DOOM Eternal

Make every fight ask four questions at once: priority, preference, preservation, position. In DOOM the player constantly decides which enemy to hit, which weapon to use, how to recover resources and where to move. All four are weighed together and re-weighed when something changes, like a new spawn or an empty magazine.

The questions feed into each other: running out of ammo can turn the priority from a boss into shotgunning a zombie. "All four Ps must be considered simultaneously, and constantly reevaluated as the new information arises."

Other shooters feel calmer because their designs remove one of the questions. Look-alike enemies give no reason to pick targets, two-weapon limits cut interesting weapon choices, and regenerating health plus cover let the player hide, leaving only three questions.

Design arenas like multiplayer maps: open, symmetrical, with elevation and routes. The Nekravol Part II soul fountain chamber is large and symmetrical, with raised platforms, ramps, toxic pools and scattered items, and uses almost half of Eternal's enemy cast. Monkey bars link the three highest areas without touching the ground.

The player picks a route based on where they need to go and what they want to do, moving unimpeded by obstacles.

Trigger enemy waves at health thresholds so pressure tracks player performance. The five-minute fight runs in phases: small fast enemies first (Imps, a Mancubus, a Revenant, Zombies, then Gargoyles), then big demons each triggered by hurting the last. The Pain Elemental brings Whiplashes at a third health, and Prowlers arrive when the Doom Hunter falls to half.

Early phases start after a handful of kills. The player is never hit with every demon at once, but leaving big threats alive means juggling many monsters. The rhythm is predictable across restarts yet never exactly the same.

Remove cover and let enemy behaviour dictate how the player moves. There is no cover and enemies punish standing still: the Baron of Hell forces backpedalling and the Revenant's lock-on missiles force jumps and dashes. The player stays in motion for the whole encounter.

This keeps the position question alive throughout the fight.

Make enemies different enough that choosing a target is a real decision. The slow Mancubus with dodgeable projectiles can be left alone, while the Revenant's endless missile barrage makes it an early target and the Pain Elemental must die fast because it keeps spawning monsters.

The most dangerous enemy is not always the biggest. Lost Souls die to one shotgun blast, so the slow Pain Elemental can be delayed to chase Whiplashes. In this fight the Mancubus and Revenant seem glued in place, possibly a bug.

Give each weapon a niche matched to enemy traits so players keep swapping. Rocket launcher for the slow Mancubus, shotgun for close-range Whiplashes, heavy cannon for distant Gargoyles, ballista for the flying Pain Elemental, plasma rifle for the Doom Hunter's shield, chain-gun for the Baron of Hell.

Gear adds more choices: freeze bombs stop teleporting Prowlers, the blood punch hurts shields, overdrive chews up the Baron, and the BFG and crucible are get-out-of-jail cards to time well.

Turn enemies into the resource supply so survival requires aggression. Map pickups run out, so glory kills on staggered enemies give health, the chainsaw gives ammo and the flame belch makes enemies drop armour. "DOOM turns every enemy into a loot crate on legs."

Players stay aggressive rather than hiding to regenerate, and a shortage can redirect the other questions.

Endlessly respawning weak Zombies give a safe way to restock. Zombies respawn infinitely in the Nekravol fight, barely do damage and die in a split second, yet supply ammo, armour and health.

This lets players fix a resource shortage without breaking the fight's pressure.

Drilled weapon-specific weaknesses shrink tactics to one right answer. A sticky bomb in a Cacodemon's mouth staggers it instantly, and loading-screen tutorials stress these weaknesses. Other weapons still work, but it feels like "there actually is a single right move you must perform to win."

Summoners that must die first remove the priority decision. The Buff Totem and Archvile spawn super-powered demons, so they automatically become priority one. The Pain Elemental and DOOM 2016's Summoner spawn weaker minions and can be ignored for a while.

Heavy resource pressure lets preservation crowd out the other questions. Eternal massively cut max ammo compared with DOOM 2016 and made the flame belch necessary for armour, so players can spend more time patching up resources than slaying demons.

The balance between the four questions matters as much as each one. At its best the fight still stays a flurry of fast, changing decisions.