Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part Two

My first few hours with The Ancient Gods - Part Two felt like a genuine correction. Where Part One buried you under an avalanche of demons from the opening seconds, Part Two actually breathes, ramping up its encounter design more thoughtfully before unleashing the chaos. That pacing adjustment matters in a game that demands split-second weapon switching, resource management, and constant aerial movement. If Doom Eternal itself clicked for you - the meathook swings, the Glory Kill loops, the Flame Belch rhythm - this DLC respects your investment in those systems rather than immediately trying to break you. The standout addition is the Sentinel Hammer. It launches you into the air and brings you crashing down, killing small demons outright and stunning heavies in a wide radius. It slots into the existing toolkit naturally, giving you a genuine crowd-control escape valve without breaking the flow. New enemy variants also push you to lean harder on specific weapon attachments: Armored Barons punish lazy plasma rifle neglect, and the Cursed Prowler introduces a curse mechanic that actually forces you back toward aggressive Glory Kill hunting rather than letting you camp at range. These additions are mostly well-judged. The Escalation Encounters, replacing the Slayer Gates from the base game, offer two-stage optional combat trials - the second tier of which demands full mastery of quick-switching, grenade timing, and target prioritisation, and will humble anyone who coasted through on Ultra-Violence. The controversy is real and worth understanding before you buy. The mixed Steam reception (60% positive) is partly a reaction to the simultaneous patch that rebalanced Part One's opening levels downward, frustrating veteran players who loved that expansion's unforgiving edge. Part Two itself is objectively easier than its predecessor, with fewer Spirit encounters and nothing matching Part One's Blood Swamps in raw brutality. Top-end players noticed, loudly. There is also the matter of the final boss, the Dark Lord, who fights like an oversized Marauder with five health phases and a mechanic that converts your hits into health pickups for himself - meaning you can chip him near-zero and watch him recover on two lucky swings. Critics and players broadly agree the fight is the weakest note to end on: drawn out, RNG-adjacent in feel, and the opposite of the frenzied momentum that defines Doom at its best. Visually it holds up well across its three levels - one set on Earth, one in Hell, one in a composite of realms that leans into high-fantasy aesthetics rather than the apocalyptic grey of earlier content. The heavy metal soundtrack remains excellent throughout. Runtime is short, around four hours on a first playthrough at normal difficulty, which is the other sticking point for anyone paying full DLC price. If you own it through the Year One Pass or Deluxe Edition, the value calculus shifts considerably. The story wraps the Doom Slayer arc but does so with a rushed twist and loose ends that read like content trimmed for a deadline. Who is this actually for? If you finished the base campaign and Part One and want a tighter, better-paced but somewhat easier final chapter, Part Two delivers that with one genuinely great new tool and solid encounter variety. If you came to Part One specifically to be punished, or if you are hoping the finale hits the high notes of the base game's Icon of Sin fight, manage your expectations. It is a good expansion that lands just below what this series set as its own benchmark.

Alex · Scout Team

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