DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One Reviews

DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9.5 / 10.0
Oct 22, 2020

A direct continuation of DOOM Eternal’s main campaign, The Ancient Gods Part 1 is a non-stop adrenaline-fueled slaughter fest. It takes all the best parts of the main campaign and turns them up to 11.

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9.1 / 10.0
Mar 29, 2021

The Ancient Gods is an unapologetic and brutal conclusion to an epic game. Rip and tear into this expansion and see end for yourselves.

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Oct 22, 2020

The Ancient Gods Part 1 is a fantastic piece of DLC partly because of those narrative implications, but also for how it wonderfully continues and expands upon the base game’s legacy. Seamlessly dialing up the difficulty leads to more rewarding combat, especially with the banging metal soundtrack and horde of new hellspawns. Environments divulge from the typical Doom template, but are undeniably Doom and beautiful regardless. Part 2 has a lot to live up to, but if it’s anything like Part 1, it shouldn’t have a problem shattering high expectations .

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90 / 100
Oct 23, 2020

The Ancient Gods - Part One is just the thing that you are expecting: more of Doom Eternal.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

90 / 100
Dec 28, 2020

DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One is extremely challenging. The endless waves of enemies coupled with specific ways to kill the new types of monsters make this DLC one of the most difficult ever seen. For those looking for a challenge, we recommended it and, of course, it is "more DOOM". However, if you think that the base game is challenging, stay away from the DLC.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Nov 1, 2020

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods part 1 continues where Eternal left off, which is exactly what id Software was supposed to do to make it a success. All the good elements from Eternal with a few nice additions make The Ancient Gods Part 1 a must-have for fans of Doom!

Review in Dutch | Read full review

PC Gamer
Top Critic
89 / 100
Oct 26, 2020

A frankly terrifying exercise in pushing Doom as far as it can go.

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87 / 100
Nov 3, 2020

«Ancient Gods Part One» doesn’t do anything too drastically new. Instead it builds on the solid foundation “Doom Eternal” laid out and delivers mostly one thing: More content. It won’t do anything to persuade those that didn’t like the base game, but it offers a gripping new story and a 5-hour campaign that features more challenging gameplay and yet another opportunity to rip and tear through demon flesh.

Review in German | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Oct 27, 2020

Doom Eternal – The Ancient Gods Part 1succeeds in its goal: to give the fans more action, gore and fun. If we put aside the small step backwards made with the soundtrack, this DLC will undoubtedly appeal to all those gamers who are still not satisfied with Doom's adrenalinic gameplay loop.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Oct 25, 2020

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One does a great job of setting up some genuinely intriguing plot points while also committing to the aspects that I loved so much about the base game. In the process, it’s bound to frustrate some players – it’s bloody difficult, has more platforming elements and the Marauders just keep on coming – but it’s still more of Doom Eternal and that’s hardly a bad thing.

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8.5 / 10.0
Feb 6, 2021

When I've been presented with DLC for action/arcade/adventure games in the past, I've often faced a concern of whether or not the DLC itself is a "New Game +" or an actual expansion to the game. Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1 (TAG1) walks a very fine line between crafting a new narrative versus providing players with more to do beyond KILL ALL THE DEMONS!!1 There will be moments where you find yourself in brand new environments and in an entirely different story, but there will also be moments where you'll think you're playing a "New Game +" kind of scenario, where you're immersed in end-game encounters comprised of waves of demons that you would also find at the end of Doom Eternal. The difficulty feels harder, to boot. You should expect TAG1 to take you around 6 hours or so (more if you like to be a completionist and find all of the secrets). You will enjoy this if you played Doom Eternal, but you'll be left with a cliffhanger at the end that prepares you for what's to come...

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 26, 2020

The Ancient Gods Part 1 is more of what made the main game so much fun and a stand out game of 2020 but it does feel held back by its own stubbornness to stick to the frustrating problems which should and could be ironed out. The ending sets up something very special to come in 2021 and it did remind me just how brilliant DOOM Eternal is if you had perhaps put it down since release but as 2020 comes to a close and silly season is about to launch some heavy hitting games and new gen consoles, this DLC is a perfect “remember why you loved me” reminder for fans of DOOM.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 9, 2020

With double Marauders, Tyrants, and new enemies such as the Spirit, we see a lot of innovation coming, but staying true to what DOOM has offered as a series for over 25 years. If this is what the future continues to look like, DOOM will remain eternal.

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85 / 100
Mar 21, 2021

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods delivers on everything a fan of this series could hope for and more.

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8.2 / 10.0
Nov 10, 2020

The Ancient Gods Part One doesn’t introduce a new way to play the game but it focuses on new extravagant contents, with an extremely powerful level design that results in great and new situations never seen before in this series.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
Oct 22, 2020

Like most DLC it doesn't introduce much in the way of new ideas but if you enjoyed Doom Eternal you're going to love these new levels and their uncompromising challenge.

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8 / 10
Oct 22, 2020

DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One is so much more of the PS4's best first-person shooter. It doesn't do anything dramatically different from the base game, rather letting its phenomenal gameplay loop revel in new environments and against new enemies. Difficulty spikes present more problems than we'd like, though, to the point where casual players might feel like giving up. Nevertheless, bring on Part Two.

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8 / 10.0
Jun 25, 2021

Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part One is an excellent continuation of the main campaign on Switch for the most part. Some areas don't reach the heights of the previous chapter, but the gameplay is still as satisfying as it was before. A few new enemies added into the mix ensure that you are constantly on your toes, and all of this is complemented by yet another fantastic musical score. The Nintendo Switch version isn't the best way to experience the game by any means, but it is still very much playable for those who want a great FPS title on the go.

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4 / 5.0
Oct 24, 2020

So much of the success of this expansion hinges on the second part, so we're cautiously optimistic. The story is building to interesting things that we would like to see, it just depends on how well they capitalize on the momentum. As for the content we did see, it's basically more of the main game, so if you want to fight even more intense waves of the same seven or so enemies, you'll love this expansion, whereas those who struggled with the base game will likely be underwhelmed.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 26, 2020

DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One offers a meaty expansion that doesn't dramatically differ from the base game, and despite a crushing difficulty and dodgy platforming sections, it's an essential purchase for those clamouring for their next DOOM fix.

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