DOOMed Switch

 

In the past, me and shooters on the Nintendo Switch never quite got along too well. Most of the time I played them, the controls would be too sensitive- I'd be aiming everywhere else EXCEPT the actual target I was trying to shoot at. Even with a pro controller or constantly going into the options to alter the sensitivity, it always felt twitchy (#2Twitchy4Switchy) that I could never get a comfortable configuration. So I kept away from them when it came to the Switch and preferred to play them on other platforms.

Lately however, I've since started warming up to playing them more on there. I've gotten back onto Fortnite after not playing it for some time and have it downloaded on pretty much everything in my house that can play it, including my Switch. While I would not recommend playing unless with a pro controller, I've played on it a fair amount and even managed to win a victory royale. And just recently I got the Portal games on the Switch. Not exactly shooters, but they still resemble ones and are worth mentioning. I played through the first one and it actually controlled pretty well without having to tweak the camera controls or keeping to a pro controller to make it playable.

Which brings me to Doom 2016. 

The series celebrated its thirtieth anniversary last year in 2023. That and the release of John Romero's SIGIL II is what got me back on the rip and tear train once again. I have all the series twice over on Xbox and on PC as well as the classic games (I, Hell on Earth, and 64) on Switch. Those games in particular I can play no hassle, given there's no vertical plane to worry about!

Anyway, I was looking at the eShop's Winter Sale for any games that looked even remotely interesting. That was when I noticed that Doom 2016 was going on sale for eight bucks (That's $7.99 if you're a stickler like that). I thought- Hey, if I could play something like Fortnite at a point where I could feel comfortable with, maybe I can do the same with this game? If I couldn't, then it was eight bucks wasted, which was probably better then what it was going for not on sale.

Just as suspected though upon booting up the game, my aim was complete Cacocrap. I was getting my ass kicked by all the imps in the first gore nest arena- the first five minutes of the game! All because I was trying to get accustomed to the controls. On any other platform, I would have blasted all their brains out with little or no trouble. On Ultra-Violence too!

I had almost given up on playing any further until finally I had toned the sensitivity down enough and started to land more of my shots against the imps. Managed to make playing portably with Joy-Cons work too. Movement and aiming was still a little janky, in particular towards the imps crawling up on walls or other demons on top of platforms above or below me. But at least dying to them became more from lack of environmental awareness and stupidity than from control issues. 

Would you believe me if I said I killed this thing with only a pistol?

Despite initial control maintenance- Doom 2016 on Nintendo Switch is still Doom 2016, and I was having a good time with the game. Its (almost) give no shits vibe is terrific. Doom always prioritized learning the vicious and gory ballet against the demons from hell with badass weaponry and gratuitous violence. There is a story and lore hidden throughout the game, but most folks like me will probably be like the Doom Slayer in that they are more interested in blazing through demons and wondering about what the insides of a Pinky look like after shoving shotgun shells up their bunghole.

...if players can forgive that the game can occasionally look like a Pinky's bunghole. The Switch has hands down the worst looking version of Doom 2016 when in comparison to its more stronger brethren. At best, the game looks like a latter day PS3/Xbox 360 game on a 480p TV. Other times is as if someone threw a glob of lard on the camera lens and the poor thing is continually trying to refocus on the action in front of it. It doesn't look too bad- weapon and demon models look good enough. It runs at a steady framerate with rarely a time I can recall seeing it chug. I can excuse this game for having lesser graphics given its size, unlike that House of the Dead Remake which had no excuse looking as low-res on the same console.

Given how demanding a game like Doom 2016 can be, it's a miracle the game can even run on the Switch at all without making extreme cuts to content (Only Snapmap is excluded in this port). There was one time that a loading screen came up during a level transition and it was only that one time. There are videos online that dive deeper into how the game runs on Switch, with several calling it a game that should've been "impossible" to port (At least until Eternal came out and got "impossibly" ported to Switch as well). It deserves an honorable spot in the series' legendary history of console ports. A history of ports that contain various graphical qualities and/or have levels that were cut for various reasons.

Yet for all the commendable remarks that this port deserves... why the hell would anyone want to play Doom 2016 on the Nintendo Switch? Because of the Switch's portability? Maybe got it on a sale on a whim? Maybe the Switch is the only console/handheld hybrid they have/wanted and need their rip and tear fix?

Or maybe the answer is DEAD SIMPLE.

Because it's DOOM.

Make that total thrice over now.

Sometime down the road I'll probably tackle Doom Eternal on Switch as well. I also got that game for twenty bucks for the deluxe edition, which includes the Ancient Gods DLC. Doom II celebrates its thirtieth anniversary alongside Doom 3's twentieth, so Doom will definitely be on my mind quite a bit all through 2024.

I'm also thinking about pursuing other games that have been notably ported over on the Switch that catch my interest, good or bad.

One concerning a man dressed as a bat certainly comes to mind...