DOOM: The Dark Ages – Review

Even though DOOM has always been a beloved game that is considered one of the best Boomer Shooters out there, it somewhat died down after its third main installment, with only some spin-off titles such as DOOM RPG and DOOM Resurrection. We were assuming that if a new installment was made, it would offer more of the same. We were rather surprised when the 2016 reboot title came out, putting the series on the map again for both veteran players and a new audience alike. DOOM proved to be an amazing title, and it spawned an equally amazing sequel, DOOM: Eternal, four years later. Now, five years after that, we are presented with DOOM: The Dark Ages, a prequel to the two recent DOOM games that is not afraid to add new elements and gameplay mechanics to the mix.

Story

Unsurprisingly, DOOM: The Dark Ages doesn’t tell a cheerful story. You’ll be playing as the so-called Slayer, who is doing the dirty work for the Maykr Bishop, Kreed Maykr. At the start of the game, you’ll be a mindless prisoner, who has to fend off the minions from hell and blast everything to kingdom come. Of course, the story is quite a bit more expansive than this, but that’s basically the gist of it. You run and gun hellish minions down, and the story further fleshes itself out during the starting and/or ending cutscene of a chapter. The narrative isn’t really complex or deep, but it falls in line with other DOOM titles.

Graphics

DOOM: The Dark Ages looks amazing on PlayStation 5. While there are a few graphical inconsistencies when you pilot the mech suit or fly the dragon, the game was an absolute delight in terms of visuals. There is so much gore, satisfying execution moves, interesting weapon designs, and ghastly demons that will keep you entertained from start to finish. The environments look extremely lush, and there is simply so much going on at all times. The backdrops are stunning, it’s rewarding to explore every nook and cranny, and we could actually keep going on for a while like this. This is truly a next-gen DOOM game, and we loved the overall aesthetic of futuristic designs being blended with medieval influences.

Sound

It wouldn’t be a DOOM game if we didn’t hear any amped up rock tunes blasting through our speakers when butchering hordes of hellish minions. With DOOM: The Dark Ages, you’ll get another heavy rock soundtrack that just keeps the adrenaline flowing. While we weren’t always focusing on the background music, as many battles required our attention, it certainly did set the right mood. The sound effects were equally important, as blasting monsters to smithereens never sounded so satisfying. You’ll hear guts flying around, guns that pack a massive punch, and even melee attacks that have a lot of oomph. There’s also quite a bit of audio feedback via the DualSense controller, which helped with immersion as well. The volume here was a bit too loud, but you can change this in the in-game audio options menu. We also appreciated the iconic SFX that have been around since the very first installment.

Gameplay

DOOM: The Dark Ages is, just like its predecessor, a boomer shooter at its core, albeit with a bigger focus on melee combat in this installment. You’ll play through fairly big chapters where you can move around freely to explore your environments to kill hordes of enemy minions, find new weapons, and uncover secret areas. It’s a very straightforward game, with several difficulty options, making it an accessible FPS. You can lower or crank up the general difficulty level, and you can also adjust settings, such as auto-aim. It will only take a few minutes to get in the groove of things, and new mechanics and weapons are gradually introduced as you progress through the game.

Just like the previous games, you’ll have an impressive arsenal of weapons at your disposal, which all have upgradable components. You’ll have guns with a high fire rate but lower damage output, but also massive weapons that have a very low rate of fire but nearly instakill bigger monsters. DOOM: The Dark Ages, however, puts a higher focus on melee combat and defense mechanics. You’ll have several melee weapons at your disposal, of which you can only have one active at all times. You’ll also have your shield with a destructive saw embedded into its rim. The shield can slice and dice enemies while also blocking and repelling incoming enemy attacks. The shield also serves as a traversal tool. You can’t just go shooting enemies mindlessly, as sometimes you’ll need to break through armor to hit enemies first. It’s a fast-paced and rewarding system that remains fresh throughout the experience.

You’ll have your work cut out for you if you decide to fully commit to reaching 100% on every chapter. While we usually aren’t the biggest completionists out there, it’s fun to explore in DOOM: The Dark Ages, as you’ll find upgrade materials and other goodies that make the Slayer more powerful. This is further enhanced by the great control scheme and the different traversal mechanics at your disposal. You can climb many marked walls, your shield can help you open gates, and even jump big gaps. While it will probably take you a while to get the hang of a few mechanics, before you know it, you’re almost flying all over the place thanks to the smoothness of the different tools at your disposal. It’s a fun system, and it’s great that the game (almost) never loses its momentum during the 22 available chapters. Each of these chapters takes roughly an hour to complete, if you opt to find many of the secret areas.

All in all, DOOM: The Dark Ages offers a very polished experience that never fails to entertain. The map reveals secrets and additional goodies when you are close to them, which allows you to explore more easily. This makes it a lot of fun to explore your surroundings, even for players who usually skip a lot of exploration in titles such as this. The puzzles to reach many of the secret areas never feel too complex, but are still highly rewarding when solving them. The only aspects that felt perhaps a bit less polished were the segments where you ride your dragon and when you pilot the mech. The dragon controls feel perhaps a bit too floaty (no pun intended), and the mech segment feels simply a bit rough around the edges. Even when no collision was made, we saw buildings crumble, and hitboxes felt less precise here in general.

Conclusion

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a successful new entry in the franchise that also serves as an interesting prequel to 2016’s DOOM and 2020’s DOOM: Eternal. We had an absolute blast with the new mechanics, and while they did change up the gameplay significantly, this felt like a proper DOOM game through and through. This highly entertaining gameplay loop is supported by impressive visuals and an explosive soundtrack that cranks things up to eleven. If you’re a fan of the previous two entries and don’t mind getting your hands dirty with solid melee combat and satisfying parry mechanics, then DOOM: The Dark Ages is certainly a must-have title.

Ibuki

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Aspiring ninja.

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