Yep, the title are my sentiments. DOOM 2016 is worth the $20 (USD) price, and even better on sale, but Doom Eternal is the better of the two and Turbo Overkill actually bests Doom Eternal. Go ahead and hurl tomatoes at my review. Upon its release, DOOM 2016 was a fantastic reboot of a classic series that made FPSes a staple of gaming. Incredible production values? Check. Refined, more modern mechanics? Check. Emmersive environments? Big ol' check. Check. An expansion on the Doom series lore? Check. Important boxes were ticked. On the critical side: the movement wasn't as fast as what we'd grown accustommed to in series like Unreal Tournament or Left 4 Dead and the environments were rather linear. These issues would be rectified in 2020's Doom Eternal, and indie FPSes like Turbo Overkill and Trepang2 would expand upon such features. As a result, in 2025, I can't shower DOOM 2016 with the sort of praise I would have in 2016. All-in-all, DOOM 2016 without DRM is worthy of owning at $20 or less. But don't expect to be as entertained by it as the Turbo Overkills and Trepang2s that're now the standard.
Turbo Overkill plays alot like Doom Eternal or Shadow Warrior 3. The first person shooting is coupled with platforming, including wall running and even grappling, while being fast and very fluid. Weapons include secondary functions and upgrades. The environments are as fun to traverse as they are cool to look at, with interlooping paths for quick traversal to previous areas of a map. Vehicular combat, in both a Blade Runner styled hovercar and motorcycle, actually one-ups Doom Eternal by offering a feature it lacks! Doom Eternal might be blushing a bit here. The lore is typical cyberpunk fare with knods to RoboCop and William Gibson novels. The visual aesthetic is a mix of late 1990s polygynal graphics and lotsa neon. While in a class with modern FPSes like Dooom Eternal and Shadow Warrior 3, Turbo Overkill easily has a very cool identity of its own.
Shing! reminds me of Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks for the PS2 & original Xbox. Quick, launch, and air attacks can be comboed in layers. Finishers leave enemies dismembered. Special attacks are flashy and sometimes result in rapid combos. Local coop doubles, triples, and quadruples the fun. Backgrounds have atmosphere and give a good since of where you are in the map. Characters are fully voiced with amusing personalities, and additional characters and skins can be unlocked. A Challenge mode allows you to hone your skills. Linux and Mac are fully supported with modest hardware requirements. Played in Linux Mint 21.1 on a laptop with Ryzen 3500U integrated Vega graphics and on a desktop PC with Radeon RX 5500 4GB (GDDR6) graphics, with a wired XB1 controllers. Both ran Shing! fantastic.
