After playing three or so hours of Doom: The Dark Ages, the only thing I could think was “What a fucking game”. Yet, it’s difficult to know where to start for such a storied franchise, and even more so given that I suspect fans of the 2016 and 2020 titles (Doom, Doom Eternal) are already all-in on The Dark Ages. However, when the adrenaline had left my body, I kept thinking about how much this new Doom reminded me of the old Doom. The original Doom. The game that started it all.
Make no bones about it, this is a very modern video game. There are upgrades, there are maps, open areas, side quests, things to do galore. The suggestion from the developers that this is the biggest Doom it has made is very likely true. I got to play four sections of the game, which turned out to be from the opening act alone, which is surprising in itself, given the breadth of weaponry, abilities, and enemy roster I ripped and tore through. But there’s just something about the more heavy, boots on the ground feel to Doom: The Dark Ages that truly threw me back to my young days, playing on MS-DOS and thinking that anything was possible.
Part of this is due to how heavy you feel. There’s an audible weight to the movement of Doom Guy this time around, but it’s more than that. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not slow here, it’s just that you’re so powerful and big that even jumping into a group of grunt-Demons will smoosh them up, and it feels fantastic. Bullets will rain upon you from ranged enemies, glittering red and green, but instead of bouncing around and feeling like you are permanently in the air, you’re strafing left and right, parrying bullets back, and controlling zones and space around you.
The modern Doom games have always felt fairly rhythmic in nature. There’s an unmatched flow state in these games, and the meticulous design shines through when played. Against a Cyber Demon you are supposed to stand and fight. You can create space, but you’ll be cut to shreds by bullets from all around you. No, you need to get up close and personal, time your shield parries, then when stunned, reply in kind with extreme violence. Whether it’s a super shotgun blast between parries, or you’re nailing the hulking beast with a whip of your chain-mace, you need to keep at it to take it down in a glorious mess of viscera.
Doom: The Dark Ages makes no apologies for the violence. You’re Doom Guy, and you’re here to kill all the demons in the most violent way possible. Story this time seems far more important, however, and there are many more cut-scenes that show named characters. I won’t spoil what’s going on here, but it’s interesting and I wanted to know more. There are still codex pickups, but there’s a heavier emphasis this time on showing rather than telling.
There are also some fantastic moments littered through what I got to play. Despite the moniker “The Dark Ages”, there’s plenty of space Sci-Fi and technology going on. The medieval stuff comes more in the locations and visuals you are bashing through, at least so far.
The Atlan and the Dragon
Piloting the Atlan (giant mech) was fantastic. Staring down a giant demon and going mano-a-mano in a fist fight is exhilarating. Building up your power and combos until you can devastate the enemy into quite literal pieces. I would have actually liked to play more of the fist-fighting part of being in an Atlan, but before long a fellow Atlan-driver dropped in and gave me a chain gun of sorts, which meant I could simply mow enemies down. The soundtrack booms as the gun rattles through ammunition, before the demons falls into pieces, again. One thing is for sure, ID loves enemies melting for the player.
Less brilliant, but still enjoyable, was the Dragon riding section I got to experience. Now let me be clear: I enjoyed this section, but it was the most different mechanically. Whether it’ll be a success in the final product, I think, is down to how often it’s used. Here I was tasked with flying the dragon around and taking down multiple ships to allow me passage forward. While you can freely explore and ride around, the combat is more about locking on and then strafing around the target, dodging green barrages to power up your weapon, and destroying the enemy.
It’s not that it was in any way bad, either. It’s more that it’s a very different flow-state feeling to the rest of what I played. After taking down the ship’s shields you can land, then enter. And it’s testament to the care and attention of The Dark Ages that each ship had a different interior layout, meaning each of the four felt different.
Doom: The Dark Ages – bigger maps
The last section I got to play was called a Siege level. These are large, open-ended maps that do have objectives but are absolutely littered with numerous enemies, secrets, and side-content to collect. In this level alone, despite not having time to 100% it, I found a new weapon, multiple methods to level up my shield stats, loads of gold (used for the upgrade system), and secret doors I couldn’t find the secret keys for. I adored everything about these Siege levels. From fighting the elite enemies for upgrades, to discovering portals to secret caves that hosted puzzles resulting in rewards. I didn’t want to stop playing, quite frankly. The Siege level also made me believe the team when it says this is the biggest Doom to date.
But the star of it all is the shield. Starting out as a simple parry mechanic (that can also just block for a limited time), you quickly find a chainsaw blade that is attached to the surround of the shield. With this, it becomes a throwable weapon that will dig into a demon, stunning them as it burrows in with the spinning blades. The dance here is majestic. Choosing to keep the shield nearby to parry enemy attacks or projectiles back is quickly dropped when a big guy is unloading rockets in your face, and you can throw a chain-shield at it to stop that, then get in close to melee it to death.
You can zoom across the battlefield with that shield to hit enemies as well, and it feels generous and badass. Despite concerns about how much I’d need to parry, the default difficulty felt entirely manageable and kind to the player, but even then, the accessibility options seem excellent, and you can adjust even the smallest detail like the parry window to make the game feel custom made for you.
So far, then, ID has knocked it out of the park. For those who played Doom Eternal and hoped the studio would go back to a more grounded affair, Doom: The Dark Ages is for you, and it feels like almost every lesson learned on the way has been poured into this new title. I have some concerns about the Dragon sections, I’ll confess, but everything else I played had that remarkable flow-state that was almost perfected back in 2016. With a deeper story, quality of life changes, loads of secrets, and best in class combat, Doom: The Dark Ages is going to be an exceptional game.
Doom: The Dark Ages is coming to PC (Steam, Windows, and Battle Net), Xbox Series S|X, and PlayStation 5 on May 15th. This preview is based on a press trip; Bethesda paid travel and accommodation.
