DOOM: The Dark Ages refines one of gaming’s longest-running series into a powerful dance of death. We head back in time after 2016’s excellent revival and Eternal’s soaring masterpiece. We join the Slayer at his peak, being the most feared being in all existence. Humanity and Hell alike cower in his presence. id Software has redefined its premier franchise once again, and you will have one hell of a time.
Makyr Save Us
DOOM: The Dark Ages takes the series back an undetermined amount of time. It is the earliest I can remember the series taking place, potentially thousands of years in the past. The Slayer has been tethered by the Makyrs. Who are they? The lore of the current DOOM games is surprisingly long and complicated. Suffice it to say, in DOOM 2016 and Eternal, you saw glimpses and ideas of what was going on. In the fantastic DLC for Eternal, you ripped and tore your way through these formerly Angelic figures.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is a prequel, but it’s only just starting to tell its own new story. There is a new big, bad demon Prince, who looks a bit weak but has an ominous and terrifying voice. As the Slayer, you’ll work alongside the Sentinels, whom we saw a lot of, at least their legacy, in DOOM Eternal. I think you can come into this title with little knowledge of the lore and be fine. The Slayer is pissed off at demons, scary to anyone around him, rarely talks, and enjoys ripping and tearing (in that order).
TDA is a decently long title, taking me roughly 15 hours to complete my first time through. I did go back and repeat levels to find upgrade currency and secrets, playing through on default settings the first time. I’ve replayed most levels now on higher difficulties, and the game only gets better as you push yourself harder. Multiple levels are an hour+ long, which worried me at first. After my first and only crash, the checkpoint put me no more than 10 seconds back from where I had been. That was a big issue with Eternal’s long levels and less generous auto-saves.
I don’t want to spoil where you go and what you do at all. Let’s just say that there’s a lot more to this title than Sentinel facilities and Hellish landscapes. No matter where you are or what you’re doing in a modern DOOM game, it all comes down to the gameplay loop. I think I can say now that in once again, reinventing itself, DOOM’s combat has never been better.
An Abrams Tank
In a pre-release preview event, DOOM 2016 was described like you were controlling a truck. DOOM Eternal was a fighter jet, thanks to its high-flying action. DOOM: The Dark Ages was described as being an Abrams Tank, and damn were they spot-on. New to the Slayer’s arsenal is a shield. At first, it can block and parry, though soon enough you’ll gain a chainsaw attachment that lets you use it as a frisbee of death.
With the left bumper, you can throw your shield in a straight line. It will tear through fodder enemies with ease, returning to you no matter how far you’ve moved since heaving it. Larger foes see the shield lodge into their chest, dealing damage while pinning them in place. You will use the left trigger to block, and timing it shortly before being hit can parry neon-green attacks and projectiles. You can dial that in with the game’s numerous accessibility options. It allows you to make the game as easy or difficult as you please.
There are multiple new melee options as well, with the classic power fist being the first you unlock. Powered melee attacks help you gain ammo while dealing major damage. Gone is the classic glory kill system. Instead, once enemies are low enough, a purple outline means they’re ready for you to pummel them out of existence in a less canned animation. Certain larger enemies do still get a fun glory kill if you initiate the attack from the right place, generally the saw chopping off/through something important.
Guns are far more powerful in TDA than they were in Eternal. Instead of having the hard counter approach where guns with certain modifications were the only way to win, TDA gives each weapon a role that works in most situations. Each weapon slot, bar one, has two variations, like the Combat Shotgun and Super Shotgun. Using X, you can change between them on the fly, and once upgraded, the Combat Shotgun sets enemies on fire, dropping armor pickups, while the Super Shotgun deals unbelievably high close-range damage. You’ll get a new BFG variant that is best left unspoiled.
The energy weapons vary between a mid-range one that puts a debuff on the enemies and a higher DPS but tougher to aim variant. It’s a fun system that lets you use the weapons you want when you want, far more often than Eternal did. Tougher enemies have armor that you’ll need to superheat before you can break it off. Certain guns are best at getting it ready faster, but they’re not required, and as long as you are mixing in melee attacks, you’ll always have ammo.
Stand and Fight
Elite enemies may have a health, armor, or ammo icon above their head. The first time you defeat them, they’ll give you a permanent boost to the corresponding stat. Ammo is divided into “Shell, Skull, Launcher,” etc. While many of these enemies are part of a level’s main progression, just as many are off the beaten path and easy to miss.
DOOM: The Dark Ages isn’t an open world game, but it is far more open than the previous two titles. There are corridor sections to be found, but most of the game’s levels allow you to explore them. There are three upgrade currencies to locate, hidden throughout, which you’ll use at the Sentinel Statues to purchase upgrades for your guns, shield, melee, and shield runes.
To keep the combat from becoming too routine, multiple levels see you pilot an Atlan mech. Combat in the mech is basic, and the levels that feature it are just long enough to feel satisfying without overstaying their welcome. There are Dragon flying levels as well, seeing the slayer take to the sky on his armored mount.
Both of these gameplay systems end up working the same way. You’ll use the left trigger to dodge attacks and then the right trigger to attack with the Atlan. The Dragon sections are more open, though their combat becomes more restrictive than the mechs. When you target something on your dragon, you’re locked on it, and then just use a direction while still holding the left trigger to evade a hit. In the mech, you get one extra mechanic, with a meter building up that lets you use the right bumper for devastating finishers.
Both break things up on occasion, with the Atlan gaining an enormous chain gun and the dragon going into chase mode and using a machine gun to mow down hellships. Overall, neither system is deep nor is it the most fun; instead, they are epic in scope, with neither overstaying their welcome. I doubt I would replay the Atlan levels often, but the dragon ones mix it up with on-foot action and have more secrets to go back and find, so I’ll be playing those again.
Not Bad For A Five-Year-Old Console
For this review, I only had access to the Xbox Series version. It looked and ran incredibly well on both Series X and S with a noticeably softer image on the latter. I’m dying to see what it looks like running all out on my PC, but that will have to wait for launch day. It is a Play Anywhere title, my issue comes from it being a very specific way that we were given access on the Xbox platform.
The controls felt fantastic on default settings. I raised the sensitivity a little and kept the default 90 field-of-view. The Slayer is heavy, with an enormous shockwave damaging enemies whenever you land from a high jump. There is no more dashing or double jumping. There is, however, the ability to run. It felt odd at first, but unlike DOOM 3, the movement speed without it is still high. Running and jumping felt great as you could easily clear 30 feet in a single bound. Using the shield and pressing the right trigger while looking at an enemy flings you toward them like a tank shell. It was a great tool mid-fight for finding the high ground or escaping an overly dangerous situation.
Enemy counts can be high, with death constantly a moment away. You find the balance in constantly healing back up from all the health drops your murdering provides. It helped that the performance was rock solid on both consoles. I can’t remember a drop in framerate my entire playthrough, with iD Tech 8 looking stunning. While it doesn’t have the path-tracing of its PC big brother, the Series X version is clean, with excellent HDR, and some unbelievable texture work.
A New Direction
The places you go and the creatures you see are nothing like what the series has had before. The same goes for its cut scenes and music. Mick Gordon is gone, replaced by Finishing Move, who did an incredible job. While there aren’t as many hummable notes, it matches the vibes the story is going for. This is a different, less f’ed up and more controlled time in DOOM history.
There are more cutscenes than you could shake a stick at, though none are that long. They go for a less-is-more approach to the story, inferring instead of outright stating. The Slayer isn’t chatty; as is tradition, his companions fill out what is going on. There is a familiar but slightly different voice inside his suit relaying pertinent info, and it worked well enough.
This is a complete story, though not one that puts the Slayer in the coffin we found him in back in 2016. There is no cliffhanger ending, with a full, mostly decent, sometimes good story being told. I was surprised a few times by where things went, which wasn’t something that happened in the previous titles. The solid writing is supported by similarly good voice acting. It’s not Shakespeare, nor is it Neil Breen.
As far as bugs go, I only had one, a single time when my game froze on me. Thanks to the generous auto-save system, when I booted it back up, I had only lost 10 seconds of game time. DOOM: The Dark Ages is the latest release from Xbox to come out in excellent shape, at least on this platform.
Wrapping Things Up
DOOM: The Dark Ages takes us back to the Slayer at his most powerful, stylish cape and all. Twenty-two levels of mayhem, excellent pacing, and furious combat make this entry my favorite in the series yet.
