Our review of Doom: The Dark Ages, developed by id Software. Available now for PS5 (reviewed), Xbox X/S, and Windows.
WHAT IS IT?
A rip-roaring, buzz-sawing, dragon-riding rollercoaster ride.
IS IT GOOD?
It’s a demon-smashing, outrageously good time.
WHO SHOULD PLAY IT?
Spin̈al Tap.
SLAY
id Software’s long-running Doom (or, if you prefer, DOOM) series has been slaying demons and sending adrenaline levels soaring for over thirty years now. Famously, the original DOOM, released to widespread critical acclaim (and nearly as widespread pearl-clutching) in 1993, has been ported to nearly every device conceivable, ranging from the obvious (in-flight entertainment systems) to the obscure (an oscilloscope) to the hilarious (a potato).
After a fairly lengthy hiatus following the critical/commercial hit that was Doom III (2004), id brought the series back with a vengeance in 2016, with the simply-named reboot Doom. With fast, frenetic combat and eye-popping visuals, Doom was an immediate hit, followed closely by Doom Eternal (2020), which would quickly become the best-selling game in the franchise. What Doom 2016 and then Doom Eternal did was bring the game resolutely into the modern era, with high-fidelity graphics and thrilling set-pieces, yet without losing sight of the deliberately simplistic Space Marine vs. Demon Aliens setup which has been a hallmark of the series since its inception.
Which brings us to Doom: The Dark Ages, set in the nebulous time period between Doom 64 and the recent, 2140s-set, Doom/Doom Eternal. An interquel of sorts, its particular connections to the official DOOM continuity will, of course, be parsed by redditors in the days and weeks to come, but all that really matters for most of us is this: it’s Doom, in a Medieval-inspired heavy metal setting.
And there are dragons.
SAW YOU
The first thing gamers should know about Dark Ages is that, unlike its immediate predecessors, this is a deliberately heavy, even clunky game. In an extremely superficial, reductive way, it’s comparable to the various iterations of the Souls games: if Doom/Eternal are the Sekiros of the Doomverse – fast-paced, acrobatic – then Dark Ages is more like the original Dark Souls: slow(ish), methodical(ish).
But that “ish” is doing a lot of work there. Yes, Dark Ages hands you a massive shield and encourages you to treat your character as a walking tank. And yes, returning players may find the game to be less chaotic – and far more melee-centric – than they are used to. But to be clear here: this is Doom. DOOM! Trust me: Dark Ages lives, breathes, and inhabits the same wildly over-the-top space as its predecessors, and its innovations – like an absolutely brutal shield saw – never forget what this game is supposed to be.
Which is, in a word: ridiculous.
PANDEMONIUM
The most shocking thing about this new Doom is how much story it has. There’s, like, a full narrative here, one that starts with the basic “invading interdimensional demon hordes” outline of its predecessors, then weaves in an intergalactic conflict involving various warring factions, uneasy alliances, and the like. There’s a shadowy cabal of creepy alien freaks not unlike Thanos’s gang of hooligans, a bunch of sci-fi/fantasy nonsense about your Master Chief-like augmented super-soldier, and a bunch more lore to sink your teeth into, if you care.
I, for one, simply do not care. All I’m here for, and what I suspect most gamers are here for, is the absolute mayhem that comes with the Doom brand. And on that front, Dark Ages delivers. Right from its opening shot through its closing chainsaw-shield evisceration, this game is a top-to-bottom spectacle. It’s great.
The two games Dark Ages most reminds me of are the sadly-forgotten 2011 FPS Bulletstorm and, of all things, God of War.
The Bulletstorm comparison is more apt: like that over-the-top game, Doom: The Dark Ages is all about chaining together brutal melee attacks with a wild arsenal of outrageous weaponry, inflicting maximum damage (and chaos). While Dark Ages doesn’t have the ridiculous combo indicator that Bulletstorm slapped directly on screen, the effect is largely the same: run fast, deploy your ever-evolving suite of weaponry, and blow things up. Dark Ages takes all this, then amplifies it by a thousand: massive, screen-filling enemies, huge battlegrounds to dash around in, legions upon legions of monsters to slice and dice through.
Which brings me to the Kratos komparison. Like the God of War games – and in particular the original PS2 trilogy – Dark Ages combines a beautifully realised, secrets-heavy world design, with a bestiary’s worth of horrific monstrosities to rend apart, before they rend you. Enemies range from lowly zombies to great big fat dragon-riding uglies to dozens of different lasergun-wielding alien creeps. Like GoW, you’re encouraged to get up close and personal, parrying (very generously signposted) attacks, landing melee blows to stun enemies, and pulling off one-hit kills not unlike the evolved God of War quick-time attacks of the recent games. And, notwithstanding what I said above about its more methodical pace, Dark Ages really does zip along: you’ve always got a new horde of enemies to bulldoze through, new keys to track down, new doors to kick in. It only slows down for the cutscenes – and even then, things can get pretty over-the-top.
AGELESS
Doom: The Dark Ages knows what its players want, and that’s more – and then more on top of that. Whether it’s generously doling out new weapons or upgrades at a steady clip, or handing you one of several mounts (biological and technological) to ride into battle, Dark Ages understands its rough, rowdy appeal. It’s the John Wick of video games: nonstop action, a hint of a story, and repeated attempts to one-up itself at every stage.
As always, there are some minor criticisms to be had: some of the weapons are so strong (looking at you, super shotgun) that they render others meaningless; the chaos of endless battle can grow tiresome after a while; the story is mostly just filler. It’s also, this bears repeating, very, very stupid. I mean, that’s the point of Doom, and we love it for it, but don’t come into this expecting anything other than a ridiculous, wild, chaotic rollercoaster ride through hell and back again.
Which brings me to my final point: one of the surprising things I came to love about this game is the way that, despite all the fancy new technology and its impressive, modern world design, Dark Ages habitually – and quite deliberately – succeeds in calling to mind the original Doom.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played Doom (I suspect the last time might have been on a high school computer), but it wasn’t long into Dark Ages that I began to recognise certain patterns. Enemies which faintly resembled creatures from the 1993 original; attacks and weaponry clearly inspired by its three-decade-old progenitor; levels (and especially corridors) that felt like upscaled versions of levels I’d wandered through so many years ago. It is, I think, the highest compliment I can give Doom: The Dark Ages – it feels like a natural successor to one of the most famous entries in gaming history.
Or to put it bluntly, it’s a hell of a good time.
***
Final score: 9/10 Beelzebubs.
Visit the official website for Doom: The Dark Ages here.
