Let's Chat Games 022 - DOOM: The Dark Ages - SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

How does DOOM: The Dark Ages stack up against DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal?

DOOM: The Dark Ages is an action-packed FPS romp. The meat and potatoes of the game is its face-paced, gory combat, and, whew, does it deliver! A lot of what I thought from my early hands-on impressions holds true to the game’s full release. Let’s dive in.

DOOM: The Dark Ages looks to create its own identity, while also keeping the DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal family relationship intact. And, yeah, it is PRETTY DANG successful. It’s still very much still a DOOM game, but it brings its own combat identity to the table. It takes elements of the "Simon Says," this-type-of-attack-is-best-to-get-this-type-of-result approach, from DOOM (2016) but adds additional layers of complexity. Meanwhile, it shies away from DOOM Eternal’s vertically and instead keeps your boots on the ground, while giving players a shield charge that allows them to cover ground quickly and frenetically. It’s not as fast-paced as DOOM Eternal, but DOOM: The Dark Ages isn’t just sitting there in neutral that is for sure! A little give. A little take.

If I had to rank the three games, I’d probably place them:

(1) DOOM (2016);

(2) DOOM: The Dark Ages; and

(3) DOOM Eternal.

DOOM: The Dark Ages does A LOT right, but it’s hard to recapture that original magic DOOM (2016) brought to the table when it reinvented the franchise. Maybe that’s an unfair comparison, as DOOM: The Dark Ages isn't looking to do a total reinvention like (2016) did, but hey, it is what it is.

Meanwhile, DOOM Eternal never really clicked for me. It was a little too “extra” when it came to its high-flying, zipping-around-the-map combat. DOOM: The Dark Ages course corrects from that and makes the combat feel more intentional and grounded, pun intended! That said, hardcore DOOM Eternal Stans might still prefer that game over The Dark Ages’ more tank-like Slayer approach. But… whew does the weight of the Slayer feel so good in The Dark Ages! Jump down off a cliff and THUMPING into the ground, waves of attack radiating out… it never got old.

The combat in DOOM: The Dark Ages is at its best when it’s you versus a mob of enemies, and you need to use all the tools at your disposal to survive. Luckily, that’s A LOT of what DOOM: The Dark Ages is. There is such a wonderful weight and feel to the combat. Everything feels purposeful. You’re always in control of the chaos on screen. Like in (2016) and Eternal, certain weapons work best against certain enemies. That’s not to say that other weapons won’t work, it’s just that others will work better. There’s a reward, so to speak, for matching your attack to the quickly-changing situation. And what The Dark Ages does so well is throwing a differing group of enemies at you all at once. There’s a lot of enemy variety and great weapon variety as well.

Use this weapon to take down this enemy’s shield, switch to this weapon to take down this other enemy’s shield, shield dash yourself to quickly close the gap on another enemy, stun this larger enemy with this weapon, switch to this other weapon to then do some major damage, parry this other attack to give yourself a window to take down this even larger enemy, and do it all without really thinking… just let your fingers enter a combat flow state. When it all clicks, it is truly sublime.

The Dark Ages also does a great job of introducing new weapons and power ups over its roughly 20-hour campaign (assuming you’re not trying to find all the game’s secrets and collectibles).

When push comes to shove, the combat just FEELS. SO. GOOD. And that’s a big win for any video game. And have I said this is a video game, because it is and it loves that fact. Glowy bits here, flashing collectibles there, enemies that shoot green things at you that you can parry back to them (seriously, Hell could easily win the day if they just stopped shooting the green glowy things at you! Someone put to a memo to the demons of Hell, only shoot the red stuff at the Slayer!!!!).

Other new additions in DOOM: The Dark Ages are the more fleshed out story and corresponding cutscenes, flying on the back of your Mecha Dragon, and climbing inside your massive Atlan mech. All of those additions are “fine.”

Look, they’re fine, they’re good enough even! The cutscenes are well made and all, but look, they’re not what I’m coming to the game for. And while I think they try to make the game’s story feel more important, I just didn’t really care. I still don’t need much more motivation other than: demons are invading; demons are bad; DOOM slayer must kill the bad demons. Easy. Done. LET’S GO!

And while the Mecha Dragon and Atlan mech are both visually impressive, and serve as a way to “rest” the game’s core FPS gameplay, neither is what you’d come to the game for. They’re both perfectly fine distractions, but every single time I got my Slayer’s boots back on the ground, I was happy. The dragon is probably more fun than the mech, IMO, but both are fairly simple, especially when compared to the symphony of destruction that the boots-on-the ground combat provides. The good news, neither the dragon, nor the mech really overstay their welcome. I think there was one segment with each through the first half of the game, and maybe only a few more than that in the back half. They’re palette cleansers and the developers seem to know that.

I should also note, there are a lot of great customization and accessibility options in the game. There are independent sliders and options for how much damage you take, how much damage you dish out, parry timing, etc, etc, etc, etc, and also accessibility options that will allow more people to enjoy this awesome video game. And that is always a win!

I’ll have even more to say on the upcoming episode of DLC, but I wanted to get this review out to you all at embargo.

I was provided a PC code for the game by Bethesda. The game looked amazing. I’ll be talking more about the performance and my PC settings on an upcoming episode of DLC as well.

Let me know if you’ll be checking out DOOM: The Dark Ages, and if you play it, what you think of it. I absolutely loved my time with the game and think it’s a very worthy addition to the DOOM franchise.

Thanks for being here!

-C