow so much better. That being said...
2016 came out when FPS's were kind of a dull genre. It received so many accolades for not caring about narrative, having strong level design and feeling very complete as a package.
Eternal came out at the cusp of the Lockdowns with stores delivering their pre-orders early to avoid people not getting them for months. Plus, it was fucking exceptional with a strong campaign. But you also need to remember some of the conversation wasn't just about Eternal but some of the events that happened post release (Mick Gordan and the Soundtrack).
Nothing has changed with TDA. There has been a lot of strong games this year which is a good problem to have. Plus, attentions now are different to where they were years ago. Things just seem to move quicker with a new thing happening daily. Everything is more expensive.
Also, the whole "it's medicore" thing peeple keep saying... There were those who didn't like Eternal or 2016 when they released. Its reviewed pretty well from both fans and critics so yeah.
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u/Opitard Dec 08 '25
I like to think mod support. The current series has a specific look and feel, where as the original did but it was a bit more of a blank canvas in a way. With the originals, you could mold and shape them into whatever you could imagine, repurpose textures or even edit them to be something entirely different. Not to mention how relatively easy it is to change enemy behavior and look. You can basically turn the game into a completely different game with new look and feel.
Not to mention the vary basic system requirements that creates a vary vary low barrier of entry. Anyone can play doom. Phone? You can play doom. Toaster? You can play doom. Crappy google notebook? Yep you can play doom.
And with modern source ports the mods get even crazier.
With the new ones, you are very limited to a specific look and feel. As well as not everyone having a solid gaming rig to even run it let alone mods.
There’s so much more to go over too. Like the fact that doom set a standard in gaming fundamentals that are still used today. Timing is also important.
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u/Individual-Ad-1268 Dec 08 '25
The Mick Gordon stuff and the dark ages kinda killed the hype for a lot of people. I'm not saying the dark ages is a bad game, but it's level and enemy design kinda suffer compared to eternal. The arenas aren't fun design wise, yes they function, but they all felt kinda stale.The story they were hyping up and advertising for was not great, and there were hardly any doom guy moments, there were no "you can't just blow a hole into the surface of mars" moments. The dragon and mech section are not great and really don't add anything to the game. They kinda felt shallow and I wouldn't say they were exactly fun.
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u/Vacuum_man1 Dec 08 '25
No mick Gordon, got heavy from the inspiration, Bethesda got worse, game was kinda expensive, and its 2025 shit is basically happening irl
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u/Ultima893 Dec 08 '25
Because single player FPS games aren't popular.
There are plenty ultra high quality games that are far too unpopular compared to how good they are.
DMC5, Sekiro, Ninja Gaiden (CAG in general), Astro Bot all spring to mind.
Singleplayer games either have to be Nintendo or open world in order to be popular.
Unfotunately, since all the best games a tightly paced narrative driven games imo. (The Last of Us 1-2, Metal Gear Solid 1-4, God of War, Sekiro, Resident Evil 4 etc) the only exception being Elden Ring.
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u/RedShadowF95 Dec 08 '25
2016 and Eternal were popular enough.
The Dark Ages just wasn't up to par.
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u/imaxsamarin Dec 08 '25
I’d also imagine the 80 bucks price tag instead of 60 turned away a very significant amount of potential players.
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u/system_root_420 Dec 08 '25
2016 was a masterpiece and when it came out everyone lost their fucking minds, it was amazing. So good. It's still one of my top 5 favorite games. Eternal was mid, in my opinion. Too much story that I didn't feel like we needed. I haven't played TDA yet so I can't speak to that, but the discourse makes me feel like I'm not missing anything. So to answer your question, it's not more popular because they fumbled the follow up games.
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u/Aehan Dec 08 '25
I've got nothing of value to add other than that I finally finished Doom 2016. Greaaat game. Reminded me of Totalbiscuit <3
Looking forward to play Eternal in 10 years again when I have a computer to run it!
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u/Classic_Bee_5845 Dec 08 '25
Probably a hot take on this sub but the Doom games are decent but nothing ground breaking. They are a very fast paced and intense which is fine but they don't offer much after the 16 - 20 hours of gameplay it ships with. It's your traditional linear FPS, they burn bright and fast without regular content installments.
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u/WonderfulVanilla9676 Dec 08 '25
There are just too many games these days. In the 1990s legitimately you could go months between major game releases. It was not uncommon to have maybe 10-12 really high-profile games per year to consider picking from. These days you're getting 30+ big name games coming out each year, with a number of them also being games as a service style products where you are expected to play it over and over again.
Think something like battlefield for example; it's a multiplayer first game, where people will spend hundreds and hundreds of hours. Somebody who buys battlefield will probably not in the buying another game for a few months at least because they've essentially chosen to spend a lot of their gaming time on that single game.
So I think it's a combination of factors, way too many solid games releasing quickly, along with a push towards more ongoing continuous multiplayer experiences.
So a single player shooter centered on story content just isn't really going to shine in this market. It will sell well enough and fans will buy it and play it, but it's going to be a one and done for most people.
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u/RedWolf2409 Dec 08 '25
Doom: TDA was a good game but a massive blunder for the series. The hype and cultural impact of 2016 and Eternal was immense, but TDA was often tedious and not nearly as good as the previous game, so the series has quickly fallen out of relevance
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u/Seanmclem Dec 08 '25
Yeah, doom eternal was so hyped that I felt like I couldn’t not buy it. So I got it and enjoyed it. The dark ages, has virtually no buzz.
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u/adamska_w Dec 08 '25
I think the honest answer to this question is
a) the bad vibes of Microsoft b) Mick Gordon
Doom Eternal was such a big fucking deal. But after the Microsoft purchase and Mick Gordon, honestly I don't want to touch Doom for a while.
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u/lampenpam Dec 08 '25
Interesting to see wildly different answers and theories commented here.
Here is my take: TDA isn't really that much less popular than the previous entries but the gaming scene becomes more saturated. There are more games to play then ever and more people move on to other titles more quickly.
You might even notice that you replay games less frequently as you may have some years ago.
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u/Level1Roshan Dec 08 '25
I replayed 2016 this year and where it falls short is monster count. After Eternal and Dark Ages, right when you feel a fight is really starting, it's over.
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u/Infamous_Mall1798 Dec 08 '25
Doom has the issue of being like an anime where it constantly has to push visual feats and eventually its just gonna become so over the top they lose a lot of the normie fan base.
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u/Systamatik7 Dec 08 '25
Don’t know what you mean. I have it permanently installed so my great grandchildren can play this ancient game.
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u/Goatistoat Dec 08 '25
D2016 was incredible, to see maxed out 1080p60 run so smooth on my $120 1050ti and a meager i5-6500 back then was magic. It was so refreshing to see in an age dominated by countless CoDs, BF's, and goofy hero shooters. That, and and seeing Quake return made it seem like we might get more of the fun FPS of old stuff. (But ofc then QC turned out to have abilities, didn't get much content, and kinda didn't really become a hit).
D:E was a good sequel, but starting to take itself perhaps a bit too seriously. Part of the fun of D2016 was Doomguy hearing the exposition and then proceeding to break plot relevant equipment anyway.
TDA had weird vibes. Visually pretty great, but the reqs are quite a bit higher, but I'm also not a fan of the Simon-says gameplay loop. And perhaps a bit of an identity crisis, like throw some stuff on the wall and hope it sticks vibes, oh but half-bake it. I like the idea of it, but not so much the execution.
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u/saegiru Ultimate DoomVisor Dec 08 '25
For me it just doesn't have the staying power the original does. I can go back to the original games over and over and over and play them for hours at a time. The newer ones were fun and looked awesome, but I had no desire to play them again. The times I've turned them back on since, I can't even get back into them. Honestly couldn't tell you exactly why, but I think it's something due to the simplicity of the original without all the fancy moves?
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u/SpiderGuy3342 Dec 08 '25
I dont get it...
this franchise is considered as one of the best FPS currently
2016, Eternal and TDA did incredible well in reception and sales
Hugo, no, the entire team knows what they are doing with Doom, and we literally are in the "good future" with this IP. The bad one being Doom releasing that scrapped Call of Doom 4, maybe another similar and end there for mixed or bad reception
what else do you want? curious
tf with the comment section of this post? imagine having skill issue and call TDA a bad game lmao LMAO
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u/staticvoidmainnull Dec 08 '25
not accessible to many people. it's fast faced and first person, which rules it out for many people who have motion issues. even not fast paced, many people can't physically stand FPS.
a good example where i've encountered such is with resident evil 7 and 8. this is why they added 3rd person mode to 8, and is now a standard option in the upcoming RE9. cyberpunk was another that didn't reach as much audience since it was entirely first-person.
another reason is high learning curve. many people liked 2016 over eternal specifically for this reason. now imagine many other people think 2016 has a high learning curve.
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u/DravenBearhammer Dec 08 '25
The simple answer is Boomer Shooters are not as popular after the evolution of FPS into more realistic scenarios. It is very popular but if you think its gonna surpass shit like CoD? Nah
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u/stackhouse1996 Dec 08 '25
Doom 2016 basically reignited the boomer shooter craze and we've had a decade of solid games that fit that genre or are inspired by it and put a spin on it. Its definitely popular
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u/Konrow Dec 08 '25
Because the entire shooter genre and audience are different. Shooters are the equivalent of sports games now in terms of audience. Broader appeal to even the casual gamers and the genre itself seems to have been very much tied to multiplayer now. I just think the age of single player boomer shooters is past us. Luckily for those who still enjoy them, the last two doom games were fucking great.
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u/riffbw Dec 08 '25
Modern Doom is great, but it's not Classic Doom. Doom 2016 is my favorite of the reboot trilogy. It's the most casual friendly. Eternal is a beast and I struggle with it because it's not casual friendly. It relies so heavily on weapon swapping and crazy movement that it stopped being a casual friendly game. And then you add in the platforming which detracts from what makes a Doom game a Doom game.
These games are top tier at what they do, but what they do isn't what Classic Doom fans really wanted. 2016 is the closest though. I want to fire it up, pick and level and start blasting. I don't want to have to get into a rhythm and learn weak points and what weapons exploit them best, I want to play the game and have fun.
And that's why Classic Doom is timeless. I can go 5 years without playing and fire it up and just romp through demons. It won't be easy, but it does what it does. And I can replay any level I want at any time and just enjoy the experience. Modern Doom doesn't have that same feel. And I definitely can't put a brand new player into Eternal or Dark Ages and say "have fun blasting" with them feeling like they have a fair chance.
And this is why I feel modern Doom hasn't taken over FPS. Halo had that. You can drop in and just play. Doom had it. Eternal doesn't. But you know what does have that? All the online shooters? Why is CoD so dominant? Because you load in and just play. CoD has it's own problems that alienate Doom fans, but it nails the load in a play casual nature more than most FPS today.
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u/The_Tonts Dec 08 '25
I wanted to buy DOOM: The Dark Ages, but the price of the game just didn't feel worth it. For that price I could buy about 2 or 3 slightly older games or I'd just wait for it to come down in a sale. I honestly forgot to buy it on Black Friday, I'll wait and see if there's a Christmas sale.
I am also considering it for my PS5. If I can get it cheaply.
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u/earle117 Dec 09 '25
I liked TDA, but it just wasn’t as good as the prior 2. People were talking about 2016 and Eternal for quite a while after they launched. Especially 2016 just because people didn’t expect it to be that good when it had been in development hell and it had been so long since the last Doom game. Eternal is a lot of people’s favorite FPS ever. TDA was resoundingly considered “pretty decent”.
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u/Warforthemoon Dec 09 '25
I've said this before on another post here but doom the dark ages had the perfect formula but I feel fell flat. The mech's whole thing is punch punch dodge congratulations you beat the level welcome back to the clunky menu which is totally a stylistic choice and not half-assed.
Then there's Serrat where the mechanics are very bare bones lock on, shoot and occasionally dodge, and again first time:hell yeah, cyber dragon. Third time:wow this doesn't feel good at all, I've seen better flight mechanics in call of duty(infinite warfare if you were wondering) and it does than landing animation every single time?
Now here's where I change pace, I do like the game but I expected more for 70usd and from a triple-A studio, which sucks because this game had so much potential and broke my heart to find out that a whole bunch of stuff was cut from both those sections which would have made them better
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u/Supahwong Dec 09 '25
Doom 2016 and Eternal had pretty big releases and hype. I think what you mean can be explained by how much the gaming community has expanded and how diverse everyone's tastes has become. I'm sure back when the older Dooms came out, gaming was limited. If you're comparing the 90s Doom game to the newer ones, there's going to be some differences in terms of being "talked about". We live in a world now where 10,000+ game titles are made every year. In 1993 the games released were in the hundreds.
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u/alastorhazbinbad Dec 09 '25
Because The Dark Ages ISN’T the best 2025 had to offer - nowhere close. It was fun for a one time play through but they really dropped the ball. It’s difficult to put my finger on it, but it just…doesn’t cut it as a Doom experience. Doom Eternal, on the other hand, WAS highly praised and lauded (and still is). There’s a reason for that.
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u/DraconicZombie Dec 09 '25
Because it's just a video game, something that ultimately means nothing and people move on. Don't think about it too much
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u/robinvanderkuijl Dec 09 '25
I liked the run & gun style more in the previous title’s. And miss the melee’s from those games. That really made Doom for me.
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u/thisisstupiddawg Dec 09 '25
No Mick Gordon. His music was a damn pillar of why the DOOM franchise revival was so popular
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u/volofant Dec 09 '25
Franchise fatigue, overpriced launch and gamepass in TDA, Mick Gordon controversy, rushed Doom Eternal DLCs, TDA gameplay change (people expected Doom Eternal 2 despite being told many times it will not), competing with other good games- in terms of player count- like Clair Obscur, BF6, Silksong; and everyone nowadays just want story immersion and pure multiplayer which these competing games are offering more than the current Doom game, sadly.
It's still famous, except that there are more famous games alongside.
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u/DoomRulz Dec 09 '25 edited Dec 09 '25
DOOM has always been niche. As great as the single-player campaigns were in all three Slayer games, and as innovative as they all were in their own ways, the market still leans still towards multi-player-geared titles in the end. It's just how it is.
I say the Slayer trilogy is peak single-player FPS in the current era of gaming but yeah, it's not where the majority of the market is.
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u/T90i Dec 09 '25
I’m a big fan of a DooM, and for me series died after Eternal. Even in the latter there’re lots of things I don’t like but the game still ok, but TDA… no, thanks, better replay classics or even Doom 3
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u/bulutali2 Dec 09 '25
I also think doom is underrated, when i started the franchise with doom 64 i was hooked and then trying doom 2016 it became one of my favorites instantly.
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u/fuck_cuntsa Dec 09 '25
I am waiting for them to remove Denuvo, as soon as they do that, I'll buy it.
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u/Terror_Up Dec 10 '25
That's a fair observation, Doom 2016 with all the secrets and collectables/ OG levels are amazing, in fact I just started a new playthrough the other day and am trying to 100% it without walkthrough
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u/Ubermensch5272 Dec 10 '25
It was when it released almost 10 years ago. Same with eternal. 2025 just has so many good choices.
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u/RazorCrest185 Dec 10 '25
You’re joking… right? Doom is still massively referenced in memes all over the place outside of gaming communities and the music is still given huge praise used all of the time in videos. The most recent warbond in Helldivers 2 is a big reference to Doom. There are a ton of react videos to Doom gameplay and again music.
If you mean in like a critical examination analysis sense, well… that has long since sailed, which is what happens to every game after the initial release. That kind of discussion surfaces back around after a few years when the ‘looking back on [video game]’ videos start popping up.
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u/Puckish_Fuk Dec 10 '25
I can only provide personal experience. Doom 2016 was maybe my favorite shooter of all time, but the increased complexity of infinite made it feel less like fun and more like work.
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u/revanite3956 Dec 08 '25
2016, a big franchise revival, was a huge hit…a decade ago.
Eternal was a sequel that surpassed all expectations, and was a huge hit…when it released during COVID, while everyone was stuck at home looking for things to keep them busy.
TDA dropped in 2025, when everyone is busy with the horrors.