DOOM: TDA's biggest sin isn't the complete shift in gameplay mechanics. Even though, the shield can feel a bit lackluster, I can't say the same for the spear. It's actually quite good. My only gripe with it is the fact the gun switching is quite slow and lowers down you shield/spear at the same time.
The game's biggest sin is not the uninteresting story cutscenes and dumb plot either. It's also, suprisingly not the boring Kaiju fights or the Dragon riding, even if they feel so out of place here. We could argue that the music is not engaging, and that's Mick Gordon is terribly missed, but no, not even that. It's also not the fact the devs let you customize your own difficulty setting because they couldn't figure it out themselves.
No, none of this.
The game's biggest sin, far beyond everything else, is the fact that all "secrets" are displayed on the map from the get-go. This might seem like a nitpick, but bear with me.
Secrets are supposed to be either found by suprise while playing, or while exploring. On the first or subsequent playthroughs. Finding a secret is meant to feel like a bonus. Like a little reward.
But by displaying all the secrets location on the map, this shifts completely.
Instead of being pleasantly surprised upon discovering the little gift that awaits you, you feel frustrated when you realise you just missed a secret and can't go back to look for it.
So, you take the bad habit of constantly looking at your map just to make sure you didn't miss anything. This is so dumb, but since you kinda need to hunt those secrets because they hold most of the currency required to upgrade your stuff, you just can't help it.
But because of this, the pace of the game is getting hammered and every level feels like a slog.
Guess what? They didn't do that for the Revelations DLC, and it turns out it's much more enjoyable to play.
Then, if you manage to find the courage to start the compagn over, you'll notice that not having to look for secrets constantly makes the game so much more enjoyable. To an extreme degree.
Who would've guess that, encouraging the players to pause the game every couple of minutes, in a game that's about running and gunning demons, wasn't so great of an idea.
In the end, I have to choose a thumb.
Even if I leave aside the combat mechanics, the game is still a step down from both 2016 and Eternal. For some reason, they couldn't help but tried to fix things that weren't broken. They added boring gameplay sequences, a dumb story exposition through cutscenes one couldn't care less about, and decided to make the secrets not secrets.
If you manage to resist the urge to constantly look at your map (or use a mod to remove those question marks), bear the uninteresting music, and skip the story cutscenes, I would argue the game is good. Great even. Sometimes, when everything clicks, it's even peak. But as is, I'm not so sure.
