The Doom Slayer is tired of jumping. Now, he just crushes everything in the newest edition of Id Software’s Doom series, Doom the Dark Ages. This game was released on May 15th, and I can now confidently say that I have completed it to 100% completion. It has some nice additions and changes to the gameplay since 2020’s Doom Eternal and Doom 2016. As someone who absolutely loved the previous two installments in the Doom series, this is a great addition.

Doom The Dark Ages leans more into the story than any of the previous games ever did. In fact, I had to watch a series of YouTube videos to understand the story elements I missed in Eternal and Doom 2016. Apparently, the story is there, But I’m not one to really read all the codex files you pick up in those games, so I completely missed it all these years. Not that it matters much. You play as an unstoppable force that combats the forces of hell. The rest is just window dressing.

Video Trailer Credit: IGN on YouTube

DOOM Devs Said No More Acrobatics, Just Blunt Force

The Dark Ages, at first, plays a bit slower than Doom Eternal. There isn’t any midair acrobatics, far less platforming, and less of a push to strategically change weapons. To hardcore players, this is a letdown because it lowers the skill bar. But with the new options to tweak the difficulty settings and even the speed of the game, I think that’s the point.

It seems Id Software is trying to make a game that is accessible to the newest of noobs while also being able to ratchet the difficulty to a level that is almost comical. You can literally increase the overall speed of the game to 200%. If you haven’t tried it yet, please do. You’ll probably laugh at how ridiculous it is and set it back to normal.

I myself played at the Ultra Violence difficulty. It’s essentially the “normal” difficulty. I found it challenging, but I feel that I could take on Nightmare difficulty next time. Beyond that, the other two difficulties, Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare, are permadeath modes. Meaning once you die and run out of lives, it’s game over. Let’s get real; this isn’t the 90’s, and I don’t need to play like that. Aside from these settings, I left all the other modifiers at default.

In this game, the Doom Slayer is no longer an acrobatic arsenal. He’s a tank with a shield. The ground literally shakes and ripples like a T-Rex in Jurassic Park when you jump from any height. Smaller demons just fly into the air and die from the shock waves.

Unlike the previous doom entries, where you walk/run at a steady pace, in the Dark Ages, your walk is much slower, but you now have the option to sprint. This is one of the things I disliked. As a keyboard and mouse player, I’m impatient and hate having to constantly hold the shift key. Luckily, there is an option to turn on “auto sprint.” This makes the Slayer now move faster than he did in Doom Eternal.

Another Addition

The other addition was the Slayers Shield. It was a little odd to use at first, but it became second nature to use it with the first few levels. Which is good because you absolutely NEED to master it. Parrying is now just as important as it was in Sekiro, but it is much easier to read the signals of when to do it. If you see something green coming at you, parry it with your shield.

But blocking attacks aren’t all that the shield is good for. Its outer edges are a saw, and you can throw it at your enemies like Kung Laos Hat in Mortal Kombat. It will slice the small enemies in half and embed itself in the larger enemies, stunning them and even allowing you to shoot the shield and have the bullets ricochet at nearby enemies.

During my playthrough, I primarily used four weapons once I gained access to them. The Super Shot Gun (of course), The Shredder, which is a rapid-fire rail spike launcher reminiscent of the original Quake’s Nail Gun, the Cycler’s a plasma weapon with a steady rate of fire, and my favorite, The Ravager.

Honestly, the Ravager is a bit overpowered, in my opinion, but not enough that I didn’t enjoy it. It’s an upgrade to the Pulverizer gun that essentially shoots out a torrent of skulls at the demons you’re attacking. What makes this gun so effective is once you upgrade the Ravager, it will also cause the demon you are shooting to drop health. It’s something that comes in super handy during the boss fights at the end.

This gun is so good I barely even used the BFC. The BFC was formally the BFG. Since this is the Dark Ages, it’s obviously more appropriate to use a Ballistic Force Crossbow rather than a Ballistic Force Gun. This is supposed to be the strongest gun in the game, has the sparsest ammo, and essentially be used when all else fails. But with the upgraded Ravager, I forgot about it. For some, this could be a criticism, but I barely noticed until I finished the game.

Mechs, Dragons, and Sidequests

There are three elements that I personally didn’t mind, but I’ve seen mixed reactions to them. The Atlan, the flying dragon, and the exploration sections of the game. The Atlan is a giant mech suit that you use a few times to take on giant-sized demons. The gameplay is simple—Dodge an incoming attack (signaled green), which then supercharges your next attack. Rinse and repeat. These sections weren’t long or challenging in the slightest. I feel it was a nice break from the main game.

Next was the flying sections on your dragon, Serrat. Again, there’s only a few sections with this and they weren’t too challenging. What I appreciate is while it was a new game mode, it wasn’t forced on you for long periods of time. It reminded me of the area in Doom Eternal where you get to briefly play as a Revenant Demon before you acquire the super shotgun. It never happened again, and I always felt they should have just a little more with that.

As far as the exploration goes, I found it fun to try and search for all the secrets and collectibles. There are several maps that are very large for you to explore. It makes sense with this iteration of the Doom Slayer being less arial, and the levels need to spread wide instead of you traversing vertically.

Overall, Doom the Dark Ages is a 10 out of 10 game in my eyes. It’s just as fun, if not more fun, than the previous two installments. And if the $70 price tag is too steep for you, just subscribe to Xbox Gampass and play it that way. That’s what I did.

After completing the campaign, I booted up Doom Eternal and immediately missed my shield, my perceived hulking size, density, and speed. But then I killed an entire area of demons while in the air and forgot about it. That’s what makes Id Software’s Doom games so good. You can play each of them as they are and always have a good time.