Doom Eternal review – no-frills, endless thrills

Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One; Bethesda
The latest addition to the demon-slaying franchise is a gorgeously designed gore fest that delivers relentless fun

Picking up where the 2016 reboot of Doom left off, Doom Eternal offers the merest breath of exposition before you're handed a shotgun and required to start blasting through demons at breakneck speed. And that's absolutely fine. Combat is quick, movement is quicker, and both come together in spectacular fights where hundreds of powerful enemies dispatched by the protagonist Doom Slayer - unless he stands still for a fraction of a second.

As in Doom, clever tricks encourage risky, aggressive, thrill-seeking play. Low-health enemies can be ripped apart by up close and personal attacks - "glory kills" - which drop health, encouraging the player not to retreat in the face of danger but to instead get closer.