While it’s easy to nitpick, it’s even easier to rave about how great the rest of the The Ancient Gods is. I’m not sure this is the best place to jump into Doom Eternal given its initial difficulty, but picking up the whole package is absolutely recommended. The Ancient Gods consistently delivers some of the best combat ever seen, and delivers it in spades.

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.

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

Spewing larger-than-life encounter after larger-than-life encounter The Ancient Gods - Part One can get a bit on the repetitive side, but it's easy to forgive it for this minor misstep, since more DOOM Eternal is never a bad thing. Don't let the low level count fool you. The three available maps are fairly large, and the high challenge will manage to keep you on your toes, especially due to how some new demons affect the battlefield. As a whole, and while a bit more variety would be more than welcome, the first DLC is very enjoyable, looks great, carries some new, and pretty neat tunes, and finally leads the narrative down a pretty intriguing path. Can't wait for Part Two!

A solid expansion that will test even the hardest Doomguys around. It’s almost the same as the basic game, with one exception: It’s even harder. And, regretfully, the music isn’t as amazing as before.

While the three new levels are excellently designed and the combat is as satisfying as ever, the lack of new weapons or abilities feels like a missed opportunity. The main downside however is the uneven balancing: Some battles are littered with high level enemies (some of which require precise aiming in the midst of combat) and take easily more than 10 minutes to complete, all while you are grasping for ammo and health. Doom Eternal made you feel like a badass, while Ancient Gods almost makes you drag from one fight to next, always hoping you make it out alive somehow. This might be a real dealbreaker for some players, even for those who finished Doom Eternal without a problem on normal difficulty. Ancient Gods is still good fun, mind you, but I don't feel this is the right direction for the franchise. There is a difference between challenging and hardcore.

I love Doom lore, and this expansion goes exactly where I was hoping it would go. The three levels are wonderfully designed and have some of the most memorable set pieces in the entire game. There's a fight in a foggy swamp against invisible enemies that I adored and there's one particular arena with transforming pillars that I found to be really inspired. I think the combat has become too complicated and I hope Part Two can reign it in a bit, though at this point, I'm expecting to fight three Marauders all possessed by spirits and buffed by totems while turrets shoot me to death. Don't feel bad about lowering the difficulty on this one even if you got through Eternal on Nightmare. It's not you, the game is just frustratingly hard now.