Doom: The Dark Ages Review

The Slayer is back in the third game in the modern Doom saga, where you’re asked to “stand & fight” – so we did!

Although Doom: The Dark Ages, the third chapter in the modern version of the legendary saga, and the prequel to Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal, came out of the starting blocks explosively and brutally, to say the least, with a trailer promising fire, blood and iron, it can’t have been easy for developer id Software to sit down at the studio’s large, central mood board to figure out what the game should look like.

How do you actually make a sequel to Eternal? How do you redefine, anew, what it means to move as The Slayer, to kill, to explore, to feel like a walking natural disaster with an arsenal of weapons so expansive, and a suite of movement patterns so tightly executed that it leaves almost nothing to be desired?

You may hear that I’m a bit of a crush on Eternal, and that’s true, I’ll admit it, and furthermore, I think that Doom 2016 was passed over for the big gold medal that year, and I also regret that I didn’t use more space and speaking time to actively recommend and fight for the game. I’ll brief you in advance, because the story of Doom: The Dark Ages is confusing, sometimes contradictory and knotty. You see, I prefer the other two Doom games in this modern trilogy that id Software has made. But while a third place, a consolation prize, may seem damning, Doom: The Dark Ages is fantastic to play. It’s this slightly double-edged judgment that we’re going to tackle now.

Okay, let’s push off with a bang, as that seems to be the mantra of the series overall. This is yet another example of how utterly masterful id Software’s Push Forward Combat feels on the battlefield, and how unique and downright dreamy it is to combine this combat system with a diverse portfolio of satisfying enemies. You have pretty much the same rogues’ gallery; Hell Knight, Cyberdemon, Revenant and Cacodemon – they’re all here, and while it’s a bit disappointing to see them unleashed onto the battlefield without any real introduction or respect for each unique monster’s heritage, just like they are in Eternal, the combination of these into the actual gameplay loop remains so satisfying that it’s hard to complain, it really is.

id Software says that this is no longer “Jump & Shoot”, as in Eternal, but instead “Stand & Fight”, and although there are parts of the strategic loop that have been rearranged so that you can stand much more easily as a pillar of excess and brute force, there is still a trick in motion, and you are still lightning fast, exactly as you should be. Therefore, see “Stand & Fight” as a small rearrangement of your strategic priorities and abilities, rather than a complete rework. It is fitting, however, that The Dark Ages largely eliminates the vertical dimension from battles, and instead asks you to face the horde of enemies on the battlefield at eye level. Here you combine a trusty weapon wheel, which offers new things and items but which again looks like a variant of something we have seen before (which is not a defect, by the way), your shield and a greater focus on melee combat.

Okay, so is this still Push Forward? Yes, it is, and thankfully so, but not really in that directly defined way where a kill with a chainsaw gives X, and a Glory Kill gives Y – it’s all a bit more fluid, and your shield in particular is quite multi-purpose, which also means you can close the distance with enemies quickly, or bull them away in the best Mjölnir style, and you get a ton of Armor, Health and Ammo back on the fly. It’s a bit messier, we can’t get away from that, but oh my, how satisfying it is. The new weapons work well too, although, again, they are variations or remixes of something we’ve seen before, but there are a few innovative new additions or two, such as the fantastic Chainshot, which fires a morning star at your enemies with a satisfyingly heavy “bump”.

You charge into the demon horde, fire your Super Shotgun into the wild, charge your shield at a group with explosive effect, and block the characteristic green projectiles with your shield to send them back where they came from. This blocking is a bit of The Dark Ages’ “thing”, and it’s a shame it’s satisfying, but it’s basically a bit too much when it comes down to it, and this is where the whole Push Forward concept gets diluted a bit, as there’s an incentive to wait for an enemy’s attacks from a distance, in case they can be blocked, instead of charging headlong into the conflict. It’s not always like that, and there are even instances where you practically fence with your enemies by blocking melee attacks, then sending your “Flail” into their heads. It’s quite satisfying.

Make no mistake, there’s just as much room to express yourself, to shine, to enjoy, but personally I ended up missing the acrobatics, verticality and flair that Eternal’s more versatile level design and movement patterns allowed. Again, it’s not the same as this being directly underwhelming, but it’s just different in a way that didn’t always appeal to me during my own playthrough of the 22 levels in total.

And we’re not quite done with that word; flair, because while Doom: The Dark Ages oozes with malicious intent and design excess, there’s not quite the same opulence as in Eternal, and it really shows. There’s no base to be sent back to filled with exciting secrets and meta-jokes galore. There’s really only a level select screen with virtually no connective tissue between these levels, and most of the rewards to be found are reduced, boiled down and simplified. Instead of a series of unique upgrade paths via specific items, there’s “just” one currency, Gold, which can buy you most of your upgrades, and then there’s Ruby when it really matters. Praetor Suit Tokes, Runes, Sentinel Batteries, Weapon Modbots – they’ve all been replaced with a list of upgrades that are, by the way, linear, and that pretty much only upgrade, not specify your playstyle. You’ll get access to Runes later, but they’re pretty much variations of the same thing. That, combined with the lack of a Slayer slot around the planet, well, The Dark Ages does seem a bit more medieval in its metra progression – but maybe that’s the intention.

That said, The Dark Ages will undoubtedly feel refreshing for those who just want to be entertained by one of the finest combat systems on the AAA market today. Yes, the progression has been pared down a bit, but hunting down these secrets and upgrades in these rather quirky and well-designed levels is a joy, especially when The Dark Ages looks as good as it does, and runs so endlessly smoothly (if only on the PS5 Pro where I’ve tested). The id Tech graphics engine is unrivaled in the hands of its creators, producing colours, frame-rates and festive destruction to top marks, we can’t get around that. It’s a shame that Mick Gordon isn’t doing the soundtrack, and everything suggests that id Software really didn’t treat the legendary composer properly after Eternal launched, but the replacement Finishing Move still captures much of the spirit, and as a result the atmosphere hasn’t been lost at all, just Gordon’s expertise, which is a shame in itself.

There are generally divided opinions about whether actual storytelling is one of the central strengths that makes Doom 2016 and Eternal the hits they undeniably have become and have become today. I personally believe that 2016 in particular has a masterful, simple and effective story that leans into the surrounding mythos but retains crucial mystery about the origins and the different factions that clash and dwell in the Doom universe’s multiverse. Eternal may have expanded to the breaking point for some, but The Dark Ages refocuses and sets the lens quite directly on The Slayer, who is used as a weapon in an ancient war between humans and the forces of hell. This is of course true with modifications, and it is also that this is very medieval. It is a kind of retro futurism where obvious sci-fi elements mix relatively seamlessly with the dirtier battlefield-like medieval setting. It works fine, as does the narrative setup that marks the start and end of each level, but it’s a bit of a shame that almost all of these individual levels don’t really have any more actual storytelling than that. There are very few characters who say anything or act while you’re smashing away. You could say that then the story doesn’t get in the way, and that might please some. But the fact is that id Software has established that storytelling should fill the modern Doom experience, so I was surprised during my playthrough that it didn’t fill… well, more? That said, what’s here is perfectly fine, and will, again, perhaps function as refreshingly simple next to Eternal’s perhaps slightly long-winded expansion of the game’s universe.

To make a long story short, Doom: The Dark Ages is simply excellent in its snapshot form, although I personally prefer the version of Push Forward Combat we’ve previously seen polished in the two previous titles. That’s why I have no qualms about recommending it to anyone who loves gameplay, who loves good level design and exciting enemies, who loves power fantasies at their best in the world of games, and who loves this setting. There are small bumps here, that’s it. The game is perhaps a little too invested in its entire shield blocking mechanic, and it lacks a little flair, a little connective tissue between these individual levels, as good as they can be. But beyond that, The Dark Ages is yet another example of how it’s very, very difficult, if not impossible, for this current id Software team to make a bad game.

VERDICT: 8/10

+ Basically excellent gameplay, amazing enemies, cool levels, great music and silky smooth graphics.

– Lacks a bit of Eternal’s flair and coherence, the story is a bit stagnant a lot of the time, the lack of verticality can get in the way at times.