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The DOOM franchise needs no introduction. The 1993 original is one of the greatest games to ever grace the industry, with its tight-knit level design and combat that stands the test of time. Over the years, the series has been constantly evolving while sticking to the core mantra of cathartic, brutal, blood-soaked action. Three decades later, we have a new contender, but as a spin-off. For the very first time, DOOM has been adapted to smartphones with Mighty DOOM.
This is not a traditional FPS experience, instead, it is a top-down rogue-lite game. The genre has seen a boom lately, with developers churning out plenty of varied experiences across platforms. However, Mighty DOOM is a free-to-play smartphone game, and might already be ringing alarm bells for most gamers.
Is Mighty DOOM actually fun or just another penny-pinching failure?
Surprisingly and unsurprisingly, both. Let's first dive into the premise. In Mighty DOOM, players step into the boots of the Mini Slayer, shooting and killing swathes of monsters to reach the end. There are eight levels in total, each divided into a specific number of rooms. Note that Mighty DOOM features an Energy system and each Level costs 5 Energy to play.
All rooms feature spawning foes that the Slayer will kill on his own. The "gunplay" here is automated and free of reloads, meaning the protagonist keeps shooting bullets at a nearby target. This does make for some fun sessions, especially during the early stages.
Each area boasts various familiar foes to take down, from zombies and imps to revenants and cacodemons. Enemies can stagger, allowing players to approach them for a melee Glory Kill which restores health. This is important in surviving the challenging gauntlets. There are varied bosses to take on as well, each featuring unique attack patterns.
Each enemy has a health bar and an element symbol next to it, signifying their weaknesses. There are many elements in the game, including Ballistic, Plasma, Explosive, Fire, Ice, and Corrosive. The Mini Slayer also has its own health bar and players must dodge and strafe around incoming projectiles to progress. When players kill enemies, they earn Ability points.
Collect enough to fill the bar at the top of the screen, and players will be able to pick from one of three random skills. There are two types:
- Weapon abilities: Each equipped weapon has a chance for any of its abilities to be rolled, like increased accuracy for the Chaingun or the ability for the Acid Bomb launcher's projectiles to spread Corrosion to nearby foes.
- Slayer abilities: Includes perks for the protagonist, like Increased Max Health or Explosive Glory kills
Neither are persistent across runs, which is standard for the genre. However, players do get XP, Coins, and Upgrade Materials. The game is intuitive enough to be played with one hand, however, players must have the right equipment to survive Mighty DOOM's ordeals.
This brings us to the gear and stats.
Welcome to the gun show
Like any rogue-lite worth its salt, Mighty DOOM features many weapons and an assortment of gear to equip. Weapons are divided into three categories:
- Primary: Includes the non-stop rapid-fire guns, like the Rifle or Chaingun
- Secondary: A strong weapon with a cooldown timer. Includes the Super Shotgun and Gauss Gun
- Side-arm: Consists of auto-firing projectile weapons, like the Ice Bomb
- Ultimate: These include super-powerful weapons like the BFG which can decimate nearly everything on screen. But they can only be used at 100% charge and the progression towards it is stacked by getting kills.
Besides these, the Mini Slayer can also equip armor for the head, chest, gauntlets (arms), and feet. Each piece offers health increases as well as unique perks, like increased Attack Speed All gear is rarity tiered in the following order: Common (White), Uncommon (Green), Rare (Blue), and Epic (Purple).
Since players can obtain the same drops from crates, the game has a Fuse mechanic. This allows combining three gear items of the same rarity and type, into one of a higher rarity. Other means of progression include the following:
- Coins: The most common currency in Mighty DOOM, it is used to upgrade stats
- Crystals: These purple shards are the premium currency of the game. Players can spend these to perform a variety of transactions, including buying loot boxes
- Upgrade Materials: Used in conjunction with Coins to upgrade gear stats
- XP: Helps level up the Mini Slayer, increasing his base Health and Damage
Regarding the last point, the Mini Slayer has six different stats that can be upgraded with Coins as well, such as base Damage and Damage Resistance.
Not a fun time
For every moment that Mighty DOOM presents a glimmer of fun, it tries hard to remind the player that it is a mobile game. The first cornerstone for this issue is the controls. Since there is no way to manually aim at an enemy, players will have to inch closer to target the desired foe.
After all, the Slayer mows down enemies closest to him. This means players cannot prioritize threats as well as they should be able to. I experienced moments where I approached one foe to take it out, only for another to move towards me, thus suddenly changing my target. This can be excusable at lower levels, but when most of the arena is filled with baddies, it can get annoying.
But this is not enough. The game eventually grinds to a halt once players arrive at Level 4. Called Exultia Pt 2, enemies get a big boost to health and damage, being able to take down the Mini Slayer relatively easily if players are careless. The only way forward is to unbox new loot crates in hopes of getting a decent weapon or upgrading the Mini Slayer's equipment.
Both options fall flat as the snail's pace progression gates a player's level of fun. The slow Energy system does not help matters either, with 1 Energy recharging every 12 minutes. Since the max Enery cap is 20, this means players cannot grind to even stand a chance of getting a decent weapon. Unfortunately, the problems do not end there.
The game features three types of loot boxes: gear, weapon, and gear + weapon. Each costs Crystals, however, the Battle Pass or in-game rewards system may reward players with crate Keys. However, this will still not guarantee that players will receive the gear they need.
Moreover, Upgrade Materials barely improve the gear stats. At the end of the day, these penny-pinching designs work actively against player progression, making lengthy investments into the game very unappealing.
Visuals, performance, and sound
The graphics for the game are simplistic and effective, with a cute "chibi" esthetic to top it off. The overall style for the UI and sound is clearly inspired by 2020's DOOM Eternal. For all the game's faults, Mighty DOOM does a decent job of representing the denizens of the DOOM universe well.
The game also has a Settings option, which features a togglable option between Quality and Efficiency. The former improves graphics and caps the frame rate to 30, with visual improvements such as higher-quality lighting and bloom. Meanwhile, the latter cuts back corners to allow scaling to a 60 FPS target. The technical side of the game is fine, with no performance issues.
However, I did encounter a bug where some of the assets would clip through a boss's glory kill animation. Perhaps this was unintended, but one of the Level 5 bosses who was supposed to teleport around the arena found itself stuck in the top left corner halfway through the fight. Thankfully, this made things easier for me given how bullet-spongy the foes got from this point onwards.
In conclusion
All things considered, there is a decent amount of fun to be had playing Mighty DOOM. The auto-aim-driven gameplay is casual and simple but surprisingly addictive as the Mini Slayer mows down hordes of hellish fiends into goops of gore. It has a decent variety of weapons and skills, as well as the ghastly monsters the Slayer wreaks havoc upon. The bite-sized nature of the game also makes for quick casual sessions which can be suspended at any time.
But does any of this really matter when the eventual tide of grueling tedium crashes down on everything? Design issues aside, the number of upgrades needed to squeeze past the seemingly insurmountable odds at higher levels may not be worth it for many players. It would not be surprising to see some grow tired of the grind past Level 5 and eventually decide to uninstall the app from their smartphone.
As such, for all the boxes Mighty DOOM ticks, it misses many as players progress further into the game. It’s a shame because this could have been a robust action game to kill time, with the right level of balance and design. The game aims to cater to both fans and newbies but unfortunately may end up alienating both in the long run.
Mighty DOOM
Reviewed on: Android
Platform(s): Android, iOS
Developer(s): Alpha Dog Games
Publishers(s): Bethesda Softworks LLC
Release date: March 22, 2023
