As a franchise, Doom has always felt special. Even though id Software had Wolfenstein 3D, Doom’s launch in 1993 completely blew up the first-person shooter market with its sense of speed and brutality. The engine and its use of 3D technology to deliver blazing-fast gameplay (for the time).
Multiplayer and the explosive popularity of Deathmatch. The community outreach and how easy it was to build and expand on the game, to the extent that it still has fans churning custom levels and WADs. Never mind all the games that spawned from its genius, both from those who worked with or at id Software or the entire boomer shooter genre.
Even Doom 3, which adopted more of a survival horror shooter approach and fumbled in numerous ways, felt special. The trend continued with DOOM (2016), which combined elements of old-school titles with brand-new mechanics, including Glory Kills, and paved the way for the revival of the series. After that, the hype for DOOM Eternal was immense.
How would id Software innovate on everything we’d seen before? How would this universe offer new ways to slay demons, and on how extravagant of a scale? Expectations were sky-high, but lo and behold, Eternal met and even surpassed many, delivering not only one of the best games of that year but a top-tier first-person experience.
Five years later, we arrive at DOOM: The Dark Ages. Granted, the hype has only been building since its reveal last year, but the past few months have placed it on a completely different level. Everything we’ve seen thus far from id Software showcases a general rethinking of everything that makes DOOM, DOOM. Yet, the mood feels distinctly in line with what’s come before.
Melee combat is essential to the Doom Slayer experience, but The Dark Ages expands on it with a dedicated shield and parrying. Desyncing Glory Kills means a good hit with the flail, mace, or gauntlet could lead to a killing blow without interrupting the overall flow and pacing.
The enemies themselves balanced around this – whether it’s the Agadon Hunter, the game’s equivalent to Eternal’s Marauder, or the recently revealed Cosmic Baron, it’s about close-up fights and knockdown, drag-out brawls as it is about unloading ammo into every demon that moves. You won’t be dodge-rolling and managing stamina (though some degree of resource management is required). The tankier nature of the Slayer also ensures a more grounded fighting style, even as you ricochet the Shield Saw off multiple enemies or use it to dash and bash an enemy.
Of course, that’s not all. The setting not only lends a certain medieval air but stays true to the futuristic and demonic overtones pervading the series. The Night Sentinels still derive energy from the Wraiths. Demons overrun Sentinel Prime, but their swarming ground forces are backed by airships (which players tackle with a dragon mount).
In the same vein, towering Titans are met head-on with giant Atlan mechs equipped with distinct miniguns and shotguns. It’s an incredible mash-up of elements that feel unique to DOOM while remaining grounded in this unique medieval world.
And yet, it feels like there’s something more to what makes DOOM: The Dark Ages so promising. It’s reminiscent of the vibe of FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. No, not just because of the melee combat or medieval tones or even because you can crank up the difficulty to a ridiculous degree.
Let’s start with the overall promise of the world. Previous titles in the DOOM series have focused on straightforward, mostly linear paths in their levels, mixed with arenas that cater to that “You’re locked in here with me!” fantasy. There were oodles of secrets to uncover, from hidden locations that called back to the old-school Doom games to collectibles and upgrades. That’s not even factoring in the optional challenges.
DOOM: The Dark Ages offers the series’ largest spaces yet, intermixing those enclosed linear sections with open sandbox-like environments that encourage exploration and discovery. One of the core tenets of Elden Ring is simply setting out into the Lands Between and combing its various mysteries, from optional bosses to entire sections of the map teeming with different enemies and lore.
Despite not offering that same kind of open-world abandon, The Dark Ages still lets you loose on many occasions to investigate and potentially dominate any threats. These could range from puzzles that require careful timing with the Shield Saw to that one strange tentacle that completely wrecked some previewers.
Each level attempts to hit the so-called “sweet spot” of taking one hour to complete, per director Hugo Martin, but you could easily spend much more if you travel off the beaten path. There’s also an extensive degree of freedom, as seen with the Siege level – a large, distinct battleground with chaos all around, letting you complete objectives in just about any order. You don’t have to go beyond the initial demands of the story and can still derive plenty of enjoyment out of hunting demons, but if you do, different rewards await.
Then there’s the lore. At first, it seemed like the equivalent of Halo: Reach – we know where events lead but haven’t experienced them first-hand. It’s one thing to hear about how the Doom Slayer, outright instilled fear in the demons, and yet it’s another to embody the Slayer, stomping through battles and bashing hordes into dust. Then there are the things we didn’t know, like Hell’s cooperation with the Cosmic Realm, resulting in Lovecraftian-like enemies opposing the Slayer. How does that come into play, and how will it affect the overall lore?
And credit where it’s due, id Software realizes the importance of this period of the Slayer’s life and is lending a cinematic weight that we haven’t seen in previous titles. Part of me believes there’s more to the backstory than what we’ve learned in DOOM (2016) and Eternal and that it will influence the overall timeline for the foreseeable future. Best of all, it won’t be relegated to optional reading, instead coming to life in the various cutscenes seen thus far. It will feel epic beyond the size of its levels or the number of enemies to slay on-screen.
As noted before, every Doom title is special, and each release feels like a special occasion. With DOOM: The Dark Ages, the franchise is seemingly poised for a big step, transforming into something of a completely different stature than its predecessors.
While I feel like the other entries will remain distinct due to their gameplay (and by sheer virtue of representing everything that makes Doom so incredible), The Dark Ages will go further beyond in terms of scale and esteem. Such is the excitement that you have to wonder how the next DOOM game could possibly set itself apart, but that’s a concern for another day.
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