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Doom: The Dark Agesis a bold new entry in the iconic series that maintains the staples of its predecessors while experimenting with new concepts like melee-focused combat and an entirely new aesthetic. After the divisive Doom: Eternal, Dark Ages feels like a breath of fresh air with its originality and unique gameplay.
While it’s always great to see an established franchise attempt something new, this new direction might not be what everyone is looking for. Whether you’ve playedevery Doom game since the beginningor want to hop in for the first time, we’ll help you decide whether The Dark Ages is worth it or not.
Review
Doom: The Dark Ages was reviewed by TheGamer’s Lead Features Editor, Jade King, whoultimately gave the game a 3.5/5. As a fan of the previous two games, she felt that Dark Agesincorporates key elements from both titles while managing to create its own identitywith some significant changes to the formula.
Both are wonderful games, and Dark Ages meets them in the middle with a slower, more melodic experience that is also lighter in terms of challenge and ambition. An excellent medieval adventure, but one that ultimately doesn’t live up to what came before.
King was a huge fan of the story and world-building throughout the Dark Ages campaign. Despite being a prequel to the 2016 reboot and Eternal, this storysignificantly expands the lore and is surprisingly complexwhen it comes to the morality of your actions. “Key figures in the Slayer’s history, such as King Novik, act as major players this time around, and I loved gaining further insight into the political machinations that underpin this heavy metal universe.”
When it comes to the combat and gameplay, Dark Ages changes things by putting anemphasis on melee combat. The Shield Saw is a new weapon that allows you to defend yourself and parry attacks, which is something you’ll need to do frequently to make the most of every situation.
Though King enjoyed this mechanic, she had some criticisms about howsimple it is to master, even on the highest difficulties.“The parry window for attacks as standard is laughably forgiving, though, and when playing on ‘Hurt Me Plenty’, I found myself going into the options' menu to adjust the parry window to the most difficult purely so each battle didn’t feel like a cakewalk.”
Another issue King had with the Dark Ages was howeasy it was for her to find collectibles.“As if id Software was afraid we’d end up missing something and decided to put everything right in front of us or right around the corner.”
Ultimately, King thinks that the Dark Ages is the weakest game in the trilogy, but when you’reslicing and dicing demons with cathartic violence, it’sstill one of the best shooters on the market. An excellent story and a large variety of enemies and environments were standouts, but the easy parrying mechanic and simplified collectible hunting weighed the experience down for her.
Time Expenditure
There are 22 chapters in Doom: The Dark Ages campaign, and if you focus on just the story, it should take youapproximately 13 hoursto roll credits. Both Doom 2016 and Eternal had similar lengths, so if you’ve played those games already, you should have a good idea abouthow much time it will take you to finish Dark Ages.
If you’re a completionist who plans on exploring every corner of every level, you can expect to spend just a little more time with Dark Ages before you’re done. With its fantastic chapter selection screen, you can easily hop back into any level you’ve completed to tidy up loose ends, and that should take you somewhere between 16–20 hours.
Cost
Doom: The Dark Ages is currently available physically and digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC. It’s also available to anyone with a Game Pass subscription.
There are three different versions of the game to choose from: a standard edition, a premium edition, and a collector’s bundle. If you just want to play the game without any extra bells or whistles, thestandard version is currently available for $69.99.
The premium edition of Dark Agescosts $99.99 on digital platformsand includes access to the campaign DLC when it launches, a digital artbook and soundtrack, and a Divinity skin pack.
The collector’s bundle is aphysical package for $199.99that includes everything from the premium edition, as well as a 12" Doom Slayer statue, a Metel Red Key Card replica, and a SteelBook case.
The collector’s edition is sold out on Bethesda’s website and at most retailers.
What Players Are Saying
A Solid Doom Outing For Game Pass - Dennis Moiseyev
When starting up Doom: The Dark Ages, the first three chapters didn’t blow me away and still had me preferring Doom 2016, but then along came Chapters 4 and 5, and wow, did Id Software cook with this game! Nothing like parrying six or seven different creatures at one time, and the dragon combat just being brilliant!
I’m not a fan of the Pacific Rim-inspired mech suit combat, but I think the OP shield was the best thing that happened to this series, and I love all the new weapons, enemy variety, and the fact that sometimes the beat of the music is synced with the combat. Certain set pieces are rightfully epic, and the environment art is stunning as well.
Overall, the combat and enemy designs are still much better in the previous two games, especially the maps, the flow of everything, and also those glorious Glory Kills. The majority of objectives in Doom: The Dark Ages are also very repetitive and feel uninspired, and the storytelling style and characters aren’t as great as Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal. If you’re able to get it on Game Pass, that would be the way to go.
