Doom: The Dark Ages is an epic action spectacle worth the hype

DOOM is an icon, and icons carry a weight of expectations on their shoulders. Change too much and you risk ruining what made the game so special. Too little and watch as you fade into obscurity as others race past with innovation.

After returning to the spotlight with the modern masterpiece DOOM 2016, there was a moment where it felt ID Software's pride and joy had lost footing once again. DOOM Eternal, released in 2020, was decent, but not as singularly brilliant as its predecessor. Many, myself included, felt it struggled to find a balance between exposition-heavy lore dumps, puzzle platforming, and old-fashioned gun-play. In short, it just wasn't DOOM enough.

Well, you can't say that ID Software is playing it safe. DOOM: The Dark Ages pushes even further into the realm of quasi-open world exploration and a techno-fantasy inspired storyline that is as dense as it is daft. It introduces the shield mechanic into the weaponry, even further distancing DOOM from its origins as a one-trick gorehound shooter.

Luckily, the gambit works. DOOM: The Dark Ages is the best game in the series since the 2016 revival, and one of the best games of the year so far.

Story & Gameplay

The Dark Ages serves as a prequel to the DOOM revival. Set in a distant world beyond Earth, it charts the origins of The Slayer and his battle against the forces of hell. As humanity stands on the brink of apocalypse once more, The Slayer is unleashed from the Maykr prison. But as more humans fall into demonic corruption, the tide might prove stronger for even The Slayer to turn.

If you're heavily invested in the newly recreated lore behind the series, you'll love the techno-fantasy epic that ID Software has crafted. It is superbly silly and often so audacious that it impresses through sheer bravado.

While some of the most insane reveals are best left unspoiled, it's safe to say that DOOM: The Dark Ages has finally found the right mix of silly and scary that eluded DOOM Eternal. Yes, there are still numerous exposition-heavy cut scenes and no, not much of it makes any sense. But The Dark Ages moves along at such a steady pace and with such confidence that it doesn't matter, either. By the time you've finished wondering why any of this is happening, you're already riding a dragon armed with Gatling guns.

Speaking of said dragon, those sequences are still easily the worst parts of the game, even though the experience has been tightened up a bit since the preview event a month back. Sadly, it doesn't do much to elevate the repetitive and clunky flying, nor the aimless wandering associated with these levels. It looks amazing and there's a certain amount of joy in the wacky Heavy Metal/Ralph Bakshiness of it all. It's just not that much fun to play.

Especially since the actual gameplay loop of exploration and frenetic gunplay is still unbeatable, and The Dark Ages ramps up both to immensely satisfying levels. At its finest, DOOM reminds us why nobody else, not now or ever before, has done it better.

The new shield mechanic is a doozy, and it grows into an essential part of the game so effortlessly I couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't always a thing. Between blocking, parrying, and exploding fodder demons from an almighty whack, the shield works as a navigational tool as well. Puzzles require breaking and activating platforms by throwing the spinner like a bloodthirsty Captain America, and it's a heck of a lot of fun in figuring out where to go next with your newfound mobility.

Granted, some of the later levels tend to go overboard with this, and their scope comes at the cost of the tightly wound nature that drives the rest of the game. You technically can run through all of them at breakneck speed, but it defeats the purpose somewhat. Especially as DOOM: The Dark Ages introduces a host of mini-objectives, hidden bosses, power ups, and challenges into every one of its 22 missions.

I completed the entire campaign and found around 80% of all the hidden items. I powered up 70% of the weapons and skills to their maximum level, and played everything on the normal difficulty with some visual impairment accessibility options turned on. In total, it took me a hair under 20 hours to finish. After I go back to clean up the rest, my final time will probably be around 22 hours or so.

That's a more than respectable time for a single-player title like this, and it's bound to go up or down depending on the player. For those looking for a challenge, The Dark Ages will deliver in spades. Luckily, for those just wanting to experience a true power fantasy, ID Software has you covered as well.

Accessibility

The Dark Ages features a wealth of fantastic accessibility options that make the gameplay enjoyable for everyone interested in the franchise.

To start with, difficulty is no longer set in stone. Instead, every level of the experience can be modified to suit your needs, be that damage modifiers or parry windows. Enemy aggression, game speed, and resource values all have customizable sliders, which can make the experience as easy or difficult as you like it.

Even better, none of the gameplay achievements are locked behind difficulty barriers, which is something that even some big AAA titles insist on doing to this day. Top marks, DOOM.

On the audiovisual front, DOOM is equally impressive. Gameplay toggles include indicators for screen shaking, either from fully on or off to a slider adjusting precisely the right amount. Desaturation and enemy highlights are, likewise, equally adjustable. Every element can be color-coded and adjusted via saturation level. That goes for point-of-interest, objective, and HUD markers.

Quite simply, DOOM: The Dark Ages is the gold standard for accessibility in modern shooters. Everyone else is now just trying to catch up.

Technical Aspects

DOOM is a gorgeous, but also taxing game. On my very medium spec rig, I managed an almost consistent 1440p/60fps experience, but I did see the frame rates plummet into the 30's on more than one occasion. As a rule of thumb: the more hectic the fight, the lower the frames.

I ran the game on a mixture of medium to high settings with DLSS set to balanced. I did not see noticeable gain in changing it to performance, though this might change as the game is patched further. Even with the dips, DOOM: The Dark Ages is extremely enjoyable to play and look at.

The soundtrack, sadly, doesn't live up to the level of the previous games and is mostly a good interpretation of the past. It's never bad, but it's wholly unremarkable, which is a shame considering how many fantastic opportunities the story presents for some real banger needle drops.

One thing that does deserve every ounce of praise is how well optimized the entire experience feels. The game loads very quickly and there's almost no wait times to get into the fray. Levels are huge and feature barely any hidden loading screens or transitions. It's very much old-school goodness from beginning to end: You boot up the game within seconds and there's nothing to get in your war from there.

Who's It For?

DOOM: The Dark Ages is for the fans, but it's also for everyone wanting to see what the fuss is about. Thanks to its tremendous accessibility settings and an emphasis on fun with a capital F, ID Software's creation feels like a breath of fresh air despite leaning heavily into old-school nostalgia.

It is exactly what is needed at a time of games as service and always-online ugliness. DOOM: The Dark Ages delivers an unapologetic single-player experience that doesn't shy away from how much of a game it is. Despite the silly storyline, it never forgets where it came from or what made it so special in the first place.

With satisfying combat, fun exploration, and some of the finest accessibility options out there, Doom: The Dark Ages is an epic heavy metal odyssey that proves the iconic franchise is still king of the genre. It celebrates the joy of shooting demons in the face so gloriously it makes us wonder why we ever settled for anything less.